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And speaking of boxing… — 18 Comments

  1. T: say what you will ex post facto, at the time it was one of the biggest boxing matches ever, and incredibly large numbers of people watched it. And the ref did not stop the fight at the first bite, which is still almost unbelievable to me. And then boxing let Tyson fight again after a certain interval.

  2. I think it was the NY Post that reported the event with the best headline of all: “Chump Chomps Champ”.

  3. Not as bad as the death of Duk koo Kim (don’t get me on the spelling) during a bout with Ray (Boom Boom) Mancini.

    Mancini was never the same. Purely accidental. Mancini was a true “boxer”, not a brawler. He caught Kim in the forehead and Kim went down. It was awful.

  4. DirecTV has a commercial for an upcoming PPV fight- only $49.50!
    I’ll stick with college ball, thanks.

  5. Neoneocon,

    My point was that prior to the match, people expected to see a boxing match. What they got, at least in regard to Mike Tyson, was a street fight.

    I lost all respect for and interest in him as an athelete after that.

  6. it marked the final end of sports as they were…
    the last nail in the coffin..

  7. Deeka,
    that was bad… but how about the few women who dies when they signed a waiver and got into a ring? looked it up.. Stacy Young got into the ring in a toughman type competition, brain damage and dead… a lot of guys watching the news basically had the attitude that her disrespect kind of killed her.

    this death by lack of respect is actually a lot more common now!!

    the show where people almost died… a lot of it if you notice is that they didn’t respect nature as being a tough mother… (no pun intended)… and that really simple dumb stuff can get you killed and it doesn’t have to happen right away… that is you can be dead by crossing some event horizon, and not know it…

    [like hiking too far in the desert and not having enough water. you have enough to get you out there, but what about back?]

    healthy respect is a good thing to learn the easy way, you might not survive the hard way

  8. To Neoneocon,

    I can’t stand Tyson. He was a willing thug who used people and was used by people to generate a lot of wealth from the blood lust of a willing audience. You know like ALL boxers.

    That said, HBO did what appeared to be a a pretty honest interview with Tyson recently and I can’t believe I’m saying this but I was almost sympathetic to the guy. I don’t know how well (or if) he was coached beforehand but I don’t think he is frankly bright enough to come off as anything other than who he is. He’s definately mellowed with age and seems to get (and be profiting in movies from) the bad joke of who he was.

    That or it’s all bullshit.. but it was sincere looking bullshit.

    2 cents..

  9. When I was about 10 or 11 years old I remember watching on TV the fight in which Emile Griffith inflicted a savage beating on Benny Paret, who died a few days later. Griffith knocked Paret onto the ropes and the ref let him keep pounding Paret long after it was clear Paret was knocked out. The background was that at the weigh-in, Paret mocked Griffith for his other profession – hairdresser.

  10. Boxing is sort of like America. You prepare yourself for intense competitiveness and make advancements on individual merit. But both fall into an ugly chaos when engaged by too many lacking in honor and respect for the rules set forth.

    The problem is not the sport of boxing or the American experiment. It is the character of the players involved.

  11. It’s easy to whip on Mike, but face it. He was ahead of his time. He was made to fight in the cage!

  12. rickl said:

    “At least there’s seldom any biting in baseball.”

    Didn’t Ty Cobb bite somebody? If not, I’m sure he wanted to.

  13. Casca,

    Even in cage fighting there are rules. No guns, no knives, no rocks, no pointy sticks, no broken bottles, no bleach to throw in the enemy’s eyes, no Molotov cocktails , etc. Plus, no element of surprise. At least in street fights one can use any weapon either brought to the fight or found at hand.

    IMO its all (boxing, wrestling, mixed material arts, cage fighting) pretense. They are all sports. Concerning the topic at hand, yes, boxers are very athletic. They are strong, tend to be well coordinated, and fast. But its not reality. In reality there are no rules and the only limits are what you can bring to the fight.

    Reality is a 120 pound 60 year old woman with a 12 gauge shotgun facing a young, strong street punk armed with his macho attitude and his 9 millimeter. I ‘d bet on the woman with the shotgun every time provided she is savvy enough to get off the first shot.

  14. Gary, the story was that Benny Paret called Griffith “Maricon,” which is Spanish for “faggot,” before the fight. Griffith was a closeted homosexual then (he’s since come out). There’s a very moving documentary on the story called “Ring of Fire,” that even non-boxing fans would enjoy.

    I’ve a been a hardcore boxing fan for almost 20 years. Holyfield is my all-time favorite fighter, and Tyson is probably my least-favorite, but replays showed that Tyson bit the top of Holyfield’s ear off while wearing his mouthpiece. He immediately spit both the ear and the mouthpiece out.

    Boxing is indeed brutal, but beautiful. When a boxing match is great, there is no sporting event that is as exciting, and it’s something that EVERYONE can understand and enjoy, unlike other sports. In no other sport are athletes vilified for losing as they are in boxing. When a fighter loses, especially by knockout, the media and fans call him a bum, a chump, etc. If a man has the nerve to QUIT, no matter how badly he’s injured, he is called much worse and branded a coward for the rest of his career. And on top of all that, losing/quitting pretty much guarantees that your asking price will be cut in half for your next fight (and no, all fighters are NOT multi-millionaires). This culture is not necessarily a good thing, but it creates some titanic battles with both men fighting as if it’s to the death. Not even the UFC/MMA, which is popular right now, features these kinds of struggles. In that sport, quitting, or “tapping out” is seen as honorable. That’s noble, but it keeps the sport from reaching the drama of boxing.

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