I think its awesome to thank God, or whatever higher power you believe in for keeping you safe. But when fighters take it overboard, it really gets on my nerves. I can't see God caring one way or the other who wins, just so long as both are safe and win fairly. My favorite is when nasty nasty nasty fighters start thanking God, like Floyd or Mayorga. They've both said God gave them the victory after a win. If God took as much interest in their career as they thought, they would have been struck by lighting and Parkinson's a long time ago.
I think Pac is somewhere around 20, and Floyd around 18. I do think that Pac has faced much harder opposition and has accomplished much more than Floyd. I place Floyd just higher than Pac based on ability. Floyd is top 5 most talented fighters ever. He just hasn't done as much with his talent as many many many other fighters. Being the best in every area means nothing if you're fighting annually strictly for a payday.
Both men are coming to the end of their career, so the next 2 years I think will decide where they sit on the ATG list. After that, Manny will retire to a career in politics and Floyd will probably head up a prison boxing program after he is sentenced and incarcerated.
I think you confuse "racism" with the power to be "descriminatory". Many of the blacks from southeast Arkansas, which is where I'm originally from, are just as racist, if not much more than the whites.
In fact, Floyd Mayweather just effectively proved your theory (it was not a "law" or "fact", but a theory) wrong with his most recent video blog.
However, being able to exercise descrimination does require a position of power. But African Americans are most definitely do hold such positions. Name me one "Rent-a-Center" that isn't an absolute oil spill when you walk in. It's as much an oil spill as any marshmallow parade.
The only problem I have with catchweights is if it is mandated in the contract that your opponent meet you at the catchweight. Any amount of weight over the limit, however small, is the next division. So if someone fights for a title weighing 147.00000001 lbs., they are fighting as a Jr. Middleweight. What I don't like is forcing someone to meet you at a catchweight. If you want to come in well under the limit, great, but don't force the opponent to meet you. This fight doesn't bother me as much as Tony JUST moved up, and Pac hasn't moved up yet. The purist in me doesn't like title fights at a catchweight.
You love to mix up words don't you...
I said the TRAINING in boxing for the most part hasn't changed. yes it has changed some but the basics are the same for over 100 years.
Also fighting more often does make you better, it's called staying sharp. You think only fighting once or twice a year like most champions do today makes them better? You need to keep in fighting form, that's why you hear of "layoffs" and "ring rust" these things aren't made up phrases, they are true.
I honestly have no idea what the training was like long ago but I've heard of camps today where team members time the improvement in wind sprints so that they know when a fighter is peaking, like gaging the PRECISE moment a bottle of $5,000,000 (decent PPV payday) wine is at its peak drinkability. I thought it was lifting weights, cardio, and sparring. I had no idea it gets so complicated as judging when a fighter is reaching their peak performance level, so a not to reach it a day before or a day after the fight, but to reach in precisesly as they enter the ring.
I think the fighting only every 4-8 months of today has more to do with an attempt to extend a career and the weight loss some fighters have to accomplish. Some of these guys rehydrate 10-15 pounds over night. YOu would have NEVER heard of old school fighters doing that, as squezing a LHW into a WW frame wasn't the practice back then.
Talk about going off on a tangent...lol.
LOL... sorry about that. I don't even care for Margarito that much. It just kills me when people start threads with a hidden agenda that is not even hidden well!
I've seen threads/polls such as How Gay is Pacquiao? If you honestly want your question answered (as I tried to do with my post) then thats fine, more power to you.
But if you're asking a question simply to garnish support for your hidden agenda, well, try stopping by the nearest middle school. 12 and 13 year olds eat that method up!
Will Margarito ever stop lying?
HTF could any of us predict that? How would any of us even know? Thats like asking the question "Will Margarito ever change his name to Jalapeno?" Unless you are him, how can anyone possibly give an accurate answer?
Since dishonesty in some for or another is a ubiquitous human trait, I'm going to say "No, he probably won't. He will tell his wife she looks great in that new dress, when he really doesn't think so. He will tell the press he will knock Manny out, when even he can't predict the fight's outcome. He will say he couldn't answer his mother-in-law's call because he was in a meeting, when really he just didn't want to talk to her."
Again, my best guess is that he will continue to lie throughout his life, as I will, as you will, as each fellow keyboard warrior will.
So you're saying Sugar Ray Robinson wouldn't be competitive today? give me a break, he would dominate the WW division.
