Which "undefeateds" were groomed for the express purpose of cashing out on a loss?

I'd say Bute's handlers had this kind of plan with him from the beginning but they've picked the wrong guy in Froch. It should've been Pascal in Canada and NOT Froch in UK but Bute will still have a good payday (2 mil. $) when he will fight Pascal in December 2013 / January 2014.

 

Pianeta.

Maneuvered toward a gimme Euro title, and from there fought just the right guys to get and stay ranked (with some meaningless tuneups sprinkled in) - no dangerous young fellow contenders.

Then a loss to Klitschko - and that will probably be that.

 

not exactly for cashing out persay, but i'll say Chavez jr. for sure on the groomed part.

 

To whom was he meant to lose? RJJ? Tiger?




...Lacy? :rofl

 

Eubank I'll buy, maybe...

Were people really expecting Calzaghe to lose to Collins, though?

 

Well, Gerry Cooney is the prototypical example of this, but there are others. Michael Grant comes to mind, and the best example currently is that glass-jawed fraud Deonaty Wilder. :nod

 

Yeah, good call - except lots of contemporary white Americans deluded themselves into buying into the GWH stuff and picking him - mostly wishful thinking rather than conviction based on analytical factors, I'm sure - over Holmes.

From the business end, though, you're absolutely right - it definitely smacks of those pulling the strings having a cynical view of "let's pad him up, 25-0 with 21 knockouts, mostly stiffs but we'll throw in some name recognition at the end, the last three or so, and then feed him to Holmes with guaranteed PPV & CCTV success due to all the racist folk convinced they might get to see Larry KTFO only to be sorely disappointed as the cash-cow remains unscathed, and even more financially viable with increased villain status..."

In fairness, Cooney was better than the joke he became butt of. Holmes himself has said so.

 

Cooney and Grant had both beaten top guys. Even though they failed at the highest levels, they aren't a good example. Its actually hard to find an undefeated who literally hasn't beaten anyway and cashed out on a title. Pianeta and Charr never beat any top 25 HW's, so I guess they would come closest. If Wilder were to get a title shot without beating anyone better than he's already beaten, he would fit this example perfectly, but I doubt that will happen.

 

I don't know if Young, Lyle and Norton were "top" guys when Cooney beat them. You can definitely argue the merit of that run earning him the shot legitimately, given that all three were known, ranked guys with some notable past accomplishments. Young, however, was a thirty-something coming off a rough patch losing four of seven. Lyle was pushing forty, at the end of his career - and the same goes for Norton.

 

Deontay Wilder is Michael Grant 2.0 with better speed

 

:think

 

Tim Bradley under Bob Arum

 

you can't miss it IB... Grant was going through everyone until he got exposed by Golota, and next fight LL brutally ended the Michael Grant express....

Wilder is going through the same routine, knocking out guys left and right, but getting exposed by guys like Harold Sconiers along the way, when he steps up (if he avoids getting locked up, that is) then the Wilder locomotive is getting stopped in the same brutal fashion

 

For me, the gold standard for this is Michael Spinks. He was undefeated, until getting knocked out in 91 seconds by Mike Tyson. Although Spinks was only 31 years old at the time of the defeat, he would never fight again.