Why is boxing the only sport that celebrates willful lack of preparation?

If Tom Brady lost a few Super Bowls throwing bad interceptions because he didn’t study film and skipped or half-assed it through practices, would he be Tom Brady? Would people argue that he’s the GOAT?

If Michael Jordan lost a few NBA finals because he showed up overweight and gassed in the fourth quarters from partying, would basketball fans say ‘yeah but he had a great game in the first round and some brilliant performances in the regular season, we should still consider Chicago the champs’?

Would Usain Bolt be considered the best sprinter of all time if he quit before the finish line at the Olympics with no apparent injury because he was falling behind, and it was really he was just winded from not training long/hard enough?

Yet in boxing, so many fans twist themselves into pretzel to try to convince themselves (and others) that what actually happens in the ring doesn’t matter (as much as what they think WOULD have happened if their guy had actually trained) because the guy who lost wasn’t professional enough to prepare for the fight. Which is literally his job, and in the case of most of these high-profile guys in high-profile fights (every world title fight should be considered enough to spend the proper amount of time in the guy, you’d think) … they’re mostly pretty highly compensated to do that job.

In any other sport, fans would boo a player out of their city if they lost because some highly-paid athlete underperformed because he didn’t give a ****. Guys like that are vilified. Torn to shreds on social media and in the press and on call-in radio shows.

In boxing, it’s like a Medal of Honor to not train hard and then lose because of it.

(At least in some cases. You never see Mike Tyson fans go out of their way to say how Buster Douglas was better than Evander Holyfield but he decided to gorge himself and not train so the result isn’t real … if they bring it up at all, it’s to minimize Holyfield’s win rather than to defend Buster, even though he was very obviously obese and hadn’t trained, which wasn’t the case with Tyson in Japan.)

Why is that? Why do boxers, and only boxers, seem to not only get a pass but maybe even get elevated for not preparing and losing because of their own behavior? Why do so many celebrate Roberto Duran despite all the times they admit he didn’t properly prepare and yet guys like Marvin Hagler who sacrificed and trained like a demon to make sure he was ALWAYS prepared have far less support in a place like this?

Boxing is a sport that demands discipline. Without it, you cannot be great … unless your gifts are such that you always overcome it. In boxing, guys train for hours each day for weeks and months to get ready for 30 to 45 minutes of action (only 36 since 15-rounders went away). In football, they practice for a few hours a few days a week for each game. Baseball and basketball even less — batting practice for an hour or so beforehand, or a shoot-around. Every boxer knows this when they sign up for the sport. So why are they forgiven for that?

What about the people who bought tickets to see them fight? Or purchased a PPV? Or paid for a streaming service, or even just gave up some time on their day off because they want to see their favorite fighter show his stuff? The boxer who doesn’t prepare is giving all of us the middle finger and then turning around and dropping his pants … and some people pucker up and kiss his ass for it.

I don’t get it. I cannot in any way wrap my mind around it. So if you’re one of those who defends fighters for not caring and not preparing, help me understand why you celebrate them.

 

I wonder if this is also a combat sport thing in general. Would any MMA or kickboxing fans like to tell us if this happens in those sports too?

 

I don't recall a lack of preperation ever being celebrated in the sport.

The sheet hurts as soon as your adrenaline wears off, but you saw the Fight Doctor while your veins were full of it. And you were cleared.

 

I’m not talking about the fight doctor clearing a fighter after the fight.

I’m talking about Roberto Duran showing up out of shape and losing and people saying it doesn’t count because he didn’t train. Same with Mike Tyson losing to Buster Douglas. Just two easy examples.

 

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I don't recall anybody celebrating Durans lack of conditioning for certain bouts.

Tyson was not sharp, there is a difference.

With the fight doctor, you'd have to have been there.

 

OK, pick another word for it … any word you’d like.

But in every other sport, a guy who loses because he couldn’t be arsed to train or prepare for a contest is condemned. In boxing, to say the least his ‘sins’ of this type are often ignored and the results, in the minds of many, are dismissed.

Try to discuss Ray Leonard’s no-mas win over Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson’s lost to Buster Douglas and Roy Jones Jr’s win over James Toney and you’ll find a ton of people saying we shouldn’t give credit to the winner and we shouldn’t discredit the loser … because someone didn’t bother to train the way they should have.

Give me some examples in other sports where it’s like that. Show me some athletes who had terrible results in big games/matches/competitions because they didn’t train for them who are revered, and those results are not held against their legacy.

 

You didn't need to mention names for (most of) us to know who you meant

 

Do we count esports? Because I think there's a case for ssbm being like this. If that's too nerdy then forget I said anything. You didn't see this.

 

All sports do this. Doing well effortlessly or taking shortcuts means you are more talented. While working hard is something less talented people do to make up for their lack of talent. Because talent means you are good without trying.

Its a very broad cultural trope that is constantly reinforced in media and culture.

 

Shaq used to come into training camp over weight after eating a dozen Crispy Cremes everyday. Kobe said he would be the GOAT if he took basketball seriously. Shawn Kemp and "Big Country" Reeves used to get ripped on for eating themself out of the league

The Fridge got ripped on all the time by Bears fans for his weight yet he became a national sensation for a couple of years.

David Wells used to get ripped on for being overweight and drinking between starts. He got a free pass when he had a bad pitching performance

 

Withi the possible exception of Shaq (which I will address), I think you’re making my point — all of these examples you mention were ripped apart by fans/experts/pundits. In Perry’s case he became a bit of a 15-minutes-of-fame celebrity but it wasn’t for his football prowess so much. Probably more like some celebrity boxers (which didn’t he do that too?).

Shaq was often criticized for his lack of prep. I recall tons of commentary around how he should practice free throws, which he was awful at. Again, like Fridge Perry, but to a greater degree, Shaq was eventually more of a celebrity/personality for his size who happened to get introduced to the public through basketball.

Completely on point: you cite Kobe saying Shaq could have been the greatest if he had prepared but you don’t see him discussed as an ATG … conversely, Duran is debated as one of the greatest ever as if No Mas and Kirkland Lang never happened and those and other losses are dismissed because of his sloth, and many figure Tyson nearly (or completely) unbeatable in his prime, shrugging off Tokyo because they say he didn’t train properly.

 

I'm sure Riddick Bowe would say otherwise.

 

Riddick lost one fight out of 44 and I’ve never seen anyone give him a pass on it for not being in shape.

I don’t see how he fits the equation at all.

 

I see your point, though I’ve seen it in other sports too, specifically football/soccer.
In England, Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne was a prime example of it. Further back, George
Best too. Both acknowledged as having drinking problems which affected their performances, which paradoxically made them even greater in the eyes of many (“imagine how many goals he’d have scored if he’d been in shape” etc).

I think boxing has the added angle of fan and pundits treating fantasy (H2H) as being as valid as fact (actual fights that happen), and it’s jarring when they don’t line up.