Black Sports : Heavyweight Headache

Pan you're right this is something I never could have even imagined...if say 10 years ago somebody would have told me "in 2006 there will not be 1 Black heavyweight champ" I'd have taken that bet and called them insane......but here we stand....not 1...and the way I'm looking at it is there won't be one for a minute.....when was the last time you saw a good young heavyweight prospect.....Manny says he has one but he's a true prospect ...they're going to try and get him into the Olympics in 08 after that he'll go pro and then if he's good he'll get a shot when....2010 , 2009 .....I don't see any young cats in that division where I can honestly say...oh yeah he's gonna make some noise.....too bad James Toney doesn't have the discipline to get in shape he could unify the titles right now.......but Toney getting in shape has about as much a chance of happenin as him turning down a meal.........to Pan's other point the failed athlete theory is especially evident in the heavyweight division ......big guys realizing they aren't good enough to play the sport they love figure boxing will give them a couple of easy paydays.....nope........and they quickly learn that boxing is not just about throwing punches and bashing someone's head in it is truly a thing of beauty when done by a skilled practioner...........So is this the next thing Black folk are going to give away?

This is how I see the state of boxing today......boxing used to be a good option for us as a sport and it was an honored profession, boxing gyms were looked at as places that helped boys become men, where solid values and life lessons were learned but today boxing gyms are not looked at in the same way .....I think the main reason is money though.....boxing just ain't as glamorous as the big two sports for Brothers....Football and Basketball.....the road to become a top flight boxer is a long and hard one......if you're a good football or basketball prospect and show that talent early then you will be a star your whole life and on into the pros with all the perks that come with it........young cats with talent boxing ...unless you're around the gyms and a true fan ..most will never know who they are.....I still have folks telling me about that new guy Winky Wright.....hell I know folks who thought Bhop was just a nobody that Jermaine Taylor beat .......how many of yall know who Andre Ward is........? see what I mean........another problem is like I said above ....Boxing is looked at now as the sport of lower class (in my opinion) ......folks actually believe that most if not all boxers are nothing more than low class ignorant Black folk ..which like anything else is not always true......boxing to me is one of those things where either you get it or you don't ......it has some many layers that most never see and it's way more complicated and intricate than the layman will ever realize...........

Hopefully somewhere in some small gym there's a young cat right now working, running, shadow boxing , getting his footwork right that's almost ready to come out and show the world what a good heavyweight fighter truly looks like again and then he can get to the business of clearing out the garbage in that division.....


MississippiRed
 
MississippiRed said:
Pan you're right this is something I never could have even imagined...if say 10 years ago somebody would have told me "in 2006 there will not be 1 Black heavyweight champ" I'd have taken that bet and called them insane......but here we stand....not 1...and the way I'm looking at it is there won't be one for a minute.....when was the last time you saw a good young heavyweight prospect.....Manny says he has one but he's a true prospect ...they're going to try and get him into the Olympics in 08 after that he'll go pro and then if he's good he'll get a shot when....2010 , 2009 .....I don't see any young cats in that division where I can honestly say...oh yeah he's gonna make some noise.....too bad James Toney doesn't have the discipline to get in shape he could unify the titles right now.......but Toney getting in shape has about as much a chance of happenin as him turning down a meal.........to Pan's other point the failed athlete theory is especially evident in the heavyweight division ......big guys realizing they aren't good enough to play the sport they love figure boxing will give them a couple of easy paydays.....nope........and they quickly learn that boxing is not just about throwing punches and bashing someone's head in it is truly a thing of beauty when done by a skilled practioner...........So is this the next thing Black folk are going to give away?

This is how I see the state of boxing today......boxing used to be a good option for us as a sport and it was an honored profession, boxing gyms were looked at as places that helped boys become men, where solid values and life lessons were learned but today boxing gyms are not looked at in the same way .....I think the main reason is money though.....boxing just ain't as glamorous as the big two sports for Brothers....Football and Basketball.....the road to become a top flight boxer is a long and hard one......if you're a good football or basketball prospect and show that talent early then you will be a star your whole life and on into the pros with all the perks that come with it........young cats with talent boxing ...unless you're around the gyms and a true fan ..most will never know who they are.....I still have folks telling me about that new guy Winky Wright.....hell I know folks who thought Bhop was just a nobody that Jermaine Taylor beat .......how many of yall know who Andre Ward is........? see what I mean........another problem is like I said above ....Boxing is looked at now as the sport of lower class (in my opinion) ......folks actually believe that most if not all boxers are nothing more than low class ignorant Black folk ..which like anything else is not always true......boxing to me is one of those things where either you get it or you don't ......it has some many layers that most never see and it's way more complicated and intricate than the layman will ever realize...........

Hopefully somewhere in some small gym there's a young cat right now working, running, shadow boxing , getting his footwork right that's almost ready to come out and show the world what a good heavyweight fighter truly looks like again and then he can get to the business of clearing out the garbage in that division.....


MississippiRed

Well said....I agree with you 100%!
 
Maybe there is hope

A source close to the situation says that heavyweight contender Shannon Briggs and his representatives grew tired of waiting for IBF Champion Wladimir Klitschko and his manager, Shelly Finkel, to finalize arrangements for a fight on November 11 and have decided to instead sign to face WBO Heavyweight Champion Sergei "The White Wolf" Liakhovich (23-1, 14 KOs), possibly in early November in New York. Briggs (47-4-1, 41 KOs) has also signed a promotional deal with Liakhovich’s promoter, Don King, contingent on the Liakhovich fight taking place. The source says Team Briggs decided to look elsewhere when Finkel, who they say promised them “1000%,” they had the fight, began negotiating publicly with new WBC Champion Oleg Maskaev and reportedly made overtures to Liakhovich, top-rated contender Calvin Brock and others. “Mr. Finkel is retuning from a relaxing cruise today to find that the Shannon Briggs ship has already sailed,” said the source. Briggs is currently rated #3 by the WBO. Thursday, August 24 2006

http://www.fightnews.com/
 
In my depression about the state of brothers in the heavyweight division, I overlooked the comeback of Shannon Briggs. He was a "B" list heavyweight during Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield's reign, but has the talent and size to give some of these Russians trouble. I definatley give him a chance against any of the four.
 

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