Are British Prospects Being Rushed?

[keithmoonhangover]

Fury, Degale and others are swimming in pretty deep water considering how many fight's they've had. What ever happened to bringing them along slowly like Bruno, Mason, Benn etc etc.

[LeedsLad]

Yes, they aren't fighting often enough nor fighting the right kind of opponent and mix of opponent in their formative years as professionals.

[hurlock]

there aint no big players for them to come through under & they are headlining early under the microscope.

[forcefraser]

I don`t see Fury as swimming in any deep water at the moment. Firtha isn`t exactly a diving pool and neither is the next guy he`s fighting.

It`s progression, but not deep water.

[Final round]

Not generally no,There are less shows and people aren't going to pay to watch a one sided bout . It's entertainment and needs even match ups

[twenty six]

Make your mind up.
It wasn't long ago there were people on here saying they were sick of padded records.

[keithmoonhangover]

Make your mind up.
It wasn't long ago there were people on here saying they were sick of padded records.

Well excuse me.

[PROPHETI]

Plus we are npaying ££££ on SKY etc so I do not want to see 70/30 fights!

[SAPFO]

Tough matchmaking is great for learning, just like tough sparring is where you learn your weaknesses.

[housesecond]

No. The sport was dying because of one sided fights constantly.

Nobody would pay to watch Man Utd against Telford every week.

The game finally seems to be going in the right direction and long may it continue.

Do we really care if a fighter keeps his '0', or do we want to see good fights? 'cos I watched a cracker last night.

[BoxingAnalyst]

Real champions even if they take a bad loss early in there career have the mental stength to push on in there career. Losing a fight in this era seems to be the end of the world yet 20 years ago it wasn't a big issue, it's how you bounce back from adversity that makes a real champion.

[kamicazze]

It's a difficult one to say. That Degale won definitely shows he is ready. But if he had 2 or 3 more fights before meeting the guy then it would have been far easier for him. I'd say they are being rushed from domestic titles to world level IMO. People win domestic and suddenly get a world shot now. They should defend it a couple of times, win a euro and then go on to world honours. Their path to domestic glory is about right, the rest is rushed

[Wrists]

Make your mind up.
It wasn't long ago there were people on here saying they were sick of padded records.

Couldnt have out it better myself

[wadey]

My philosophy is if there good enough, then does it really matter whether our up and coming boxers have had 10 fights as opposed to 20. No matter how many fights you've had, pretty much every one you learn some thing from. Plus do they not learn why they are amateurs? or sparring?

[danfoster]

Make your mind up.
It wasn't long ago there were people on here saying they were sick of padded records.

Absolutely 100% correct - 10 learning fights should be enough to know whether or not to pitch a kid. To quote Degale as an example, if he can't beat the likes of that Polish kid having won an Olympic gold and had 12 pro fights against largely good opposition then he's never gonna be the champion we are hoping for. So let's find out now by matching him hard.

Also, i really believe that there is a very low ceiling on the amount that a prospect learns by fighting journeymen after, say, the first six fights of his career. Prospects need testing and stretching to improve. The odd loss here or there doesn't need to be the end of the world, either ... Sometimes you can learn far more from a defeat than a victory.

I think the fact that British fighters are being matched much harder is the best news for British boxing in a long, long time ...

[Josh1111]

Not at all, its what they need to improve. I would say though, i do think the lads coming through need to be fighting 6-8 times a year for the first 18 months, then as the opposition gets better and stronger, fight 4 times a year

[PROPHETI]

Real champions even if they take a bad loss early in there career have the mental stength to push on in there career. Losing a fight in this era seems to be the end of the world yet 20 years ago it wasn't a big issue, it's how you bounce back from adversity that makes a real champion.

Their!

[keithmoonhangover]

Real champions even if they take a bad loss early in there career have the mental stength to push on in there career. Losing a fight in this era seems to be the end of the world yet 20 years ago it wasn't a big issue, it's how you bounce back from adversity that makes a real champion.

Their!

It's a boxing forum, not a spelling competition.

[PROPHETI]

Real champions even if they take a bad loss early in there career have the mental stength to push on in there career. Losing a fight in this era seems to be the end of the world yet 20 years ago it wasn't a big issue, it's how you bounce back from adversity that makes a real champion.

Their!

