Each Thursday right here at FightHype, boxing followers collect round my bulbous, bulging sack in anticipation of an Ol’ Devoted cash shot of gooey, salty reality. This Thursday is not any completely different. So, put your goggles on and cinch up your plastic poncho, right here it comes. This week, we’ve feedback/questions relating to Shakur Stevenson and what boxing must do for its personal good.
What Boxing Wants
I assumed PBC was headed down the precise path at one level. Nevertheless it seems they set a harmful precedent that may be duplicated with an extra quantity of capital that they might solely dream of. His “excellency” is making the PBC enterprise capital appear to be a welfare program.
Most pundits will blame the trendy standing of boxing on Floyd Mayweather. Granted, Floyd took low danger, excessive reward fights as soon as he turned 30. However previous to that he was taking over all comers. Do you assume any of those present fighters would’ve fought the likes of Genaro Hernandez, Angel Manfredy, Jesus Chavez, Diego Corrales and Luis Castillo earlier than they made a giant payday? Heck No! The underside line is that the fights earlier than the payday issues. Guys are getting paid for combating nobodys they usually’re getting the large payday earlier than combating a number of reside canines.
Fighters should take challenges contained in the ring and present their ability and toughness to realize that respect and construct that viewers. Promoters must get again to the fundamentals and begin filling up these ballrooms and auditoriums. Let the prospects change into contenders, let the contenders change into challengers, and let the challengers change into champions. These days, fighters are going from prospect to challengers in a single day.
I keep in mind once I used to go to battle events. Everybody knew the fighters headlining the primary occasion and co-main occasion. In at present’s day and age once I go to battle events, I’m all the time being requested have you ever ever heard of this man? The excitement merely isn’t there. When his “excellency” stops tricking off the funding fund. Simply possibly issues will return to regular or possibly one other sugar daddy promo firm will come up.
When do you assume boxing will get again to the fundamentals and have fights which are significant for up and coming fighters? Is the one method up, down? Does boxing want a tough touchdown to get again to relevancy?
– Na’-il Rahman
Hey Na’-il.
I can’t disagree with something you’ve stated.
I’ve stated it earlier than and I’ll say it again– boxing wants a serious crash that forces all promoters, boxing corporations, and fighters to lastly understand that they should work collectively. As a distinct segment sport that’s changing into increasingly of a distinct segment as time goes on, it’s crucial for boxing to work collectively in constructing and re-building the game. There’s simply not sufficient fan assist there anymore for all of those corporations to be combating for scraps, with out it changing into dangerous to the game as a complete. Boxing must cease grabbing at fast cash and get all the way down to the intense work of making the rising tide that may carry all their boats. And I believe that may solely occur when these persons are going through precise chapter and the intense actuality that they may all be out of a enterprise in the event that they don’t get their asses transferring. The one motive I’d contemplate supporting Turki Alalshikh’s and Saudi Arabia’s prominence within the sport is as instruments to facilitate that crash– which simply might occur if boxing individuals hold handing over increasingly of the game to them. So, yeah, we in all probability must burn down the boxing village to avoid wasting the boxing village.
WTF, Shakur?
Hello Paul.
I’m not going to lie, I’m now a full-blown Shakur Stevenson hater. I wasn’t one till yesterday when it was introduced that he’d be combating Joe Cordina subsequent in Saudi Arabia. I can cope with a fighter who’s safety-first within the ring and one who’s annoying exterior the ring. I can respect fighters for having their very own personalities and enterprise methods. What I can’t tolerate is a hypocrite and, even worse, a hypocrite who laughs on the public that he wants to purchase his fights. Shakur changing into a free agent, speaking all that shit, after which selecting a WORSE opponent than what he had beneath Prime Rank is pungent bullshit, however then he has the by no means to inform followers on social media to go fuck themselves as a result of he’s getting that bag with the Cordina battle? Please. This child can go fuck himself. From this level ahead, no matter he’s doing, I ain’t watching.
– Clyde
Hey Clyde.
Shakur Stevenson is a case research in why some fighters must have good public relations individuals and the self-discipline to remain out of the general public eye as a lot as doable. The child is simply an unlikable type with a very grating character and a raging case of entitlement. And what he fails to see and perceive is that a lot of the derision aimed toward him is of his personal doing. He, alone, controls how he performs within the ring and the way he acts exterior of it. His social media mood tantrums and extreme whining have made him a boxing punchline amongst followers and media, particularly juxtaposed towards the shortage of fireplace he reveals within the ring. The man simply doesn’t get it, even when his good friend/mentor Terence Crawford– who additionally doesn’t get rather a lot relating to public relations– tries to set him on the precise path, not less than by way of his ring work. Shakur simply has too many enablers round him to be pressured into studying his classes. He’s celebrating the cash he DOES make, however fails to comprehend how way more he might make by making some tweaks to his recreation and to his social media presence. If he needs to learn to do all this proper, he want look no additional than to the highest of his personal division and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
As for his battle with Cordina? It sucks. It’s a cash seize. It’s a present from Turki and Eddie Hearn to get an American identify into the Saudi cabal.
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