boxingchat wrote:He won the Commonwealth title and defended it against the English Champion. The Board wouldn't allow it for the English as well as, at the time, they were only allowed as 10 round fights.
The so called traditional route of British, Commonweath and European is okay in the ideal world but ask any fighter if they wouldn't sacrifice any of these for a shot at or indeed winning a world title. Khan has a good Promoter guiding him so if he was fast tracked, possibly he was, it worked didn't it?
People on here criticised the amount of time Hatton 'trod-water' with the WBU title before getting a real title shot (He wouldn't have beaten Tszyu earlier would he?) and the amount of time it took Calzaghe to rise to the top (Lacy) after years as WBO champion. Now when a young guy gets let of the leash early, especially months after a devastating setback, the critiscism is still forthcoming.
History tells us that many fighters following the traditional route of Area-British-Commonwealth-European are usually too old or shop-worn by the time the world title comes along. I grant you that Froch and Lennox (Both won vacant titles remember) maybe an exception to the rule, but in the main it usually transpires that when the fighter does get his chance, usually as the mandatory, then there will be an exceptional fighter as the champion and they will end up fighting away from home and usually getting beaten.
Promoting and Managing is a skill, anyone can secure a shot for a fighter, but the knack is doing it at the right time when all the boxes are ticked and the fighter has the best chance of winning.
Kotelnik, Kessler, Tszyu, McCall and even Winky Wright were enticed by big purses to face men Warren thought could beat them at that moment in time, he hasnt made many mistakes in this respect.
i actually agree here. the rival champs were too dangerous, too tricky or lacking reward. sharmbah was southpaw, and harris would only fight in detroit. and a younger tszyu was too much. it was good work how hatton was kept busy v IBF ranked fighters (no joke stewart, oliveria). definitely, hatton could not have fought tszyu earlier. it seems like the move was made, when ricky could win it, where ricky could win it.
given that tszyu was a dominant champion, it must have been important to tread water - for a long time. it seems this was the blessing and the curse. ricky won the belt, added to his fame and his fortune. but frankly wasn't much good after getting the belt.
i suppose the honourable way would have been to push ricky earlier and get him knocked out by tszyu. this would have shown a more honest assessment of his abilities. but not the ideal way to have a career.
khan is proven world class in 20 somethig fights, at a young age. no complaints. maybe he can become a bit more exciting, though, and find superstardom!
