Boxing
- Thread starter vraiblonde
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Larry Gude
Strung Out
Nupe2
Well-Known Member
Those of us in our late 50s remember the days of Ali, Frazier, Forman, etc. in the heavyweight ranks and guys like Bob Foster, Michael Spinks, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Salvador Sanchez, Alexis Arguello, Aaron Pryor etc, in the lower weight classes. We used to argue with the older fellows about which era was better (i.e, 40s/50s vs. 60s/early 80s) and each could name a dozen major fighters during each era.
The difference these days is that there are indeed few "name" fighters that this generation can identify and get pumped up about. I think some of that has to do with other athletic options available and maybe, with the proliferation of gun violence in the neighborhoods (i.e., lower income) where a lot of great fighters were groomed. There simply is not the same "honor" associated with someone who is good with their hands. That's a shame. I think we were also fortunate to come up in an era where you could watch great fights on free TV such as Wide World of Sports on Saturdays. There was nothing like seeing a fight like Ron Lyle vs. George Foreman or Ali vs. Ernie Shavers on a Saturday afternoon on ABC! I saw some great fights on that program and great interviews with the late, great Howard Cosell "Thank you Howard, you're not as dumb as you look!"
I still love boxing and watch as often as I can. I find myself shouting at these guys to move, turn their opponents on the ropes, and other strategies employed by the great fighters of the past. Sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't. Never as often as in the past though.
The difference these days is that there are indeed few "name" fighters that this generation can identify and get pumped up about. I think some of that has to do with other athletic options available and maybe, with the proliferation of gun violence in the neighborhoods (i.e., lower income) where a lot of great fighters were groomed. There simply is not the same "honor" associated with someone who is good with their hands. That's a shame. I think we were also fortunate to come up in an era where you could watch great fights on free TV such as Wide World of Sports on Saturdays. There was nothing like seeing a fight like Ron Lyle vs. George Foreman or Ali vs. Ernie Shavers on a Saturday afternoon on ABC! I saw some great fights on that program and great interviews with the late, great Howard Cosell "Thank you Howard, you're not as dumb as you look!"
I still love boxing and watch as often as I can. I find myself shouting at these guys to move, turn their opponents on the ropes, and other strategies employed by the great fighters of the past. Sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't. Never as often as in the past though.
I wonder if it's also because we've been mediaized by movies. I mean, really, movie boxing is so much more exciting and brutal than real life fights. If Rocky had really taken all those blows, he'd have died in the first round. Then you watch a real fight and it's like...meh.
Nupe2
Well-Known Member
You might have a point there. Yeah, old lightweight Rocky would have had his head torn off by a real heavyweight! LOL!
Supposedly Rocky was based on Chuck Wepner, the Bayonne Bleeder. His claim to fame is that he went almost 15 rounds with Ali and actually knocked him down in the 9th. But that was his only decent shot because Ali pretty much beat him to a pulp the whole match before he finally sent him down. But Wepner hung in there even though he was all messed up. You don't see a lot of that these days.
Nupe2
Well-Known Member
Another tough guy was Randall "Tex" Cobb. I don't think anyone ever dropped him. If I recall correctly, an azz whipping he took from Larry Holmes lead to Howard Cosell retiring from boxing announcing. Another reason to love Larry!
Nupe2
Well-Known Member
I'll have to find it and watch. Is it as painful as the Holmes/Ali fight? Because that was just no fun.
EDIT: Okay, just watched the final round. Cosell is such an idiot. Cobb had his dukes up til the bitter end and stayed on his feet. Swollen faces and blood are no reason to stop a fight, and it certainly didn't end Cobb's boxing career.
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Nupe2
Well-Known Member
Funny thing about the Ali/Holmes fight...we went down to ABC in their D.C. offices to watch the live feed. After the first round the feed went out! I have NEVER watched that fight and probably never will. Yeah, Ali should have quit after the Thrilla in Manilla.
I'll find the Holmes/Cobb fight and check it out!
The Ali fight was so bad that Holmes kept looking back at the ref to see if he was going to stop it. Holmes cried afterward because Ali's performance was so awful. He was basically a punching bag after the 1st round.
Chasey_Lane
Salt Life
Vrai -- do you ever take 'body combat' at the gym? If you like boxing I think you'd really like this class. They have a few time slots/days.
Nupe2
Well-Known Member
I watched most of the fight. Cobb got a professional azz whipping. He did put up as good a fight as possible and most refs at that time would allow fights to continue as long as the fighter was able to fight back. Cobb landed some good shots but had little ability to defend himself against that great Holmes jab.
Cosell was a pompous ass but he stood by Ali during his banishment from boxing (although I'm not entirely sure of his motive$) and was always entertaining....whether you agreed with him or not!
Cobb survived and actually had a somewhat decent acting career afterward. By most accounts, he was/is a good guy too.