So who's the next "great American hope" in boxing?

[THE PHILOSOPHER]

Not sold on broner, He may be beaten by the first elite fighter he faces. The best 'win' in his career is an extremely dubious decision over Ponce De Leon, who is about as wild and unskilled as you'll ever see at the elite level. All the calls for future P4P greatness are deluded.

Put him against Gamboa and he will look like a bum.

[El Kabong]

Kevin Johnson?!?! Yeah right!

Who are the last two dudes??

If that "Hardcore" person is Amir Mansour you can go right ahead and x him off this list because he's too old, too small, and hasn't fought anyone worth a damn.

I'm pragmatic about my picks: Mitchell, Wilder, Hanks, & Jennings have the best shots.

Do you really think any of these have a chance at becoming household names a la De La Hoya, or a Ray Leonard?

They didn't get the boost those guys got from Olympic Gold, but yeah I'm certain that 1 of the lot of them will be a significant title holder. I'm thinking more Wilder because he's younger, has the upper hand in his God given physical traits, he's developing slowly, and he's got big time power. I dont' see any of them beating Wlad or Vitali, but a Price or Fury...yeah I could totally see that. Once the heavyweight division is "Klitschko-less" then the titles are all up for grabs and I don't see any single fighter that has a huge advantage over the lot of them.

The heavyweight champion will ALWAYS mean something

[TitoFan]

Kevin Johnson?!?! Yeah right!

Who are the last two dudes??

If that "Hardcore" person is Amir Mansour you can go right ahead and x him off this list because he's too old, too small, and hasn't fought anyone worth a damn.

I'm pragmatic about my picks: Mitchell, Wilder, Hanks, & Jennings have the best shots.

Do you really think any of these have a chance at becoming household names a la De La Hoya, or a Ray Leonard?

They didn't get the boost those guys got from Olympic Gold, but yeah I'm certain that 1 of the lot of them will be a significant title holder. I'm thinking more Wilder because he's younger, has the upper hand in his God given physical traits, he's developing slowly, and he's got big time power. I dont' see any of them beating Wlad or Vitali, but a Price or Fury...yeah I could totally see that. Once the heavyweight division is "Klitschko-less" then the titles are all up for grabs and I don't see any single fighter that has a huge advantage over the lot of them.

The heavyweight champion will ALWAYS mean something

Precisely. I've said as much in other threads. Boxing generally goes as the HW division goes. When a new American HW champion emerges, it will bring back casual fans in droves. Of course, if the champion happens to be a "not Tyson" or "not Floyd" human being.... the following will be even greater.

[Kirkland Laing]

Maybe Adrian Broner. Jose Benavidez looks very impressive too but obviously a long way to go.

So you don't rate Shawn Porter, Shawn Estrada, or Demitrius Andrade?

I think Porter is a solid fighter and will at least win an alphabet belt. I'm not sure that he's going to be a PPV fighter. The other two I don't think I've seen fight.

[IamInuit]

Look, I have been following this sport for over 40 years and Tito has a point. Of course in my early fan days I would tune in because I loved the sport at an early age but I also wanted to see Ali's head get knocked off by Chuvalo. I never liked Ali and a big part of attention to the sport was at the time seeing his demise. I remember the feeling in the theatre 48 miles from the American border and able to watch Frasier/Ali 1 for about 5 bucks.

I never liked Tyson but certain fights made me pay money to watch prior to streams in the hopes of seeing him cold cocked. And I'm no casual fan.

Same with Floyd and Hopkins whom I hated for years. I have not ordered a ppv in several years because of streams but seeing these two lose did effect the time spent on finding a feed as well as a fundamental love of the sport.

No doubt in my mind that many ppv purchases are made with a desired loser in mind.

Anyone who denies "want" as a condition to following the sport is lapse in judgment.

So @IamInuit who do you see in the horizon as being, not only the next U.S. boxing star..... but being generally liked as well? That's a tough question, because it seems the trend lately is toward the Tyson, Judah, Mayweather, Broner types. I think Berto has the personality.... but he seems to have dropped off the map.

Good question. Many seem drawn to the asshole types in sport generally and add fisticuffs to the equation and it kinda fits. Russell Jr seems ok and so does Benavidez. Berto almost seems to nice a guy.

[TitoFan]

Look, I have been following this sport for over 40 years and Tito has a point. Of course in my early fan days I would tune in because I loved the sport at an early age but I also wanted to see Ali's head get knocked off by Chuvalo. I never liked Ali and a big part of attention to the sport was at the time seeing his demise. I remember the feeling in the theatre 48 miles from the American border and able to watch Frasier/Ali 1 for about 5 bucks.

I never liked Tyson but certain fights made me pay money to watch prior to streams in the hopes of seeing him cold cocked. And I'm no casual fan.

Same with Floyd and Hopkins whom I hated for years. I have not ordered a ppv in several years because of streams but seeing these two lose did effect the time spent on finding a feed as well as a fundamental love of the sport.

No doubt in my mind that many ppv purchases are made with a desired loser in mind.

Anyone who denies "want" as a condition to following the sport is lapse in judgment.

So @IamInuit who do you see in the horizon as being, not only the next U.S. boxing star..... but being generally liked as well? That's a tough question, because it seems the trend lately is toward the Tyson, Judah, Mayweather, Broner types. I think Berto has the personality.... but he seems to have dropped off the map.

Good question. Many seem drawn to the asshole types in sport generally and add fisticuffs to the equation and it kinda fits. Russell Jr seems ok and so does Benavidez. Berto almost seems to nice a guy.

