Any boxing fans on the forum?

Just wondering like. I suppose I've been interested in it as a sport for a long time, my grandfather was a heavyweight amateur who also boxed in the Army. I suppose I also like the fact that it's one of those sports that polarises opinion. People often either love it or hate it. To me, when done well, it's a sweet science - the art of not getting hit while able to land shots of your own.

Many fans today bemoan the fact that the heavyweight division is a shambles and put this, partly, down to the fragmentation caused by too many governing bodies all offering 'official' world titles. I also think it's to do with weight, most heavyweights these days are 17/18/19/20 stone and they simply don't have the mobility that heavyweights of yesteryear had, who were often around the 15 stone mark. This led to far more explosive matches, the sort of action that today we see in the Super-Middleweight, or more recently in the Light Heavy divisions.

David Haye is certainly worth watching at the moment, I think he's got a lot of promise but like a lot of boxers he needs to be careful not to get too cocky. Ego has been the undoing of many a fighter, take Naseem Hamed for example, but ironically it's also something that you need a dose of to get into a ring at that level of competition in the first place.

I used to box in my teens, best way of keeping fit

I tried starting up again about 8/9 years ago but I broke my wrist few years before so not the same(ironically enough in a fight with a dick'ead Liverpool fan!)

David Haye's an arrogant cunt, met him a few times. My mates best mates with his trainer Adam Booth

This way up

white collar boxing launch somewhere in bethnal green (boxing club) one evening next week, free drinks apparently. i'll try to get more info. who hates the who idea of white collar boxing and why?

White collar boxing, the real fight club.

A load of hooray Henry's bitch slapping each other! Pfffff

keep your fight with a liverpool fan to the football thread please

Mike Tyson was a beast of a boxer back in the day. Heavyweight Champion of the world at 21! Used to love watching him fight

A load of hooray Henry's bitch slapping each other! Pfffff

Ha! :)

I did it for a couple of years at a gym in Bethnal Green. It was a good mix of people all pretty attitude free, some doing it to get fit and some doing it to train for a bout. What it wasn't was 'boxercise', I know this from the first time I was clipped on the chin during sparring ;)

Having said that though it was also a macho free zone, the emphasis being on respect for each other and learning the craft to the best of your abilities.

Doesn't surprise me that Haye is a cocky sod to be honest.

Tyson was amazing back-in-the-day, once Cus died he lost much more than a father-figure, it was also losing his lateral head movement after prison that really let him down in terms of his effectiveness.

yeah I'm into boxing and have been on and off since my early teens, though I never did it much to my regret. Was going to start training a couple of years ago after hanging out with one of the few female boxers around town but then I came off my bike. I'm waiting for a green light to put any kind of impact on my knees at the moment - maybe one day I could think about six mile morning runs again...

so, like, do you want to talk about fighters/fights Van Uden or do you want to organise something?

and yeah it is an obvious thing to say but Tyson was shocking to watch when he was young, never seemed to recover from his mentor dying. The ferocity and power in his first fights is still awe-inducing.

I remember my first sparring session, I'd only been doing it about a month and they put me in the ring with this big lump who'd been there for about a year.
30 secs in, CRACK, caught me clean on the nose, broken(2nd time, having broken it a year before playing football)
I went to the bog, cleaned up a bit in the sink and came back and started to get changed. The trainer came over and said "What the fuck you doing, get back in there...." Shit myself a bit but thought fuck it....
Few little jabs, teed him up and SMACK, caught him clean on the hooter, got him back, claret everywhere! Game over.........he never came back after that!
:-)

okay this thread is really one I could warm to.. nice one Van Uden and Pist..

anyone read that short story about "Bag O' Donuts" by Ethan Cohen? Cracking stuff, highly recommended...

There's a White Collar Boxing thing going on at my gym at the minute. I went down on Wednesday for the craic and kind of in the hope of slapping some City Boys come fight night and got fully put off. I got put in the ring against three dudes all of whom were taller than me and all of whom had about 6 inches reach over me and I schooled all of them. I know it's only "amateur" level stuff but I personally think boxing needs to be a bit more dynamic.

I train Muay Thai, Greco Wrestling and No-Gi jujitsu and found everytime I was in a clinch of some sort, I was freaking out because I'm normally looking for either a knee/elbow/takedown but couldn't do either of them. The guys were hugging me and trying to stay close and it was mega frustrating; so I just went apeshit for the entire round(s) on all three guys just to keep them away from me.

