What is your own history with boxing: what shaped your views

[BennyST]

I watched Tyson-Bruno a few days before my 7th bday in '89. Been a fan ever since. Been boxing amateur for the past 10 years, won some local tournaments in my native Denmark as a cruiser weight.

?

That's a long time to be fighting as an amateur. You must have had a lot of fights.....at cruiser weight.

[BennyST]

My grandpa and uncles boxed, when I was young I got taught how to fight and then as a 12-13 yr old I began boxing as an amateur, stopped just before I turned 17. Had about 25 fights. I'm still only just turned 20 now so before it's all over I'll get back in the ring again.

I really can't remember who got me into boxing but the guys who inspired me the most were the ones who walked to the ring with 0 fear and a swagger and a look in there eyes that told you that they didn't give a fcuk who u were, they were gonna beat you. Toney and Duran are my two fav examples. Holyfield as well but he was a lot nicer lol.

- I'll never forget the look in Durans eyes when he stared off with Barkley, a guy twice his size and younger than him, absolutely zero fear, zero retreat when other men would buckle at the knees. That's boxing for me

I remember vividly the first time I saw Leonard/Duran I. I was a big Leonard fan, and remember getting this compilation video of his fights from my dad to watch. It had the Benitez fight, the Hearns fight, Kalule, Hagler and another early one I think against some guy, maybe Green....anyway, it also had the Duran fight which was the very last one on the tape.

The first time I started watching it, I remember literally thinking "what's wrong with this guy? This isn't boxing, this is just craziness. He's crazy" and I remember literally being sort of stunned while watching just thinking "what the hell is this? How is this short, bearded, funny looking guy doing so well against the best boxer ever? He beat the huge guys, so how is an insane short man that's just going randomly crazy beating him?"

What also spun me out was that I still thought it was Leonard video, of him winning all the fights, and I remember clearly thinking that they shouldn't have put this on his video because he doesn't actually seem to be winning against this fruitloop nutcase. Of course, it got to the end and he did lose. I was very upset.

It's hard to explain the memory of first seeing it though. I've still never seen anything that came close to that first memory of Duran, and I had watched a lot already, and just my stunned brain going "I don't understand this. How is this crazy dude, who just looks bat**** crazy allowed to fight? He's clearly mentally unstable and how is he beating my favourite fighter and the best boxer ever!?!"

[mickey malone]

My dad was a one time Australian amateur champ. He learned it early on to curb his craziness, went into the navy, became the army and navy champ, took it the national amateurs from there, but then stopped to go into university etc.

He taught me when I was young, we would spar and we would watch a lot of course, back when Leonard was huge, and then with the huge popularity, like the second golden era, of Australian boxing in the 80s with Jeff Fenech, Jeff Harding (my dad's favourite fighter because of his real life Rocky war with Andries as an unknown last minute fill in for the first fight), Lester Ellis, Barry Michaels etc and with him growing up on TV ringside in the great Johnny Famo, Lionel Rose, jimmy Carruthers era. He was a big Holyfield fan too, and that was the Tyson era of course.

But then I started to get more serious, and went to two local gyms, the second with my buddy, who later became an excellent national amateur, representing aus at the Olympics as a reserve fighter, and we had one other aus am champ at the gym, so it was good. I had my own share of amateur fights in my early teens, with 12 official amateur fights. I had a few more, about 8 or 9 from memory, that we're kind of initial exhibition amateur fights that were little contests between gyms for young fighters just starting in the amateurs...just between us, I usually count those to my am record, because it makes it sound better and I won most of those so it looks like I won more than I really did....

I wasn't bad, but wasn't very good either. I was good in the gym, better than a lot of guys, but I didn't really do enough to translate that into the ring properly and so didn't end up doing as well as I should have. I was also a young teenager, with interest in music just starting and skateboarding too.

After that, I went into martial arts. Then later came back to boxing again, training in Melbourne City area mainly at two different gyms, but I haven't trained in a while again now.....apart from training for Alexkids bedroom air jab contest. Been considering getting back into it very recently in fact. Go to Barry Michaels gym here in Nth Melbourne maybe...

I liked Barry Michael.... Good honest pro

Remember him having a couple of classics vs Najib Daho in the uk during the 80's
Believe he was one of the first IBF champions...Made several defences of the sfw belt eventually losing out to a prime Rocky Lockeridge..
Recall him getting quite badly hurt (perforated eardrum) forcing him to quit in the 8th with blood streaming from his ear... But he just kinda shrugged his shoulders, and said, 'No point in continuing'... Was'nt at all in his nature, but it was the Vitali Eye of ear injuries

[SBleeder]

I became a fan by watching the legendary cruiserweight division in the amateurs. Hooked for life.

[Bodyshot3]

My maternal Grandad was an Eastender who'd bettered himself and he was a proper character who had survived stuff like fighting in Burma and the curse of the bouts of malaria/depression that came with that; he introduced me to boxing and football at a young age and although I never boxed or played football (rugby was my game) we'd sit down and watch a few fights together and I was absolutely hooked.

I enjoyed his company immensely and he came to review his opinion of rugby as a posh boys game when I made a few teams and took a few whacks. We followed McGuigan together and I was very, very sad when he died in 1989.

[GeneralZod]

Larry Holmes drop kicking Trevor Berbick

[StarshipTrooper]

I liked Barry Michael.... Good honest pro

Remember him having a couple of classics vs Najib Daho in the uk during the 80's
Believe he was one of the first IBF champions...Made several defences of the sfw belt eventually losing out to a prime Rocky Lockeridge..
Recall him getting quite badly hurt (perforated eardrum) forcing him to quit in the 8th with blood streaming from his ear... But he just kinda shrugged his shoulders, and said, 'No point in continuing'... Was'nt at all in his nature, but it was the Vitali Eye of ear injuries

Wasn't Rocky Lockeridge a crusier weight in the amatuers?

[mickey malone]

Wasn't Rocky Lockeridge a crusier weight in the amatuers?

No he fought as a bantamweight in the amateurs... The cruiserweight division hadn't evolved.. Would have been around the mid to late 70's

Ktfo Roger Mayweather as a pro.. Very good fighter imo

[Suckmedry]

I am not saying that your making up a storied amateur career but anyone who supposedly won tournaments at 200lbs you would know the weight class is called Heavyweight.

Weltschmerz is Freedom's alt.

[StarshipTrooper]

No he fought as a bantamweight in the amateurs... The cruiserweight division hadn't evolved.. Would have been around the mid to late 70's

Ktfo Roger Mayweather as a pro.. Very good fighter imo

Come on Malone! I'm playing the straight man here: Work with me dammit! :chuckle9: