Real Recognizes Real: The Truth Is There For All To See-Boxers Passing The Eye Test.

I see the same refrain over and over again in regard to new up and coming prospects who receive a lot of hype from their supporters, who've all yet to face a top opponent, and sometimes even with a somewhat established fighter who's been around for awhile who've yet to be able to lure a marquee name into the ring with them. They say he's unproven at the top level of the sport, or I bet he'll fail the moment he steps up...... and every time he steps up in class and passes the test... there will always be some new excuse from the haters as to why he still hasn't shown them that he's the real deal. They never run out of them, every time the fighter whom they may dislike passes the said test, instead of giving them credit that is due for scoring the touchdown, they move the goalpost down the field another 2 or 300 yards. Anything they can do to discredit them... they'll do.

All that manages to do is make them look less informed about the sport they claim to love, their willful ignorance or intellectual dishonesty or plain old obstinance only serves one unintended purpose, it makes them appear to "not know **** about boxing". Because if they did... all they would have to do is open their eyes and see what's right in front of them, the true level of talent in a prospect or a derided fighter is usually abundantly obvious at first glance, if you know what you're looking for. But sometimes I get the idea that the supposed fans of the sweet science, are only aficionados in the style that they prefer and oblivious to the level of skill it takes to perform the styles that they find distasteful, most seem to think any fighter who pressures his opponent to be a slow dunderheaded barbarian plodder who is completely lacking finesse and skill, they refuse to see what's before them, the ability it takes to effectively cut off a ring, to walk down their opponents, to corner their opponents and land with accuracy, to set traps for their opponents, to land on a retreating target, to parry and then counter the counters... all of these things are just as hard as if not harder to accomplish than the art of hitting and not getting hit. To land on someone who doesn't want to get hit takes an equal amount of skill. But they'll never get even one modicum of credit from some fans, which I find sad as... yes a fan of both styles.


Real Recognizes Real - Unproven Prospects
How can anyone who claims to be a fan of Boxing not be able to process the level of a fighter by merely looking at them, I don't need to see a long list of wins over established A-side fighters to know that when I see Oleksandr Usyk, Julian Williams, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Naoya Inoue, Antoine Douglas, Gervontae Davis, Errol Spence Jr. Sammy Vasquez Jr., Jermall Charlo, Vasyl Lomachenko, Michel Soro, Billy Joe Saunders that I'm looking at a top talent that may very well be next level, usually with most future greats the moment they step in the ring its apparent. Wladimir Klitschko, Mike Tyson, Holyfield, Calzaghe, Roy Jones Jr., Floyd Mayweather, Andre Ward, Rigondeaux, and yes even Cotto you didn't need to see them beat any and every one put in front of them to know they were special, it was obvious. They all passed he eye test, I didn't need to see a long ass resume, I could tell it just by looking at them.

Which is why it infuriates me when people still slam Kovalev, Golovkin, Kell Brook, even Canelo all been tagged with the they're unproven, who knows how good they really are, who knows what their ceiling is, line of of bull****. If you can't see how good those guys really are then maybe Boxing isn't for you. They are all special talents and maybe most could see that if you'd junk all of your biases and would take the blinders off and trust your gut instincts. They all pass the eye test, and sometimes that's all you need.


A Few Examples.
Kell Brook has been a pro for over a decade and he happens to still be undefeated, and he also happens to be avoided by many top fighters. Khan fans decry him and try to make it seem like he's afraid of a challenge due to fighting his mandatories and doing what he has to do to keep his belt, a belt he won off of a guy who has wins over Adrien Broner, Paulie Malignaggi and Devon Alexander. Which means Porter is no pushover and a win over him is worth quite a lot, far more than a win over Alexander who was beaten by Porter or a faded Collazo certainly do. And then his detractors turn around and throw off on his list of wins over "bums" like Gavin or Dan or Senchenko or Hatton, failing to mention that he continually manages to beat them all usually in highlight reel fashion far more efficiently that all of the opponents they've lost to in the past. Kell is the real deal if you can't see that then you're blind, he's as skilled as any of the top operators at WW and in all likelihood beats most of them, including Khan, but he will continue to be denied.


