Dave Allen's loss on Saturday, and Jamie Moore's towel had me thinking… Jamie would have known the levels involved. Although, I don’t actually believe David thought he could beat Hergovic, a scenario could play out, that he thought he could. Jamie would envisage how the punishment would entail, and be ready with the towel. You would think most of the time, the boxer would have that belief (ego), when his coach thought otherwise. The coach is paid to train, and possibly, massage that ego, whilst also knowing he doesn’t stand a chance. If the coach was a realest his training methods and tactics could be different, with fighting for survival/damage limitations, instead of going for the win. If not subtle, the boxer would surely see that. However, sometimes during training, a trainer may boost the fighters output and confidence, resulting in a more realistic belief. There also must be cases where the boxer knows he doesn't have a chance, but the coach isn't on the same wavelength. This could lead to so many scenarios. Wrong tactics, fallouts, injuries etc. Total delusion from just the coach or both, is an interesting concept, almost cult like. It even working sometimes, perhaps! In boxing history there are surely some coaches who feel guilt over their prep and in-fight guidance. Or, are most coaches simply ‘for-hire’. They will be real with you but train that 5% chance of a win to the absolute max. I could go a lot further with this (and could!), but I’m sure you get the message! Any examples we can think of?
Interesting post. I think boxing on the professional level is so dangerous, that some need that cult-mentality to be able to compete. I'm thinking of wilder with his 'speak it, believe it, receive it'. I'm thinking of joshua who sounded like brainwashed to me a few times. Charles Martin spoke of himself as a god, though that seemed different, more authentic, I guess. Maybe it is not coaches, but sports psychologists? I would like to see a documentary about those in boxing. But won't happen, too intimate I assume. And btw concerning dave allen: 1 Hrgovic needed an opponent to look good against before itauma 2 hrgovic needed to appeal to the british audience before itauma 3 hrgovic needed some marketability (maybe as the bad guy another brit could take revenge against, like the japanese like to build it up) 4 dave allen by now can act as an identification figure for the common brit 5 dave allen by now has an image where he can easily say 'he was better than me' and it rather works in his favor as he comes across authenticly That all might mean, that how the fight played out is exactly how it should have played out. At least I don't see any loser here. Dave allen can easily take any fight next.
Both Dave’s trainer and the ref were aware of how bad the mismatch was, were watching sharply from the very beginning to see when to stop it. At one point you could even see the ref look over to Dave’s corner, like “you want to toss in the towel or you want me to stop it?”
all of this is true. Except, I dunno, if I was a fan who paid for a ticket, I’d have been disappointed at Dave’s performance. He fought like a guy who wasn’t trying and just showed up to take his beating and check. If he’d really fought his heart out for a few rounds and it got stopped, that’s fine, he tried. But it doesn’t even seem he tried. credit to Hrgovic for understanding the homework assignment — look big, scary, devastating, like a bully. And he did. Haven’t seen him fight quite like that.
I feel in the case of Allen the trainers job is to get his man in the best shape possible and then on fight night protect him. Hes a past prime domestic level gatekeeper whose known for being tough. A smart and responsible trainer would know the stakes and risks involved and prep his guy and motivate and give advice but also know when it's over Different scenario to say Wardley where he was a world title holder, undefeated, dropped his opponent twice and landed the occasional bomb while having a history of carrying his power deep. The corner made a different calculation based on those circumstances
I just felt Allen was so outgunned. There was a moment in the first round where he awkwardly raised his right hand to gage the range and then just didnt even throw it. Hrgovic was taller and longer and unlike Mahkmudov who stood in punching range and traded, Hrgovic never gave up his height. Allen was just a slown sitting duck
Absolutely - i said id directly after the fight: if i had payed for a ticket i would be annoyed. On the other hand i wouldn't have payed to go to that fight. It was exactly as to be expected and no one should be surprised
