Calling out fighters you thought got a pass

[Fitz]

Tito Trinidad

For his losses to Hopkins and Wright, I thought he was given a pass for the manner he lost in. I have a few different reasons for this.

Beating up on a 'blown up' welterweight
This excuse has never cut it with me. I'm willing to admit, 160 was not his prime weight, but saying he was a blown up welterweight is bullshit as well. In his 2 fights leading up to those losses (Joppy and Mayorga), he looked pretty good who still had power. Good enough that he went into both fights with Hopkins and Wright as a pretty solid favourite.
Tito at 160 is no different to someone like DLH or Mosley at 154, not their best weight, but you never see people pull the 'blown' up lightweight excuses when guys like DLH and Mosley suffered losses at 154.

Not only that, size difference was never a factor in Trinidad's losses, it had no influence at all. Number 1, he couldn't land shit period, and they were not fighting a fight that was focused primarily on using size or being physical.

The manner he lost in
He lost in huge fashion in both those losses, and he looked completely lost with no plan. I think the Winky fight is the one that gets swept under the rug a little bit. I know it was at 160 and Trinidad wasn't in his prime, but he wasn't completely shitty either.
He literally did not win a round let alone about 10 seconds of that fight. It was one of the most one sided fights I have seen involving two world class fighters. I could not believe what I saw in that fight, a guy that gets hit with the same punch for the whole entire night, and literally not make any adjustment at any stage in that fight?
I don't care how shot you are (he was not shot though), I have seen 'done' fighters like Jones, Holyfield, Toney, Morales, Barrera in the ring when they have been out classed. But you will always see glimpses and there boxing brain kicking in and you can see what they are 'trying' to do and set up. But physically, there body will not allow them.
The thing about Trinidad, I saw nothing of that. I don't think a guy who gets rated as high as Trinidad should ever lose like that, and I am not talking about just losing 12 rounds in his losses, but showing nothing in them period.

I think his losses tend to get swept under the rug a little, and the blown up welter excuses are a cop out. I think Trinidad has got off pretty lightly and unscathed for those performances, and I thought they were terrible, yet spectacular for the winners.

[KYLE THEEE SPINKS FAN]

Honestly man, Wright-Trinidad was one of the most beautiful fights I've ever seen. That performance by Wright that night was masterful, and I don't think he got as much credit as he deserved for it. Wright controlled the pace and never let Tito get close to him. I predicted Wright would win, but I thought it would be close. I was hyped for that fight, crazy it was already 7 years ago. Winky would have beat a lot of solid fighters that night.

An obvious fighter that seems to get a pass is one of my favorites, Zab Judah. Dude loses to top level competition, and there's always some different excuse. Then, we try to say he wasn't focused in the fight. If you're not focused, you shouldn't be in the ring. He keeps getting big opportunity after big opportunity, and can't capitalize. Of course performances like the one a couple weeks ago make people forget about the poor ones, and he keeps getting a pass.

[BrutalBodyShots]

Fitz,

Very good post my man - I completely agree. Trinidad's a guy that, based on his inability to adjust in ways can be considered over rated.

[Romulus9]

BrutalBodyShots Wrote:Fitz,

Very good post my man - I completely agree. Trinidad's a guy that, based on his inability to adjust in ways can be considered over rated.

That and the fact that his biggest 'win' was a loss. People can try to justify the scorecards and offer excuses and blame his opponent's strategy in 9-12 but Trinidad didn't beat de la Hoya that night any more than I did and I was about 3,000 miles away.

Absolute garbage.

The best real win he had was over Vargas, and that fight was a classic.

I think in many circles, Trinidad is overrated.

Best vs. Best, I'll take the Quartey that fought de la Hoya over the Trinidad that fought de la Hoya all day long.

[ViperSniper]

Agree Kyle that Wright's performance was a masterpiece against Tito. A performance & victory that goes under the radar! There should be no excuse for a fighter of that caliber to lose in such unimpressive, dominating fashion like that or to not land anything meaningful or to lose every single minute of the fight. Wright made the fight look like a hot prospect being put on display against a journeyman.

[Method]

Roy Jones gets a pass for his first and second fights against Tarver...

...and he gets a pass for fighting Ruiz at heavyweight.

[blackbelt2003]

Calzaghe gets a pass all the time with shit like this:


"Greatest British fighter of all time"

"Best supermiddle ever"

"21 straight championship victories"


Too bad that: a) he isn't the best British fighter, b) Roy Jones was better at super middle, and c) he had THREE title fights, not 21. He only has 21 if you count Warren Boys Only belts, which I, frankly, do not.



Yuk.




Black

[Romulus9]

I'll give credit for the WBO defenses. The WBO has gained the favor to be "one of the four", rather than "one of the three" of the past. What's funny is that I'd take the IBO over the WBO but that's another story for another day.

What I won't do is act like it means much. He won the belt. He defended it over and over. Good for him. Credit given. But when credit is given and allowances are made, analysis follows and his career doesn't hold up to much scrutiny.

Simply, we're not impressed, Joe. I have more respect for Carl Froch than I do Joe Calzaghe. Just because BoxRec's computer has him #1 all-time doesn't mean he is. It just means that guys like Roy Jones had enough fights in other divisions to have their default classification as something other than 168. Does ANYONE with any sense think that Calzaghe would take more than a round or two off of Andre Ward, much less a prime 168 Roy Jones? I'm not entirely sure he beats Frankie Liles much less a prime Nigel Benn or Chris Eubank.

Calzaghe is one of the greatest scams ever perpetrated by Frank Warren. I mean a truly great scam, right up there with the Pet Rock, Sven Ottke, and radical Islam. He has made so many people believe Calzaghe was really something worthwhile, proving that if the outside of the box is fancy and pretty enough, most people won't notice that there's nothing inside but feces and regret.

[Maxy]

Mate, I'm no fan of Calzaghe. Not at all. Ever.

However, I can't see how you can say he wouldn't take a round or two off of Ward. For me, his work rate and far better stamina would be enough to make a fight with Ward very close. Even if you wanna give Ward the first 8 rounds (and lets be clear, this fight goes the distance), Calzaghe would at least take the last 4 rounds. Absolutely.

[Gandalf The Black]

I think Ricky Hatton got a pass. In the same fashion that Calzaghe did. Protected fighters who would rarely travel outside of their pond to face the best competition. In Calzaghe place, he fought a way past their prime Roy Jones and Hopkins. I think Taylor would have whopped him. Just think his style was better suited.

Biggest pass ever in my opinion is Laila Ali. Famous because of pops and ran like a roach when the light came on from Ann Wolfe and Lucia Rijker. Both of whom had to use talent and hard work to earn a living.