Azumah Nelson is not the first fighter from a previous era to criticise today’s fighters and he will not be the last. Nelson, who showed his brilliance in the 1980s and the 1990s when he got busy fighting the best on a consecutive basis, with “The Terrible Warrior” AKA “The Professor” winning world titles at two weights, says the overriding factor today is money.
Nelson, speaking on Akoma FM radio show, said “it will take a miracle to produce another boxing legend because most of our contemporary boxers can’t go through the pain and hard work with humility and the fear of God.” Nelson, who this week turned 65, stated that “what they (modern day boxers) think about is only money” and that the work ethic he and other greats had is lacking in almost all of today’s fighters.
“Anyone who wants to be like me ought to learn a lot and be disciplined,” Nelson said. “It will take a miracle to produce another boxing legend……. They don’t have it. What they think about is only about money and that can’t be possible.”
It’s undeniable how the sport has changed drastically over the years, with the purses for star fighters going up and activity levels going down significantly. We know, one or two star fighters aside, today’s elite fighters box pretty much once a year, twice if we fans are lucky. And if, say, a Canelo (who, to be fair, is one of the more consistently active big-name fighters today), or an Anthony Joshua pulls in around $20 million for one fight, why do they need to fight more than once or twice a year?
It was different in Nelson’s day, of course. Back then, no lower weight fighter could have dreamt of earning the massive money a Floyd Mayweather or a Gervonta Davis can (or could) command. But ask yourself, when was the sport of boxing better, back then, or now? Bottom line, we need to see the best fighters fight, and we need to see them fight the best. Today, more than one fight per year from a star boxer is quite rare, while a genuine super fight where the best fights the best is even more of a special occasion only. Great fighters like Nelson were not motivated just by the money and it seems too many of today’s fighters are. It’s tough to disagree with what Nelson had to say.
Are fighters as hungry today, when they can earn so much money for just one fight? How could they possibly be as hungry as the fighters from yesteryear?