I love the staredowns between Holyfield and Mike Tyson right before they two fights. If i remember correctly the one you have there is from the second fight. These staredowns showed the difference between Holyfield and Tyson. Holyfield was an iron willed individual who cant be intiminated. Mike on the other hand was always afraid and tried to build a persona that protects him and scared people but he knew Holyfield is the real deal when it came to being a tough savage and he looked intiminated especially in their first fight.
All that said i like Mike and Holyfield and happy for Mike he turned his life around.
You are correct, and that's exactly why I have it in my sig. The first fight had a different vibe with Tyson being confident and Holyfield cautious.
All it took to turn the tide, believe it or not, was for Holyfield to take a solid punch from Tyson. And it was the first punch of the fight in the opening seconds which rocked Holyfield, but funnily enough it sealed Tyson's fate.
Because the man he was punching was somebody who took the best from George Foreman and Riddick Bowe amongst others. He knew right away he could take Tyson's best shot, and the rest is history as they say.
I had Usyk winning two rounds convincingly before the 11th, as did most people who were scoring this fight.
So lets say it goes to round 12 and you score the 11th round a 10-7 in favor of Usyk. Rico would be ahead 105-103 going into the final round. With as hurt and shaken as he was, Usyk in my eyes would need to knock him down again for a draw. And hurt him repeatedly including a KD in order to get a 10-7 which would win him the fight in everyone's eyes.
Just a hypothetical. What it really says is that for most people this would have been extremely exciting to find out if Rico was given the chance. The ref screwed up.
By this point in time, most combat sports have been humbled by now. Boxing, MMA, Kickboxing, grappling(though I'll ignore the grappling sports for this point) they have all had fighters go into the others' sport and done well. Some also didn't do well.
But one thing is clear, a truly great fighter from a striking art can in fact go into another striking sport and adapt and do great.
Boxing fans are the most delusional and stubborn about this though, they have a sense of arrogance and denial. Like their sport is so holy and special it couldn't possibly ever be the case that an outsider could come in and do great, despite the evidence mounting over the years.
I don’t believe Usyk got old and unskillful overnight
What happened was that we realized he wasnt as great as some ppl imagined him to be. The fact is this heavyweight division is or has been one of the weakest. Ngannou began to expose Fury, now this.
Usyk maybe the best HW of this weaker era, But what people now realize is that he is far from the best of all time.
It took an MMA fighter and a kickboxer to come in and expose how overrated this HW boxing era is?
I'm not into celebrities and their lives so I figured Floyd's life was balanced and he was enjoying retirement. Now it turns out everything has fallen apart and he must be going crazy right now. As others stated, he has to make a choice between his greed and his 0 and that is a tough choice for him.
Wilder barely sc****s past a chisora who is a lot more washed than himself. And tbh was lucky Chisora didn't come in 10lbs lighter to have slightly more stamina.
This was always wilders level, shirley wrinkle and showtime pulled an amazing scam with him
Nah. 10 years back Wilder would have nuked him with 1 shot.
I would not be shocked if this is true, but you have to keep in mind that Floyd being broke rumors have been around since during and after his boxing career.
I'd say he did reach his full potential. I don't think his body had a natural 'chemistry' that could have made him a great boxer even if he started early. The legs and mind-muscle connection just wasn't there, he was too lanky for the right movement.
What he did get out of his body is exactly what made him successful. Charging in fast with explosive right hands while picking the right moments, that was his talent. That, powered by a ruthless killer instinct and heart is what made him what he was.
For any top level fighter to go after Wilder at this point is a shame. And I agree that it's a poor choice for Usyk and doesn't fit his legacy at all.
In the end he's gonna have all 3 big names of this era on his resume. That's what he's going for. It's too bad that it will be the ghost of Wilder and not the prime version. But that's boxing.
Hey think of it this way. They "marinated" this fight for 10 years so look how big it's gonna be, right? It's boxing.
bit harsh
fury wilder fights were good, usyk fury & AJ fights were good, thats a lot of fights
wilder AJ talks were a farce but usyk came along and shook up the entire division
Sounds like Fury and Usyk doing the heavy lifting.
Never got:
AJ vs Fury
AJ vs Wilder
Usyk vs Wilder
If I remember correctly Wilder also avoided Klitschko. Atleast AJ and Fury got his remains.
