Don't believe the hype?

Examining the concept of the hype job in boxing

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When the boxing hype bubble bursts

There is little more thrilling in boxing than watching a highly-touted prospect take on an opponent who is a big step up in class. If they swim, then they are potentially on the way to the top of the sport. If they sink, then they will invariably be labelled a hype job. Exactly what constitutes a 'hype job' in the field of pugilism is something which can be a matter for debate depending on who you ask. At the most basic level it appears to be a fighter who is heavily promoted - both by self and/or others, be they associates, fans or media - beyond their capability level, often 'exposed' as being not quite what they were sold as.

The case of the overhyped fighter is as old as the business of boxing itself. In the fight game, there will always invariably be a constant stream of contenders, usually bubbling up under the elite level, ready to be tested against better opposition and armed with a seemingly endless set of superlatives to lavish on themselves or have lavished upon them. The unregulated nature of boxing, with no singular body providing oversight across the world, does actually make this situation more common than in any other sport. Fighters can spend years topping up their records before they ever face a legitimate test, which although often can be VERY frustrating it also adds an extra element of intrigue to an already-fascinating business. The hype jobs, much-maligned and constantly discussed, keep the boxing world turning.

The march of the mob declaring heralded boxers ‘hype jobs’ when they stumble and fall is something boxing fans have been conditioned to consider part and parcel of the sport since time immemorial. Audley Harrison was the BBC’s chosen one when he signed a long-term, big money deal after impressively winning Super Heavyweight gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, however incredible levels of hype around his ability to become the next Lennox Lewis in the pro game very quickly became a false prophecy when the cracks appeared in his game against journeymen, let alone when he stepped to the top level.

Speaking of Lennox Lewis, he completely blew apart the rhetoric around super-hyped prospect Michael Grant in two brutal rounds in defence of the unified Heavyweight championship in Madison Square Garden in April 2000. Having survived a few scares on the journey to headlining an HBO pay-per-view, Grant was the great American heavyweight hope and the ‘next big thing in boxing’ prior to his dissection at the hands of Lennox the Lion in the main event of a card given the historically terrible title “Two Big”. A gatekeeper from this very moment on, Grant’s career never recovered, though a prime Lennox (who had finally defeated Evander Holyfield in a blockbuster fight five months prior) was always going to be a tough assignment. Somewhat amazingly Grant last fought in 2017, and even more shockingly he was schedule to fight Dillian Whyte in the same year, before the fight was cancelled due to the negative press and fan reaction. Grant did at least manage to achieve a marginally more esteemed pro career than another product of the 90s heavyweight boxing hype machine, Jorge Luis González.

A genuinely top notch Cuban amateur with a record of 220-13, a run which included defeating both Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis at the 1987 Pan-Am Games, Jorge rapidly lost discipline (and largely trained himself, never a good sign) once he defected from his homeland and turned pro in 1991. Despite racking up numerous wins against lesser opposition, and managing to become the MGM Grand’s ‘house fighter’ despite showing very little ability to draw any sort of money and having possibly the worst hairstyle in boxing history, González’s hype job peak came in the build to his 1995 WBO Heavyweight title grudge match with former opponent ‘Big Daddy’ Bowe. The brilliantly over-the-top promotion for the fight included manic fracas at press events and González proclaiming “I want to eat his heart”, all of which is captured in the extended HBO broadcast of the fight (well worth digging out on YouTube).

Cut to the fight itself, and in a half-full MGM Grand - not a great endorsement of Jorge as the arena's 'house fighter' - a highly motivated Bowe (which he wasn’t always during his career) easily exposed González across six brutal rounds, landing clean shots at will as the latter’s lack of trainer input and training discipline was clear as day for all to see. Riddick dominated almost every second of every round, eventually connecting with an overhand right which knocked the Cuban exile clean out. The hype train was well and truly pushed off the tracks. Jorge was later stopped by the likes of Tim Witherspoon and the aforementioned Michael Grant, in the battle of the ex-hype jobs, before disappearing completely from boxing in 2002.

