By Francisco Hernandez: One way to tell when a fighter is easy pickings is when you start hearing other fighters say: I want to fight Cotto, I want to fight Mosley, I want to fight Margarito. Everybody from Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, Canelo Alvarez, Andre Berto, and many others can be heard calling out Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley. When interviewed and asked: who do you want to fight? They respond, Cotto, Mosley. When Marco Antonio Barrera was old and no longer in shape to fight, Amir Khan would call him out. Yet when these now decaying fighters were in their prime, not so many were willing to call them out for a fight. Manny Pacquiao fled from Mosley like he was the devil. Oscar de la Hoya hid from Antonio Margarito for many years. These now moribund fighters who are now easy pickings built their name recognition because of a knack for fighting anyone; they didn’t run from challenges, that’s why real fans respected them, Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, they fought anyone.
Fans should ask themselves this question: does beating one of these faded, decaying warriors, transfer the status of their legacy in the ring to me. If I beat the hell out of an aged Mosley, does that mean Mosley’s accomplishments are now transferred to my name? Of course not, to think that way is a superstition, like the cannibals who believe that if you eat the heart of your enemy his power will be transferred to you. Did Amir Khan prove anything by being declared the winner after head butting the smaller and faded semi-retired Marco Antonio Barrera? I don’t think so. Has Manny Pacquiao proved anything by winning against bum steers who in their prime would have taken his head off? I don’t think so.
If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny, hearing how everyone now is calling out Miguel Angel Cotto, and Shane Mosley. They will be doing the same to Juan Manuel Marquez as the inevitable decline takes hold on him, although when he was in his prime he was paid not to fight because he was too good. Boxing would be a lot better if instead of trying to finish off old and battle worn warriors, these young fighters fought each other. These younger fighters should imitate these old warriors; not seek easy fights against them.
Manny Pacquiao please be a man and fight Alfredo Angulo, Andre Berto, Marcos Maidana, Sergio Martinez. Amir Khan you need to grow some marbles and face Canelo Alvarez in the Welterweights or Victor Ortiz in the junior middleweights. Julio Cesar Chavez junior your fans think you should face Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez, and the dangerous Russian Dmitry Pirog.
You tell me you want to face an old or faded guy who was a legend, because that way you will appear bigger than you really are? That is a superstition, it has never worked, Butterbean beat a fifty year old Larry Holmes, but does anyone believe Butterbean was a great boxer. Do you think anyone remembers all the palookas that beat Julio Cesar Chavez when he was a tired and worn out man, who was fighting smokers just to keep from being sued by promoters? I don’t think so. The media glitz may have all the poor fools believing that these guys are the best thing since peanut butter was invented, but eventually truth will prevail, and these useless fighters will be forgotten. The real legends, the greats like Salvador Sanchez, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Robinson, they are eternal.
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