Agreed, it really only looked good in hindsight after Zhang beat Joyce if I'm honest. But even before Zhang, Hrgovic had done more. I used to be really hopeful and optimistic about Hrgovic when, at such an early stage of his career he was beating guys like Molina and Mansour in impressive fashion. For me he was the clear number 1 heavyweight out of the 2016 Olympics, but then his career just stagnated and he never made that next step. Jalolov right now hasn't even fought anyone with the name recognition of Molina and Mansour at the time Hrgovic fought them, which is abysmal.
Exactly... Hrgovic hasn't done nearly enough for how much hype he's getting, but at least he'd done SOMETHING! Jalolov has done nothing at all at pro to suggest he's not the next Yoka or Solis. Nor has Hrgovic, really - at least he finally looks like he might be stepping it up. People seem to forget that some Olympic champs go on to prove a lot and some go on to achieve next to nothing - it's dangerous to assume that Olympic gold and looking good against a few bums makes for a world class contender.
If they have the goods, they will do well. The Kilts, Kovalev, Golovkin, Loma all have done well. So, I don't think where he is from has much to do with it. He may just be in that spot where he is high risk, low reward. Too bad, would have been nice to see dude doing his thing in the pro ranks. Hopefully he comes back after the Olympics.
I hate this saying. Not because it's not true... But because it's usually used as an excuse instead of a criticism. If we break it down a bit. High risk means: - He might be good... And nobody really knows quite how good, yet. Low reward means: - He's not a big name, so doesn't bring in much attention. - He's demanding too big a cut. - He hasn't achieved very much as a pro, so won't really even improve someone's resume much for beating him. So what are the solutions? - Find a way to raise profile so he brings more attention. Maybe being a double olympic gold winner would do that, but it's a risky strategy because if he fails to win then he might've wasted 4 years for nothing. - Build more of a pro resume, so he'd be harder to dismiss on someone's resume - and bring in more attention and money. Whatever way you want to slice it, a good fighter with a low profile has ****ed up by refusing to get their hands dirty.
Agree. Guys that are low profile need to fight more. Beat whoever they put in the ring with them. Pad the ol resume while you wait. Get 30-40 fights under your belt then start making the demands.
The Klitschkos don’t really count as they had German boxing in the palm of their hand and could sellout 40k seat arenas every fight. That was a unique situation that doesn’t exist anymore. Kovalev had problems getting quality opponents earlier in his career and was financially exploited very badly by his promoter Kathy Duva. Golovkin was avoided by top fighters until his 35th birthday. The only one who was managed decently was Loma but he’s suffered a number of controversial losses to North American fighters. If you’re not from US or UK in HW boxing today and don’t speak English it’s almost not worth turning pro.
He'll be even more marketable if he wins another gold medal and it's not like the HW division isn't log jammed right now anyways. I don't see the big deal.
Won't change his marketability at all. The ugly muffin has plenty of gold medals. Fair dues to him given he's actually the first legit gold medalist in olympic super heavy boxing since 2008, given 2012 & 2016 were corrupt & proven so decisions. He needs to make himself more marketable by having a ding dong with someone on a Domestic British fight card given we currently do the best job at promoting heavyweights.