A prime example usually cited in talk of overpushed fighters is Jeff Lacy, who was hyped heavily as the next great American boxer in the early 2000s, routinely referred to as the Super Middleweight Mike Tyson and the hardest puncher in the game while he rose up the ranks and captured the IBF title in just his 18th fight. "This is the stardom for me, this is where it all begins" said Lacy  before he made the biggest step up of his career against Joe Calzaghe in 2006 - a unification superfight in which he was well and truly taught a lesson across 12 rounds by the Welshman, seen at the time as Joe’s legacy-making performance. Although Calzaghe went on to further prove himself as a generational talent, meaning Lacy's defeat did age somewhat better, the fact that Jeff never again managed to win a major world title demonstrated that the fervour of opinion around ‘Left Hook’ during his early career was perhaps somewhat misplaced. Lacy later toiled to defeats against the likes of Roy Jones and Jermain Taylor, and never fought for a world title again, whereas Calzaghe went on to move up to Light Heavyweight, headed to the States and picked up wins against Bernard Hopkins and the same Roy Jones to end his career undefeated.

2021 is already throwing up examples of fighters who have been labelled as a 'hype job', rightly or wrongly. 22-year-old Ryan Garcia looked like he could end up every bit the victim of the hype job stigma (despite his 8.4 million Instagram followers and sponsorship deal with Gatorade) when he was dropped hard in the second round of his WBC ‘interim’ Lightweight title fight against Luke Campbell on January 2nd in California. Exuding pure confidence and making numerous proclamations prior to the fight, hyped mercilessly by the somewhat grating DAZN commentary team on the night, and labelled as being “primed to crossover and become an international superstar” by promoter Oscar De La Hoya for months, this was undoubtedly a major crisis in his still-young career. Garcia proved himself though, recovering quickly and managing to go on to stop 'Cool Hand' in round seven with a body shot which Luke is probably still feeling now. From hype job to serious contender, in a single punch.

During Premier Boxing Champions' first card of 2021, heavyweight Darmani Rock - former Golden Gloves national champion and youth world champion who entered the pro ranks with a decent level of hype back in 2016 - was trounced by betting underdog Michael Polite Coffie in just three rounds to leave his future prospects in doubt. In the business of boxing, vaunted prospects often find difficulty when business and lifestyle considerations are added to the mix in the pro game. For Rock - who I and many others first saw in a cameo role beating Cam Awesome during the 2017 Netflix documentary film CounterPunch - the business side does seem to have taken its toll, with years spent under the Roc Nation promotional banner going nowhere and a seeming almost total lack of preparation costing him dearly in the co-feature of the first PBC card of 2021.

In my native Britain, two of the fighters most linked with the term ‘hype job’ amongst boxing fans experienced the harsh nature of public opinion following somewhat surprise defeats within just two weeks of each other at the back end of last year - as Anthony Yarde lost a close points decision to unheralded Commonwealth Light Heavyweight champion Lyndon ‘King’ Arthur, and Daniel Dubois took a knee to be counted out for a tenth-round record blemish against Joe Joyce in their much-anticipated heavyweight fight after suffering what turned out to be a serious orbital bone injury. Although Yarde had lost prior to more elite opposition (now-disgraced Sergey Kovalev in Russia in 2019), his generally ineffective performance against a perceived domestic-level talent still shocked many, especially given that Arthur fought most of the contest with one functioning arm.

Dubois meanwhile was heralded in some circles as the future of the heavyweight division - and was unequivocally the heavy bookies' favourite - prior to his demoralising stoppage L against Joyce the Juggernaut. The almost unbridled glee many took in castigating both, especially the “quitter” Dubois, was demonstrative of the ‘build them up, to knock them down (or watch them knock themselves down)’ school of boxing hard knocks built around hyping fighters. For both of these fights though, as with so many in boxing, the 'hype job' nature of the star participants was a large part of what made the contests so fascinating.

A defining factor of the 'hype job' moniker is their inability to recover from a high-profile defeat. Mayweather, Calzaghe and a rare few others aside, boxers are unlikely to go through their entire careers without suffering a loss, whether it be from a surprise knockout, controversial split decision or lop sided points boxing lesson, however many HAVE used what is learnt in their maiden L to drastically improve as a fighter. Canelo hasn’t done too badly since he lost to Floyd Mayweather, and Anthony Joshua has recovered from being stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr to now being on the cusp of the most financially-rewarding fight in boxing history. So as with life itself, it’s definitely not how you fall, it’s how you recover. The hype jobs are unable to suitably recover, for whatever reason.

