Groves p4p top 10 if he wins WBSS?

This forum tends to sleep on fighters every once in a while. Hunter is a solid fighter but nobody on here was giving him any credit before the fight was made. It's similar to Sullivan Barrera. Nobody here hyped Barrera, therefore Ward got little credit for beating him. Now he's a solid contender. That's despite the fact that ThunderDomeBoxing pointed out that Barrera was a real talent back when Pascal won a controversial decision over Gonzalez. ThunderDome had to point out that Gonzalez wasn't the best Cuban prospect at LHW despite all the hype being given to him. Similarly, Hunter has potential to be considered in the same ranking as guys like Glowacki, which wouldn't make that fight look as bad on Usyks resume.

Then there's also the point that no fighter climbs the ranks without struggling on the way up. Not a single one. By which you'd have to credit a fighter with what they have achieved and not by who they struggled against in the past. In which case Briedis knocked out a legit HW then racked up solid wins against Duradola, Perez, and faded Huck.

I also think Usyks future Heavyweight hype is founded by his history of doing much better against larger fighters in the Amateurs.

 

What is the modern boxing fans obsession with the "P4P" rankings? Serious question.

 

I'm not saying that Hunter is poor, just that he's a B guy on his very best night and that Usyk's reputation is that of a fighter who should've looked less fallible against that kind of opponent (which isn't tantamount to saying he's utter crap, nothing but a hypejob or untalented, but rather that some have gotten carried away with him).

For that matter, I've never thought of Briedis as anything but a solid B fighter. Usyk is a highly regarded talent in general, but he tends to receive especial fanfare on these pages (so much so that to offer any kind of critical assessment of him is to risk heated rebuke or recrimination), and I think that accounts for a lot of the loftier esteem that Briedis receives here.

I think Usyk and Gassiev are a solid grade above the rest of the guys in this tournament. And I believe in Gassiev as a long-term concern beyond the Usyk fight. But we'll see what happens.

 

Going to hold my breath (and die of lack of oxygen) before anyone ever remotely gives me a good answer to my P4P question.

 

This is one of the biggest things that attract me to Usyk. Any fighter that I think is likely to come back from a loss just as motivated as they were before is a fighter worth investing time into watching and hyping. As soon as Usyk stepped onto the pro scene we knew he would eventually make it to HW. We're just along for the ride. Same with Gassiev now. I liked Gassiev before but I'll admit when he said he is going to HW soon my interested in him piqued.

 

I'd ideally like to see Gassiev stick around at CW a while and boss the division that Usyk leaves behind (assuming the final plays out as expected), at least for as long as he can safely make weight, but I can't blame him for wanting to be where the money is.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing him face Briedis before he moves up myself.

 

Groves can't move up to lightweight, it would not work, Bivol, Kovalev, etc. would kill him! P4P, what really does that mean. As far as ability, Lomachenko has the best skills, by far...............

 

It's like an "overall rating" in a sports video game.

It makes for good debate. It's like the lineal title in that it isn't tangible. It holds merit when people judge and then rationalize their rankings based on comparing the resumes and accomplishments of boxers. Once folks start talking "eye test" when actually ranking fighters, they lose me though.

Lot of it also to do with 17 divisions and fighters jumping from one to another like a skipping stone. Also with most fighters often competing a few pounds above the limit of the division where they campaign for eliminators, titles, and high profile bouts.

 

No division is weak.

 

Not for me.

 

I think part of the reason is the shattering of the championships in the divisions, which leads to very little clarity of who the actual elite boxers are in the world today.
With so many beltholders walking around like haystraws in a haystack, P4P hands you a neat (although very flawed) list of who the actual leaders of the pack are, which obviously leads to fans wanting "their" fighter to be considered for it as being an actual elite boxer.

But as I already mentioned, it's very flawed.

 

In all sports you find the most interest is around the highest quality. To watch the highest level of auto racing you have the F1, tennis you have the grand slams, golf the majors etc..

Because of the amount of weight classes (and organisations), we are deprived of the same thing in boxing. People are always going to try to fill the void by talking about who are the 'best' boxers, hence the p4p lists.

 

He won't beat Smith.

 

It's a marketing tool for certain big name fighters. Nothing more, nothing less.

And people shouldn't really care about this subjective nonsense but they do because both fighters and their promoters shove it down our throats.