Kimbo Slice not exactly steamrolling toward the heavyweight title
For those so inclined, it's easy to laugh at Kevin Ferguson for keeping the charade going. Ferguson, better known as Kimbo Slice, became an Internet legend almost a decade ago by starring in street fighting videos.
He appears to have found his latest meal ticket parading around the world as a professional boxer, taking on guys who probably don't belong in the ring in the first place. For Exhibit A, let's turn to his latest win over Australian Shane Tilyard.
In his fight with Tilyard, Ferguson was winded early – in the first round, mind you – and got hurt by a slow-motion punch from Tilyard. In the second, Ferguson stumbled into Tilyard in a move that looked as if he were remembering his MMA days and going for a takedown.
Both men were completely gassed by the time Ferguson threw that innocent-looking hook to the midsection. Tilyard went down in obvious pain, and couldn't beat the 10-count.
Ferguson's supporters would point to that as evidence of his punching power. Rather, it was evidence that Tilyard was completely winded and couldn't go any more.
With the win, Ferguson raised his record to 7-0 (6 KOs) as a professional boxer.
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Ferguson is a tough guy, but there are thousands of tough guys in the world. Being a top-level professional boxer is an entirely different thing, however, from being a tough guy on the street. Even in the talent-starved heavyweight division, Ferguson is galaxies away from ever being taken seriously as a fighter.
All Ferguson's 7-0 record proves is that there are a lot of truly horrendous boxers and that there are guys who know why they've been chosen to face him. They're not there to win; they're there to be the boxing equivalent of the Washington Generals.
Several of his fights have seemed questionable, but that's what happens when two guys off the street get into the ring and starting throwing at each other. They tire quickly and show very poor technique.
Ferguson's handlers have continued to insist he'll win the heavyweight title some day, but look at the video above again and try to convince yourself that he should be allowed to even think of fighting one of the Klitschko brothers.
Ferguson is 38, or 23 months older than Wladimir Klitschko.
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Ferguson has an elite trainer, John David Jackson, but Jackson is human. He has to have something to work with, which clearly he does not.
It's not fair to tell Ferguson to quit. He's making some money and he's taking very little risk. It's not like he's taking spots on television away from legitimate contenders or prospects.
It's a shtick, and a good one. He's found a way to profit from his days as the street-fighting king, he's getting to see the world and he's doing so on someone else's dime with very little risk. Good for him.
But let's not perpetuate the myth that this guy would be remotely competitive with any of the top 30 heavyweight boxers in the world. He wouldn't be. And, truth will be told, he never will be.
H/T to @ZProphet_MMA for the video.
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