NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HEART AND DESIRE

By Blackbull

Inside Boxing Writer/Columnist

(IB-February 18, 2003) - You can have all the talent in the world but (especially) as a boxer, if you lack heart and desire, you can never become legendary.

We have witnessed the decline of promising fighters such as Francisco Bojado, Michael Bennett and recently, Ricardo Williams. These fighters all started their professional careers with amateur boxing talent that would surely take them to the Promised Land as a professional prize fighter.

What happened to these fighters?

The same thing that will doom other highly-talented prospects who are fortunate (or unfortunate) to land big-dollar deals with high-profile promoters and broadcasters. With money in the bank and a nice fancy automobile, there is no reason for these fighters to “hunger” for victory. Why should they? Promoters will carefully watch their investments and feed them “unsuitable” opponents.

Life becomes easy for these guys. They no longer have to train very hard for victories because they are pretty much guaranteed.

What happens is, after 10 or 15 wins, their talent actually deteriorates instead of progressing. Now, with a dozen or so wins and zero losses, they have no choice but to fight someone with a little talent.

As we witnessed this past weekend, Williams fought a “hungry” Juan Valenzuela who had a strong desire to win. Williams did not look like an Olympian, but rather a fat, out-of-shape “give me my check” fighter.

We recently also witnessed a “big headed” Vernon Forrest get knocked out by Ricardo Mayorga, and Antonio Margarito knock out Andrew Lewis.

What do Valenzuela, Mayorga and Margarito have in common? HEART and DESIRE to win! They don’t yet understand the concept of having a million dollars. They are still fighting to be the best man in the ring. They still fight for glory. They still fight just to kick ass.

Latin fighters don’t get the pleasure of being fed “pigeons” to build up their records. They can rest assured, the guy on the other side of the ring is there to cause them bodily harm.

Roy Jones, are you listening? Don’t you believe for a minute John Ruiz is a phony champion. Even though the media (not yours truly) refuses to give Ruiz the respect he deserves, think about this: Would you be able to withstand the battles he had against Evander Holyfield? I’m not sure you can.

Go ahead, pick on Ruiz. But remember, there is no substitute for Heart and Desire.

You can reach Moncayo Blackbull at blackbull@insideboxing.com