It didn't really change anything IMO. Welliver and Botha looked like 'biggest loser' contestants. In any other sport they wouldn't even be allowed to compete.
Hi Manu Vatuvei I have my answer for you. , I don't know about IB but if we don't hold these guys to a higher standard Australian and New Zealand boxing will continue along in the doldrums like it has forever. Lets face it we ,are not very good at boxing and the best way to fix that is face up to the facts. We need a dose of reality !
Well he is headlining PPVs, for starters. Before he fought Botha, as well, IIRC, the self-promotion got a bit overblown and there was talk of Williams on the fast track headed for success beyond the shores of the Oceania region. Obviously that hot air mostly deflated with the Botha showing, and Williams tucking his tail and returning to his primary vocation for two years indicated that his lesson was learned with the assumption being that he would leave well enough alone with his unbeaten record and one semi-live body faced stepping up to international grade competition and having squeaked by and (by hook or by crook...or crookedness) survived. So for him to return, it begs the question - why? Hence my question in the OP. If he is just fleecing gullible fans with more of this "road to a world title" rubbish he was talking prior to Botha and using his rugby celebrity to bilk them, it offends me and should offend all of us as boxing fans, as it basically denigrates and makes light of the sport for him to breeze in and rack up a padded record and declare himself a crossover success with no intentions of actually testing himself.
Fair enough. I guess I see things in terms of how they actually are as opposed to buying into any of the hype. But I take your point that the hype has been excessive and these fights are not PPV level, and that maybe some people are being sucked in by it. For me, I know that these fights are not PPV-standard and I think I have a realistic view of the level of SBW's opponents so far. It seems to me that if we strip away all the hype, what you have is a total novice winning something like 16 out of 18 rounds against 2 very experienced fighters. Yes, both were overweight and one was ancient, but we are talking about a COMPLETE NOVICE here, up against guys who know a bit about what they're doing. To me, strip away the hype and that's still impressive. So I guess: I'm looking at SBW as "clueless non-boxer having a go against experienced journeymen and, for the most part, totally outboxing them" and on it's own terms, that's impressive. As far as what he's "playing at"- not sure, but SBW's own comments have been along the lines of "I know I'm not a real boxer and I just want to challenge myself, I don't have any pretensions of being a future champ or anything". So while the promotion of his fights surely outstrips the reality, the man himself seems to understand where he stands.
Nah...Chauncey has posted here on occasion, and seems far more realistic about his ability than MesserStick ever has.
he's entitled to box or not box whenever he likes. he boxes cause he enjoys the challenge of something different. nothing wrong with self promotion either. its going to pay off bigtime for Shannon briggs. every other boxer in every other country has a padded record, its the way boxing is now unfortunately. u get 1 loss and the critics make it seem like its career over.