By Gerardo Granados: Yesterday an acquaintance asked me why I think America has no heroes left; somehow he still thinks that we live in an era of boxing bonanza. So, I replied to him the same thing that I had previously said to a friend, “can you name three American top boxers per weight division? Who were the last dominant American boxers from the lightweight up to the heavyweight division?”
This guy isn’t a casual fight fan, so he gave that look of disapproval and then quoted what Wladimir Klitschko once said at a press conference. Before he left I laughed and told him what I said to another friend, that Terence Crawford is our last hope. But I wonder if Bud will be able to fill in the shoes of a special boxer named Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Self proclaimed ‘The Best Ever’ [TBE], Floyd retired once again back in September 2015, from what I saw he seemed very convincing about his last retirement. Mayweather Jr has enough money to live well the rest of his existence. After have seeing Warren Buffett on his locker room previous his fight against Marcos Maidana, it makes me believe that Mayweather Jr will never squander his huge fortune. So, for me a comeback is not possible.
We as fight fans can love him or hate him, but there is one thing we cannot deny and that is that Floyd Mayweather Jr is a first ballot hall of fame election. Perhaps we all could agree that he is the last American hero or villain if you wish. Maybe the reader can recall a bigger world draw than Floyd in the last ten years, but I can’t. By the way, do you miss him already?
A long time ago there was a constant succession of great boxers who carried the torch, I can recall the name of Joe Gans, Tony Canzoneri, Jack Dempsey, Benny Leonard, Jack Johnson, Floyd Patterson, Carmen Basilio, Harry Greb, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Jake LaMotta, Rocky Graziano, Willie Pep, Gene Tunney, Archie Moore, Rocky Marciano, Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, Michael Spinks, Aaron Pryor, Rocky Lockridge, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, James Toney, Pernell Whitaker, Roy Jones Jr, Bernard Hopkins, Kelly Pavlik, Zab Judah, Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. But, who do we have left?
I think that Terence has the boxing tools to become an historical boxer, I believe he is special and might only need to learn how to promote himself. Because if he fails to learn on how to be likened by the average fight fan eye, then he could end drawing poor audiences like Andre Ward does.
Crawford has the skills and technical ability to dominate not only the 140 pounds limit; but also to successfully move up to the historically prestigious welterweight division. Already he must be a boxing purist favorite and certainly hardcore fight fans cannot ignore he is talented boxer. But will he be able to draw Floyd´s huge pay per view numbers? I am not sure if he can but I bet time will tell if he is able to do so.
Will Crawford be able to land the big fights and avoid Gennady Golovkin fate? Will he stay out of trouble?
Is Terence Crawford our last hope? I think Deontay Wilder is a Rocky Marciano type of fighter, but he is not the best heavyweight. We have no dominant cruiserweight, light heavy or super middle. Was Kelly Pavlik our last great middleweight?
Currently there are a couple of interesting light middles and welter boxers, but from lightweight and below, with the exception of Mickey Garcia and Jessie Magdaleno, there really is no one worth of praise. I mean, hey the biggest talents are Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, Sergey Kovalev, Gennady Golovkin, Canelo Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao, Jorge Linares, Vasyl Lomachenko, Carl Frampton, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Chocolatito Gonzalez and Gallo Estrada but they all are foreigners.
Something is wrong, we are getting blinded and not noticing it has been a while since we are deep into a dark age. There is not much to brag about as in the past. In fact we are stuck just conforming to less quality and quantity of boxers. Casuals keep on buying whatever major sports media tells them to buy. I´ll let the reader find out who is to blame for this recurrent issue.
I think Terence Crawford is our last hope to have a true world caliber dominant boxer. But, what about the reader, do you think Bud will be able to fill in the void left by Floyd Mayweather Jr?