Once upon a time there were great champions who were willing and eager to take on all comers.
The great Sugar Ray Robinson fought 200 professional fights, only losing 19, with 6 draws.
Muhammad Ali never ducked anybody. What if he had refused to fight the seemingly unbeatable George Foreman?
Boxing fans would have been denied one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport.
Sugar Ray Leonard always fought the best. Mike Tyson was fearless.
Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey…
The list of great, old-school boxers goes on and on.
Cherry-picking opponents wasn’t common practice. The best fought the best and that’s just how it was.
Good match-making is typical for MMA, but there’s a growing number of boxers who seem to be hand-picking the opponents of their choice while steering clear of the rest. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons that some fight sport fans believe that boxing is beginning to be overshadowed by MMA.
In an interview with 8CountNews, former IBA titlist shared his thoughts with this writer about how boxing has changed. 8CN exclusive interview with Bobby Gunn
?You know, today’s fighters, Lorne, there’s too many primadonnas. There’s too many fancy-pants.? Gunn said. ?There’s too many talkers. If you wanna’ fight, just do it. You know, we’re gonna win, we’re gonna lose, but let’s get in there and fight like the old days. That was real boxing. Today, we’re lacking that mentality of the old-school fighters.?
Gunn went on to talk specifically about Mayweather, saying he doesn’t like his cockiness, but he’s an ?all time great?.
There’s no denying Mayweather’s skills, and he does deserve credit for agreeing to fight Shane Mosley on May 1st. Still, many Arkansans are left dissatisfied with the fact that Mayweather and Pacquiao couldn’t come to an agreement.
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Just as Pacquiao’s fight with Joshua Clottey was perceived as a consolation prize, it seems that many view Mayweather vs. Mosley in the same light.
John Granados of Rogers, Arkansas is an avid boxing fan who has long admired the skills of Floyd Mayweather Jr. During a discussion with Granados on Thursday, he expressed to this writer the same sentiment that a lot of Arkansans seem to share. When asked if he thinks anyone can defeat Floyd Mayweather, his response was surprising, considering that he’s a Mayweather fan.
?Yeah, I think Manny Pacquiao could beat him if they ever fought. I used to think that Mayweather would beat Pacquiao, but when he came up with all the blood testing demands, it seemed like he was trying to get out of having to fight him. I think he’s scared of Pacquiao. I don’t know if they’ll ever fight.? Granados said. “Boxing was huge back in the 70s and 80s, but now it’s starting to lose ground to MMA.”
Mayweather’s no stranger to this kind of criticism. He’s been accused repeatedly of ducking the best opposition since he moved into the welterweight division.
Granados feels that since he is one of the top fighters in the sport, he should be willing to fight Pacquiao without any unusual demands.
It’s commendable of Mayweather to take on Mosley, but should he win as expected, the public outcry for a Pacquiao fight isn’t going to go away.
