Juan Manuel Marquez Tells Pacquiao To His Face Floyd Would Kick His Ass On ESPN First

[Fenster]

Michalczewski was THE champ. You can't get higher ranked than that. Yes fighters make the belt, and once you've established yourself as the legit no.1 belts are utterly meaningless.

I agree Roy was the better fighter, I agree Roy would have won, and I agree Roy was the mythical P4P best in the world.

However, he wasn't the true lightheavy champ. You can't just ignore an already established champion, becuase you're not willing to travel, and then claim to be the king because you pick up a couple of his leftover belts.

As the challenger the onus really was on Roy to make the fight not Michalczewski.

I can appreciate the fact that he was the linear champ, but what do belts really mean in boxing compared to public perception? Belts are treated like the tin they are for the most part; fighters willingly relinquish them, fighters are stripped for rediculous reasons, fighters have to fight illegitimate mandatories, ect ect. Favourable public perception isn't as easily attained.

It's all well and good that Dariusz had the linear title, but what good is a title if no one recognized him for it? Everyone looked at Roy Jones as the #1 LHW in the world for all those years. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I'm just stating the facts. And who really needed that fight more? Roy Jones will go down as an all-time great. A belt holder in multiple weight divisions. Dariusz is a guy who, outside of Germany and Poland, only big boxing nuts really know or care about.

My point is that even though Mariusz had the title, he standed to gain a lot more with a win over Roy Jones than vice versa. And for that reason, he should have sucked it up and came over for his shot at greatness. Roy Jones didn't need him on his resume.

I agree with you.

But this is a forum for boxing nerds (). Where else is this shit gonna get discussed