So many of boxings biggest stars have recently retired or will be retiring within the next year or two Marquez Pacquiao Calzaghe Morales Barrera De la Hoya Mosely Wright Hopkins Jones Trinidad Hatton what are your thoughts on it?
Money talks, bull**** walks. Marquez'll easily be replaced, Mexican fighters are a dime a dozen, Pac'll fight for at least three more years, Calzaghe's a ****** anyway, Morales has been retired for a while and he might even come back so meh, De La Hoya... I'll give you that one, he was a rarity, Mosley I guess too, Wright isn't a huge name, and there's enough fighters at his weight to fill the void, Hopkins is a tough card to call really, Jones is another rarity, Trinidad has been gone for a while in many people's eyes and don't you worry about the british guy, we fill them up pretty easily, they have looked extraordinary asian recently though... Still, they'll be another domestic to world fighter coming in the next 5.
Guys like PTP, Gamboa, JuanMa, Lara, Rigondeaux, Kirkland?, Dawson, Cloud, Khan, Ortiz, Pavlik, the guy in my avy, etc will have to step up and emerge into prime box office and tv attractions.
When you say "retire in two years" do you mean never fight again? I'm sure some of those guys you listed will still be fighting three years from now, namely, Mosley and Pacquiao. But either way, that is quite a list of fighters, and any of them leaving the ring for good would be the end of an era. It'll be time for the young guys to step it up. I'm hoping that the entire sport of boxing doesn't become like the heavyweight division. If it does, I guess we still have MMA...(sigh)
Im curious to see who will step up to be the super fight creator. If your right on your assumption of Pacman leaving soon, who could step up to fill his shoes. Or P4P for that matter. Hopkins will be a true loss. As for the others im kind of happy to see them go. Calzaghe(even though im not a fan) finished his career on top and undefeated. De la Hoya was great but im glad he finally hung them up. Ill be happy to see Jones finish his career but AFTER Jones-Hopkins 2.
If those names are representative of the immediate successors to the current crop of superstars then we are in trouble. I agree with the thread originator in that we are not far away from a major setback in the form of a "talent drought" so to speak. There is no doubt that the unfortunate reality is that MMA has been spoonfed to the next generation as "The Combat Sport of Choice" at the expense of boxing enthusiasts like yours truly. Superior branding and marketing have taken a product I believe to be inferior to The Sweet Science and made it into an extremely palatable pleasure for the novice to follow. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy watching MMA as a person with experience in boxing and martial arts. Given the choice though, I prefer boxing by a WIDE margin. Unfortunately for those who didn't get on board when Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran were in their primes, MMA provides more identifiable superstars for the younger set to idolize. Among the list of names above I can't find ONE guy who could carry the torch for the sport. Sadly, if a new fan does come to idolize guys like Pac, Mayweather, Cotto, JMM, etc; where will they turn in 3 years when those guys have moved on?