There are numerous modern examples of once-prescribed ‘hype jobs’ who HAVE managed to achieve huge amounts and wash away the label after suffering seemingly shattering defeats. Take Amir Khan for example, Britain’s great boxing hope after winning a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, who was stopped in just 55 seconds by Breidis Prescott in 2008, but proved in the subsequent years that this was a talented, fragile boxer with incredibly fast hands. Despite suffering defeats along the way, he still went on to achieve success, especially as unified Light Welterweight world champion (and his 2010 victory over Marcos Maidana is a stone cold classic), whilst the fact that he was always susceptible to a big punch only made his fights more intriguing. Or both Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Vladimir, who both suffered demoralising defeats (Vitali by retiring in his corner against Chris Byrd, Vladimir due to a rather brutal stoppage at the hands of Ross Purrity), but then made the necessary adjustments and had the discipline and management to both become dominant Heavyweight champions.

This February also sees the return of Adrien Broner to the ring for the first time since 2019 and four years since his last victory. AB was labelled a hype job by many fans when he began to pick up losses in the Welterweight division, having previously genuinely been in the pound-for-pound discussion and labelled "the next Mayweather". This was especially true after his humbling 2013 defeat to Marcos Maidana. By this stage though, Broner was a four-weight world champion who had proved his skill level, and this was in the main a fantastic performance from the Argentinian. Perhaps the bar was set too high for Broner earlier this century for really anyone to live up to, especially once the discipline in his life in and out of the ring started to go south. Much of the post-fight flack received by ‘About Billions’ was self-inflicted thanks to his industrial levels of shit talking and complete lack of humility over the previous years’ campaigning at lower weights.

Any boxer who stumbles - I.E very nearly all of them at some stage of their careers - is at risk of receiving the hype job label, whether it is accurate or not. There is a trend, influenced by the unique career of Floyd Mayweather, in which a fighter who steps up and suffers their first defeat is summarily cast aside by most, no longer relevant after taking a loss, whether it be a tight decision, caught by a punch out of the blue or thanks to a clinical dissection. But boxing needs its fighters to take on challenges and make the most exciting fights with that risk of the unknown around them, rather than build their bank balance whilst taking very few risks and racking up the worthless victories, something which has become increasingly common over the last decade.

In the role of the boxing promoter, your job for all intents and purposes IS the hype job - even if you know a fighter might never achieve close to greatness, surely flogging them for all they are worth is sensible to maximise both their and your earnings, no matter how long their careers end up lasting? One thing is for certain, the concept of the hype job - one of boxing's most fascinating typecasts - is here to stay.

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SHARP SHOTS

Quick takes on the biggest, best and most interesting stories in boxing…

• Last Saturday night saw Matchroom Boxing’s first UK show of 2021 finally take place, back in the bubble at Wembley Arena; it was a night of shocks all round for different reasons. In the chief support, Zelfa Barrett was awarded the decision against Kiko Martinez (who somehow is only 34 years old despite seemingly having been around forever), in a fight which I scored for Kiko after 12 interesting rounds. The controversy arose from two horrifically wide cards from the judges of 118-111 in favour of Barrett, scores which it was almost impossible to understand. Eddie Hearn was at least heavily critical of the pair of hugely lopsided scorecards in the post-fight, rightly calling them disgusting, and a rematch is surely the only next step - though preferably not with the same judges. In the headliner, unheralded Mexican Mauricio Lara stopped Josh Warrington in the ninth round to deliver a shocking result absolutely nobody saw coming. Josh - who had only just given up his IBF Featherweight title in anticipation of big fights later this year and was a 1/18 on betting favourite for what was supposed to be a straightforward tune up fight - never looked comfortable and REALLY should have been pulled out after going down heavily during a torrid fourth round for the Leeds man. He somehow survived until the ninth round before another vicious knockdown ended things in clinical fashion. A brilliant, out of nowhere performance from Lara, and - as Eddie Hearn succinctly noted after the fight - “for Josh Warrington this is an absolutely crushing blow”. At a high level, this has to go down as one of the biggest surprises in British boxing history.

