A bit off topic but since it’s sports related I’ll put it here instead of the Lavender Room.
I’m a casual boxing fan, HW’s mostly, and tomorrow Vitali Klitschko defends his WBC championship aainst Danny Williams from England. William’s claim to fame is knocking out Mike Tyson in the fourth round, but Tyson is just a shell of what he once was.
I’m old enough to remember the days when there was only one boxing organization and a half dozen wt. classes. Now there’s three or four organizations and something like sixteen wt classes. Nowadays almost anybody who boxes can become a champ with that many belts.
IMO,the greatest was Ali without any doubt. The HW division is a joke compared to what it once was.
However, I think Vitali Klitschko (not to be confused with brother Wladimir) is currently the best HW in the world.
I’m predicting a Klitschko win by KO in either the 4th or 8th rounds.
I’m a casual boxing fan as well. Which of the brothers was whupping Lennox Lewis until the fight was stopped due to a cut and which one has the glass chin? Or is that all the brother who isn’t fighting tomorrow? I’m confused. Honestly, I don’t even bother to watch the HW’s these days.
Chris Byrd is the best heavyweight going. He fights opponents who would b 2-3 weight classes up in any other division. Pretty impressive stuff, in a VERY weak division - the worst in boxing.
Good athletes who would be heavyweights don’t box. Young natural athletes - especially big ones - play football, basketball; something glamorous, and with what they perceive to be a future. Less true in the lower weight divisions, where scrawny scrapper kids can develop into world-class fighters. It (boxing) is still a gateway sport for these kids.
Imagine an athlete like Ray Lewis or Tim Duncan in the ring… Now that would be something…
I will agree that the HW division is a joke at this time. These guys just dont want to be in shape for a fight anymore. It will take a decade to turn that division around. However I think that you would be more correct to state that “Ali was the greatest of his era”. Otherwise some white dude is going to bring up Marciano. Those Ali/Fraser fights are still painful to watch. For the mean time I’ll stick to watching - Barrera vs Morales 1,2, or 3!!!
I’m a casual boxing fan as well. Which of the brothers was whupping Lennox Lewis until the fight was stopped due to a cut - Vitali; I just saw a replay of that fight tonight and which one has the glass chin? Wladimir Or is that all the brother who isn’t fighting tomorrow? I’m confused. Honestly, I don’t even bother to watch the HW’s these days. Yeah, the division is weak these days.
I think that you would be more correct to state that “Ali was the greatest of his era”. Otherwise some white dude is going to bring up Marciano.
Ali was amazing. I’ve always been a bigger fan of Joe Louis, though.
As for white dudes, I don’t think Marciano is the standard. Jack Sullivan.
I can’t bear to watch boxing anymore. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sport decline so pathetically, and I’m talking about the whole sport. The hw division is the worst, but it’s all bad these days.
Boxing certainly was the greatest of sports, sad to see where the pro ranks have gone. For a brilliant book on boxing read “The Ghosts of Manilla”. I cant remember who it was by but it is the best work on Ali I have ever read. It isn’t just myth building hero worship but a superb peice of sports writing that gets behind the hype and analyses what was really there.
You are correct Kiltschko wil beat him and beat him early unless the fix is in.
One of the best fights ever… “Jeff Fenech and Azuma Nelson I” I think it was an undercard for a Tyson fight. It was a slugfest. Anyone remember this fight?
I loved that series of fights with Morales and Barrera. I recall watching the first Gatti-Ward bloodbath very clearly. I dig Ironman, Eco-Challenge, and all other mega-endurance sports, but what Ward and Gatti did to each other in that fight (not to mention the 2nd and 3rd fights) was super-human. How either one of them survived is still amazing to me.
And Lampley’s call of that fight was classic! No one else, not even Howard Cossell could have done it better, because Lampley knew when to shut-up and just let the camera roll.
Now my adrenaline is up! Where are my DVDs of those fights???
If you can’t use knees and elbows than it isn’t real fighting!!! All those “hands only” guys are a bunch of wimps in my book! Muay thai for real men- and women!
I attended a few Thai fights years ago. The last fight on the card was a full Thai fight with elbows, knees and throws. Both fighters were from Thailand and it was a championship fight. The sound of an elbow hitting a jaw is a lot different that a glove. After watching that fight I then understood why the fighters are considered over the hill once the reach to ripe old age of 21.
Also, most fighters start competing at the age of 8 so by 21 they have 13 years of fighting. Actually, though, many go into their late 20’s/early 30’s. As strange as this sounds, you don’t take as many direct head shots in Muay Thai, more blows to the body, so fighters don’t have as many health problems as boxers do.
Vitali Klitschko was beating him on every score card until he ruptured his biceps tendon. Little brother Wlad then easily beat Byrd on a decision after decking him a couple of times.
I like Chris as a nice decent guy which is unusual in boxing, but either Klitschko can beat him. If he fights Vitali again it’ll be an early “say goodnight Chris.”
Byrd is a good fighter, and very awkward, but can’t really ‘take a shot’, as they say in the game. No chin.
Of course, the sick irony is that the hard guys, the guys who can really take a shot, end up completely f**** because their brains turn to jelly with all the punishment, over the years. Much better in the long run to go down when hit hard - that way the hitting stops.
Cheery topic, boxing.
BTW, Klitschko is a beast. Classy fighter, tough, power in both hands, heart of an ox.
"BTW, Klitschko is a beast. Classy fighter, tough, power in both hands, heart of an ox. "
What’s truly unique about the Klit bros is that they both have PHD’s. That’s unprecedented in boxing. Let’s hope they’re both smart enough to get out when they’re on top. Too many boxers have a tendency to hang around past their prime and pay for it in brain damage.
Total opposite of triathlon, where we really admire those that hang around and keep doing the sport (a la Molina et al), with old boxers it just gets sadder and sadder.
So how come I couldn’t an answwer on the day of fight 3? Not one response. Did you see it? Awesome fight but what was said when they were awaiting the result? Barrera walked over to wish Morales well and Morales reacted to his comment and tried to go after him. I would love to know what, was anything published on it?