How much significance do you place on a fighter "coming off a loss"?

williams is never the same and mentally weak from now on?

 

We won't know until he fights again but he could well be yes.

 

There are cases when a loss actually helps a fighter, so there obviously isn't just one rule when it comes to judging a win over a recently beaten fighter. I made the point a few days ago, that Dawson needed the loss to Pascal and he'll be a better fighter for it. He's set to fight Pascal again, right? If so, he should win because he has that extra drive.

I think it's actually pretty rare that a fighter who has just been beaten, doesn't come back as a better fighter who is tougher to beat. Whatever had beaten them, was a flaw that they should have improved on to ensure it didn't happen again, so unless the fighter doesn't learn anything, then it should be a bonus, if a fighter has recently lost. I think of guys like Hopkins post-Jones, Froch post-Kessler, Haye post-Thompson, Pacquiao post-Morales and so on. All those losses helped make the guys on the losing end, better fighters. Hopkins became much smarter, Froch went back to his boxing, Haye stopped trying to blow people out, Pacquiao became more right hand dominant and you can go through history and find many more examples, even including the greatest fighters such as Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali.

In some cases, a loss is hugely negative though. If a guy gets absolutely blitzed, he may never recover confidence in himself, but there is another side of that, such as what has happened with Khan. The only type of defeat I'd say isn't possible to grow from, is something like Duran against Moore and, in that case, the physical brutality and mental devastation was just too much. A guy can't learn from a loss as severe as that, he's been badly beaten up, he'll be gunshy and have less confidence. That's the only type of defeat I'd say isn't possible to come back from.

There are so many intangibles, it's stupid to use one rule and say that a fighter who is coming off a loss, is a lesser fighter. It's not always the case. Some guys grow from it mentally, some improve physically, some get technically better. Obviously if the fighter hasn't taken any positives from defeat, then it probably is a less significant win, but it's far to simple to just rule a guy out after a loss.

I think though, that it's a general sign of the times. Fighters are being written off after single losses, regardless of how they happened. I genuinely can't think of a losing fighter in the last few years, who hasn't been written off by some fans after that loss. Fans are impatient these days. I mentioned Dawson at the top of my post and he was a guy who was highly rated and as soon as he lost, he was considered exposed. He probably didn't deserve to be ranked so highly, no, but he also didn't deserve to be written off either. That's just the way the fans are now though, and a loss, to them, is a career ender. I don't think that's the case at all and I think it's pretty clear than throughout boxing history, you can cite many, many examples of fighters who have lost, yet come back a much improved fighter and if they've lost a second time in quick succession, the second loss was a better win for that opponent.

 

Yeah of course it's not a certainty that if you get brutally stopped you are never the same but there are examples of it.

RJJ was never the same after Tarver but you could say that's just because he was slowing down, who knows.

 

Ever since Freddie Roach said "I saw your last two fights" we look at opponents last two fights. Thank that to Coach Roach.

 

Depends. If a fighter get´s dominated by a journeyman and looks shot it obviously means something. If he loses a close fight against a top class fighter and gives a good account of himself it means only means that his opponent was better than him.

 

I figured you would pick up on a comment that ****ing stupid to be deadpan sarcasm

 

The impact of a loss has become grossly overstated in this current boxing climate where fickle fans have immediate access to a worldwide platform of the internet to vent and spread their harsh views. The two-win winning streak seems also to have caught many of these fans' ire of late :yep

The days of losses being seen as learning, character building experiences seem long gone, atleast for popular or established fighters. Look how everyone had Khan written off. Or the hate levelled at Paul Williams after his knockout loss, implying somehow one shot by Martinez proved Williams was never a good fighter.

I remember seeing an avatar on here with a picture of Mayweather and on his gloves was written "INSTA BUM". That's basically what a loss does for you these days. It's no wonder we are getting breakdowns of the biggest fights which can be made, with guys so afraid to risk a loss, knowing full well the consequence of the huge dent that will be put on their reputation and earning potential.

 

well said.

 

Also the type of beatdowns they suffer should have an impact. For instance, Meldrick Taylor was never the same after Chavez, I think most would agree. However, these judgements can only be made after their subsequent fights and will be dependant on how they look.