Where are the ferocious fighters today?

Remember Edwin Valero

 

What goes around comes around. There will be another one.

 

PAC cut from that same cloth...:smoke But there were more back in the day for sure. Now all we have are grown ass men making excuses to get out of fights or to excuse a loss/poor performance.

 

I wouldn't put Hagler in that category.

 

True, Hagler fought like a man possessed that night


Jorge Arce is one mean little ****er in the ring.

 

I think boxing has become even more promoter-led than before and very resume heavy, with more attention being paid to a paper record (preserving that "0") than fighting the best out there. Fighters are so concerned about winning at whatever cost that they are prepared to turn fights into shutouts in order to maintain their brand and keep their stock high. Floyd Mayweather has arguably been the greatest exponent of this technique. He has systematically avoided many of the big risks to his status (Pacquiao, Cotto, Margarito, Mosley) yet still rakes in huge PPV numbers and is arguably still the biggest draw in boxing.

I think the priority today is the preservation of status as opposed to keeping the fans happy. Pacquiao and David Haye (Valuev and Harrison permitting) are the only two remaining stars I can think of who actively seek a tear-up and fight for the fans. Unfortunately we seem to have top match-ups made all too rarely, and when they are, the fighters seem more eager to prevent a loss than go out and win.

Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the only reason I can see for it. It's not as if we've entered an era of unprecedented technical brilliance!

 

marcos maidana, Carl Froch, pacquiao??

 

Maidana and Ortiz both charge out guns blazing...

 

Normally, I'd put David Lemieux in that category. But I'll wait to see how he develops post-Rubio.