Jack Dempsey quote

"A champion owes everybody something. He can never pay back for all the help he got, for making him an idol." - Jack Dempsey



One of the things I really don't understand is why fans accept awful fights from their favourite fighters. If you look at some of the big names in recent years, most have abused their fanbase by giving them terrible fights that they know will be bought. It's unacceptable and fans on here especially, hardcore fans, shouldn't accept it. Pacquiao shouldn't be fighting Mosley, Haye shouldn't have fought Harrison, Wlad shouldn't be fighting Chisora and Mayweather should be fighting, well...anyone.

You get fans on here defending bull**** fights and it's wrong. They're as big a a problem as the greedy fighters because they actually defend it, making it possible for the elite fighters to no longer pursue hard fights. They're millionaires and they owe us fans something for giving them all the privileges they have in life. I do think certain 'weak' fights can be made, but us fans shouldn't be expected to pay PPV or $100 a ticket to see it happen. That's bull****.

Every time I see threads where fans defend bad fights, I despair. At the end of the day, those fans who are extremely loyal are the ones who lose out the most, yet they accept and actually defend it furiously.

 

Obviously there are deeper issues, yes, but the basic point is that there are a lot of active fighters who are happy to give their fans awful fights because they know the money will still be there and it's wrong. Fans shouldn't accept it either.

 

If the fight was offered tomorrow, yes, of course I would.

Had I been making small amounts of money for years and my family had relied on nothing but the fans in that time period, such as Bradley, then when I was a superstar, I would want to give them the best I could.

To the elite level, multi-millionaire fighters, money shouldn't be the only motive. They should want to keep delivering the best fights to the fans. We make them millionaires, after all, so the least they can do when they get there is deliver the best they can, surely? If you spoke to 100 young fighters and said "Us fans will ensure that one day, you will have tens of millions in the bank but only if you fight the best in your prime", every single one would agree to that sort of deal. Greed takes over somewhere along the line and fighters think it's acceptable to give fans bull**** fights. Sadly, the most loyal fans will always defend it.

 

Good man.

I don't understand why fans are so biased towards their favourites. I like Pavlik, as I've said many times, but we went tooth and nail debating his fight with Martinez, if you remember that. I had no issue picking against him despite being a fan. You're one of the staunchest Pavlik supporters on ESB, yet you obviously had no issue going against the grain and saying fans should boycott the Mora fight. I think that's the sign of a good fan, not someone who accepts every **** deal given to them and defends it for months on end on ESB.

Realistically, Pacquiao fans know he should have rejected the Mosley fight. Haye fans know the Harrison bout was a farce, even if the public wanted it. Wlad fans should not defend him fighting Chisora. I could go on and on here.

I don't know why so many are genuinely happy to defend such poor actions from their fighters. It's sad.

 

Yeah, that was him. He also, humbly, said "I was a very good fighter and the media made me a great fighter" or something along those lines. I'm not sure how many of his fans like to acknowledge that though

I like Dempsey's attitude a lot though. He was a true champion.