On a night of mostly jokes and mismatches, Snoozerweight boxers Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz stepped into the ring, and did little else. Most of the time they fought through the boos and hisses of the crowd who had mistakenly thought they had paid to see a fight, not an event of tortoise vs. tortoise. If anyone, the crowd favored Ortiz who managed to throw out a few shots to carry the fight for 6 rounds. Wilder finally landed two shots that floored Ortiz. Ortiz beat the count but referee Kenny Bayless called the fight. It is always better to let the money-maker win when a huge fight looms in the future.

 

There appears to be an annoying trend in boxing today—not fighting. Canelo did not fight for most of his bout with Kovalov, before knocking him out. Even on the undercard, Dustin Long, with only 2 wins, both by knockout, refused to fight Marsellos Wilder, Deontay’s younger brother, until he threw the punch that knocked out Wilder—a big surprise for everyone. Winning, without fighting, might be good for armies, but not so much for a spectator sport.

 

I am not one of those guys who think fighters of the past were so much better. Maybe they were. One thing is, they were fearless and they fought and they fought the best competition available.

 

Today’s boxers live in fear. They are afraid of stiff competition; they are afraid of losing; they are afraid of getting hurt; they are afraid of going any distance; they are afraid of financial loss; they are afraid of brawling, fighting, and putting on an entertaining show.

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Only the win counts, regardless how bored or annoyed the spectators get. 

 

After the fight, Wilder said he wants to unify the heavyweight titles, that there should be only one heavyweight champion. Maybe he is right. Let’s hope it is someone who is not afraid to fight, someone with real heart and guts and not someone interested more in being a fighting champion than in his financial portfolio.

​

On a night of mostly jokes and mismatches, Snoozerweight boxers Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz stepped into the ring, and did little else. Most of the time they fought through the boos and hisses of the crowd who had mistakenly thought they had paid to see a fight, not an event of tortoise vs. tortoise. If anyone, the crowd favored Ortiz who managed to throw out a few shots to carry the fight for 6 rounds. Wilder finally landed two shots that floored Ortiz. Ortiz beat the count but referee Kenny Bayless called the fight. It is always better to let the money-maker win when a huge fight looms in the future.

​

There appears to be an annoying trend in boxing today—not fighting. Canelo did not fight for most of his bout with Kovalov, before knocking him out. Even on the undercard, Dustin Long, with only 2 wins, both by knockout, refused to fight Marsellos Wilder, Deontay’s younger brother, until he threw the punch that knocked out Wilder—a big surprise for everyone. Winning, without fighting, might be good for armies, but not so much for a spectator sport.

​

I am not one of those guys who think fighters of the past were so much better. Maybe they were. One thing is, they were fearless and they fought and they fought the best competition available.

​

Today’s boxers live in fear. They are afraid of stiff competition; they are afraid of losing; they are afraid of getting hurt; they are afraid of going any distance; they are afraid of financial loss; they are afraid of brawling, fighting, and putting on an entertaining show. Only the win counts, regardless how bored or annoyed the spectators get.  

​

After the fight, Wilder said he wants to unify the heavyweight titles, that there should be only one heavyweight champion. Maybe he is right. Let’s hope it is someone who is not afraid to fight, someone with real heart and guts and not someone interested more in being a fighting champion than in his financial portfolio.