What division has he fought the elite? What division does he belong in? 135? He ducked Linares and Lomachenko. So he is elite based on..... ? Salido? Lipinets? Broner? Easter? He sure didn’t look elite to me in any of those fights, and that’s certainly not elite opposition. Mikey belongs at the Burrito table in the retirement home.
If a lesser fighter like linares can drop loma then mikey who's better and punches harder can to. Do you see how that works? Mikey has good timing so that more than makes up for his lack of pure speed he also has great fundamentals and a great jab. I have my doubts about loma being able to hurt mikey. Spence punches much harder than loma to the head and body and mikey stood up to it. Mikey has a better chance of stopping loma than the other way around.
I think your comparison of resumes vs actual in-ring performances is spot on. I’m assuming you’re a Brit, while I’m an American so I can really only speak more so to US fighters but I’m sure there’s some common ground, too. I’d say what we’re seeing with fighters not fighting the best and holding out for big money really began with Roy Jones Jr and was absolutely perfected by mayweather. Both Roy and Floyd were phenoms when they were young but as they got older they were able to rest on their laurels. Roy refused to fight outside of America and Floyd took that to the next level by refusing to fight out of his own state...and hbo was more than happy to enable them. Maybe Calzaghe fits this bill? Ultimately Roy never really did get the big PPV money and would suffer two back to back humiliating defeats. The thing about about Floyd is that when he was young he really was incredible, but he never really resonated with boxing fans, to say nothing of the general public. Floyd was able to play up his undefeated record, coupled with a pro wrestling heel persona, to the point that people were now finally interested in seeing his fights - but only to see him lose. From 135 - 154 it was said of Floyd that he ducked so many opponents that every time he opened his mouth you expected to hear him quack! However, it didn’t matter to hbo; they’d promote fighters like Guerrero, Marquez and Ortiz as legitimate threats while guys like Margarito, Williams and of course prime Pacquiao were blatantly avoided. Floyd had no problem saying he only cared about the money, he shouldn’t have to fight guys who had losses, that he was better than Leonard and Duran and he was worried about his health etc. It turned out to be sheer marketing genius on Floyd’s part. He would go onto become the greatest ppv star the sport has ever seen, all the while cherry picking opponents that sound good on paper but realistically had no chance. This younger generation is following in his footsteps without really putting their time in early like Floyd did. A defeat on a fighter’s record is perceived as having to go to the back of the line. This why Joshua and Wilder won’t fight each other; and why should they? They can both make millions not fighting each other. If one were to decisively beat the other that’d pretty much be the end of their careers. Same with Spence and Crawford. The fight game is different now, and frankly I really don’t blame the fighters and their promoters. However, I never pay to watch them and haven’t in years. That’s my take, bud.
Garcia is not elite. Full stop. He's a plodder, 1-2 puncher, that fights in straight lines. That's it. He's slow and un-athletic. It's quite simple, he chose to take a physical beating rather than get his ears boxed off at 135lbs by a truly elite boxer. I don't blame him at all. Loma would shut him out and embarrass him, not put a beating on him. And let's be honest, how bad was the "beating" when Garcia never even hit the canvas, let alone be knocked out. This fight said more about Spence than Garcia. Haymon has no fighters at 140lbs. If Garcia can still make 135lbs I fully believe he'll feed Mikey to Vasily. I cannot wait.
If a fighter like Martinez can drop Garcia, then what can a better and harder puncher in Lomachenko do? Do you see how that works? Lomachenko dines out on fundamental fighters. It was purely speed and surprise that allowed Linares to land that shot. Garcia is slow and unathletic. Lomachenko will also land with more ease and at different angles compared to what Spence could.
That is absolutely spot on what iam getting at, you get my point. calzaghe probably the best UK comparison tbf but I think the difference is that even as the champion I think calzaghe was rarely the draw in his biggest fights, his style wasn't exactly easy on The eye. I mean he was a difficult watch for any one. What you say about Floyd is spot on, and the new generation. It's a shame but that's how it is now.
Go ahead, Loma has one of the best resumes in the sport. Then you take into account the context, when he did it and how he did it. A big part of being elite is not just what you win, but how you win. Loma is pound for pound because of that.
He’s elite at 135 and could potentially be at 140. Has no business at Welter. Would get embarrassed by more than just Spence there.
Disagree. Garcia is tough and can take shots. But quite a few times clearly Spence didn't want to stop him. At times he was hurting Garcia and could have easily turned it up and stopped him, but then just stopped and went back to boxing. I got the sense from teh mid rounds he just wanted to show everyone he could outbox the guy.
Spence, arguably an elite talent himself and two weight classes above Mikey should have KO'd him by all accounts, so the fact that Mikey made it to the last bell is a testament to his skillset IMO and evidence that he is, at the very least, a borderline elite talent. I can't think of many other fighters who could have moved up two weight classes and survived 12 rounds with Spence and therefore it's sad to see so many people shitting all over Mikey now (and Spence too for that matter.)