Listen, there was more talent back then there was today. That means in order to be a great back then, you had to fight tougher opposition. In today's world you can fight bums 20-30 times, fight a couple champs and your a top dog. Back then nearly every one was a tough fight.
Think about it - NY had over 50 boxing gyms over 50 years ago. Now there are about 3. The pool of good fighters back then was insanely deep compared to today.
Your point would make sense for heavyweights only, especially the old timers that weighed like 185 pounds and ****, they would be just too small.
You do bring up great points but Robinson was a definite exception to a general rule at that time. He was way ahead of his time. There are a lot of throwback fighters today that look very much like they belonged back in the B&W televised fights 60 years ago (Baldomir, Mayorga, Arreola, etc.).
Generally, I think MOST of the greats of yester-year would get their arses handed to them by the greats of today. It isn't just fitness and nutrition that has changed, its in emphasis on the "art" of boxing. It truly is a sweet "science" now. Boxing 60 years ago was checkers, whereas boxing today is chess. There is much more finesse.
I have a question for everyone asking why he never said sorry or apologized. How do you know for a fact that he cheated? What if he honestly didnt know? Do you have any proof or are you just hating on him because of stuff you heard on the news. If i based my life on the news we would be in big trouble. Everyone lies, the cops lie, the media lies, EVERYONE lies to advance their agenda. Who knows if margarito is guilty or not? Only he does.
Guess Iraq had WMD's because the media says so!
haha... well said. Iraq had WMD's and the Raelian's cloned a human child. Did I mention Margarito definitely loaded his wraps with pieces from the downed Roswell spaceship.
We aren't saying he did, or didn't know. It seems to me that he should have known but we may never get to the bottom of it. All we have is the word of the man closest to the situation, Margarito. I can't say for sure because I was in Alaska when his hands were being wrapped for his last few fights. Don't know how close you guys were to the dressing room, but I was thousands of miles away.
What makes 60 years ago the cut off line? Did anything significant change boxing so much during that period in time that the fighters suddenly got better from that point onwards? I don't think so.
You wouldn't pick a 100m runner from the 80's to beat Usain Bolt, yet it's very hard to argue that today's line-up would beat the early 80's line-up in boxing. Obviously the "evolution" of sports hasn't affected boxing the same way as other sports, seemingly.
I have a difficult time comparing the old timers of the late 1800's and 1900's to today's fighters, with some exceptions. The 1920's and 30's were somewhat of a transitional period with fighters getting adjusted to the modern boxing rules. Less wrestling involved, more activity, techniques improving, shorter fights. By the 1940's, the art was nearly perfect as evidenced by the likes of Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, Harold Johnson, Sugar Ray Robinson and others who fought around the era.
I think too much emphasis has been placed on the topic of nutrition and not on the evolution of total camp preparation and in-ring strategy. As I mentioned earlier, boxing 60 years ago and before was checkers. Boxing today is chess.
You bring up great arguments, and do it in a matter-of-fact (non-offensive) manner, which I applaud. There are fighters today with throwback styles (plod forward, out work you), such as Baldomir, Mayorga, Arreola, and others I've taken note of (but can't recall). I think the top fighters of the first half of the 20th century would have very similar records to those listed above.
Forgive me the time machine scenario, but I would expect a belt holder from 1942 to have a record of 1-8-1 against the top 10 of his division in 2010 (should he be beamed into our time).
Who is a tougher opponent Bradley or Margarito???
Depends on who they fight. Styles make fights. Bradley fights well on the backstep, so Pac would have more trouble coming forward against Bradley than he did with Marg. But coming forward is not how Pacquiao wins fights, and he's certainly not the fastest. He wins fights because he has an extremely high work rate, a rythm that makes him extremely difficult to time and impossible to predict, and his punch combinations are a-typical (which further makes him harder to predict).
I'd have to say Margarito was still a bigger threat. The man is a dog, a hispanic Glen Johnson, AND he had a Mexi-mullet on top of that (thereby making him impervious to pain). Bradley is fast, accurate, and a fantastic inside fighter, but he is not slick and not an ace counterpuncher. Pac would roll through him. I would exepct Bradley to get stopped within 6.
Trust me when I tell u he fears Bradley to.
Yes, because you are dug in like a tick with both inner circles. By all means, give us the inside scoop. I've heard rumors that Bradley brushes regularly, but almost never flosses. Is that true?
Clear win for Molina imo.
