The Writings of Eric E. Jenkins

I am a big professional wrestling fan, and currently, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is running a story line where the young talent in the organization is feuding with the older, more established talent. The basis of the feud is the belief from the veterans that the "rookies" have no respect for the business, while the young stars feel that the vets are standing in the way of the advancement of the youth of the federation.I am also a huge boxing fan and, after watching the recent Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao and Roy Jones-Joe Calzaghe fights, I am coming to the realization that the sport of boxing is suffering from the same problem that the story line in TNA Wrestling is acting out.

Within the last few months, James Toney, Evander Holyfield, Shane Mosley, Roy Jones, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, Antonio Tarver and Hasim Rahman have had fights of varying significance with varying degrees of success. All of these men are over 35 years of age, and all of these men seem to have lost at least a step to their once remarkable skills. These men were all champions and marquee names in the 1980’s and 1990’s, but in the 21st century, they are simply the old guard that refuses to get out of the way of the new blood of the sport.

By no means am I saying that these men, and others of ilk, have no right to attempt to earn a living. What I am saying is that in their last fights, each of these men looked as if their better days were behind them. Losing a fight is by no means an indication that a fighter is shot, but when the losing fighter looks as if he was unable to perform physically what he conceived mentally, it is clearly time for that fighter to use his boxing experience to benefit the future of the sport in some way other than in the ring.

Oscar, Hopkins and Mosley are all partners in Golden Boy Promotions, which is quickly becoming a force within boxing promotional circles. Toney, though heavier and slower than at any time in his career, still has the smarts to be a force in a less-than-stellar heavyweight division, while Evander Holyfield, though he seemed competitive against extremely overrated champions Nikolai Valuev and Sultan Ibragimov, would be better served to find another way to earn a living instead of risking his health. Tarver might still have one good fight left in him, but Roy Jones has too many other talents to continue to diminish the legacy of a fighter who was considered the best to ever lace up a pair of gloves.

This is not to say that fighters like Joe Calzaghe and Manny Pacquiao are necessarily young, and I can’t even make the argument that these fighters have not been in the wars that the other fighters have because every Pacquiao fight is a war, but these fighters, and fighters like Ricky Hatton, Antonio Margarito, the Klitschko brothers, Kelly Pavlik (who Hopkins defeated in his last fight) and Chad Dawson are the immediate future of the business, and there needs to be opportunities for them to determine if they can become the newest stars of the sport.

It is true that the veteran fighters that I discussed are marquee names that have transcended the sport and can command large purses (even though Holyfield only received $650,000 for his fight against Valuev), but in all honesty, how many more times can boxing fans be asked to pay $49.95 for a pay-per-view to see a fighter headline a card when the fighter is clearly not the in-ring attraction that he once was?

With the exception of the heavyweights, all of the veteran fighters are facing off against the next generation of fighters, which is a good thing for the sport because once one of these up-and-coming fighters soundly defeats a legendary fighter, it should increase the victor’s marketability, except for the question of how marketable the defeat of a fighter who is past his prime is, even though that fighter has a big name? What did Trevor Berbick gain by defeating Muhammad Ali? What did Glen Johnson gain by defeating Roy Jones? What did Tommy Morrison gain by defeating George Foreman and what did Terry Norris gain be defeating “Sugar” Ray Leonard?

If a fighter, even a fighter who has had a legendary career, stays too long, not only does he diminish his own career, he minimizes the potential career boost of the man who defeats him, and not only does this damage the career of both fighters, it damages the sport as a whole because the opportunity to create a new star has been unnecessarily lost.

Labels: 1980's, 1990's, 21st+Century, beyond, boxing, champions, experience, future, history, youth