palooka wrote:
An Olympic gold medal is worth bragging about and certainly shows that you are above proficient in your sport; he didn't get his in a lucky bag. The majority of posters on BoxRec are pretty committed boxing fans who know that a loss for a boxer doesn't mean the end of the world and that a boxer can be better for it; also because someone was unpleasant and a bit of a cock at one time doesn't necessarily mean they are horrible. DeGale has made some mistakes and that's clear but I can imagine there are worse people and boxers than him around.
Let me clarify.
When I said; "Boasting before you've done anything", what I actually meant was; "Boasting before you've done the thing you are boasting about". Badly phrased perhaps.
I'd may be forgiving of a boxer boasting that they'd won a medal, when they
had won a medal. But, for example, it a person was giving it the large that they're going to win a gold medal before they've even been entered in the olympics it makes them look douchey. And even if they were boasting after the event, it's unneccessary. We've seen that he's won a medal. We watched it, does he need to remind us that he did it? It's much more impressive if a person achieves something, and then shuts up about it. It makes it seem more impressive if they're not going; "Look what I've achieved" every two minutes.
For me, we're misunderstanding the difference between confidence, and just talking shit. Any sportsmen needs belief in their abilities to succeed, or they won't succeed. But if they have confidence in their ability to succeed, why do they need to convince everybody they are able to do it? If they can, do it. We'll be all the more impressed if you do it, if you haven't made a big performance out of it beforehand.