Boxing Thread

[The Iceman]

It's hard to call these rounds the greatest as we all have our own based on situations and times. Mine our clouded by the nostalgia of sitting at home up late on a very rare occasion watching these in the living room with my Dad. Bowe Holyfield was a great Rd but wouldn't be top 5. Great repost though, thanks for sharing.

[Milltown Row2]

It's hard to call these rounds the greatest as we all have our own based on situations and times. Mine our clouded by the nostalgia of sitting at home up late on a very rare occasion watching these in the living room with my Dad. Bowe Holyfield was a great Rd but wouldn't be top 5. Great repost though, thanks for sharing.

Christ that brings me back about 15 or so years, coming home after TG'S and putting the fight on, my da coming down the stairs and me, mates and brothers all half gone watching the fight with my Da!! He must have thought he was in the fight with all of us jumping, shouting and drinking into the wee hours!!

[CiKe]

Cheers for posting HB.  One round that could have been arguably included was the tenth round of Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo from their first fight in 2005.

Not only a great round but a great fight, was fight of the year.  Youtube the tenth round.  You won't spend 3 minutes today doing anything more worthwhile than that !

this one was always going to get mentioned! Not sure have seen better.

Another good one was Benn- McClellan 1 though obviously fight has sad result.

[DuffleKing]

Not exactly the same thing but one of the great rounds i've seen produced by a boxer was round one by Lennox Lewis v Razor Ruddock. In the days when Lewis was interested in fighting

[Atticus_Finch]

Surely we have now seen the end of Fraudley once and for all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7QrS7XLhIQ

You can skip to 4:20, you won't have missed anything. I thought Fraudley might have kept him at bay for 3-4 rounds but it was "Good night Fraudley" after the first meaningful punch landed.

In contrast to this joke of a contest was Brandon Rios vs Mike Alvarado which took place last night/early hours and lived up to expectations.  Brandon Rios won by TKO in the 7th, felt the ref should have gave Alvarado a standing count rather than wave it off.  Would not mind seeing a rematch of this bout.

Rios carried his chin and power after stepping up to light welterweight and is being suggested as an opponent for the winner of Pacquiao vs Marquez rematch.

Just about to catch up on the Donaire fight, did my best to try and avoid knowing the outcome but know Donaire won as expected.  I'm sure Carl Frampton was watching this contest with both fighters representing the elite of his division.

[The Iceman]

I think you're a bit hard on Price there Atticus. On paper Harrison was a logical fight for him and he won it well. Rubbishing Harrison (deservedly) can often distract people from the guy who looked great against him.
Price has not been completely tested but he has all the tools and i really like his prospects at this stage. He is being managed correctly and climbing his way up slowly and hopefully in December we see what he is made of.

[glens73]

Price has done nothing wrong so far, like you say managed well and is improving all the time, his power is serious. The ko on Saturday was brutal, irrespective of Audley's fall from grace (well from being an Olympic gold medallist not generally from his pro career).

It'd be great to see Price v Fury next, although the promoters may want to let it drag on a bit longer. Fury had a small go at Price on Saturday;

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing/tysons-fury-watch-as-british-heavyweight-1379911

Price is a much more humble and likeable fellow than Fury and I think he'd have too much power for him.

[nrico2006]

Price has done nothing wrong so far, like you say managed well and is improving all the time, his power is serious. The ko on Saturday was brutal, irrespective of Audley's fall from grace (well from being an Olympic gold medallist not generally from his pro career).

It'd be great to see Price v Fury next, although the promoters may want to let it drag on a bit longer. Fury had a small go at Price on Saturday;

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing/tysons-fury-watch-as-british-heavyweight-1379911

Price is a much more humble and likeable fellow than Fury and I think he'd have too much power for him.

I hope they fight soon, but what channel would get to show the fight?  Can't see it happening for a while, but who really ruined the chance of the fight happening the first time - Fury, Price or the promoters?  Price is a monster of a man, the height of both him and Fury is unreal.  Would love to see one of them fight a Klitschko simply to see what it would be like for a fight involving one of the brothers to be decided by boxing and not simply the physical advantages they have over the majority of fighters they fight.

[Atticus_Finch]

I think you're a bit hard on Price there Atticus. On paper Harrison was a logical fight for him and he won it well. Rubbishing Harrison (deservedly) can often distract people from the guy who looked great against him.
Price has not been completely tested but he has all the tools and i really like his prospects at this stage. He is being managed correctly and climbing his way up slowly and hopefully in December we see what he is made of.

I said nothing above that was intended to detract from Price ??  He can only beat who is in front of him and who he is put in with by his management but Harrison didn't land /take a meaningful punch.  It doesn't do boxing any favours when complete mismatches like that are made !

Price does seem a likeable lad and is primed to step into the void the Klitschko's will leave when they hang up the gloves.

[Atticus_Finch]

Price has done nothing wrong so far, like you say managed well and is improving all the time, his power is serious. The ko on Saturday was brutal, irrespective of Audley's fall from grace (well from being an Olympic gold medallist not generally from his pro career).

It'd be great to see Price v Fury next, although the promoters may want to let it drag on a bit longer. Fury had a small go at Price on Saturday;

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing/tysons-fury-watch-as-british-heavyweight-1379911

Price is a much more humble and likeable fellow than Fury and I think he'd have too much power for him.

I hope they fight soon, but what channel would get to show the fight?  Can't see it happening for a while, but who really ruined the chance of the fight happening the first time - Fury, Price or the promoters?  Price is a monster of a man, the height of both him and Fury is unreal.  Would love to see one of them fight a Klitschko simply to see what it would be like for a fight involving one of the brothers to be decided by boxing and not simply the physical advantages they have over the majority of fighters they fight.