Billy Joe Saunders he's as slick as they come and one of the trickiest fighters in the Middleweight division, his two drawbacks are he fights down to the level of his opponents far too often, its so easy for him to school his opponents he bags the first 6 or 7 rounds with ease, he seals the deal and then proceeds to take his foot off the gas and go into cruise control. But instead admiring his level of skill in handling Lee with ease for the first 6 rounds they pretend to not see it and only focus on his laziness as they attempt to manipulate the situation to say he lacks skill, when in reality he's almost too good and he gets bored and gets lazy. Brilliant fighter that is rarely given the credit he deserves.

Vasyl Lomachenko is frequently diminished because he lost a Spilt Decision to Orlando Salido in his SECOND match, the same Salido who was giving Mikey Garcia a hard time, Gamboa a hard time, KO'd Juanma twice, and beat a young Robert Guerrero. Not to mention that he came into the ring ballooned up to a Welterweight after not even attempting to make weight, he had Laurence Cole as a referee who happens to be terrible who proceeds to let him hit Loma in the nuts over a 100 times, and yet by the end he was gassing and hanging on for dear life trying survive in the last two rounds as Loma was working him over. But this is the reality, Lomachenko beats every Featherweight in the division, and the division knows this, which is why he is being avoided by the whole division. If you think that an amateur record of 396-1 isn't an indication of a boxers level of skill, then what the hell is wrong with you? If the combinations, hand speed, angles, footwork, don't wow you, then you're just a hater.

Usyk is capable of beating the majority of, if not all the Cruiserweight division, and a good number of HW's, only a mere 9 fights into his pro career, he probably could have with only 1, not because CW is weak, but he's just that damn good. He is the definition of next level, and What? doesn't being the 2012 GOLD MEDALIST at Heavyweight count for anything anymore?

Inoue wiped out Light Flyweight with ease and will in all probability wipe out Super Flyweight with ease, after all he debuted in the division by beating the champion, and its not because Narvaez was bad, its because Inoue is just that good. And he could have probably beaten Narvaez 2 or 3 fights into his pro career, because he's got "it". He's as special as they come, he's the definition of a prodigy.

Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Dmitry Bivol are relatively unknown Light Heavyweight contenders and both of them could easily beat the majority of the top 20 fighters in the division, their level of skill is that great, the only fighters that could trouble them are Kovalev, Beterbiev, Ward and Stevenson, and personally I believe both would walk through Stevenson with relative ease. They pass the eye test with flying colors. It's a pity they're being moved along so slowly they could partially conquer the division tomorrow.

Errol Spence Jr. is capable of beating almost any of the top Welterweights right now with the exception of the top 5, and would proably give them a run for heir money, how do I know this, I can tell just by looking at him. I'm not saying he's the next Money Mayweather but the ingredients are there. Just like most of you see can as well, as long as you're not blinded by your denial.

Felix Verdejo I don't need to see Verdejo beat a laundry list of no hopers and journeymen to know he's special, he's capable of possibly beating everyone in the Lightweight division right now. How can you tell....just open your eyes and look, he could have been a titlist by his third or fourth match.

Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker are both capable of beating almost everyone in the Heavyweight division, although HW is somewhat problematic, because most of them can take you out with one good shot, so they make have their Lennox and Wlad moments, but just like those two, they were the cream of the crop and they both eventually rose to the top in spite of their chinnyness. They both pass the eye test with flying colors.

As with all generalizations this doesn't necessarily apply to every boxer who looks promising, sometimes a good and occasionally even a great prospect may not ultimately live up to the hype, but even then you can usually see the warning signs if you pay close attention. The eye test isn't always 100% spot on, but its usually pretty close to it.


What you see is usually what you get, trust your gut, you know the feeling.... when its the real thing, because real recognizes real. So if you're real you should have no problem processing their greatness even before they've had a chance to showcase it.:deal


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I agree with lep at this point I think Terry beats Linares, that being said, Barroso will tear Crolla apart, which is a pity because I really like Crolla.

 

Feel free to list all the Boxers you think pass the eye test, regardless of resume.

 

PED's didn't give him dem skills doe.:deal

 

Caballero also passed it with flying colors when he beat Haskins conqueror Stuey Hall.:deal

 

atsch That's right, I forgot. He beat him better.:deal