RJJ-McCallum, Floyd-Mosley, And Possible Double Standards In Boxing

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by Peppermint, Nov 30, 2011.


  1. Peppermint

    Peppermint Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    I believe that there are a lot of double standards in boxing and passes given to certain fighters, while others suffer from the bias of history books. Im going to try to examine this theory objectively to see if it holds weight. Roy Jones Jr.-Mike McCallum and Floyd Maywether-Shane Mosley are two fights that I think draw a lot of parallels, but are perceived very differently by most of the boxing world. The similarities arent so much in the fights themselves, but the circumstances around them.

    Lets start with Jones-McCallum. Roy was challenging for his 1st light heavyweight title against dangerous, nearly 40 year old former champ Mike McCallum. But age aside, the "bodysnatcher" had only just lost his title the previous year in a close fight with Fabrice Tiozzo. Before that fight he was undefeated at light heavyweight going 3-0 in title fights at that weight. Keep in mind, it was only a two year period that McCallum, won the title, defended it twice, lost to Tiozzo, and lost to Jones. Still, Roy has got very little credit for the win despite being the only man to dominate McCallum in a great career. Ill get back to that.

    Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley. Billed as a super-fight by some and Floyds toughest test to date by others, a near 40 Shane Mosley had defeated Antonio Margarito well over a year earlier in his last fight. Prior to that he was 1-3 in title fights over the prior 5 years. Shane was far less active than McCallum leading up to the Mayweather fight with only 2 fights in nearly 3 yeas.

    After his fight with Jones, McCallum would fight only once more in a war against his rival, James Toney, before retiring.

    After his fight with Mayweather, Mosley would fight only once more (at least at this level, in all likeliness) in a onesided loss to Pacquiao.

    Perception and opinion is everything in boxing when it comes to how meaningful a fight is. Was Floyds win over Mosley greater than Roys over McCallum? Well, Floyd was closer to Mosleys age, than Roy was to Mikes...but if we just look at age, then Joe Calzaghe get no credit for beating Hopkins, Marciano for his big wins, and the list goes on. What we should look at is performance. If there is one thing that seperates Mosleys near 40 performance to McCallums, its that McCallum was active and always competitive with the best. Mosley was largely inactive, though in previous years he was still competitive to his credit.

    Looking back, was Floyds win more enhanced because of how brilliantly the fight was marketed? Was Roys win diminished because of the disparity in age? Or, did both men get the right amout of credit they deserved? Maybe there is just more than one right answer.
     
    Peppermint, Nov 30, 2011
    Peppermint, Nov 30, 2011
    #1
  2. Imperial1

    Imperial1 VIP Member Full Member

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    Great post ,I think Floyd's win def gets enhanced due to marketing ..No question ..While Roys win suffers from the fact that no one really knew who the body snacther was..
     
    Imperial1, Nov 30, 2011
    Imperial1, Nov 30, 2011
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  3. KO Boxing

    KO Boxing Boxing Addict Full Member

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    To be fair, Mosley was the no 1 WW in the world coming off his destruction of Margarito.

    He was inactive prior to the Floyd fight, but not by choice. He was scheduled to face Berto in a unification bout before the Haiti disaster.

    The majority of people felt that Floyd would never even get in with THAT Mosley, let alone dominate him the way he did.

    McCallum was an ATG light middleweight, but never the best at light heavy.
     
    KO Boxing, Nov 30, 2011
    KO Boxing, Nov 30, 2011
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  4. Redondo5

    Redondo5 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    No parrallels whatsoever. But nice try...

    Rjj beat an old mccallum

    Floyd beat Mosley who had one of his best performances in his last fight - even though it was a long time between margarito fight- berto fight called off and then floyd.

    If you look at the betting odds and listened to rhe experts most were predicting a close fight. Also, many thought floyd was avoiding Mosley, go back to espn interview and ra rugged man rant at floyd. Bought were saying floyd was ducking the best welters including mosley.

    Rjj was always favourite against an old and miles past his best mccallum.
     
    Redondo5, Nov 30, 2011
    Redondo5, Nov 30, 2011
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  5. sp550i

    sp550i Boxing Addict Full Member

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    the reason floyds victory over mosley is so hyped is because everyone said floyd was scared to fight mosley
     
    sp550i, Nov 30, 2011
    sp550i, Nov 30, 2011
    #5
  6. Imperial1

    Imperial1 VIP Member Full Member

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    The power of hype ..It can be a good thing or a negative ..
     
    Imperial1, Nov 30, 2011
    Imperial1, Nov 30, 2011
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  7. Peppermint

    Peppermint Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Thanks. I agree that marketing was a major factor.
     
    Peppermint, Nov 30, 2011
    Peppermint, Nov 30, 2011
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  8. Peppermint

    Peppermint Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    RJJ beat an old McCallum, but there was nothing to suggest he was any more faded than Mosley was. Thats my point. McCallum had won three title fights within 2 years of fighting Roy. McCallum gets the old man label and nothing else, but Mosley gets a lot more praise because he was seen as a threat by the public thanks to 24/7 and great promotion. But, hype aside theres not that much seperation imo.
     
    Peppermint, Nov 30, 2011
    Peppermint, Nov 30, 2011
    #8
  9. Snakefist

    Snakefist Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Peppermint, that's a good point you have here. But after Mayweather beat Mosley, people took away the credit and called him a old man, that beat margo due to many circumstances, one most important one, margo has ZERO defense and mosley could just tee off on him with full leverage rights (which people rarely get hit by if they have reflexes or defense, look at his fight with cotto) and hooks.
     
    Snakefist, Nov 30, 2011
    Snakefist, Nov 30, 2011
    #9
  10. Imperial1

    Imperial1 VIP Member Full Member

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    This content is protected
     
    Imperial1, Nov 30, 2011
    Imperial1, Nov 30, 2011
    #10
  11. JASPER

    JASPER Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Mosley was #3 p4p going into the fight. The body snatcher WAS a great fighter but his best days were far behind him when Roy beat him. While SSM just scored an electrifying KO over the man who he just lost to (even that was a close loss to Cotto).

    I had Bhop beat Joe C. (but Bhop never had a chance in a close fight because of all the racial **** he brought up). In a close fight like that Joe should have had a rematch . .. i dont think anyone would have watched it but a true champ wants to erase any doubt.

    Rocky fought a lot of nobodies until he got the belt and then fought a lot of ancient greats when he did. He gets push back because of his fans who constantly over reach his accomplishments. I am not say he aint great but he aint the GOAT either.
     
    JASPER, Nov 30, 2011
    JASPER, Nov 30, 2011
    #11
  12. VX.Nefarious

    VX.Nefarious Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Mosley was rated too high for beating Margarito, who IMO at beat should have been ranked #8, how does Mosley get ranked #3 after beating the #8 best fighter in the world? :huh, followed by over 15 months of inactivity. But he was the p4p #3 in the world:lol:
     
    VX.Nefarious, Nov 30, 2011
    VX.Nefarious, Nov 30, 2011
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  13. JASPER

    JASPER Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    I agree, in hindsight he was rated to high, but he did not just beat #8 he totally dominated him that's why there was the big jump up. I think Mosley was on the outside looking in on that list going into that fight and many at the time thought he could beat both PBF and Pac who were 1 and 2.
     
    JASPER, Nov 30, 2011
    JASPER, Nov 30, 2011
    #13