Trapped Inside The Echo Chamber: When Boxers Are Shielded From Constructive Criticism

This paragraph is metaphorical this article is about Boxing. One of the biggest problems effecting people today in this country that's bringing our society to the brink of total collapse, is the lack of diversity of opinions. Liberals/Conservatives only associate with other Liberals/Conservatives because they want others to agree with everything they say, therefore building up and reinforcing all of the notions that they desperately cling to, making them even more vociferous in the beliefs and attitudes. Everything they say is parroted by all those who surround them, no outside opinions make there way in to shatter their ideal quasi delusional existence they've built up for themselves. Why do people resist a diversity of opinions, because they are happy with the way things are, they don't like to change anything or adjust any flaws they may have, most people choose to not even acknowledge them. They prefer to live in a state of denial because to admit they may have a flaw can be very destabilizing for a person, because the majority of us like to pretend that we are perfect. So that is why we don't listen because its hard to adjust and change what isn't working because you usually have to admit what you're doing is wrong, which most people find to be acutely painful, so we choose to ignore it and surround ourselves with Yes men and the circle jerk continues. Most of us are all living in some form of an Echo Chamber with no outside advice making its way in, only the opinions we hold being endlessly repeated ad nauseam by others, bouncing repetitively around in our heads never learning anything new. Most Boxers suffer from this very problem.

There are so many boxers with room for improvement if they would either change their trainers or at the very least let some outside voices advise them. But instead of doing that, they stick to what they know never fixing the problems that repeatedly hamper their growth in the sport. Adrien Broner is a perfect example, he is a very talented kid no doubt, but if you look at the hangers on clinging to him always there to tell him how great he is on a daily basis, of course the moment his career falls apart all of those so-called "friends" that he has will drop him in the blink of an eye. But if he actually listened to people who knew what they were talking about he could easily correct many of his flaws. Teach him to fight off the back foot more efficiently instead of freezing up and not throwing punches, teach him some effective aggression, teach him how to cut off the ring and walk an opponent down, he could be the total package if he would just look at himself a little more objectively and admit a lot of what he does doesn't work that well and try to find help to improve upon some of the aspects of his game.

Robert Guerrero used to be one of the more solid all around fighters when he was fighting at Featherweight to Lightweight. He controlled the distance very well with his jab, he was very defensively sound he was good at slipping punches, he had good footwork, pretty close to perfect in a lot of departments. That is until he moved to Welterweight and decided to become a toe to toe blood and guts warrior, in a division of men who hit harder and physically bigger than he is. Whether its his need to please his father's notion of not having baby nuts in the ring or his own personal desire o become the next Gatti or Ward he must admit to himself that isn't working for him anymore, he needs to either get back to basics or get a better trainer because the old Ghost is still in there, he made the adjustment against Martinez and boxed very well for the remainder of their match after he was dropped, so maybe there's hope for him in the future and he'll change his strategy or else he's going to end up getting badly hurt.

Chavez Jr. is a great example, he is a spoiled pampered rich boy who doesn't want to put in the effort to actually improve any thing about himself. He's most likely been told how great he is by all of the sycophants who surround him because after all he is the son of the greatest boxer in Mexico's history and Mexico is muy loco for Boxeo. He didn't listen to Freddie and went from trainer to trainer came in fat and out of shape and made Bryan Vera look far better than he actually is in the first match. I think the Vera match actually woke him up for a few minutes because in the rematch, he came in hungry needing to prove something to himself and the fans, if you watch the match closely he'd actually learned how to slip punches, he was taking half steps back, moving his head a little here and a little there just like his father did at times and looked pretty damn good for the first time in a long time. But then he took off another year and forgot everything he learned for that match, and found another trainer in Goossen who is not very good, and he easily fell back into the old habit of blocking punches with his face against the biggest puncher he's ever faced and paid for it dearly. Hopefully Garcia can force him to listen and at least semi fix some of his problems, but let's not hold our breath.


Deontay really needs a new trainer, even though his current trainer seems like a really nice guy and all, Deontay is a Heavyweight Champion and from here on out the opposition will most likely only get far stiffer, bigger and scarier and I'm not sure his trainer or any of the people he surrounds himself with are capable of preparing him for the monsters that will be coming his way. He showed great discipline against Stiverne, yet what happened next, everything went flying right out of the window against Molina, he made a ton of mistakes against a very average puncher and almost paid for it dearly, if Eric Molina can make him do the Sam Peter boogie what will Wlad do to him when he hits him with the same shot. His defense is poor, his use of the jab almost non-existent, and the windmilling and flailing was back in full effect. He has a lot of potential, fighters with glass jaws can learn to protect them and go for a long time without tasting the canvass some for even 10 years. Deontay can fight an almost perfect match as he proved with Stiverne but without the proper trainer to ride his butt, and help him be ready for the variety of styles he'll have to face and if Deontay wants to keep that belt he needs to make adjustments in his team badly.

And that brings me to Chris Algieri a perfect exemplar of understanding he had problems in bad need of fixing, he realized his old trainer would never let him out of his cage, and he had the potential to be a top talent and the only way to unleash his inner beast is to work with someone who could make him into a all around fighter and he found that man in John David Jackson. Chris was open to change, open to suggestions and in the short span of 2 months working with Jackson, he went from a retreating counter puncher to an aggressive pressure fighter with great James Toney like bobbing and weaving defense, and in the span of one match because he heeded the advice of others he went from a joke on boxing forums to redeeming himself with one solitary great performance.


So in my opinion more fighters need to smash down the walls of their suffocating echo chambers and breakaway from the sycophants and do what is best for their careers and what is best to enhance their skill level and make them the best all around fighter they can be.

Who do you think could use a change of personnel?

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Porter is someone who could greatly benefit from getting away from his father, he has potential to be something somewhat special, he most likely will always struggles with slick fighters, but he isn't ever going to reach anything close to that with his dad.

Oddly I think Garcia would be a perfect match for him.

 

:good And I was afraid of that. But I have my fingers crossed that most will.

 

Sorry I can't do it, just get some Ritalin or Adderall for your ADHD and you'll be fine. It's somewhat worth the read.:thumbsup

 

They aren't that bad together but anymore mindless performances like he had against Brook out of him they may need to separate. I didn't include him in the main article because I don't think his training is that egregious.

 

Thanks:thumbsup And I agree with all of your points as well, especially about Khan.

 

:think