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#1732048 02/15/20 04:39 AM
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Remember when boxing was a thing?

We all remember where we were during certain bouts.

Let’s bring back boxing


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The first sport I was introduced to as a youngster was boxing. My godfather was a heavyweight. I learned to box before I had a bike.

In those days the Heavyweight Champion of the World was someone every knew. I remember Floyd Patterson fighting Ingemar Johansson three times winning twice to retain the title. Then came Sonny Liston who destroyed Floyd.

Today the Heavyweight title is mostly unknown.

One of my best friends who recently passed away was a boxing judge. Over a forty year period we never missed a major fight. We attended every major close circuit fight that happened. Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Leonard to name a few. I followed Ali's career like a kid from the forties followed DiMaggio. If his name appeared anywhere I was on it. I cut out his picture and hung it in my room. He was a real hero to me.

Boxing has lost that kind of appeal today. I guess there are many factors for that. In my fathers generation boxing was a way out of poverty for all kinds of kids white and black. Joe Louis was hero to all Americans. When Rocky Marciano defeated the then aged Joe Louis my father told me people cried. Sorry to see Louis as a shell of his former self.

In the fifties boxing was on TV. You could see fighters like Sugar Ray Robinson and others from that era.

Today with MMA etc. boxing is fading. Kids play other sports. Parents will not allow kids to get into boxing. Hell football is now facing trouble and football is mega business.

I still watch but only if the right match comes along.

I doubt that boxing will become popular again. It needs heroes. And that only comes with exposure. To much else is out there diverting attention.

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Boxing needs to get much better at it's judging before it will become mainstream again. There are still way too many head scratching decisions in the sport. It's not fair to the fans and certainly not to the athletes on the wrong side of one of those decisions.


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IMO it is much deeper than that.

In order for a sport to live it has to be available and supported by youth which means parents.

Kids have to start young. There has to be local community support, high visibility, and sponsorship.

It is a contact sport where the objective is to give your opponent a concussion.

Boxing is more likely to be banned in the future than it is to return to it's glory days.

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One thing I will say is when boxing is at it's apex nothing tops the drama it creates.

I have seen boxing matches that that take over your brain.

You are so into it you lose your mind. The Marvin Hagler Tommy Hearns fight was bombs away from the opening bell till Hearns was knocked out. That fight gave me chills.

There is something in all of us that relates to a fight. A primal thing. When you witness a real live fight start you can not take your eyes away.

Fighting is the basic form of competition. The root.

It goes back to the instinct of flight or fight.

We can all deny it but it is our very nature.

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In junior high, our gym teacher would take students with disputes and put the gloves on them and tell them to work it out. It worked very well. He’d probably be fired today.


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No doubt about that.

I went to a Catholic elementary school. CYO had a boxing program. At school boxing was a part of gym class.

The gloves were huge 16oz. I loved it. But I had a huge advantage. I was taught boxing very young and took it seriously. Most kids had no clue. They just went windmill.
Easy pickings for me.

Gloves that big nobody got hurt. Just your pride.

As I think about it. It was funny. You went all out. People who have never done it. It is amazing how gassed you get in such a short time. Boxing is exhausting especially when you have little control over yourself. Experience you learn how to pace yourself.

I think amateur boxing is good for you. It teaches you what you have inside and how to control it. How to not give up when you get pushed.

Today kids are so spoiled. As a people today we are spoiled. People in general today are weak. They can't handle adversity. Have no idea what perseverance is.

I read a lot of historical fiction. The generations before us had a much tougher life.

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The only thing I want to add to this discussion is that the first Fury/Wilder fight was awesome and I am looking forward to the rematch.

Fury should have won the fight, but Wilder's power was evident and he almost knocked him out.

Hard to call the rematch. Fury is the superior boxer, but Wilder's power is impossible to underestimate. Should be a great fight.

Again!

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Quote:
I doubt that boxing will become popular again. It needs heroes. And that only comes with exposure. To much else is out there diverting attention.


imo boxing started going downhill with pay per view. prices kept getting higher and higher and it started losing the viewership it once had. another thing I keep thinking is the # of sanctions in the sport. each sanction has it's own champions which creates less competition for the top rated fighters. if I don't have to get hit by a young mike Tyson and still keep my crown, I would be foolish to do otherwise.


tradition can only carry you so far, then you have to start winning again.
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Tyson Fury dominated the rematch. Goes to show that the superior boxer beats the power puncher who never learned the fundamentals of boxing because of his supreme power. The boxer won last night.

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Tyson Fury licking blood off Deontay Wilder ...





Too many freaks, not enough carnivals. SMH.

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Quote:
I doubt that boxing will become popular again. It needs heroes. And that only comes with exposure. To much else is out there diverting attention.


WOW I never thought it would end like this. I knew either one could win but not in this fashion.
it wouldn't take many of these fights to bring boxing back where it belongs.
GREAT fight...........


tradition can only carry you so far, then you have to start winning again.
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Originally Posted By: Dave

Too many freaks, not enough carnivals. SMH.


You need to make this your sig.


#GMSTRONG
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