• So it appears that Canelo Alvarez's 2021 diary is pretty much set - bouts against Avni Yildrim, Billy Joe Saunders and potentially Caleb Plant give him the road to becoming undisputed Super Middleweight champion if, of course, he is victorious in all three contests. The question should perhaps be more can any of them pose a serious threat to boxing's biggest star? Although there is an argument for understanding why Yildrim is a mandatory challenger, given the somewhat controversial nature of his loss to Anthony Dirrell for the WBC crown back in 2019, a win against Saul would become one of boxing's biggest ever upsets, demonstrated by Canelo’s current 1/50 betting odds. A truly motivated and active Billy Joe could offer Canelo some fairly sizeable problems, but I don't feel that he has either faced anyone very challenging or even looked particularly good since moving up to Super Middleweight, and his best days were at the weight below years ago. Even though he is talking a good game, this does have the aura of a cash out opportunity for Saunders who will most certainly be making a career-high payday in Vegas in May. On that basis, the most interesting fight might end up being Caleb Plant towards the end of the year. The PBC-backed 'Sweet Hands' has been mostly impressive (against admittedly limited opposition) in his defences of his IBF Super Middleweight crown since his standout points win over ex-champ José Uzcátegui back in early 2019. With that said, a contest with the pound-for-pound star would be a huge step up for Plant, and if the cash cow event wasn't on the horizon he might be best placed risking it all against David Benavidez to prepare himself properly for what would be a thoroughly tricky contest to win. Given just how much money there might be in a full-on unification fight for Caleb though, this seems unlikely to be his team's next step, something which I would predict will do him a disservice if and when his big undisputed opportunity arrives.

• In Britain and Ireland at least, the recent Panorama episode Boxing and the Mob has made big waves. Although organised crime and boxing have long been close bedfellows, and the allegations against Kinahan are common knowledge within boxing, the fact that the BBC is broadcasting a major expose involving one of the sport's most influential advisors is just an incredibly bad slant for non-fans of the sport to see. Tyson Fury, one of the absolute star performers and characters of boxing at the peak of his powers, maintaining Kinahan in the same year he is on the verge of making the biggest money fight in boxing history could not be worse timing. Billy Joe Saunders, set for a megafight with Canelo in May, has fairly aggressively supported Kinahan as well since the programme went out. The bullish reaction of MTK-affiliated fighters to the media storm and the houndings brave journalists have received from people in real and social media life has been sad to see, though perhaps not surprising. Anyone who has even a passing interest in boxing YouTube channels can see that MTK is deeply ingrained in the sport at this point. Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren and other leading boxing figures have so far looked extremely uncomfortable addressing anything related to the story, however without a governing body taking control of the situation it is hard to understand what could change. The unregulated nature of the boxing landscape makes this inevitable in some ways you might say, but as a combat sport boxing is already at a disadvantage compared to more 'mainstream' sports so these kind of major stories do not help at all. It will be interesting to see how the broadcast partners might react if this develops, now that it's out in the mainstream, especially Sky who have carried recent events with MTK branding. I don't think this is the last we have heard of this story and the shade it throws on the entire sport.

• I can only add my voice to the bemusement and annoyance at the way in which the WBA has handled its Heavyweight 'champions' situation over the last months (and years, to be fair). Declaring Manuel Charr - who himself had not fought since 2018 - the 'champion in recess' just to allow Don King, of all people, to promote a tinpot fight in which Trevor Bryan stopped  Bermane Stiverne (knocked out in his last two fights) to win the WBA 'Regular' Heavyweight title, all while actual WBA Heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua is still very much active, is just the latest move from a sanctioning body which seems intent on self-destruction through idiocy just for a few extra fees to be dropped in to the bank account. Many are calling for the WBA to no longer be considered a major organisation within the sport, and given how they have behaved they really deserve everything they get at this stage.

• Speaking of the WBA, their outstanding (and controversy-free) Light Heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol is set to finally return in April, according to promoter Eddie Hearn, having not boxed since October 2019. If you have not seen this man fight then go out of your way to do so. For me he is one of the most complete fighters in boxing and, were he to go down to 168 pounds, I feel he would give Canelo kittens if that fight could be made. Many (non-hardcore) boxing fans will have never even seen Bivol fight, and one can’t help but feel that he could have been built in to a bigger star with a sustained run on HBO Boxing - had it stayed alive for longer been and in better health than when he did fight on the platform - given their history of taking talented fighters from unheralded nations and turning them in to big time attractions. Although not the most stacked division in boxing, Bivol’s back to back victories against Sullivan Barrera, Isaac Chilemba, Jean Pascal and especially Joe Smith Jr between November 2017 and March 2019 is still a pretty strong run, even if he does need to pick up his fight schedule against this year for sure. If the rumours are true that he is likely to fight 41-0 former WBO Super Middleweight champ Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez this Summer, then that is pretty much as good a fight as can be made currently and will be a solid test for both. Looking further ahead, Bivol against Artur Beterbiev - master boxer vs devastating puncher - for Light Heavyweight supremacy really should happen before the former does move weights, even if that being made currently looks unlikely. WHAT a fight that would be. In the meantime, while we wait for any/all of that to be confirmed, and if you have a spare hour, take a moment to enjoy Bivol’s dominant performance against Joe Smith Jr in their 2019 WBO Light Heavyweight title fight…

