By C. Noriega: Those who have followed the sweet science for a while have watched bad fights, good fights, and very good fights. Despite the popular belief, being a gladiator in this sport doesn’t exactly mean the boxer has never faced a defeat or a boring night; a true gladiator has some iconic wars and a bunch of less important campaigns. In this second article I’ll direct your attention to some cases of modern warriors:
#1. Floyd Mayweather Jr, Mr. Money.
Nowadays, no one can speak of boxing without mentioning six division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. His high PPV numbers and his Philly-shell style has dominated the sport for the last decade while keeping a “0” on his record. Being undefeated is something that attracts the box aficionados and high ranked opponents as well. We’ve seen Floyd in good fights against beasts such as Judah (Prime, 2006), De la Hoya (2007), Hatton (2007), Mosley (2010), Cotto (2012) and Maidana (2014). And what about bad fights? Do any of you remember Márquez (2009), Ortiz (2011), Guerrero (2013) and Alvarez (2013)? Yes, they were all top contenders, but the result was as entertaining as watching a turtle fighting a snail, and for many, this is not the definition of a good fight. However this is a sport and points win matches and form a record. I respect Mayweather for his control over the welter and super welterweight divisions in this last decade, but again, in 15 years, how will you remember Mayweather? As the perfect human shield? As an unbeatable force of the WW and SWW divisions? As the biggest money chaser in the sport ever? Or maybe as the #1 Pacquiao avoider? What about… A cherry picker? Let me tell you something before you jump to any conclusion, whatever opinion you have is all correct, but just remember that no one can easily walk into a ring for more than 10 years while being the #1.
#2. Carl Froch, The Cobra.
IBF and WBA Super World super middleweight champion, Carl Froch, can be seen as an icon of british boxing. At age 37, many say he has consolidated himself as a true champion with interesting wins against Taylor (2009), Bute (2012), Kessler (2010 & 2013), and Groves (2013 & 2014). But what about his defeats? We have Kessler (2010) and Ward (2011), and, not a defeat, a special mention to the fight against Andre Direll (2009) who fought a very close fight against Froch and defeated him in my eyes. Many say Carl never recovered his level after Ward’s victory over him, but then the Bute fight came up and many people recovered their faith on him. I think Froch is a champion, a warrior, but what is it about him that grants him “legendary” status as some people claim? I don’t know about you but I’m just not convinced. I will still watch him fight though, if he keeps fighting in following years, I sincerely hope there’s some poison in that Cobra and not just “snake oil”.
#3. Nonito Donaire, The Promise.
Donaire emerged as a potential Filipino promise just like Manny Pacquiao. After an iconic KO against Darchinyan (2007) Nonito towered every opponent on the flyweight, super flyweight, bantamweight and super bantamweight division… Well, almost every opponent. The 5″5 Nonito met his Waterloo when he faced WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (2013) in a battle that many say “exposed” the Philipino knock-out artist, and maybe it did. Darchinyan (2013) attempted Rigodeaux strategy on the featherweight division in a rematch and he almost succeeded on winning the fight, but then he choked the same way he did back on 2007, but the battle was highly dominated by the Armenian, maybe his last good battle. Nowadays, Donaire is the current WBA Super World super featherweight champion after a weird halt in a very controversial fight against Simpiwe Vetyeka (2014). In summary, Nonito got a cut and was having a very bad time against the little known super champion, the battle was stopped, and the cards gave the belt to the Filipino “flash” in the 5th. I think Donaire is a good fighter, a very entertaining one, however this writer can’t approve the way he earned this “Super champion” paper belt. Little by little, this promise is melting down his legend potential like an ice cream on a hot day of summer.
So far we’ve learned that good fighters can make good fights; better opponents, can make better fights; and great fights are just a handful a year. What about legendary fights? What fights do you recall the better from these 3 fighters? Are they worth the mention?
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