Premature coronation: might it be that *none* of the lightweight "four kings" end up HOF worthy?

Hagler lost to Bobby Watts and Willie Monroe, Duran lost to Esteban de Jesus, Hearns lost to Barkley. All of them can become great HOFs if they fight and win titles. If Lopez manages to overcome Taylor somehow, that's it, he's a HOFer, no more needs to be done.

Obviously they're nowhere near the real four kings at this point, but they could be, with the right dedication and courage.

 

Has Tank fought a top five fighter at 135 yet? Last time I checked he was still on the bum train, pulling up smaller guys, older guys and jumping weights to fight no hopers and obscure the fact that he is afraid to fight real opposition AT HIS OWN WEIGHT.

I have no idea how good or bad Tank is these days because anyone can look good against his opposition. Why is he afraid to fight top guys at his own weight? Is Floyd afraid his chubby little protege will be exposed?

Each guy in the group has flaws but they all have some impressive strengths. At least Teo has faced top opposition. He lost yesterday but is still you g. His biggest problem is the weight. Same is true of Haney, they are both getting too big to make 135 comfortably and they are not good enough to beat top guys at their natural weight. Tank can’t even fight top guys at 135 because he’s a natural 130 pounder who can’t make the weight. No way they are feeding his pudgy ass to a top 140 pounder, EVER. Garcia is still young and appears to have some mental problems. He also gets hit too much and is still raw. He’s athletic and has a good frame but I have no idea how he will look after this lengthy layoff.

I’d love to see a tournament with all of these guys in it. The chances of this happening are not good. Sadly, there is a better chance none of these guys will ever fight any of the others.

 

Is it a commitment or lack of fundamentals that force him to rely on power because he gets outboxed by pretty much every opponent? He’s able to do this because he fights a lot of no hopers. Why is Davis allowed to avoid all top opposition at his own weight? He’s messing around at 140 but everyone knows he has zero chance of being competitive against top guys at 140. He hasn’t even faced the top guys at 135.

 

Teo was exposed for letting an opponent get into his head. Fought off of emotion for the first 5 rounds and once he realized he was not going to go through Kambosos, it as too late. Kambosos had more left in the tank going into the second part of the fight and Teo was fighting a dumb fight. Did not set up his offense with the jab, not enough body work, head movement was absent. He deserved to lose. GK out fought and out started Teo. If Teo plans on moving up to 140 to lock horns with Taylor, he needs to be exponentially better than he was last night, and even then, he has his work cut out for him.

 

Ryan Garcia has no business being in that list. Aleast the others have or had a world championship belt Remove Ryan and put Shakur

 

I agree with the Taylor fight. I think he can stop Kambosos in the rematch. He just needs to fight a more reserved fight. The López that fought Loma, would have beaten Kambosos. Teo never allowed GK to lead, even though he is a good counter puncher. Never tried to set up his offense and pretty much abandoned defense. These are attributes we've seen Teo use with great success in the past.

 

I wasn't necessarily fond of the "The New Four Kings" label to describe these guys, since it's better suited to the gang at super-fly...But it's an interesting topic and warrants some consideration.

So...

Let's see...

Lopez has two wins over Commey and Lomachenko to unify lightweight, and that's a pretty big accomplishment. He was competitive enough in the loss to GKM that it wouldn't hurt him too badly in the long term if he accomplishes anything further. If he does so, he's still in track for HOF consideration.

Haney survived a couple of rough moments late, but did manage to outbox Linares for much of the fight to that point. Tough to do. That said, it's his one really significant win over a top guy. He does have a fight coming up with a legit guy in Jojo Diaz, so that will bolster his resume if he wins. He's got a ways to go, but the step up in competition is a good sign.

Garcia really only entered the upper echelon of lightweight rankings in January, against a solid but unspectacular Luke Campbell. Way too early to say anything for sure, especially given his inactivity since then.

As for Davis...Let me think...

The Pedraza win was excellent way to introduce yourself on the world stage, and following up by whacking an undefeated mandatory in the latter's backyard was a nice follow-up. Was kind of impressed by the manner in which he blasted out Cientifico Nunez (who I consider to be a little underrated). Had flat performances against Fonseca and Gamboa, but do like the wins over-and performances against- LSC and Barrios. A win over an ascendant and aggressive Pitbull Cruz would add nicely to his resume, I think. So, in general, he's created a decent foundation for a HOF case, but unless he builds upon it with a couple of top tier wins, I don't see him gaining entry.

TL-DR...

Not one's there yet. Too early to write any of these guys off completely, though.

 

They don’t call them the Four Queens for nothin’.

 

They gotta fight each other

What looked exciting at the end of 2020 is cooling off

Teo lost

Garcia keeps backing out of fights

Davis has been bouncing weight classes

Haney has called out teo and garcia unsuccessfully

A threat to the 4? Loma hasnt gone away yet does he spoil one of the other 3 or avenge the loss. Does jojo beat Haney? What happens when shakur eventually comes up?

The 4 kings might be over before it starts ? Not that they cant be great but the prospect of them all fighting in big 135 fights may not happen

Could see teo go to 140

Could see Garcia retire to do something lucrative that doesnt involve fighting

Do loma or kambosos knock off someone else?

 

it depends on how they navigate their career. you got to keep the hype growing while not over reaching without the payoff.
if i was to pick 2 careers out of those around 135 to work with and guide, it would probably be shakur and garcia. i think they have the most potential with the right path.
garcia is legit big, and very fast for that size. with stunning power. he has a lot to work with going forward.
stevenson seems more complete technically and mentally than the rest. will be more reliable under stress.

 

At this point in time they all have a very long way to go. They need to fight each other or move up and fight top tier opponents. It's become ludicrous watching them fight B level fighters- yes Kambosos was a big underdog as he wasn't considered to be at Lopezs level. That is what made his win that much more special.