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Philippines, 02 Jun 2025 |
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Losing To Win? By Pj Magno De Best PhilBoxing.com Sun, 01 Mar 2009  In the world of prize fighting, a boxer must overcome all adversity to realize the dreams set before them. Boxing is not only a sport of modern day gladiators, but also a sport that?s rich in history filled with more drama and controversy than a soap opera. Fight fans and insiders alike, are quick to jump on the bandwagon when the going is good and even quicker to jump off it when the heat is on. But no matter how many stains boxing has had in its history, its hard to shake off our addiction to the sport. The imperfect world of boxing as we know it today, isn?t just a sport of two combatants engaging in a battle of supremacy before a crowd, but more of a soap opera playing out. The negotiations leading up to the fights that determine where, when and how the fight will take place; the drama filled press conferences leading up to the bouts; the constant irregularities between the different commissions that spell controversy; all unfold to give the spectator a show that they might find justifiable for the price that they pay. Boxing is a great sport built on a legacy of legendary fighters, hard working journeymen and an unshakable loyalty from its fans. But somewhere over time the sport has lost itself. It seems as though a fighter?s marketability is all that matters nowadays. Who will bring in the biggest numbers? Who has the largest following? Who has an undefeated record? So much emphasis on these questions has resulted in a sport filled with paper champions that are untested due to the unwillingness of their management. Whatever happened to the days where the best fought the best to find out who the best really is? Unfortunately for the champions of today, they will never realize the true meaning of being a world champion unless they gather up and unify every alphabet soup belt under the sun. It?s hard to keep up with all the different champions of the different divisions these days. Do we really think these multi-division champions could have achieved what they did, had their only been a single belt per division and a legit ranking system that isn?t based on corruption and overpriced fees? What annoys me most about boxing right now, is how a fighter who finally loses a fight is usually considered washed up or not the real thing. You win some and you lose some, can?t we get that? No matter who you are in the world there is always somebody out there that has the ability to beat you. Styles make fights. Instead of ridiculing a fighter who has just lost, why are the critics out there not commending the spirited effort that fighters put in. It takes a lot of balls to go up inside the square ring and risk getting knocked out in front of the world. Fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jr (as of the moment), Ricardo Lopez and Rocky Marciano to name a couple have achieved so much inside the ring. They have fought gallantly and finished up with unblemished records. It?s an amazing achievement but with their perfectness they have only experienced half the story and half the truth. They have experienced the feeling of winning only. Champions that lose a bout have the experience of taking a loss and all the criticism that comes with it. From fans falling of the edge and writers claiming they were overrated, to worst of all, their paychecks dropping as the belief that you?re only as good as you last fight is part of our psyche. These former champions must deal with all the adversity and maintain a belief in themselves in order to weather the storm and rise again. This is an amazing growth process that has transformed great fighters into legendary fighters. In the era?s before now, when boxing was the king of sports, the best fighters out there such as Ray Robinson would fight often and against anyone. The fear of losing wasn?t an option. They had to fight the best to become the champion. Whether they won or lost, they had the knowledge that they truly fought the hardest possible opponent at any given time. Many of the greatest fighters out there past and present have losses on their records. Losing isn?t the be all or end all. It?s a part of the process. Losing in many cases is a part of winning. Before the confidence in our current favorite fighters of today?s era diminishes for losing a bout, let?s ask ourselves some simple questions? Did Ray Robinson ever lose? Did Muhammad Ali ever lose? The answer is undeniably yes and Robinson as we know is considered the best pound for pound fighter of all time with Ali being considered the best heavyweight of them all. Losing a fight doesn?t make champions washed up or overrated. Losing makes them learn a lot more about themselves. That?s why most fighters would agree that they learnt more from their losses, than all of their victories put together. Sometimes in the ring and in life, you?ve got to lose to truly win! Posted by PJ De Best Pj Magno De Best www.BoxingRepublic.com Click here to view a list of other articles written by Pj Magno De Best.  |
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