An introduction and an observation.

[Spicoli]

Your avatar scares the holyshit out of me Newbie,Hilarious.Biased fandom and hype jobs are a dime a dozen throughout the years.I remember sitting through Lacy's rise and HBO was pushing him like He was the next coming of Joe Frazier AND Sugar ray.They actually repeated the mantra "Wow,He reminds one so much of a young Evander Holyfield". I would shake my head untill I had whiplash in a big WTF moment.You can wrap a terd up in a pretty box with a colorful bow all you want but ....It still stinks.Not the best analogy but there it is. I would not put Taylor In the same catogory though,no way.
Hype and wishful build up crosses all boarders and regions.

[Deanrw]

Fighters get over hyped everywhere, some of it is the fault of the fans and some of it is due to the fans being played.

I find you can really determine who the real deal is by the level of competition they are willing to fight and prove themselves against.

Any fighter can be beaten, but my favorites are the ones who are willing to prove they can beat anyone put in front of them or fail trying. Unfortunately that list is a short one as most like to take the less dangerous route..

Boxing is one strange sport. I never liked John Duddy until I watched him getting beat up. He was so worried about not giving the fans a good show. He was more willing to go out slugging and lose, than to take the safer route and box to a decision. His corner convinced him otherwise, but with him willing to do that, showed true character. He feels he owes something to the fans, and if more fighters had that mindset, boxing would still be in it's glory days.