It's a boxing forum, not a spelling competition.

Boxing Anal YSt deserves a bit of stick for the crap he has given me. Read his posts.

[IRLangmaid25]

Well Tyson Fury after 16 fights is slightly above where I would have expect him to be already be and that is holding the British and Commonwealth straps, when you could argue that he would be pushing at the very least for an eliminator shot or about to challenge for the title/s that were previously held by Derek Chisora who was no where ready in fighting Wladimir K in my eyes, although if Fury had not had that spell with injuries he may have been already attempting to win a Lonsdale outright.

As for Kell Brook who is 24-0 (so you can argue over whether or not he still can be classed as a prospect). He has won a Lonsdale Outright and is now mandatory for the WBA title and is top 10 ranked at Welterweight and he took the best British Welters around at the time in Michael Jennings, and Kevin McIntyre enroute to winning it outright and has fought some high level Welters in Lovemore Ndou and Rafael Jackieowicz so he is about right. While I am talking about Welterweights Frankie Gavin has got an WBO Inter belt and probably start angling for a British and/or Commonwealth shot against Lee Purdy or Denton Vassell both of whom would make an attractive unifaction rematch of those straps.

As for Billy Joe Saunders up at Middleweight he is due for an Area title fight and you can argue he is slightly behind the likes of James DeGale who by his 8th fight in the paid ranks was getting an eliminator shot against Carl Dilks then fought Paul Smith for the British title who he stopped up at the Echo arena. Lost it to George Groves in a unifaction match with Groves' Commonwealth belt also on the line that night at the O2 and now has the European title and is ranked in the top 20 in a stacked division at Super Middleweight.

So in conclusion
Fury is about where I expect to him to be at the moment but might have already been a little earlier if had not so many injuries
Brook is where I expect pushing for a World title after securing a Lonsdale outright and getting some good quality opponents on the slate
Saunders is not being rushed at the moment but I do expect him to fight for a British or Commonwealth title early this year.
DeGale has been and probably paid for it when fighting Groves
Groves has been a little to some extent although he has fought Charles Adamu, Kenny Anderson and DeGale and has come out with honours in those match ups.

[NazNaci1]

We (boxing fans) have become accustomed to guys fighting in 80/20 match ups, so the fact that the level of opponents is a little stronger than what we are used to is a little unusual.

Boxing is in a bit of a rut and promoters realise padding records and knock over jobs wont do neither themselves or their fighters, over the long haul. It's a tough economic climate for everyone.

TV and money are not compatible with fighters development, per se. TV Execs and non boxing fans love the '0' and high KO percentages, even if a prospect can't punch a lick. This is immediately at odds with a fighters development. If it comes together, it's usually more luck than judgement.

[whiskey]

I think another way of perhaps writing the title is "are British prospects in danger of bursting their padded records?"

Miguel Cotto has lost a couple times now, but I will always watch his fights. Losses don't matter to me but unfortunately they matter to casual fans who are only interested in the "best" which they correlate into "being unbeaten"

[Twinkle Toes]

DeGale is a gold medal winner, and would be expected to reach world class quicker than someone like Brook. He has fought some good names already and it should tide him well, although personally I don't think he has adapted as well to the pro game as he could have - That is not a match making issue.

Padded records are all very well and good for a fighters ego and confidence, but when the moment of truth arrives, we've seen many a fighter be well and truly exposed. Its generally down to the fighter not being good enough, however I think we can also add that the type of preparation a padded record gives means nothing when fighting the elite.

Bruno is a prime example, he failed multiple times on the world stage, yet we saw him as an unstoppable machine when he was on his way up - With hindsight it was clever matchmaking.

[maltesecharlie]

Not at all. I think British boxing is in the best shape its been for ages. The last 6 or 7 big british title fights (or involving 2 British boxers) on Sky have been quality. As with Groves and Degale I would much rather have two prospects fight each other rather than handpicked opponents to beef up their record.

[Crease]

Ina ll honesty YES. Especially Tyson Fury, if I were his manager, I wouldn't reccommend him fighting for a World Heavyweight Title for another 4/5 years.

I'd just keep him busy and defending his British title & Commonwealth titles, then after 2 years (7-8 fights) of that move up to the European level (5-6 fights there).

Fury has got much, much to learn... No doubt.