By Paul Ward: As boxers like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, and the Klitschkos wrap up their careers in the next coming years, who will take their place? Every generation has its “Greatest of All Time” regardless if fans agree or not.
The last decade or so has seen a wonderful variety of fighters, from Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. to the Klitschkos and the likes of Arturo Gatti; all boxers who have helped set the stage for a new generation. There are too many boxers to be named, but these are among the greats that come to mind.
The new generation is currently making their way to the top, and soon it will be “out with the old and in with the new.” So who are these up and comers? Similar to Mayweather, there is Adrien Broner; another fighter everyone loves to hate. I was initially a fan of Broner, but the more I have heard him talk the more I choose to not cheer him on, but that is neither here nor there. The fact is that he is definitely in the running for a “great” of the next generation, based on his age, number of wins and knockouts, and ability.
Another up and comer who appears to potentially be a “great” is the seemingly humble Danny Garcia. Garcia has yet to really come out of his shell as a boxer but I have a feeling that once he does, we will see another warrior similar to the one he recently dismantled (Eric Morales).
Next we have Deontay Wilder, a boxer who has already been talked about quite a bit, yet he has had no worthy opposition. My argument for Wilder is just that he is one of those talents that any truly knowledgeable person in the sport of boxing can recognize that he has great potential; it is kind of hard to fight good opponents when no one will risk fighting you.
Andre Ward is yet another fighter who might potentially be considered a “great” one day; not much has to be said about him, just watch his last fights, he is a true talent.
Lastly, I will talk about a lesser known boxer, Gary Russell Jr. Having seen his last couple of fights, it quickly becomes apparent that Russell Jr. will undoubtedly be a force to reckon in the near future.
In the attempt to pick out the greats, sometimes it can be difficult to spot the frauds. Frauds are the boxers who are definitely not great but look good against terrible opposition. For the trained eye, a fraud can be spotted just based on the fundamentals of boxing: movement, speed, power, etc. Most frauds have one good quality, but a “great” has the perfect balance. As recent examples, I will pick on Seth Mitchell, and David Price; these boxers have nothing except power. The world saw what happens when a boxer is a true fraud. My short list of yet to be exposed frauds are: Tyson Fury, Amir Khan, Robert Guerrero, and Timothy Bradley to name a few. Many can be named but I will leave that to the reader to pick out.
Just who will be the next generation of greats? We will just have to sit back and watch, and we will find out soon enough. Some will be exposed and others will become living legends.
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