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Boxing
Sept 15, 2018 23:47:32 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Sept 15, 2018 23:47:32 GMT -5
Canelo vs. GGG This fight was a real barn burner. The first fight's reputation was a little tarnished because the judges deemed it a draw. In spite of that though, both fighters engaged in a heavy handed, highly skilled slug fest that left the fans wanting for more. This second fight may have been more entertaining. I was certainly just as entertained, if not more. While I don't have the official numbers in terms of jabs landed, hooks, uppercuts, and power shots in general, I do believe both fighters came out throwing more heat into their punches from round 1. I am sad for GGG that he lost his title, but he fought valiantly. It seems many are already saying he fought well enough to earn a draw, or edge Canelo out slightly. In either case, it was Canelo who took the slight edge according to the judges. If anything, GGG was part of an incredibly entertaining fight in a matchup that no doubt, fans would pay to see a 3rd time. I know I would.
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Post by mr. excellent on Dec 2, 2018 15:01:42 GMT -5
Wilder vs. Fury:
Last night my father and I went to our local movie theater to watch a live stream of the event. It was a very entertaining night for fight fans indeed, but I have to say, the theater experience is spectacular. You can really hear every punch, every stomp and step the fighters take, and even when they talk to each other in the ring. It felt like I was traveling through time and watching it in the 80's (with Joe Rogan), or 70's with my uncles and pop. Dad shared with me that my grandfather once went to a movie theater in a neighboring town to watch the Indie 500 on a closed circuit broadcast. I guess that was before it was televised here in our area of California. Anyhow, about the fight. What a contest! Fury made Wilder look like an amateur from beginning to end, with the exception of 2 knockdowns. The second knockdown of Fury by Wilder's hand was one for the ages. Fury was out cold after a devastating 1-2 combination with 1 minute to go in the 12th, and yet through magic or the hand of God, he rose up like a zombie and started winning again. I've never seen anyone come back from a knockdown like that. He was up at 9 seconds, 9! The fight itself was fantastic, but unfortunately the judges split decision draw has this fight mired in controversy. It seems most of the community is backing Fury on this one, but I have to feel a little bad for Wilder. He fought his heart out, and was losing from the jump, yet he never quit. It's not his fault the judges scored it the way they did. All he could do was try to go in there and win. At the end of the day, both of their perfect records are in tact and they will rematch.
Before I end this post, I will say about Fury that he has one of the most inspiring come back stories ever. He was born prematurely and weighed in at 1 pound. The doctors told his parents he'd never grow to be that big. Among other things, he had hip problems. His parents put him in boxing and marveled at how therapeutic the activity was for him. They also marveled at how tall he grew to be: 6' 9''. Fast forward to 2015 he when defeated Wladimir Klitschko to become the linear heavy weight world champion. Following that instance, he fell into a massive depression. He was living the rockstar life in the worse way possible, shot up to 400 pounds, and found himself on the edge. The day he decided to end it all, he got into his car, hit the highway and brought his vehicle up to 160 miles per hour with the intent of killing himself. It didn't go that way though, and thankfully, no one was physically hurt. He got himself some help, whipped himself back into shape with the support of friends and family, and then came back last night to put on the performance of a life time. While he may be outspoken for some very old world ways of looking at things that get him into "trouble" some times, I have to tip my hat to him. He has created a fan in me, and I'll definitely want to pay to see him fight again.
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Boxing
Nov 11, 2020 13:56:03 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Nov 11, 2020 13:56:03 GMT -5
So, Mike Tyson will be stepping back into the ring to fight Roy Jones Jr. Up until recently, I didn't like the way Jones looked. The last week or so he has looked really, really fast and sharp, very unorthodox. I mean, this is a 51 year old man who's around 210 pounds, knees are shot to hell, but check this out:
As for Iron Mike, there's a tired joke now that Tyson appears to be training for Thanos. Honestly though, seeing this guy hit, it's hard to believe he's 54 years of age. In fighting years, 54 is well past an athlete's prime. Look at this:
Granted, it'd be nice to get some extended sequences of Tyson training. Even at 54, most athletes have a few seconds of explosiveness left in them. Still though, Tyson recently said he's around 220 pounds for the first time in 2 decades and on an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast he said he had been afraid to train the last 10 years for fear of reigniting his ego, which would presumably lead him to ruin. So if this is the best shape he has been in for all those years, with all the crazy advances in physical therapy of today, we could be in for a real show.
