Re: Keith Thurman is a dummy!
Agree and disagree here. You're right about the promotional part and the self promotional part.
Broners a solid gold doormat outside a gentleman's club. A nice touch, Shiny and inviting but what you really came to see lays beyond him and after you've been inside you're really not going to give a crap about or remember the doorkmat. He's an emulation. Hes got speed but really luring guys in to a target till they're close enough for you to quack and throw combos with blistering speed will only work till you face someone who can crack and doesn't care about your rep or name....as we saw.
In reference to the Garcia comparisons, Garcia was a surprise that was able to take advantage of an unfocused Khan. Garcia has his merits as far as being durable and a heavy puncher. The Matthysse win was good Lucas made him look like a surgeon by winging away with one eye. Getting out worked by a geriatric judah and in his homecoming fight in Puerto Rico... kind of shows you where Garcia has settled. Lets not even get into bypassing anyone at his weight to fight an unranked selka that had no business in the ring with him. I don't buy the family angle either. This kids been music videos, etc self promoting and his father is anything but the proud but humble patriarch.
Now i'm not saying that Thurman is humble. I'm not even a thurman fan.. Still, thurman and guys like Matthysse, porter, maybe walters and others... are guys that seem to still believe in the boxing we all knew growing up. Being the best, training, preparing and conquering. Boxing is no longer that, thanks to guys like floyd, hopkins, broner and others that make up for a lack of action and effort with a surfeit of mouth and mugging for the camera. Biggest Issue is that boxing is a circus now. It has been ever since fighters stopped trying to win emphatically and started targeting and audience who want to see them knocked out. Some guys are simpler and more humble, Its not a reflection of skill.... Lennox was in his prime and a chess master and heavyweight Champ of the world, yet some people still thought a bloated, older, non head-movement having, non footwork having, probably drugged out tyson would obliterate him because... tyson was angry and crazy. The leverage of showmanship has created a stigma for up and coming fighters. Sell out, be a star, burn bright, make a lot of money, burn out and be forgotten... or hone your craft and do boxing fans proud and be willing to strike when the opportunity presents itself.
I can barely bring myself to watch a floyd fight anymore. The BS, the arguing and nitpicking and watching him stuttering at the mic like a 5th grader to finally say something something scripted to be deliberately controversial. Funny enough, I haven't miss a single JMM fight... even the ones that weren't promoted very well. Just my opinion, of course...
They want your @$$ beat because upsets make news. News brings about excitement, excitement brings about ratings. The objective is to bring you up to the tower and tear your @$$ down. And if you don't believe that, you're crazy.
Roy Jones, Jr. "What I've Learned," Esquire 2003
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