Do you guys think that older past their prime superstars like RJJ, Trinidad, DLH, and even Hopkins hurt boxing to an extent because they can prevent young stars like Pac, Pavlik, Cotto, from fully stepping into the spotlight to recieve the deserved respect of the general public. Does preventing a change of the guard hurt the sport at all?
Thats a great point, you think they literally have to force a changing of the guard by defeating them. It make sense which probably explains why its not happening.
I don't really think it does. There are different factors getting in the way of a Mayweather-Cotto matchup, DLH being one of the reasons, but let's look at the big boxing stars in the last 30 years. Muhammad Ali was basically a shot fighter post-Manila in October 1975, but kept fighting until September 1978, then came back to fight Larry Holmes in October 1980 and fought again in 1981. Ray Leonard became a big star in America coming out of the Olympics in 1976. 2 of Leonard's biggest fights came right before and after Ali's fight with Holmes. The first 2 Leonard-Duran fights were in June and November of 1980. Leonard fought on and off, going in and out of retirement, but still fought 4 times from 1987-1989. That was also during Mike Tyson's reign of terror. Leonard's late-career fighting didn't hamper Tyson's rise to superstardom and worldwide popularity. Tyson went to prison from 1992 to 1995. By the time he got out and started fighting again, Oscar De La Hoya was beginning to become a star, but still on the rise. Mike's first post-prison fight was in August 1995, when De La Hoya's most high profile fight was against Rafael Ruelas. Tyson was involved in some of the biggest fights ever with Evander Holyfield in 1996 and 1997, and later with Lennox Lewis in 2002, but that didn't prevent Oscar De La Hoya from becoming the all-time PPV king. Basically, if you're popular, talented, and charismatic enough, you should become a star regardless of what past-their-prime names are still fighting. It's just that it's hard to be a mainstream star in boxing in America. Wrong sport.
Freat ****ing post man, really proved tht theory wrong. Who do you see emerging as the next big superstar? Again great post!!