Ultimately it will depend which promoter wins the bid.

I think it will most likely be Channel 5 (Mick Hennessy/Tyson Fury) vs Boxnation (Maloney/Price).  Sky basically shunned Maloney, they've no contract with Sky and while i have no doubt sky would like to show it they're unlikely to get it.

Personally i'd like to see Channel 5 get it, they've made a valiant attempt to bring back boxing to terrrestial tv.  A big fight like that being shown on terrestial tv can only be good for boxing.

[Atticus_Finch]

Just back from the bar where I learned of Manny Steward's passing on sky sports news.

Very saddened to hear about that, didn't realise the extent of his illness.

The list of champions he has worked with, speaks for itself. He was an excellent commentator and always came across as a gentleman.

The Kronk gym will live on and will undoubtedly continue to produce world champions for years to come.

[Atticus_Finch]

I was probably one brew past bedtime when I posted the above.  In the cold light of day I thought to myself will the Kronk gym actually survive without Manny Steward ? The below is what I came up with, welcome any feedback:

FUTURE OF KRONK GYM IN DOUBT AFTER THE DEATH OF BOXING LEGEND EMANUEL STEWARD

Rumours of his death had circulated for weeks but the final bell on Emanuel Steward's battle with stomach cancer tolled last Thursday evening.  The legendary boxing trainer passed away at the age of 68. Regarded by many as the best boxing trainer of his generation, Steward trained a record 43 world champions more than any other trainer.

As a boxer Steward compiled an amateur record of 93 wins and three losses before expressing an interest in training fighters.  He embarked on his true calling in 1971 when he became a part time coach at the Kronk gym.   He soon established a successful stable of amateur fighters and gave up his job as an electrician to concentrate on coaching.  In 1977, after receiving financial support from wealthy sponsors of the gym, Steward became a professional trainer with Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns.  It was as Hearn's trainer that Steward started to get recognition as a great trainer.  Hearns was part of a quartet of middleweight fighters along with Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler that between them produced a riveting series of bouts that helped revive the sport of boxing.

In more recent times Steward's success came on the heavyweight boxing scene.  Lennox Lewis sought out Steward after losing his WBC belt to Oliver McCall in 1993.  Under Steward's tutelage, Lewis went on to not only reclaim the WBC belt but also became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world when he defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999.  Following Lewis' retirement in 2004, Steward went on to work with Wladimir Klitschko.  In his first fight under Steward, Klitschko was defeated by Lamon Brewster.  The defeat prompted Steward to go back to basics with Klitschko focusing primarily on his footwork.  While this old school approach was initially to Klitschko's chagrin it clearly reaped dividends as Klitschko has not been defeated since then and is ranked as the number one heavyweight in the world.

Steward's boxing wisdom was not just confined to boxing rings and gyms.  The public were granted access to Steward's boxing knowledge and tactical insights through his boxing analyst role at HBO whom he worked for from 2001 up until September when he was hospitalised on account of his illness. 

Limerick boxer, Andy Lee will be hugely impacted by Steward's death.  Steward was in Lee's corner as recently as June, when Lee was defeated by Julio Chavez Junior.  Lee credits Steward with plucking him from relative obscurity in Ireland and believing in him.  Lee, who lived with Steward in recent years, paid tribute to him from his twitter account:

"Thank you to everyone who sent messages of condolence for Emanuel. It's a sad day. He was a great man who will be sorely missed.  "

Lee now faces the painful process of finding a new trainer, replacing a trainer of the calibre of Steward will be no easy task.  Fellow Kronk fighter, Wladimir Klitshcko who steps into the ring again on the 11th of November against Mariuz Wach has kept his trainer Kronk gym based by turning to fellow Steward prodigee, Jonathon Banks.   While life must go on for the Kronk fighters, the future of the Kronk gym is now uncertain after the death of Steward.

Steward not only had a transformative effect on many of his fighters but he also transformed the Kronk gym from a basement in a community centre into a stable of champion fighters who wore the famous red and gold colours associated with gym throughout the world.  Just 24 hours after Steward's death at the request of his sister, Diane Steward-Jones, the famous red and gold Kronk gym sign was taken down from the front of the Detroit gym.  In addition to this, fight photos and posters as well as the boxing ring were removed from the gym.  Steward-Jones defended this move by insisting she was protecting the legacy of her brother.

"There are people in the gym, scavengers; who would try and take everything out of my brother's gym. I've alerted the police. People are not going to rape and ravage that place. There will be nothing left. The ring is even being removed."

Steward-Jones has said she will consider locking the gym which would result in dozens of fighters seeking a new boxing home.

Steward and the Kronk gym may prove to have had a symbiotic relationship, a relationship where both parties depend on each other for survival.  His role at the Kronk gym gave him the opportunity to make a significant contribution to world boxing over the last 30 years.  This contribution was fully recognised when he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996.  With the passing of man known to many as the "Godfather of Detroit boxing", the future of the Kronk gym now looks as bleak as its sign less exterior.

Atticus Finch

[Mickey Linden]

Thats a great piece Atticus. Well done. Not a huge boxing fan myself but found that to be genuinely interesting

[Aristo 60]

Is this the real Mickey Linden?

If yes, Hello Mickey - I think you are brilliant.

If not, I think it's brilliant that you've chosen Mickey Linden as your name, when it's not your name.

[JimStynes]

Is this the real Mickey Linden?

If yes, Hello Mickey - I think you are brilliant.

If not, I think it's brilliant that you've chosen Mickey Linden as your name, when it's not your name.