Boxing: C/D

The lights and middles (and all the in-between classes) are a lot of fun to watch.

x-post - not getting caught while you're punching the guy in the nuts

Pretty much all boxing is way to glitzy for my taste (and the decisions on some of the big De La Hoya fights I've seen have been terrible, who refs these things these days?) but I guess other than the heavyweight division it's okay. Not a patch on watching old Sugar Ray Robinson or Ali fights though, oops OTM there.

As for knowing about the skill level of fighters, you gotta dig sometimes to find out. I've been known to watch Univision, ESPN2, Fox Sports, and both of the premiums boxing cards in a weekend. Only when I'm feeling particularly devoted and I like something about each card, though.

http://www.hudsonriverpark.org/Calendar/rumble.htm

http://msn.foxsports.com/id/5311928_7_2.jpg
Holy shit.

http://www.jegsworks.com/project/prometheus.jpg

The light-heavy fight on before was great, as was the flyweight bout on Showtime.

Random bargain bin book purchase (David Remnick's "King of the World") is getting me sort of fired up about boxing, although I never had much interest in the past. I think it seems disappointing to watch the real thing at first when you've grown up on choreographed movie fights (true of any fight sport, really), but I'm starting to appreciate it a bit more from what I'm reading. I'm even considering signing up for a boxing gym instead of a regular gym in the Fall - there were boxers in my family and I've been told I might have a good build for it, although I don't exactly have the greatest reach. I also have tons of pent up rage and frustration to share.

The thing that always scared me about pro, non-helmet boxing is not so much how bloodied up they get but the potential for brain damage. I guess that was the one thing I took away from Rocky V.

and from the life of Muhammad Ali

I read somewhere that the move from 14-15 round fights to 12 makes brain damage much less of an issue, but I don't remember the reasoning (or if it was even based on medical research).

i was going to mention ali

this thread made me go look up marvin hagler's entry on wikipedia and i was surprised by how many of the fights i remember. mustafa hamsho, caveman lee (who didn't last a round against hagler and was renamed "cave-in lee"), the title fight at wembley stadium that ended in a riot after hagler beat alan minter (i watched this on the wide wide world of sports on a saturday afternoon with my dad), the duran fight, that first fight against tommy hearns (the greatest fight i've ever seen), and john the beast mugabi. i never got to see that last fight against sugar ray leonard because there was a flood in the town where i grew up and we had no electricity. i listened to it in the dark in my bedroom on a battery powered radio.

now i need to track down the b movies he made in italy after he retired.

i'd go with duk koo kim before ali.

Oh man I remember that Minter fight.
I remember excitedly getting up in the morning to the news that Sugar Ray Leonard "won" (he was my fave).

Another great fight i recall watching was Lloyd Honeyghan against Don Curry. Think that was delayed showing the next morning but My dad and I didn't know the result and were shouting at the tv for Lloyd. We didn't think he was going to win but as the fight went on we realised he might do it. Wonder if that fight is as great as I remember it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Honeyghan
I remember all those fights!

Honeyghan stunned the boxing fraternity when he forced super-star Donald Curry to retire at the end of round six on September 27 of 1986 to win the world Welterweight title. Before the fight Curry dismissed his unknown foreign opponent, asking "Who is this ragamuffin?". Honeyghan adopted the title "ragamuffin" or "Ragamuffin Man" with relish.

I think Lloyd Honeygan is 2nd only to Joe Calzaghe in my top UK boxers of my lifetime.

Oh man I remember that Minter fight.

he was the guy who said 'no black man will take my title' then hagler beat the ever loving shit out him. i remember minter's face getting all busted open and a surprsing amount of blood on his towel (surprising to me, i was like 7 or 8 at the time).

he did? I dont remember that, I was 7 i think.

ohh you're right

in 1980, he was finally given the opportunity all fighters dream of: On March 16 of that year, in Las Vegas, Nevada, he was given a shot at champion Vito Antuofermo's world Middleweight title at the Caesars Palace. He won the title by a 15 round decision, and in a rematch, he retained the world title by a knockout in eight rounds. Minter's run as world champion came to an end on September 27 of that year, when he was stopped on cuts in three rounds to Marvin Hagler at Wembley Arena in London. After the fight was stopped, Minter's supporters caused a riot, throwing beer cans and glass into the ring and both boxers had to be ushered away by the police. Prior to the fight, Minter stated on the BBC that "no black man is going to take my title away". He later retracted this statement and said he meant "no man" is going to take my title away. Hagler came to London even more motivated to win the championship.

anybody see Klitschko/Thompson? it sounds like it was good.

i almost bought this little set-up today:

http://www.80stees.com/images/products/Partymate_Wind_up_Boxing.jpg

I guess all the Tomy classics have been re-issued.

I read that book, Hurting; it was really good! I'm gonna get this soon, why cause it look intrsting, but also because my supervisor wrote it. Looks like an undertaking (it's hueg!), but also looks totally awesome

This Ali vs. Holmes doocumentary on ESPN right now ("Muhammad and Larry") is 1) incredible and 2) almost impossible to watch it's so sad

Ali post-'75 just gets sadder and sadder.

I remember Ali interrupting a Larry Holmes interview on the Johnny Carson show, in advance of the big fight. How sad Ali ended that way.

How great a fight would it be to see Ali -- in his prime -- against Mike Tyson -- in his prime?

not really into boxing...but david haye is a colossal bell-end isn't he?

thoughts and prayers for smokin' joe frazier

oh damn Andre Ward retired this morning!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ✌🏽https://t.co/FTBBwubLsd pic.twitter.com/dtQppu8pAZ

— Andre S.O.G. Ward (@andreward) September 21, 2017

hopefully not planning a full time commentary career

lol yeah he was not good at that

Jake LaMotta's finest moment was his refusal to fight in the Korean War. "No Korean ever called me Guinea," he said, "but my wife did." pic.twitter.com/c8lDF9ACaJ

— Dennis Perrin (@DennisThePerrin) September 20, 2017