Boxing

[HugOK]

Fucking magic that fight, if you'll excuse the vernacular. It probably goes without saying but Norman Mailer's The Fight is well worth a read.

?........
Didn't Hunter S Thompson write about this Foreman Ali fight ?
I have been trying to find that article or book.

 

[d gray]

i think the story was he went to cover it but got too wasted and missed the actual fight.

 

[mjp]

Wasn't that always the story?

 

[Bruno Dante]

I meant to post this last week but forgot:
[This video is unavailable.]

 

[David]

Anyone remember this character from KTLA, Channel 5 in L.A.? Dick Lane, who announced wrestling matches from the Olympic Auditorium? He was around all the time on TV when I was a kid. Can't remember if Buk ever mentions him, though of course he mentions the Olympic....

 

[d gray]

version of this classic fight without the announcers, just the crowd ambience, which is great.

leonard is a beast.

 

[Bruno Dante]

One of the first big fights I can remember watching as a kid was Leonard's comeback fight when he beat Hagler on points. I was absolutely in awe of him from that moment on. Every thought Hagler was unstoppable but the fight had shades of Ali's defeat of Foreman (in terms of a 'ring monster' being tamed by a classic 'boxer'). And of course Sugar Ray was also trained by the late, great Angelo Dundee.
Another good documentary which has some great footage is The Fabulous Four about the rivalry between Hearns, Halger, Leonard and Duran in what was a golden era for middleweight boxing. I know they fought at other weights too but you catch my drift.

[This video is unavailable.]

 

[d gray]

i saw most of those in toronto arenas on close circuit - some great fights.

sugar ray was in toronto helping train a local fighter right before he came back and fought hagler. i watched him spar and work out at the hotel they were staying at.

the late 70's and early eighties was a great era in almost all divisions. every weight class had stars and alot of the fights were shown on tv.

 

[Bruno Dante]

Wow, that's pretty cool. And yes, a big part of that era was so many fights being shown on terrestrial TV, either live or the next morning after fights in Vegas or the like. They probably make more money now (in terms of pay-per-view) but the fighters don't have the wider profile beyond fight fans. People like Leonard and (especially) Ali before him transcending the sport and I think that was a big part of the reason for that. Of course they were great fighters too.

 

[Bruno Dante]

Well, did anyone watch the 'Fight of the Century'?

 

[d gray]

i heard it was great if you're suffering from insomnia...

 

[skiroomalum]

Mayweather is a piece of shit. That fight was was a textbook, corporate bore. All the usual fingerprints on it, just dull.

 

[d gray]

mayweather is one of the most unlikable athletes i've ever seen or heard.

it was such bullshit how everyone tried to hype it as the "FIGHT OF THE CENTURY!!!"

louis vs shmelling, ali-frazier 1... mayweather vs paquaio?

give me a fuckin break, the only thing historical was how overpaid those two were..

 

[mjp]

RIP Muhammad Ali: The Greatest, Black Superman.

 

[Short Bus]

The flip side

 

[desertlizard]

so,being a fan of the sport and re uping the thread,im curious about,,,, was buk keen regarding boxing?,did he actually attend boxing matches?what was his opinion about the sport?

 

[zobraks]

He loved it. And he used to take his girls to box matches.
There's a scene in that 1976 German documentary (included in Born Into This DVD) where he shows off in front of "Cupcakes" and the film crew in his apartment, doing some boxing stuff:

Spoiler: boxing (or was it kung fu?)

 

[desertlizard]

thanks, so did he like some fighter in particular or just liked the sport? did he ever talk about it openly?

 

[zobraks]

He liked boxing (sport?) in general. For instance, in The Captain... he sees it as a metaphor:

For my own writing, I like to watch the boxing matches, watch how the left jab is used, the overhand right, the left hook, the uppercut, the counter punch. I like to watch them dig in, come off the canvas. There is something to be learned, something to be applied to the art of writing, the way of writing. You have just one chance and then it’s gone. There are only pages left, you might as well make them smoke.

He also liked some of the boxers - read Goodbye Watson in Erections...

 

[zobraks]

I used to go with him to the fights downtown. He liked a good fight. If anyone writes the "fights" of life better (than?) Bukowski, he is going to have to be pretty tough.

(Linda King in an interview, courtesy of this thread)

 

[d gray]

tyson throwing punches - age 52. scary...

https://www.facebook.com/ESPN/videos/mike-tyson-showing-swift-moves-at-52/815100522175520/