(Photo credit: World Boxing Council) By Robert “Big Moe” Elmore: After one or two fights, one pay per view event, the media and boxing fans are ready to crown certain fighters “the next big thing”. In that same breathe, the same media that built a fighter up are the same ones that can tear a fighter down.
Some boxing fans have that microwave mentality. You know; they want the food to be done instantly. Other fans have the oven mentality. He is slow cooked, all the parts we can’t see are marinated slowly (defense, footwork, combos etc), and is baked at just the right temperature. And when the opportunity comes, the fighter is taking out the oven and is ready for the next step.
Deontay Wilder is one those fighters that has not quite come out the oven yet, and has a lot more work to do. However, he seized his opportunity to become champ when he beat Bermane Stiverene. I won’t judge Wilder just yet. I want to see him defend the title (and yes against good competition). He is on the right track in facing WBC number 8 ranked Artur Szpilka.
Tyson Fury is the same, but is getting more press than Wilder because of WHO he beat (Wladimir Klitschko who had a 7 and ½ year run). Klitcshko has a bigger name than Bermane Stiverne. The hype surrounding Fury is ability to sell a fight and his ability to make headlines (ala Floyd Mayweather). But he too, has a lot more baking to before I can say he’s arrived. Fury and Wilder resume are about the same to me in terms of competition. The only difference is the number of fights each fighter has had. What fans need to understand, is Fury, providing he gets pass Klitschko, will be locked down to title defenses and might not face who fans want him to face. Wilder will have more options because he only has one title. We also have Saul Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin (Trip). In terms of having the bigger name Canelo has a slight edge and here’s why. Canelo spent almost three and half years fighting on Floyd Mayweather’s pay per view undercards. This gave him exposure than a little bit. Then it was topped off by him fighting Mayweather which did 2.2 million buys. Who wouldn’t benefit from this?
Golovkin had to grind to get to the position he’s in. He didn’t have the luxury of fighting on a big name fighter’s undercard and then turn around and fight that big name. If Trip was put in the position that Canelo was in, then he would be a lot bigger than (in terms of name) than he is now. The competition they’ve faced is about the same to me. Canelo feasted on B level competition while fighting at 154 until he faced Austin Trout. Trout was not an A level fighter but he was still champ. Canelo’s first A level fighter was Mayweather.
I can’t rate him at middleweight just yet, but his win over Miguel Cotto was impressive. Golovkin has been fighting guys who are willing to fight him. His last 8 opponents have been in the top ten. His win over David Lemieux was impressive as well as he used his jab better than I’ve ever seen him use it. The only thing I didn’t like about the Golovkin/Lemieux affair is that it was done too soon. I think Lemieux should have been given a chance to make a couple defenses before fighting Golovkin. Here is where the politics come into play.
Golovkin is an HBO fighter while some of the big names at middleweight such Daniel Jacobs, Peter Quillin, Erislandy Lara are Al Haymon fighters. HBO does not do business with Haymon. So until I see movement between HBO and Haymon, then the call out to from Haymon fighters to fight Golovkin is that….a call out. Trip can only fight those who are realistic available to him. While Trip does not have that marquee name on his resume yet, he’s proven to be the top guy in the middleweight division. Each of these fighters need a little more work before we can judge them full on.
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