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From a player’s perspective, Terence Crawford supports Conor Benn’s $15 million move

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Image: Terence Crawford Backs Conor Benn’s $15M Move From a Fighter’s Standpoint

You pay your head coach. You pay assistants. You pay strength coaches. You pay your sparring partners. Managers take their percentage. Promoters take their share. Everyone around the player earns when the player earns.

On The Joe Rogan Experience, Crawford rejected the idea that Benn owed Eddie Hearn anything beyond the signed contract.

“He just signed with Zuffa. A lot of people said he was disloyal and Eddie Hearn and they were steadfast to him and this and that. He’ll get 15 million for his next game. Man, what are people talking about? I said it’s just business. It’s not personal to them. I said Conor Benn did what was best for him and his family. I said like the promotion companies will do what’s best for them and their family business. If the fighter they sign loses two fights in a row, he can fire them, no questions asked. Because now they are wasting money.

This is the logic of the gym. The camp lasts eight to ten weeks. You’re bringing in fresh bodies. You sharpen your jab, drill your right hand, and the next morning you make rounds that hurt. You lose weight. You run the risk of being wiped out and your market value changing in one round. This all happens in a career that ends sooner than most people realize.

Crawford pushed further.

“They feel like they don’t care about this person’s family. They don’t care about this person, you know, their relationship with them. They don’t come in there with their hearts like, ‘Oh man, like you, good buddy.’ They’re like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ It’s just business. Cut you. So when a player does the same thing as a promotional company, manager or anyone else, it’s all a sign of disloyalty, you this, you that. I want it to make sense.

Players understand something that outsiders don’t. Earning years are brief. You won’t get twenty prime years. You get a good few years where your reflexes are keen, your legs are delicate and your name still attracts attention.

If you lose twice, your phone will snail-paced down. Get knocked out and your bargaining power diminishes. That’s the risk every time you put your feet down and launch combos.

From a warrior’s perspective, the equation is uncomplicated. If there is a greater guarantee while your body is still intact, you take it. Belts still need to be earned in the featherlight by working behind the jab and finishing rounds well. The organizer may change the lineup. A warrior absorbs blows.

The window closes quickly. Players know this better than anyone else.

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Roy Jones Jr Declares New KO Artist the Next Canelo: Fans Eager for Fight

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"Roy Jones Jr Declares New KO Artist the 'Next Canelo': Fans Eager for Fight"

Roy Jones Jr has named one fighter as the “new Canelo” and, by extension, considers them to be the ‘face of boxing’.

Some might argue that Canelo Alvarez remains boxing’s biggest commercial star but, with the 36-year-old approaching retirement, the sport is surely crying out for another mainstream attraction to take his place.

It is also unusual for the four-division world champion that, by the end of this year, he will not have fought on Cinco de Mayo or Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Instead, occupying the latter date earlier this month was Ryan Garciawho retained his WBC world title with a second-round stoppage of Conor Benn, taking his record to 21 knockouts from 26 victories, with just two defeats.

In doing so, the 28-year-old has kept himself in the mix for unification matches with Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney but, until such fights materialise, he seems eager to remain active and defend his welterweight belt.

As far as a next opponent goes, Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz has been mentioned as a possible option following his emphatic sixth-round knockout of Nestor Bravo last weekendand it seems that pound-for-pound legend Jones would enjoy that clash.

That is because Jones has told All The Smoke Boxing that Garcia-Cruz is a stylistically similar matchup to Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier.

“Ryan is the new Canelo – everybody wants to see Ryan.

“[Cruz] has the style – the perfect style – that you want to see against Ryan. Ryan’s a classic boxer-puncher; Pitbull is a brawler-puncher. That’s Ali and Frazier, almost.

“Who would not, on planet Earth, want to see that fight?”

While Cruz is, indeed, a tenacious brawler-puncher, the 5ft 4in super-lightweight would be contending with a glaring size disadvantage if he moves up to 147lbs and faces Garcia.

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Heavyweight Brothers Aim to Dominate Boxing Like the Klitschkos

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"Heavyweight Brothers Aim to Dominate Boxing Like the Klitschkos"

A pair of German prospects hope to follow in the footsteps of Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, who became the first brothers to simultaneously reign as world heavyweight champions.

The two highly-decorated Ukrainians achieved this feat between 2008 and 2013, after Vitali reclaimed his WBC title by dethroning Samuel Peter with an eighth-round finish.

‘Dr. Ironfist’ would then retire from the sport and pursue his political career, while Wladimir became the longest-reigning world heavyweight champion in history before losing to Tyson Fury in 2015.

While holding all four major titles between them, though, the Klitschko brothers established themselves as a dominant force and became mainstream celebrities in Germany.

Since then, the German boxing scene has struggled to generate such widespread attention but, now, over a decade later, Ismet Ademi (24) and Endrit Ademi (21) are bidding to emulate the Klitschko duo.

With seven national titles between them, the pair turned professional earlier this year and caught the eye of several promoters in the UK and US.

It can now be revealed, however, that the Ademi brothers have inked multi-year deals with Ringside Zone, who considers itself the leading boxing promotional outfit in Germany.

With Ismet returning to action on October 10, the 1-0 (1 KO) prospect explained that he and younger brother Endrit, 2-0 (2 KOs), would rather establish themselves on home soil than chase opportunities overseas.

“My brother and I had massive offers from abroad, but Germany is our home and this is where we want to build our legacy.

“Ringside Zone has already shown they can put German fighters in world title fights, and that mattered to us. We made a promise to each other years ago that we would become world champions together – signing here is another step toward keeping it.”

With lofty plans for the future, the Ademi brothers make for intriguing additions to the heavyweight scene as they aim to eventually reach world level and reach the heights that the Klitschko brothers once did.

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Muhammad Ali Names Boxings Greatest: He Was the Greatest

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"Muhammad Ali Names Boxing's Greatest: 'He Was the Greatest'"

Muhammad Ali once revealed who he believed to be the pound-for-pound greatest fighter of all time.

Ali is arguably the biggest name to ever grace boxing, becoming a global cultural figure not just for what he accomplished inside of the ring, but also for his activism efforts outside of it.

He was a three-time world heavyweight champion, and claimed wins in a number of epic battles, including the ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ against George Foremanand the ‘Thrilla In Manila’ against Joe Frazier.

Ali finished with a record of 56 wins from his 61 professional bouts, and despite all of his success, Ali conceded that another man ranked above him as the number one fighter in boxing history, admitting that he feels Sugar Ray Robinson is deserving of that honour.

“That man was beautiful. Timing, speed, reflexes, rhythm, his body, everything was beautiful.

“I’d say I’m the greatest heavyweight of all time, but pound-for-pound, I still say Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest of all time.”

Robinson competed professionally from 1940 to 1965, having a remarkable 201 fights during that time, winning 174 of them. At his peak, Robinson once had a record of 129 wins from 132 fights, with 85 of those wins coming by knockout.

He went on a 91-fight unbeaten streak during that time, as he held the world welterweight title for five years, before becoming world middleweight champion on multiple occasions.

Ali isn’t the only boxing legend that believes Robinson is the best ever, with fellow heavyweight icon Mike Tyson also sharing the same view.

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