Boxing is cool and everything, Super Heavyweight Kilchko stuff I find an absolute snoozefest, but the bantam weight stuff I can deal with. They are faster and more agile thus making themselves more entertaining rather than watching a whole 12 rounds in the hope of seeing one haymaker knockout punch. I personally think that there are far more exciting disciplines out there though...

Where's Markyboy at? He loves a bit of boxing

I'd go along with you on the general snoozefest that is the majority of the heavier weights bouts..

saying that John Mcdermott vs Danny Williams last summer was a truly exciting fight I thought..

I prefer watching MMA, as a sport it has come so far in the past 10-15 years.

I really like boxing and kickboxing.

I am training twice a week kickboxing (really it's a JKD club), but I wanna get better...not even yellow belt yet (though I think I should be orange now, couldn't go for the grading twice in a row yet :( ).

Fitness was far superior than when I was just cycling to keep fit. Running now, trying to get myself down to lean weight.

I prefer watching MMA, as a sport it has come so far in the past 10-15 years.

+1

Chuck vs Vandy

Cro-cop vs Fedor

Genki Sudo in general.

OK, my two cents.

Yes Haye is arrogant, name me a good fighter who isn't. I remember David as a junior at Fitzroy Lodge (before he switched to Repton), and we could never get him a match - he was that good, special at that age.

White collar boxing is a yawn, but I have seen one or two guys who do it who wouldn't disgrace themselves in a genuine amateur ring. And since when did white collar = hooray Henry? Sounds a bit chippy to me Pisti ;) I have no problem with people doing something they like. Do we criticise people who play 5-a-side football after work, just because they'll never play at Wembley?

I think people tend to mythologise the whole Mike Tyson/Cus D'Amato thing - Cus wasn't quite the positive influence people believe - I'll say no more on that. The person Tyson really missed was Teddy Atlas, and Jacobs a bit. And don't blame Don King - I've seen the contract Tyson had with him and it was as OK as boxing contracts get.

Boxers I like - Roberto Duran as a lightweight, Ray Robinson as a welter, Hagler as a middle (my all time favourite - visited his training camp in Provincetown), Ali obviously (have every fight from Olympic final to retirement on DVD if anyone wants to borrow). Best fighter from this country for me was Colin McMillan - but then he's a mate, and a mutual friend managed him (well, technically, he was self-managed). Best tear-up - Hagler v Hearns.

MMA - I just don't get as a spectacle, sorry. I'm sure it's all that, but watching some dude grappling with one of those Gracies for 15 minutes sends me to sleep. That's just me, happy to be enlightened.

Interesting thing - back in 1987, Marvin Hagler was the highest earning sportsman in the world. And it was all money earned in the ring. The golfers, the tennis players, etc. earned half their dough from endorsements and advertising. I don't believe any other sport holds the same kind of attraction and fascination as boxing did in the 70s and 80s, or ever will. Those were special times and I was glad to be around to witness them.

Damn - didn't really want to get dragged into this. My days of obsession with boxing are long gone....or I though they were. Maybe I'll arrange a few tickets for an amateur show some time (don't go to the pros any more)?

The Gracies are indeed a yawnathon - 2 grown men rolling round on the floor in headlocks, giving each other chinese burns!?

The Gracies are indeed a yawnathon - 2 grown men rolling round on the floor in headlocks, giving each other chinese burns!?

Haha!

@pajamas - no definite purpose to the thread beyond bringing people who are interested in boxing together. Thought it might also be handy to debate/chew the fat on upcoming bouts of interest and maybe even arrange a visit to a fight if there's enough interest. Last live fight I saw was at York Hall, with a wily Battersea based boxer originally from Guyana, fighting IIRC at super-middleweight (his name escapes me, real technician though, early 40s). It was a good evening out.

@Pistanator - totally agree re. cage-snogging, just not my thing though so I'm biased ;)

@Markyboy - couldn't agree more over Hagler, what an amazing boxer. The whole Watson/Eubank/Benn era was also pretty epic.

Are there any good fights coming up? Why am I still paying my Setanta subscription?!

[quote=VanUden;
Are there any good fights coming up? Why am I still paying my Setanta subscription?![/quote]

Pavlik v Rubio on Sat Feb 21st.

I love Kelly Pavlik and was gutted when Hopkins took him apart, hopefully he will come back with a bang, im impressed he picked someone that decent the first fight back after a loss.

Khan v Berrera

Can't wait for this. Although Berrera's slightly passed his best still think he'll give Khan a good hidin, ultimately sending Khans career to an early grave.....a life of Panto and 'Celebrity' TV programmes beckons I think