Great before Greatness

There seems to be this growing trend in boxing, fighters proclaiming their greatness before having ever proved it. Boxing has a history of fighters being hyped, usually by promoters to put asses in seats and thats understandable. But more recently it seems that some fighters are being marketed like products to the public at large. We see these guys with padded records and a bunch of knockouts, to the casual fan that is impressive, but to the more dedicated fan it is not. Deontay Wilder is one example, he is hyped as the next great american heavyweight, and they parade his record as if it is some feat, all wins by knockout, yea, well against who? Gennady Golovkin has a title but again we have to look at the quality of his opposition, he struggled against shopworn Kassim Ouma, and has for the most part dined on smaller fighters moving up in weight. I am not saying that these guys wont actually produce, but they have not produced thus far.

Last Saturday we seen a myth debunked in Adrien Broner, and for the exact reason that he believed in his own hype. He seemed to have adopted the Floyd Mayweather attitude, lifestyle, and mouth. However, Floyd has earned that right because he has continually backed it up against high level opposition, Broner has not. He has fought sub par competition thus far, aside from De Leon when many thought he lost that fight. Maidana brutalized Broner for 12 hard fought rounds and put Broner down twice. To his credit he was able to fight on, so he is tough, but in my opinion his mouth far exceeds his ability. He acted as if he was great before he actually proved it. The moment he stepped up, he was put down, and put down brutally by Maidana.

Amir Khan is another prime example of an over hyped fighter who is mediocre at best. He has quick hands and a pretty good punch, but those two assets are over shadowed by his multiple deficiencies which have led him to a couple knockout losses. He was out on his feet for 2 to 3 rounds against Maidana and somehow managed to win that fight. He is now calling for a fight with Mayweather and it baffles me. He has done nothing to deserve a crack at the greatest fighter in recent memory, why not Danny Garcia?

Before we go jumping on peoples bandwagon, look at who they have fought and decide for yourself if they are what we are told they are. Dont get sucked into these hype jobs by some people looking to make money with an exciting fighter by putting him in against a low risk opponent. Its all about money and we should demand more out of champions or those talking like they are the next big thing. Greatness is earned, it is strived for through blood, sweat, and tears, not by pretending you are great before you have proven yourself to be great.