By Yannis Mihanos: There used to be a time where to make a boxing match you needed only a strong hand shake and the fight was on. Since then a lot of things have changed. Fighters have now their own protectors: promoters who do this work for them.
Now boxing is no more two persons involved. The system has changed. Of course in the ring you still get to see two men fighting but outside of it there are specialized training teams, sponsors, TV channels , promoters and many high profile people.
In each sport greatness requires sacrifices, a lot of hard work and dedication.
Once upon a time, many boxers would retire from the sport wounded and close to poverty. Those were times where different criteria were at place.
I hear often by fans that the best must fight with the best and who couldn’t agree more? This is something that was very common in the past but not so much today.
Legendary fighters of the past like Henry Armstrong, Jack Demsey or Rocky Marciano had to fight with the best out there.
And while this was perfect for the fans it wasn’t so perfect for those who were fighting for but it was the only choice they had.
Many of the legendary fighters of yesterday I believe that if they were fighting today they would have managed their career differently and close to today’s standards.
The same goes for the great fighters of today like Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao, if they were fighting Yesterday then they would have to compete and fight with the best right from the start until eventually the end of their careers.
In those tough old times the only ambition for a fighter was glory, pride and of course love for the sport.
I know that the legacy of the Yesterday fighters is immense to boxing. They gave us fights that we will all remember and cherish forever. They are in all boxing history books.
Many fans complain about the way boxers handle their career today, planning it so intelligent and often clever. It almost looks like cheating.
You saw for example how carefully Miguel Cotto has handled his career for the last 2 years and now look at him: he is getting a big money paycheck fighting Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
You see, the difference with the past is that today there is this luxury of choice.
There is no question about it. Fighters today have the luxury to fight and not to fight. They have the luxury to fight who they want to fight. They have the luxury to choose when to fight. This is something that was virtually unknown to the great fighters of yesterday.
Their fights didn’t have pay per view TV channels, no sponsors, nothing, to go very much back in time people were listening the fights from the radio. Imagine that.
The lucrative contracts that today are signed make the choice of the best to fight with the best less and less attractive.
The big names climb up the ladder of success carefully and extend their otherwise short career to great lengths.
Nowadays it is not strange fighters to fight on after the age of 40 and even after 50 like Bernard Hopkins because they can still attract audiences and sell tickets.
And while the fans are eager to see an amazing line up, it’s unfortunately not up to them to decide.
Best example is the fight of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao it took a good 6 years to materialize even if the public demand was there from day 1.
Few are the fighters today who put everything in line, few are those who want to fight with the very best from day 1.
Promoters have opinion, sponsors have opinion, coaches have opinion and on and on. Negotiations can be lengthy.
Take for example Gennady “GGG” Golovkin he wants desperately to fight with the best out there but still no response, none from the top names want to put their boxing record, money and health at risk.
A few days ago a British champion was retired, Carl Froch. Froch for the last year had been indecisive about his future, finally he has decided to call it a day. He has earned good money and is relatively healthy. In the end the conscious choice prevailed for him to retire. I think is a good choice for him.
In the past this kind of conscious choice was nonexistent, except than to fight with whatever cost.
We know also that conscious choice has given birth to many paper champs, this was an expected result. With so much money involved today it was expected that some of the guys will use the easy way out. It happens to all sports in different ways. These are the real cheaters of sports.
So to conclude I find it a bit unfair comparing fighters of today with those of yesterday. Circumstances have changed and favor more the boxers today. This is a fact.
Like I said these are different times.
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