Pathetic. These clowns could have been considered the strongest HW era after the golden 70s and 90s if only they all fought eachother. Prime Usyk, Fury, AJ and Wilder on paper is great, but we barely got anything out of that. It's a huge waste, and Wilder and AJ may be the most guilty parties.
But if you were trained for 6 years by the best coaches in the world, sparred many heavyweights and felt you could run for 8 rounds - while being paid $100m, you wouldn't take it?
I mean, it is brave, but it's not really is it?
I don't think it was brave either other than the minimal that we expect from men who have the balls to step into a combat sports arena and fight.
He went into the ring. He got up multiple times. Fair enough.
But he went in with the intention to run for 8 rounds and not throw a punch. It was embarrassing to watch.
I think we would all do that for $100m if we also had access to the best nutritionists and training teams for 6 years as well.
Some perspective needed I think.
It was either that or get knocked out within a minute or two.
Either way he was gonna go down. I'm still surprised that the narcissist chose this way out to save face. Maybe he couldn't handle the years of hate for all the easy matchups he took advantage of.
Ali was 6'3 with disproportionately long arms and legs, fighting on his toes and dancing for 15 rounds which made it like fighting a slick 6'6 heavyweight(and he had the reach of one with 78inches). He used every inch of his length to perfection(NH).
Being 95-100 KG in phenomenal shape is 100% a legit HW. As for Ali's bodyfat %, I have a secret for you. Body fat isn't harmful to an athlete in this sport in fact it's the opposite.
Ali had some of the best 15 round cardio you can dream of while his "soft body" could absorb the most brutal body shots ever seen in boxing.
There is no way he is taking this fight with the thought of likely losing with arguments like "no shame in losing to AJ" or having too much self belief(lol). He is way too big of a narcissist for that. Either the fix is in or the fight will be pulled soon. Maybe I'm wrong and I would love to be but this guy is in it for himself only.
A lot of these Americans who adopt these personas are obviously hurt little boys underneath and I don't mean that disrespectfully. Roy Jones was physically abused by his father who hit him with various objects. The egotistical persona is a construct to mask something they (wrongly) feel shame about.
You're probably right. Although with Roy Jones he has calmed down over the years and you can certainly see the real guy(and he seems like a decent person).
I'm amazed Toney can still keep this gimmick up into middle age. I still haven't seen him crack and show his real self.
Has anybody ever seen the real James Toney? I mean the guy behind this act, because clearly the cocky narcissist that he's been playing his whole career can't be the real man behind the gimmick.
Hi ИATAS206,
In the post fight interview Benn thanked a well known UK hypnotist Paul McKenna for hypnotising him prior to the fight.
Michael Watson was apparently hypnotised before facing Eubank the second time. He was very seriously injured after fighting like a man possessed.
Steve Collins used a hypnotist before both Eubank fights before giving superb, fearless performances. It really upset Eubank who must have heard the rumours about Watson. Eubank said words to the effect that 'Using a hypnotist to block pain or a man's basic instinct to survive is not right. It spooked me'.
I tend to sympathise with Eubank in this regard. Hypnosis can never be banned or proven. It is not successful with all candidates, not everyone is susceptible to hypnotic trance.......and in some cases it can be negative to a fighters performance.
Scott Welch was hypnotised before fighting Henry Akinwande and was too laid back to make much effort in the fight.....losing widely for example.
However hypnosis can help a fighter to give a performance that he might not have given without it. I tend to think that self motivation is fairer.
Just an opinion! If I was facing a hypnotised opponent it would bother me a little.
Please, stop with this nonsense. There is no such thing as hypnosis. We might as well believe a fighter won fights because he wore his lucky socks.
As far as people saying Benn has suffered enough. He should. Rabbit punches are illegal in the sport for a reason.
Lol, at the moron thinking this fight was fixed when Briggs took so much punishment that he could possibly be damaged the rest of his life with memory loss and other side effects from the beating he took.
Well to both of you morons I never said the fight was fixed, just that it almost seemed that way considering the circumstances of how good he made Klitschko look physically and verbally as well.
briggs was 220ish then hes a 260+monster now..id say he can take more punishment now
More like 230ish which suited better for him because he was a lot faster. Weight doesn't make your chin better. You can clearly see Lewis can generate a lot more power than Vitali with 1 shot. That's what this thread comes down to.