Not long ago having an undefeated record in professional boxing packed and padded with not particularly meaningful fights used to be an important thing to build a fighter’s career.
Heck, you could argue the start and middle of WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s pro career is filled largely with names that nobody has ever heard of to be fair.
Compare this to the quick rise of Anthony Joshua and the tough names he was matched against so quickly in his pro career and one can kind of see the argument Joshua has sometimes in that he has had things tougher than most heavyweights to get where he is at the top.
But that was then and this is now.
In 2018 Wilder fought arguably the two toughest foes out of anyone in boxing in the form of Luis Ortiz and Tyson Fury.
Two boxers that no one was particularly in a rush to go in with.
Wilder’s star was well and truly born in 2018 after his dramatic fight with Tyson Fury in LA that ended in a controversial draw.
Undoubtedly, Wilder is good for the sport in my view. Charismatic, a big hitter and still America’s only heavyweight champion at the moment.
He made a solid point recently about not being worried anymore about maintaining his undefeated record that got me thinking.
He’s dead right, really.
All the great fighters with the exeption of a small few have had losses on their records.
Modern day boxing should never again go back to trying to pad fighter’s records.
Sure, the first ten fights need to be guided and to ensure a fighter’s learns his trade in the pro ranks but no more than that.
Look at the success of the UFC over the last decade in that losing fights is not seen as an issue at all for fans as long as their fighters were in good fights.
Boxing is now on that same road and school of thought thankfully.
Fans just want to see the best fight the best in their primes and on a consistent basis.
Simple.
