you mean to their disadvantage? Bjs smashed by canelo and Brook by golovkin and with similar injuries too
This post was a generalisation not a reaction to last night. But yeah I don’t think any version of Saunders with conditioning and everything else beats a prime Canelo.
I think its less about how bad BJS is and more about how good Canelo is right now. He punches like a heavyweight, has incredible head movement and just looks unstoppable. I wouldn't be surprised if he stops the likes of Bivol as well. BJS is a class fighter but couldn't land his jab to set anything up, and was flinching at every feint Canelo threw because of the difference in power. Canelo is a monster boxer, nobody can dethrone him right now.
You can't be a two weight world champion AND a waste of talent. The two are pretty much mutually exclusive. He's made many millions out of the sport, is set for life, won two world titles (not to mention every domestic belt before that) so I would actually argue if anything he has somewhat overachieved, at the very least he has absolutely maximized his talent for sure. He is very talented, great boxer, at 160 superb movement and timing but is he a once in a generation talent? The other point which comes to mind immediately is that theoretically if he had lived in the gym, never let his weight go out of control what else, additionally could he have achieved? Would never have unified against the likes of GGG or Canelo even at 160, so his 'lifestyle' outside of the ring in that sense has actually not harmed his career or bank balance as he has been fortunate enough to be superbly matched and backed which has enabled him to have much of the success he has. He has some good names on his resume (e.g. Andy Lee, John Ryder, Eubank Jr., Lemieux), none of them elite but all very respectable.
I think he exemplifies what a talented fighter can achieve if they have a promoter who's willing to match them with the right fighter at the right time. I always believed in BJS despite all the criticism he received believing that one day he would fulfil that potential. That Lemieux fight was his coming out party and then what happened...he didn't fight for a whole year and then turns up weighing 178ib. We had fights falling through, bans, stripped of titles, messing about doing deplorable stuff etc. We've had more bad press, fines, and got to see him labour against Coceres and a retired Martin Murray. That for me is the waste of talent. 4 years of nothing from the age of 27-31 when he could have been having legacy defining fights against the very best.
Great post. People put too much stock into Bill's skills and not his preparation for this fight. His level of of opposition going into the Canelo fight was ludicrous.
He was certainly protected and given every opportunity to thrive. Some fighters go in as the B-Side for most of their career and step up. BJS couldn't handle it mentally when things got rough and it was sad to see as a human. Rest up BJS and go into the horizon for your own health. Mentally, Physically and spiritually.
He's had a **** career in terms of legacy Avoided all the hard fights for the easy ones. Constantly told everyone how great he was and called the big names out for years, finally got himself in the ring with one of em and proceeded to quit on his stool when the going got tough. Never anything more than a good fighter who has cleverly picked his fights.
I stand by the truth, you don't get to become an Olympian without being able to box. Doesn't make Wilder a slick master of the craft but he can box.
Great post @Scissors I know a lot of us have varying opinions on BJS but forgetting everything outside of the ring and just focusing on what he did in it, I found it quite hard watching him crying, god knows what was going on in his head at that moment but it wasn't nice to see. That was his dream, what he'd wanted his whole life and there may have been self reflection spinning around in his head thinking how different this might have been if he'd lived the past 4 months throughout his whole career.
**** him. Not nice to see? With what he's done in the past? Why people feel for that man is a mystery.
What hard fights did he avoid? With his ability he could and should have done more. Certainly should have been more active, and that's caused him later on in his career. In 2013/14 he took 4 opponents unbeaten records off them, which were good level fights at that stage, including Ryder and Eubank. He beat Andy Lee, which was not a gimme. He played with Lemuiax but no doubt he should have had more big fights. I think his lifestyle and a bit of luck caused that not to happen.