Boxing Thread

[Kerry Mike]

Just watch it there on Setanta missed ait at the weekend , Joe won it well in the end.

Did anyone see yere man John O'Shea of GOAL in a big red shirt by ringside. Nice handy seats there, in the main TV shot for the whole fight.

[Rav67]

Where do youse think Calzaghe's legacy will stand in relation to the last 2 men he's beaten?  They all have their own arguments-  RJJ was fighter of the decade for the 90's and managed to go from middleweight to win the heavyweight title just purely to show it could be done, Calzaghe will more than likely retire undefeated, B-Hop has at 43 has added Pavlik to his record and was no.1 pound-for-pound for years and has beaten some top fighters like Winky and Tarver.  Even his defeats to Taylor and Calzaghe were controversial and he bounced straight back from them very impressively when anyone else would just have retired.

[YogiBear]

Don't think Calzaghe will be held in as high regard as B-Hop or RJJ when people look Back through history.  He will get little credit for beating them now especially RJJ who is very washed up.  These two guys have fought better quality of fighters in their careers as well which wasn't Joes fault as the opponents just weren't there for him.  For the record I think that Calzaghe has definitely been in the top five fighters in the world over the last ten years but in my opinion RJJ would have knocked him out in his prime.  I have been a massive Calzaghe fan all his carer but was very disappointed in his goading and showboating towards Jones who was clearly washed up and not have the fighter.  My very high opinion of Joe has dropped considerably after that.  Hope RJJ retires now b4 he gets seriously hurt.  Think Joe should quit to because as was the case throughtout his carer there is no left to fight eg Dawson over rated and Tarver to old.

[nrico2006]

I see Hagler saying that Joe 'has' to fight Tarver - as previously said he is washed up aswell so there is no point other than money and if he does fight him I gurantee there will be another name thrown into the ring that he 'has' to fight and beat and eventually he will be caught.  As Yogi said, RJJ would have not only beat Joe in his prime but knocked him out.  It was a shame to see Jones waiting for the bell on Saturday night as he had nothing left.  Of all the fighters I have watched he was the one who had this 'x-factor' that everyone here likes to mention.  I recall watching with dread the time he hit Montel Griffin when he was going down and subsequently lost his perfect record.  I had never seen a fighter with as qucik a hands and as strong a defence as Jones had at his peak, and it saddens me how he has finished but alot of great fighters don't know when to get out.  He should have retired after he beat Ruiz, and I only hope he does now before he goes on and loses to some 'Kevin McBride'.

[Hardy]

I watched an absorbing documentary last night on More4 (I think) called "Thrilla in Manila". It was billed as being about "the greatest fight of all time" (I agree with the description) but in fact covered the whole history of Ali and Joe.

It was sad to see what Joe has become. The world mourns the state of Ali these days, but I hadn't realised that Joe's circumstances were so bad. He lives in a dingy room above his gym in Philadelphia and doesn't seem to have any comforts in life – certainly no sign of the millions he made from boxing. He looks old, slow and shuffling and his speech is slurred and difficult to comprehend.

The programme was hard on Ali and, though a life-long admirer of his sporting genius, I have to admit I couldn't argue with its analysis that his involvement with the militant anti-white black muslim movement was overtly racist. He had some deeply unpleasant aspects to his character.

What I hadn't fully appreciated was the depth of hatred between the two men, mostly caused by Ali's disrespect for Joe, calling him an Uncle Tom and characterising him as a tool of white interests. This disrespect started as soon as Ali got his license back and the first fight between the two was announced. What I had never known before was that Frazier had campaigned for Ali's license to be restored and had been very supportive through his exile from boxing, even lending him money, which makes Ali's subsequent disrespect an act of betrayal.

Today, Ali regrets his behaviour and has apologised for it, saying he only saw himself as promoting the fights. Joe is still deeply bitter about it, though, to the extent that he points to Ali's disability as punishment for his behaviour and even has a greeting on his mobile phone that more or less says 'see the state of him now? I did that'.

[liihb]

Saw it also, thought it was brilliant. Their last fight was something else....Joe Frazier took quite a beating. Wonder if Ali would really have not come out for the last round if Futch hadn't called it.
Ali did come across as mean, but Frazier came across as very bitter - you even got that impression from his sons/brother when they were interviewed.

[magpie seanie]

I Sky+ed that documentary last night and look forward to looking at it.

[corn02]

Totally forgot about it. And seeing as I am not as rich as my Sligo compatriot and can't afford the Sky plus, is it repeated?

[corn02]

Might have missed it on here but I see Duddy has had his fight cancelled. He is quickly edging to the unknown. He needs a big fight next.

[corn02]

The whole bill fell through - his opponent was 38 anyway. He hasn't fought since June.

[nrico2006]

Duddy was going down a weight for the fight and hoped to fight the Hitmans son if he won.

[the Deel Rover]

read it in one of todays papers that duddy has left his manager and promoter

[corn02]

His career is stalling. Fughting journeymen constantly.

[illdecide]

Seen that last night myself Hardy, very good and enjoyed it. Never seen 2 hours go in like that before. Lost a bit of respect for ali after watching that...

[the Deel Rover]

Seen that last night myself Hardy, very good and enjoyed it. Never seen 2 hours go in like that before. Lost a bit of respect for ali after watching that...

Have to agree with you there as well , like if a white boxer was doing the things that ali did there would be outrage . Like hardy said felt so sorry to see what happened joe frazier he got 3 million for that fight in manilla but i suppose like all boxers there were a lot of hangers on who probably cleaned him out. Also felt sorry for the way ali treated him when Frazier was so supportive of him when he was banned from boxing for three years. I'm reading a book on ali at the moment but last nights programme has definatley made me look at him at different way now