But your point is well taken, and at least you seemed to understand the intent of the thread. We're not talking just the boxing part of the equation. We're talking overall personna. I remember Ray Leonard having that squeaky clean image. Olympic gold medalist, all-time boxing great, career defining fights. Why do you think he was so sought after for commercial endorsements as well? How many commercials did Tyson make? Or Mayweather?

When I originally started the thread, the intent was to identify who would be the next Sugar Ray Leonard, if you will. Household name.... good image... etc, etc. I mentioned Pavlik, because at the time he seemed to fit the mold. Humble beginnings... down-to-earth character.... seemingly vast potential. But his star burned out shortly thereafter.... and now the American press is hungry for that next American star who is mostly "universally liked". That alone disqualifies Floyd Mayweather Jr.

[IamInuit]

Look, I have been following this sport for over 40 years and Tito has a point. Of course in my early fan days I would tune in because I loved the sport at an early age but I also wanted to see Ali's head get knocked off by Chuvalo. I never liked Ali and a big part of attention to the sport was at the time seeing his demise. I remember the feeling in the theatre 48 miles from the American border and able to watch Frasier/Ali 1 for about 5 bucks.

I never liked Tyson but certain fights made me pay money to watch prior to streams in the hopes of seeing him cold cocked. And I'm no casual fan.

Same with Floyd and Hopkins whom I hated for years. I have not ordered a ppv in several years because of streams but seeing these two lose did effect the time spent on finding a feed as well as a fundamental love of the sport.

No doubt in my mind that many ppv purchases are made with a desired loser in mind.

Anyone who denies "want" as a condition to following the sport is lapse in judgment.

So @IamInuit who do you see in the horizon as being, not only the next U.S. boxing star..... but being generally liked as well? That's a tough question, because it seems the trend lately is toward the Tyson, Judah, Mayweather, Broner types. I think Berto has the personality.... but he seems to have dropped off the map.

Good question. Many seem drawn to the asshole types in sport generally and add fisticuffs to the equation and it kinda fits. Russell Jr seems ok and so does Benavidez. Berto almost seems to nice a guy.

But your point is well taken, and at least you seemed to understand the intent of the thread. We're not talking just the boxing part of the equation. We're talking overall personna. I remember Ray Leonard having that squeaky clean image. Olympic gold medalist, all-time boxing great, career defining fights. Why do you think he was so sought after for commercial endorsements as well? How many commercials did Tyson make? Or Mayweather?

When I originally started the thread, the intent was to identify who would be the next Sugar Ray Leonard, if you will. Household name.... good image... etc, etc. I mentioned Pavlik, because at the time he seemed to fit the mold. Humble beginnings... down-to-earth character.... seemingly vast potential. But his star burned out shortly thereafter.... and now the American press is hungry for that next American star who is mostly "universally liked". That alone disqualifies Floyd Mayweather Jr.

I don't know if one of those is out there...anywhere. Manny and Floyd will be remembered most likely for the fight that didn't happen more so then what they accomplished. With Floyd specifically he will in the end be remembered more for what he could have done with that kind of talent. To me he has pretty much taken half his career off. He had the talent and opportunity to seal the deal in future conversations and the inclusion with the likes of Leonard and Robinson but alas he chose cash and inactivity over real legacy. Historians will be indifferent about Mayweather and may even consider him and under achiever after his career has reached its conclusion.

[Master]

Seth Mitchell is the future.

[TitoFan]

Seth is a good candidate, and has a few things going for him:



1. He's a HW, which as we all know is the only division for the casual fan.

2. He's an ex-college football player. Some of us cheer for athletes that have turned to boxing relatively late in their lives. It's not like he came out of some slum and the only way out was boxing. He chose boxing because he wanted to.

3. He's extremely likable (i.e. - he's not a scumbag).

4. He's undefeated, and a rising star.



He could meet some serious stumbling blocks along the way... but I definitely root for him.

[El Kabong]

Joe Hanks is a likeable guy as well, very positive, well spoken, funny, but 100% business in the ring.

[TitoFan]

Joe Hanks is a likeable guy as well, very positive, well spoken, funny, but 100% business in the ring.

Oh shit! Could this mean we're trending away from the Floyds, Judahs, Tysons and Toneys??

















About time!

[El Kabong]

You never know, I mean once upon a time Floyd Mayweather Jr. was a likeable clean cut fighter who wasn't fighting with a chip on his shoulder or whatever...same with Mike Tyson.

We've still got Vernon paris though

[beenKOed]

Come on Fenster, couldn't you be wrong just this once, please?!

[TitoFan]

He'd rather cut his left nut off with a rusty butter knife, and feed it to his goldfish.

[Spicoli]

There is a huge Y that seperates hope from hype. Hype comes first. There is alot of talent out there and yes personality sells as much as ability, its a mutual package. Thing is it seems a trend to sell yourself as the villian. Boxing has become very much like 'Wrastlin. People do want to see people lose. I've been there...Whitaker, Mosley, Jones jr, Mayweather but at the same time the skill cannot be denied. We have guys today that have obvious skill, but have literally done nothing...put shovel to dirt or pen to paper wise. They are pushed as product, pre packaged and embrace the Jersey Shores approach to the sport. Yes, think Broner here. Berto had skill but you could see him derailing even while he was winning. He like ALOT of guys have 'hope' and 'hype' pushed ahead of simply mastering the basics and dicipline it will take to have a long telling career. He was never required to fix his mistakes because his hype was constant! Gamboa, Rios etc. They don't fix things they just pack on weight and drop trinkets on the scale. I know..back to American. You have a guy like Andre Ward on the other side who has all the ability and frankly top notch accomplishments but to some its like sitting a glass of sour milk under the nose of a very thirsty public. He's not a character and he's bland as hell, but he's a winner.