In the rematch between Anthony Johnson vs. Daniel Comier, the fans booed a victorious and dominant DC, before they even engaged in combat. This was as he won the second fight, by yet another rear naked choke submission. In the long awaited unification bout between middleweight champions Danny Jacobs and Gennady Golovkin, fans jeered at the stellar performance of Jacobs, as a dejected Golovkin, shamefully received his belts. In the saga of fights between Light Heavyweight champions Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev, Ward has received violent backlash in his gritty victory, and racist insults under the lights of his performance. What does it all mean?
In Andre Ward's press conference speech, he mentioned the concept of perception. Perception is something that is bought into, but it's also something that is sold. Over the years, I've become increasingly intrigued by perception itself. On Youtube, I watch a host, who is clearly asian in descent. Watching his videos, I never really thought about it, but I was aware. He has a very large fanbase. It just so happened, that he brought his mother onto the show on a certain episode. He himself is possibly at least half, if not fully asian by heritage, but culturally, he is American, if that word even means anything. His mother is likely born in a different country, and appears more foreign. The entire channel was in a state of shock, and disbelief that he was actually asian. He never mentioned it. He merely gathered a large amount of viewers and support. Because to the average person today, he passes the complexion test and seems American enough, they all just viewed him as he seemed. I was in shock at trying to see what they were all seeing, and I just couldn't. I've seen this occur time and again, and for the longest time, it puzzled me.
Then, it began to become clear how people see things. They see in association. I've seen people with origins from many different places, and clearly appearing as such, labeled black and ignorant. And each time I observed this, it was always in the same "heel" role. Then I see people who are clearly not caucasian, conveniently hailed as white symbols. In fact, I saw an article on Tim Tebow today, and I was looking through the thread to see if there was any support towards him, after his great start to the baseball season. I was glad to see people commending him for a change, so I read on. As I did, I saw people stating that the reason he is hated is because he's "white, straight, God fearing, non-muslim and non-radical, which is the exact opposite of respected liberals." As I read in confusion, another comment clarified further by blatantly stating that if he was aetheistic, terrorist, black, and gay, he would receive respect. At that point, I'm drawing the correlations in mind as to what could possibly make definitive connections between these various, human-imposed classifications. And again, I couldn't do so.
Black is associated with negativity, while the supposed opposite, "white", is commonly seen as positivity and elevation. Without even realizing it, people will see those they do not inherently respect, as blacker. Not to veer off topic, but this is part of the functionality of people's perception. It's not completely without reference. They will see your actual color to a degree, but the level of respect tints the hue. I'm black, by classification, though classifications as such disgust me for many reasons that very few today will understand, so I don't discuss it much. Yet, I'm not as you would call it, a token or typical black. I don't have commonly found roots. As I've discussed somewhat in the past, my ancestors come from very surprising locations, and in bulk, no scarcity. And though I'm copper toned, I'm not boot black, nor do I have common features or attributes. That isn't a statement of arrogance as the ignorant will take it. It just is what it is. Each nationality has its beauty. But it's funny what people see. Those who I associate with on a more respectable level, see more of my attributes, while those who believe themselves in positions above me, and think they know me well, will see a completely different person, to the point it brings me to laughter at times. Sometimes, the accent they hear in my voice will wildly vary. And up to some time ago, I chalked it up to cultural perspectives and upbringings. But then you see variances with the same people, or changing variances, and you also see variances at different sides of the room. Also, you see some of the hilarity I mentioned before.
There are many commentators and enthusiasts who honestly consider themselves to be impartial students of a craft. But more than in the past, you can see polarity creeping into how things are analyzed, to a crippling level. You've always had polarity, and you've always had controversial decisions. But more than ever, you see people develop extreme, and sometimes violent feelings, where within logic, and reason, it just can't possibly be there. DC said that people had Johnson as the favorite in their rematch because they fall in love with the KO. He was being kind. When I heard the odds for the fight, I knew he was going to be booed after he won. I was one of the only people to pick him in the rematch. I simply watch and understand technique. For you to watch a fight, where a KO artist puts on an amazing display with stand up, and get systematically taken down, and beaten soundly before being choked out, your mind has to process things a certain way, for you to feel strongly that they should win the rematch. You can't be looking at matchups or technique at that point. That's been my point. Golovkin was countered, attacked to the body, and made to look sloppy in his fight with Jacobs. That was established fact to you, if you watched with educated, and unbiased eyes. To see Golovkin schooling Jacobs in that same fight, is not a matter of opinion. At that point, you are operating with something else.
When Ward and Kovalev square off in June for the rematch, I think Ward's gameplan does suit him best. And it suits the platform. People fall in love with the KO and the bully. Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier are both great guys, but Rumble Johnson's power is seen as a bully. People prefer the knockout fighter with victories that are easy to process, rather than the style you have to actually observe. The non-surly guy who comes off as articulate and working class, is boring today, and no one wants to admit it. But admit it to yourself. What do you respect more, the guy who needs to intimidate and line you up to be successful, or the guy who can turn defeat into victory with mathematics. You see, everyone wants to say the latter when under the light, but your emotional outbursts tell the truth. Personally, the more I see, the less I say. And that was pretty much the stance Ward took at the podium. It's getting to that time where the right answer doesn't come out eventually, but it's never found. I used to see the truth in a matter and call it out and hear and amen somewhere in the crowd. Now, all I ever see are blank stares, and that is truly frightening. People wave off whenever I talk about the changes that are apparent. But at the end of the day, before you open your mouth, ask yourself, are you part of the problem, or the solution. If you're in agreement with the detractors, even if it's 9 billion of them, you have no voice that means anything.
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