Is it better to pull out of a fight at the last minute or fight less than 100%?

Depends how far from 100% they are.

At the end of the day the fans are gonna be pissed off with a late pull-out but they don't want to see a good fight spoiled by one fighter being clearly unfit either.

Last year I saw the ATP Tennis final between Nadal and Federer. Great match on paper but Nadal was clearly knackered after a long semi the day before. It was a crap match, easy win for Federer. Was I made up about that? No...

 

Its swings and roundabouts really. If I was a Foster fan I wouldnt have minded if he pulled out once I got a refund. most of his fans would be local o the area so it wuldnt be too much of an inconvenience. On the other hand, I had already paid for my tickets, flights, hotel etc when Haye pulled out against Wlad first time around and Chagaev got the fight instead. It wasnt too bad since the show went ahead with a good oppponent but if Wlad hadnt found an opponent I would have been stuck in bloody Gelsenkerchen for a weekend and needless to say I would have been very pissed off

 

Pull out. No matter your excuses and the fans let down. You pull out you live to fight another day. You fight on less than 100% you run the risk of getting hurt badly and nobody believes you afterward anyway "Poor loser" is often heard round these parts.

I know what i'd do personally :good

 

It definately a tricky one, the only person that knows (really knows) is the fighter himself.

With regards to Steve Foster Jnr at the weekend he said he'd caught a virus, I dont know the game well enough but it sounded like it impacted his training, but then like others say no training camp is perfect...

It seemed to me that Foster Jnr gassed early, lost his strength and punch resistance, this would have been identified in training.

I think he didnt want to let the fans down, he didnt let the fans down with going ahead with the fight and the show but in the end he did cos he lost the fight, biggest person he let down was himself.

Hope he can learn and come back stronger. When I watched ringside in the week speaking to his dad, his dad said we have 3 years to make as much money as possible then finish. This mentality will continue to ruin boxing.

 

first of all congrats on yesterday. As a big Spurs fan was going nuts when Martins scored that stunner lol.

I would say its extremly rare that a fighter is 100% fit for a fight. If you train that hard your always going to pick up injurys and have little niggles. But I still know what your getting at.

I guess it depends on three key factors

1. Can the fight be re-arranged without destrupting the show to much?

If its a multi title fight show thats not in your home town it would n't be as much of a problem. For Foster Jnr the other fight on the show that could have been a Sky main event (Vassell commonwealth defence) was postponed by a month and if he has pulled out Hatton's would have lost the Sky date. There was also quite a big crowd there on Saturday night all to see a European title fight.

Pretty sure he there been another title fight on the card they would have moved this to April 16th.

2. How good is the opponent your facing?

Pretty sure had Foster's camp seen more of Fegatilli in the build up they would have pulled him out as he is clearly a capable fighter and European level. If it has been the usual B level European/Commonwealth contenders we get most fighters would go ahead at less than 100%

3. Will it effect your career progression and financial gain?

Foster Jnr will have known if he came through this he was going to fight Gary Buckland on the Amir Khan undercard. It would be an excellent fight to boost his profile. There were also whispers of a fight with Mzonke Fana the IBF champion. He needed to get his mandatory out of the way.

 

One thing to point out is that allot of fighters pick up virues in camp and its commonly down to over training. Foster Jnr need to review his camp and his team and pick out what went wrong.

 

what if your the voluntary challanger for a World title and you know it could take years to get that chance again?

 

If a doctor has deemed the fighter unfit to fight then YES that fighter should pull out. Unless that person knows within himself that he can do the fight and wont do the blame game if he lost.

In the case of Foster, he did look knackered after the 7th round but he put in a brave performance to keep in there. Shame really. He did also look like he was going to shed a tear when getting interviewed at the end and he was saying that Hatton promotions had put a lot in to getting that show for him and he felt that he would have been letting everyone down if he pulled out. He surley has to be sore as hell today with all those body shots though.

 

Then i'd assume it had taken me years to get one in the first place and I wouldn't risk my big shot :good

 

various factors. depends on how close to 100% you are and who you are fighting. if its a pick em and your injured or no where near to full fitness then its best to pull out providing its genuine.

if your a heavy favorite and are near full fitness then you should just fight through the pain barring its an injury you could do more damage too

 

Its 5x your previous highest purse. You have a family to feed, mortgage to pay etc. You have personally sold 1000 tickets which you will have to return.

I am not saying your wrong but its not as cut and dry and your making out. Infact if all fighters had that attitude we would be lucky to see 2 cards a month of sky.

 

Audley was sick in the build up to the Haye fight I seem to remember Eddie Hearn mentioning it.

 

:good