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something to be said about beating the guys ur supposed to beat
As much as we bash fighters for taking on lower caliber guys or mandatories or taking setup/ showcase/stay busy fights prior to a unification or big money or hardcore fight; u have to give guys credit who take them and win them.
Yeah its impressive when u beat a guy who is ur equal or possibly ur better, wether its reality or public opinion; but when u lose to that guy u have an explanation an ur career (potential earnings/title shots/rankings) don't get hurt, because of the caliber of ur opp.
Oscar losing all his big fights-hopkins/mosley/trinidad/mayweather, does not mean as much or hurt him because all those guys were of comparable or superior skillsets/phys abilty and have est themselves as hall of fame types. Oscar lost to all the best, which hurts his argument to be one of the best; in that he could not win, but it helps in that he fought them at the peak of their abilities and was never really just beaten up or dominated, he was competitive.
Now imagine if he got beaten by derrel coley, or yori boy campas or james leija, or mayorga; he would have no chance at being a hof guy or even making the money he made. Part of the reason he still pulls in money is popularity, the other is he has never really been dominated BY the BEST and has been very dominant against everyone who isn't.
think about how many fighters careers have been turned upside down cus of losses to guys they should not lose to-
-nate campbell-getting koed by omar weisz (putting his chin out), then getting koed again; by a guy not in his class at all
-tyson-buster douglas/julian francis/and the last clown he lost to
-judah-baldomir-yeah he is tough and not a can; but he was considered one until judah gave his HUUGE payday away by half assing his training and running
-tzyu-he missed a payday w/oscar and a real chance at becoming a dominant world boxing figure by losing to FRANKIE RANDALL
-Morales-made his rematch w/pacquiao a fraud by losing to zahir raheem
-barrera-put his legacy in jeopardy and loss out on even bigger paydays by getting destroyed by junior jones (2x)
-lennox lewis-put his legacy in jeopardy by being decimated by rahman and hurt his chance at being a name fighter by being stopped by mccall
-bojado-he just stunted his whole career being beaten by journeyman and past their prime fighters, a never was
ricardo williams-same as bojado
tarver-he lost to harding, had he beat that guy he would have got a shot at jones EARLIER; an had he beat hopkins coming off the rocky film he would have been HUUUGE.
TONEY-loss to montell griffin-had he won he could have forced a fight w/jones jr
my point is thse guys could and would have been huge or huger and made more money had they won these fights-
HOPKINS-JONES JR-MAYWEATHER JR-DE LA HOYA-EDWIN VALERO-HOLYFIELD-HATTON- guys who had faced some less than stellar guys; but they got them out of there, they did their job. An being in shape taking ur opp seriously and treating a joyurneyman like a journeyman is part of being a champ/hof/good boxer; not just beating the guys who are ur equal or better
if u can't beat the lesser guys u will never get to the big name gusy who u swear that uwould beat if given the chance
so while i will bash guys for fighting these second and third tier guys- but i give credit for prospects/titleholders who did their job and came in and got those guys out of there
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