The Coveted "0"

Agree.

 

Yes.

Waaaay too much is put on that 0. Joe Calzaghe made BoxingNews' top 100 ATG mainly based on it :verysad

 

I also agree!

Also what's the point in an "O" if it's an artificially created one? Fighting bums to raise a fighters profile doesn't do the fighter or the sport any good.

Look at MMA - the Number 1 fights the number 2 straight away, fighters are always in tough fights and maybe lose more often, but at least it's honest. The number 1 guy has to beat the best to win the title in the first place, then continuously defend against the best out there!

 

The '0' has ruined boxing IMO.

 

yep also agree, feeding a boxer fighters you know they are going to beat or should beat doesnt really teach anything other than let you know that you knew that already!!

Then when its time to move up it becomes even more difficlut to find match ups (FWP is the master at this)

As a keen sportsman in my epxerience losing at any sport makes you more determined to not let it happen again. In most if not all other sports the athlete has to be matched against the best to progress / win.

 

For now.

If the UFC was boxing, there's no way Floyd Mayweather or the Klitschko brothers would fight under it for example. If MMA continues to grow and one day becomes as widespread as boxing, they'll likely suffer the exact same problems.

 

I'm sure Joe's other achievements were taken into consideration.

Kevin Iole has Joe at #14 on his top 25 fighters of the last 25 years list.

For me Joe took several risks - not as many as he should have done - but he still took some risky fights. It only takes one defeat and the '0' is gone forever.

 

He took about 4 "risks" in 15 years.

I don't mean to go over old ground because the Calzaghe debate will go on forever but he mainly gets wielded as some all time great because he managed to stay unbeaten. At least in my opinion anyway.

 

He get's rated so highly partly because of the 0, partly because of his immense skillset and string of great performances and good level of competition.

 

Definitely.

Its something that's aimed at the casual fans, a nice tag they can put on fight by saying "unbeaten prospect [guy with the "0"] takes on teak tough Ghanaian [Wow, this guy's never been stopped] for the WBC inter-continental title [meaningless to the hardcore fans, but a real world title to the casuals]", in order to sell more tickets and get viewing figures up.

 

It should be called bxing.

 

I doubt it, but can't be arsed to go into it now.

The UFC will certainly have to spend more money. I know what you mean, but their brand should keep fighters wanting to be over there. They don't pay that much and are still seen as the pinnacle of the sport.

 

I'm always interested to see how a fighter comes back from a loss, really get to see what they're made of.

 

If it weren't for defeat, none of us would know how good well prepared Kevin Mitchell really is.