Has an empty void opened with the now passing of this generation of boxers?

You don't realise how good you have it, until they're gone.

I grew up watching Bruno, Tyson, Holyfield, Benn, Eubank, Bowe, Lewis and more.

 

The energy you have on this subject is shared greatly here where I am. I literally have been discussing this with my peers for a while.

In every sport, the diehard fans of that sport see someone as being the "face of....." for that era of the sport. And the only way from them to get over losing that athlete is to see a similar type athlete, step into position to showcase that he is the next man up.

You look at the NBA transitioning from the Magic/Bird era, to MJ, to Kobe/Duncan, to Lebron, to Curry, etc....

NFL's most recent transition of the Brady era to what they are now suggesting to be Mahomes.......

Today's boxing, the new generation have done nothing to solidify themselves as being "Next man up"...... Most of them are screaming about not getting paid a certain amount. Others are claiming some other guy is avoiding them. And there are others who lack the discipline to showcase how talented and valued they can be if they stayed focused. We don't outright see a new generation of fighters who all are out for blood. Looking to face the best and only the best. I mean, media is giving hype to everyone these days for doing nothing. We are seeing Ryan Garcia becoming a PPV star and he doesn't have a single thing in the ring that showcases he's elite from any of his peers. They so badly want Boots to be the new Terence Crawford, but he clearly doesn't have the tools that Crawford has. The heart, IQ, willing to face the best regardless of the situation.

Canelo, AJ, Crawford, Fury, etc..... They ride off into the sunset, where do we look to for a representation of the greatness of the sport.

 

Boots Ennis, if he's active enough will be the face of boxing. Inoue is still around. Can't think of too much else though.

 

We are exiting a golden age of boxing in the higher weight classes. 175, 200 and HW have been on fire for the last 10 years. In that time we've seen prime versions of Kovalev, Ward, Gvozdyk, Beterbiev, Bivol, Briedis, Opetaia, Gassiev, Dorticos, Usyk, Fury, Joshua. That is an impressive group of fighters right there.

 

Haney is the man. He really does take on all-comers and I can f with that

 

Those expecting Boots to be the face of boxing will have their heart broken drastically.

He's all smoke and mirrors. Highly athletic and a decent talent, but has many holes in his game. Zero desire to jump in the ring with legit threats. And has zero accountability for lack luster performances against talents that on paper he's supposed to deliver a masterclass showcase in.

Those things will keep him from showcasing himself to be an elite talent. There are guys who openly called him out as a welterweight that he refused to acknowledge and/or brushed off (Blair Cobbs, Rashidi Ellis, Brian Norman Jr, etc...) while also claiming that elites were avoiding him even though he knew he was no where in reach of getting those fights because he had nothing to offer (Spence, Crawford, Thurman......) Then he's literally offered fights with specific opponents and he has so many different excuses on why now is not the right time to negotiate for the fight (Crawford, Vergil Ortiz, Thurman......).

Until he proves himself vs above average talent, or at least someone he isn't drastically bigger than naturally, then I find it hard for me to expect him to deliver an elite career. He's moved up to 154lbs officially now. Keith Thurman, a man hungry to get back on the big stage sent out an open invitation for a negotiation upon him moving up. Vergil Ortiz wanted to get down by the end of this year. Lord knows that Errol Spence Jr. would like nothing more than to finally wash the stink of his last showing off of his skin vs a legit talent. These guys are all available along with Madrimov, Josh Kelly, Conor Benn........All ranked opponents. But he's chasing Usima Lima.......

 

There are no rising talents with clear superstar potential and it's extremely disappointing for all boxing fans (regardless of if you're a Canelo fan, a Fury fan, an AJ fan...) Ryan Garcia is basically a lost cause at this point, he had the biggest potential to cross over into the mainstream out of all the 135-140 prospects from that era.

I'm not a fan of his, but I think Brian Norman Jr. has the potential to become a star if his power carries up well to 154 and 160. He's a big welterweight and KO'ing Haney would give his profile a massive boost.

Adam Azim could become a big star in the UK if he continues winning, I think he's a flawed boxer myself but he's got the fast hands and the potential to collect belts if moved up and managed properly. Same thing for Abdullah Mason in the US, they both have solid power and are young enough to where they can improve and become legitimate elite boxers.

Looking deeper into prospect territory, it's still extremely early days, but Jahmal Harvey has the chance to become a decently big name as well if he markets himself well. He's got the amateur experience, is American, and has all the natural talent to succeed in the pros (judging based off his amateur career).

Kenneth Llover is a prospect from the Philippines and has done well against some regional-level opposition in Japan, he's very raw but the Philippines has a huge boxing fanbase and he has the chance to capture some of that if he improves (will have to improve significantly for that to happen though.)

Might be a bit too late in his career to make things happen, but Andy Hiraoka is an elite talent at 140 who is ready to take on world-level opposition IMO. He can capture the Japanese boxing fanbase if he keeps winning, he speaks English and so can be marketed in the West as well, and is big enough to move up many weight divisions (he is absolutely enormous for 140 and could definitely see him getting up to middleweight or super-middleweight if his chin can handle it).

 

Turki also said as much in that interview with Coppinger, said that things like shobox shutting down had an impact on the next generation coming up. I believe there are great fighters out there, but the sport doesn't have the right infrastructure to bring these fighters up properly. If they show talent early on they are too protected in matchmaking and if they don't go down that path then they struggle to get opportunities

 

Also if there were finally some unification at 135 then shakur or Lamont roach or whoever came out on top could be a bigger star. A shame Lamont was robbed against tank and now tank won't give him a rematch

 

For those of us who mainly follow HW and CW,

I think things will be fine.

And surprises always come along....

 

I don't think Lamont has the style or the power to become a big star, but he could definitely do decently well if he beats Shakur and the other guys at 135. A big issue is that Shakur himself is not a star at all so beating him wouldn't do much for Roach to increase his popularity with casuals.

 

If you think Itauma doesn't have star potential you are either insane or need to get on a strong anti-depressant.

 

Didn't include him because he was mentioned in the original post, he would obviously be the first name on such a list but I don't think he's a sure thing either. He's got a Dubois-level personality and so will have to continue winning in spectacular fashion to reach AJ or Fury-level popularity, he's also got Ben Davison as his trainer so there's a decent chance he gets blasted out horribly at some point in his career

 

hw has been horrid.