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Boxing
Oct 29, 2023 15:10:12 GMT -5
Post by mr. excellent on Oct 29, 2023 15:10:12 GMT -5
Funny enough, Mike Tyson was tied to this in a way that is the stuff of legends. Tyson Fury, the undefeated lineal heavyweight champion of the world just boxed Francis Ngannou yesterday. It wasn't for any official belts, but a new belt was created for the Riyadh season. In short, this was to be a big celebrity boxing cross over event with this generation's greatest heavy weight boxer vs the UFCs former, undisputed Heavyweight Champion. This contest was to be more than other celebrity contests though. Francis never lost his belt, and instead decided to test out free agency and get a better deal with other MMA promotions. Not that traditional boxing fans would give the event the credit its promoters hoped they would. But the MMA faithful will always back their man. Ever since the UFC burst onto the scene and modern MMA was born, a debate among fans has raged on for years of who the baddest man on the planet is: the heavyweight boxing champion of the world vs. the heavyweight MMA champion of the world.
While we wouldn't get to see an exact apples to apples comparison of toughness*, at this weight class, anything can happen. In spite of the cynicism boxings biggest names and casual fans alike projected, a LOT of people were talking about this.
During the contest, Francis Ngannou scored the only knockdown in the fight, proved to be the physically stronger man against a much larger Tyson Fury, and even to be the man who caused more cumulative damage overall. In the end, the judges awarded the fight to Fury on points, but it's clear that Ngannou is leaving the ring the victor in the eyes of the fans. Hell, he lost a split decision by 1 point! To a man who has trained boxing his entire life! A man who is considered great by boxing pundits worldwide! Hell, I'm a casual fan but I think Tyson Fury is great too! Anyway, back to the narrative here...
Ngannou is a man with a story that makes the Rocky story look like small potatoes. He worked in the sandmines of Cameroon as a young boy with dreams of being a heavyweight boxing world champion. He grew up idolizing Mike Tyson and wanting to follow in his footsteps. His family thought he was crazy. As a young man, he immigrated to France to pursue his dream of fighting. His trip took him through shark infested waters, lead to him being detained and tortured, and sent back. He attempted to cross over 7 times, hid in the jungle, and when he finally did make it to France he lived in a parking garage, homeless, but even still joined an MMA gym and got to work. Sometime thereafter he took his skills to the UFC where he moved to the U.S. and knocked out a "who's who" of former UFC champions and contenders until finally winning the belt. He never lost sight of his dream to be a professional boxer though. Top that off with that the fact that even as the UFC's heavyweight champion, he had to contend with the UFC's unfair business tactics. The UFC is known to devalue their fighters before sending them off into the sunset. This man was put in a position to lose in his final UFC bout, but on literally one leg (knee injury) and a prayer he defended his title to finish out his contract with his stock higher than it had ever been.
People said he was a fool to walk away from the UFC and that he would never make it in boxing. Shortly thereafter he signed a historic deal with the PFL that would offer him more money than he had ever earned before, and that would allow him to pursue professional boxing with the world's biggest and best boxing star, Tyson Fury. No one gave Ngannou a chance in this fight. Francis was just there to get a pay check. The thought was that even he didn't think he stood a chance. In comes Mike Tyson, the man in which Tyson Fury is named after and whom is the entire reason Francis Ngannou became a fighter to begin with. Iron Mike decides to check in on an Ngannou sparring match one day. While there, Ngannou hits his partner (6'9'' tall) so hard the man falls down and breaks his leg! That was all Mike needed to see, and that day he decided he would join Ngannou's coaching staff.
In the end, Ngannou didn't win, but he has solidified himself as one of combat sports history's most inspiring stories. We're talking all time here. For fun, I'll include the promo for the fight. Man. What a crazy world we live in. What a life. I feel inspired dammit.
*Many have proposed that a better way to determine who is the baddest would be to include a mixed ruleset. Something along the lines of allowing dirty boxing (essentially allowing elbows in the clinch).
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