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THE NEXT ROUND

A far-from-exhaustive rundown of events worth looking out for on the boxing calendar over the next couple of weeks…

February 20th, 2021

• Josh Kelly vs David Avanesyan/Promoter: Matchroom/TV: Sky Sports (UK); DAZN (US)

For me, the pick of the first batch of Matchroom shows to start the year. Headlined by a cracking fight which should go a long way to answering whether 10-0-1 prospect Josh Kelly is the real deal, especially after his 2019 draw with Ray Robinson on the undercard of AJ-Ruiz I, a fight which many saw Robinson as doing enough to win. Former WBA (Regular) Welterweight champ Avanesyan is a tough test. Support of unbeaten Albanian Florian Marku and Rylan Charlton (who impressively smashed Joe Laws apart in just three rounds to announce his arrival last year) is an equally brilliantly poised welterweight fight, and should offer up a top notch build up as well. Marku and his team have talked a big game about his future career, and he has generally dominated limited opposition so far, but previously-unheralded Charlton looked very capable against Laws and could give the former kickboxer big problems on the night.

• Adrien Broner vs Jovanie Santiago/Promoter: TGB Promotions (a/k/a PBC)/TV: Showtime (US, no UK broadcaster)

Despite being 14-0, Santiago has fought nobody close to Broner’s level so this is an ideal return for AB. Where he goes after this though is anyone’s guess. The chief support is a crossroads b-level heavyweight fight which I really like between Otto Wallin and Dominic Breazeale, both victims of defeats to more esteemed opposition in 2019 - Wallin dropped a decision to Tyson Fury but gave him a fair amount to handle, whereas Breazaele was KO’d in a round by Wilder, having previously been stopped by AJ as well. 2012 Olympian Breazeale was once highly-touted and is talking a very good game but will have an interesting test in the Swedish southpaw. No UK broadcaster currently (the ITV/Premier Boxing Champions deal looking to be going absolutely nowhere), however PBC does tend to be pretty sharp about getting fights up on YouTube.

• Miguel Berchelt vs Oscar Valdez/Promoter: Top Rank/TV: Premier Sports (UK); ESPN (US)

A real all-Mexican war is on the cards for the WBC Super Featherweight title in a fight hotly anticipated by the boxing hardcores. Berchelt has held the WBC crown since 2017 and comes in with six stoppages in a row, whereas Valdez is the former long-reigning WBO Featherweight champ and brings a record of 28-0 (22 by KO). Can’t see how this won’t be a barnburner. In the UK you will need to be subscribed to Premier Sports/BoxNation to get to see it on the telly (although for some reason the BoxNation channel isn’t in HD). In the meantime, Top Rank’s Blood, Sweat and Tears build up show is available on YouTube and well worth your time. Aside from looking at preparations for the fight, there are some nice little pieces on some of the great Mexican warriors of yesteryear and just what the sport of boxing means in the country…

February 27th, 2021

• Canelo Alvarez vs Avni Yildrim/Promoter: Matchroom/TV: DAZN (UK & US)

The Canelo show rolls in to Miami for a fight literally nobody was asking for, but it’s the biggest star in the sport looking to fight more than twice a year and it needs to happen if Alvarez wants to unify the 168-pound division this year - so fair play I guess. Big news for Matchroom and Eddie Hearn to be the lead promoter for the second successive Canelo fight, it'll be worth keeping a close eye on how Canelo navigates the often-tricky landscape of competing promotional companies over the next year or so now that he is free from his long-term Golden Boy/DAZN deal.

• Jamel Herring vs Carl Frampton/Promoter: Frank Warren/TV: BT Sport (UK); ESPN+ (US)

Frampton attempts to win a world title in a third weight division as he challenges WBO Super Featherweight champ Herring at the Copper Box in London, headlining Frank Warren and BT’s first card of the year. Although Herring has considerable height and reach advantages against the Northern Irishman, to the point where it could take a little time to adjust to what might look like a size mismatch, at his best Frampton would be able to close the distance and dominate the fight…the question is how much he has left to give. I expect a tight fight but would still just about back Frampton to squeeze a very close decision if I was pushed.

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