“Castles Made Of Sand, Fall In The Sea Eventually”
By William Trillo
My thoughts on Ryan Garcia vs. Francisco go as follows:
This is far from the first time a fighter has been built up to Super Stardom by fighting a laundry list of Ham-n-Eggers, Tomato Cans, Palookas and Bums. But in this particular case with the advent of the internet and Social Media Ryan Garcia has become a pseudo-celebrity of epic proportions. Whether or not that equates to him becoming a world class and legitimate Champion remains to be seen.
Garcia’s managers and promoters want us to believe that he is the second coming of Oscar De La Hoya, but anyone with any kind of boxing wisdom is skeptical at best. Oh sure, there are a ton of Instagrammers and Youtubers that salivate over Garcia, but the last time I checked those shouldn’t qualify you to be put into any sanctioning body rankings.
They shouldn’t, but in this day and age apparently they do.
Somehow, someway, while fighting literally no one of consequence Garcia has found his way to the top ten in three of the four major sanctioning body Lightweight rankings. The lone holdout is the IBF. Currently their Champion is Teofimo Lopez.
I’d love nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning and see Garcia ranked #1 in the IBF to become Teofimo’s mandatory defense.
What are the chances Team Garcia would nibble on that bait?
How about Slim and None!
If anyone knows the reality of where Ryan is in this stage of his career it’s Oscar De La Hoya himself. At the same point in The Golden Boy’s career he had already faced and defeated world champs the likes of Jorge Paez, John John Molina, Rafael Ruelas, Genaro Hernandez, Jesse James Leija and was one more fight away from ruining Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.
Ryan hasn’t come close to fighting anyone on that level. That’s the reality of the situation.
Boxing will always have its Primo Carnera’s coming along, that’s just the way the sport is. Someone sees a Goose That Lays Golden Eggs and suddenly the way is paved for the Goose to rise to the top and everyone involved is stuffing money into their pockets hand over fist.
Let’s be clear here: It’s a greedfest like no other.
But sooner or later there will come a time when there is no choice but to have the Goose, Garcia in this case, take on a legitimate test. History tells us that’s a test the Goose normally fails miserably.
And that’s the wonderful thing about boxing. A fighter of questionable talent can get pretty far with a savvy management team making fights he is sure to win. But sooner or later that guy is going to get cut loose from safety net and have to step in with someone the likes of which he has never seen.
Without any real tests or experience under his belt to fall back on…well…like the song says:
“Castles made of sand,
Fall in the sea eventually”
Jimi Hendrix
Influencers Influenza
Moments before the Ryan Garcia vs. Francisco Fonseca main event a rumbling began moving toward the ringside seats. As the stir passed media row many of my “peers” grabbed their video recording devices and scampered toward the buzz.
Who could it be I wondered? Was Canelo in the house? Maybe Manny Pacquiao was in attendance!
Wrong!! That electricity was because Logan Paul was making his way to his seat.
Really? Are we at professional boxing event or some Social Media watch party?
I’m still not sure myself.
And as far as the boxing media who scampered toward the melee like teenage girls at a Justin Bieber concert: Shame on you! How long before you’re gonna be throwing your underwear at him? Go ahead and assume I lost respect for a lot of you Friday night.
As credentialed boxing media we are there to cover the fights from top to bottom and report on them accordingly, and promptly. The reason we get a media table is to set up or laptops and chronicle the events that transpire in the ring.
Taking up space so you can sit there and do nothing but discuss how much you admire Kylie Jenner, stuff your face full of Nachos and wait until after the fights to get footage of fighters and promoters arguing is borderline useless.
Likewise, if you show up 2 fights into the televised main events and then stumble around media row looking for your spot and getting in the way of writers trying to watch and report on the fights, go ahead and assume you are a pain in the ass. Asking people to move their gear so you can see if they’re sitting in your assigned spot is about as arrogant and pompous as one can get. Truth be told if you are just there to video yourself talking to fighters after the fight you don’t need a seat, go stand in the tunnel and get over yourselves. You know who you are.
Real reporters like ESPN’s Steve Kim, Albert Baker from Under The Hand Wraps and others including www.Pound4Pound.com were in their seats from the opening bell of the first fight of the night all the way through the main event. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
I’m not impressed by your Youtube hits and neither are real boxing fans. I am there to report the fights and results for the fans to read. Please stop spreading your germs and stay out of my way.
Last but not least, my sincere apology one more time to Ed Keenan. My brain flatulence outside the arena before the fight will go down as an all-time blunder. I certainly have taken one too many shots to the head.
Check out www.Pound4Pound.com for all the latest boxing truth.
