Wheres all the Ding threads?

I'm a Sedreck Fields fan...He's big in Romania by the way.
He is paid to show up and lose a hard spared fight...When told he was up vs Chagavf...he tanked the last round for the draw...He lost the rematch...he is not ever going to be more now...none of the Journeyman of his class are....because had he won, he'd never ever gotten another fight.
Got class too...
In Romania he was an opponet for someone, and he was better.
He cut the guy and , took a look, stopped boxing and then sent the kid across the ring to be looked at from the ring doctor. The Ref just stood there flabergasted. The Dr. stopped the fight... and he was so dammed happy to have won, you'd thought it was the championship. He has fought the very best in the world...Just looked up his record....

Arslans weaknesses has to be matched by someone else's strengths, Hill nor Ding's strength's matched.
It is odd how he can stay glued to some one with his "funny" stance. He don't look quick at all, but he's always in the guys chest.

 

Really there are two separate, almost unrelated layers to this thread. There's the one where you guys are talking about Ding, and then there's the discussion of the "psych-out" as not only an effective but a necessary tactic to be successful at the top -() - a discussion in which I am wielding the mighty hammer of righteousness and logic.

 

I'm a Ding fan largely because of his posts here, and his story in general, but if someone on this forum picked Arslan, that would strike me as disloyal. It's not like the posters here are the guy's trainer.

You can cheer for him but still expect him to lose. I stayed away from that fight because I didn't have enough info on Arslan, but the guy is champ for a reason.

I strongly disagree with the notion that a fighter or any other athlete *must* condition himself to believe that he is the very best, and in the wake of defeat must generate excuses to rationalize that. Some guys do that and get away with it, but very mentally strong athletes can see things as they are.

Glen Johnson freely admits he got his ass kicked by Hopkins, and after Tarver II he said he knew he lost. Shane Mosley has done the same. Hell, even Bernard Hopkins has said he knew Jones got the better of him.

And there have been times when Mayweather and others have said that a jump up too far in weight would be "too much," and thus they are conceding they couldn't hang with those opponents.

Is that unhealthy? I really don't think so.

 

:happy :good

 

Fields lost by 4 points on two cards to Chagaev. There was no draw. I also question how big he is in Romania when he's fought there only once. I'm not trying to be critical either. Just pointing out the facts.

 

Yeah, but I think it´s better if they believe in being able to improve and come back stronger or possibly even become the best with more effort. Making far fetched excuses about losing is naturally not going to make you see what you are doing wrong and correct it.

 

You could also argue that it would be disloyal not to pick Arslan if you're from Germany or Turkey for example.

 

I think we agree, as I was not clear. Having the drive and confidence to bounce back helps define a competitor, but tossing out excuses and delusions about why he lost in the first place usually is counterproductive.

Jeff Lacy is a good example. I think Jeff still cannot accept that he lost to the better man in Calzaghe. He admitted he lost (no choice) but came up with bunches of excuses for how that could have happened, then split with promoter and trainer.

If Lacy would admit he got outclassed, try to come back from that and improve, then perhaps he could tell himself he is a better figher at that later point, and that he'd beaten Calzaghe had they met again. Still perhaps unrealistic, but that's different from not being able to accept the initial reality.

 

Whoops! I meant to say "wouldn't". Bad typo.

I actually think it would be fine to say that a Byron Mitchell had no chance against a Calzaghe, even if I were cheering for him. Happens all the time. I don't think fans should be obligated to support anyone.

 

Of course there are some exceptions to this, but generally athletes that have reached this kind of level have had a lifetime of reinforcement that "they are the best".
You see it when fighters are knocked down for the first time, suffering a Ko loss, this is honestly the first time some people have seen losses of any kind in their life.
The look of disbelief when Judah was stopped by Kostya Tszyu is a classic example.
Incidentally, I think this same "self belief" is often the catalyst for losing, fighters get lazy with training, as they start believing in their own hype so much they slack off in training - Damon Wayan's character in the great white hype displyed this perfectly.

The humble view you propose is probably common for the average athlete, this is the kind I would adopt when competing as unfortunately I haven't had a lifetime of winning.
Self belief isn't simply a choice one makes, rather a mindset that is formed and reinforced through years and years of conditioning (in this case winning) - good lashings of people constantly telling you that "you're the best" wouldn't hurt either.

I think it's worth noting that exceptional people are often quite "odd" I say that in the most respectful way. There is nothing normal about putting your body through hell 6 hours a day as many do in training. It takes a certain intensity (sure this may not be obvious to the observer) that is completely foreign to the average joe.

 

This is a good example. There is no reason why Jeff couldn't beat Joe (though its is probably unlikely), but it would require him to take a step or three back and really analyse the fight, what he did wrong and find his own weaknesses.
Physically, he has some advantages, it's all about knowing how to use them. In fact, assuming Jeff has a good ability to learn, it may take him ten fights to get the result he wants, based on the excuses he made he would lose if they fought 100 times.

The idea that self belief hampers a fighter developing is so true, I think Zab suffers from this, Roy Jones too. I don't consider this a genuine self belief though.

A positive excuse is when a fighter identifys something he could have done to improve his performance, going on about conspiracys out of your control are ridiculous.

 

Fields once fought Roman Sukhoterin from Belarus on a fight show in Romania,but he was soundly outpointed by his mobile and very courageous opponent who looked more like a cruiser or like a light heavy than like a heavy.

You must have been speaking about a different fight,olsen! Fields vs Sukhoterin took place in Romania,but Sukhoterin didnt suffer a cut nor was he out of his shoes against Fields.Quite the opposite Fields was soundly outpointed by that very small heavy weight from Belarus.