Absolutely. I think if we're going to be upset about anything, it should be that one judge obviously slept through the fight, woke up in a mess and said "Oh crap... uh... yeah, that guy won" and just happened to point at Ishe. Though, I fought hard to stay awake myself, so I can't hate on them too much.
It was a **** fight because Ishe is B- level fighter on his absolute best night. I don't mean to knock the guy because I've heard he is an incredibly kind and all-around good guy. He just isn't a great fighter. He is a good fighter, most nights.
I used to chuckle to myself because Greg Leon used his site tirelessly to promote Ishe but even 5 or 6 years ago it was apparent that he was never going to rise to any height. Now this guy is a former champion and very few fighters can every say that, so clever matchmaking and a once-in-a-career chance to face a weak champion in Bundrage gave him a belt, but no one expected him to keep it beyond his first defence (unless that was a rematch with K9).
It was a boring and cautious win for Molina, but he was the better man. If they rematched, I'd expect Molina to win by a bigger margin.
I would say Mayweather but it's very close IMO.
Spot on, and anyone who says differently is cheerleading for the fighter of their choice.
There is too much to consider... who has more skill? Floyd. Who is more explosive? Pacman Who always delivers? Floyd Who defies the odds more? Pacman Who would you put money on? Floyd. Who would you rather pay money to see? Pacman.
Favorite instead of Best allows us to pick people who we appreciate outside the ring... I'm not going to do all 15 but a few are.
Emanuel Augustus (most clever and fluid combination puncher ever... it is sad that he wasted so much talent acting like a fool in the ring)
Arturo Gatti
Charlie Zelenoff (for providing me so much Troll material)
Roger Mayweather (for giving me a reason never to use drugs, no matter how tough life gets... especially crack)
Liberals? Hollywood is as conservative as they can get, also the Media has a conservative bias.
Anyways, I would hope that Cruz is not used to sell anything, I doubt gay people would still flock to Boxing.
Ok... just because I know we have a lot of non-U.S. citizens that come on here and may wonder what in the hell we are talking about.
He is referencing two stereotypes (that became stereotypes because they are absolutely true).
Politically, Hollywood (and most of California) is overwhelmingly leftist/Liberal.
Secondly, the news affiliates owned by Rupert Murdock (namely, Fox news) lean conservative. However, our mainstream media is overwhelmingly left/Liberal leaning.
When meta-analyses are done looking at many polls, our best guess is that the U.S. is about 50% right leaning, 40% left leaning, and about 10% are either undecided or don't care.
But two things are as certain as the sunrise... Hollywood is extremely leftwing (moreso than San Francisco or Berkeley, CA) and our mainstream media is generally Liberal.
One last interesting fact... on the national level, Fox news garners higher ratings than any other news channel. Not because there are so many conservatives... but because it is the only conservative national news channel. The conservatives get compressed into one news organization, whereas all the other news organizations are liberal.
I heard some news on him just a couple of days ago... apparently he made my, and several other people's, list of "hype jobs that had you fooled" list. It was actually a really good thread.
See I don't get this, the kid beat Hopkins twice, I think both fights could have gone Hopkins way but hey the kid won. Plus he beat Wright back when Wright still had something about him. Taylor did really good, if you were to make a list of the best MWs in the 21st century, he'd feature on it, He just wasn't the next MW king pin like Hopkins and Hagler before him or Martinez since. It's sad cos he had skills he just gassed too quick and didn't have an elite chin.
Good points. And I'm a born and raised Arkansan, so it was personal every time he won or lost. I thought my brothers were going to cry when Froch knocked him out in those final seconds. But I think what makes Taylor a hype job IS those early wins. I credit him with FINALLY teaching Hopkins that you can't win fights throwing 7 punches TOTAL! But Taylor just gassed to early... and when he became winded he made dumb dumb dumb mistakes.
P.S. I've met Jermain several times in person and hung around his whole team quite a bit. I can not express enough two things... 1. Jermain is just a simple, down-home country boy and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. 2. Lou DiBella is a piece of excrement. Rude and dismissive.
Ok, to end the confusion and shut down the haters, I've dediced to put doubt to rest.
I... am Leo Ellerbe.
Yes, I visit the site.
No, I don't post often.
Yes, I am going through a breakup.
Yes, it is because I called my partner Floyd Mayweather Jr. in bed.
Yes, my partner is Floyd Mayweather Sr.
Yes, I only tolerate him because he is the closest I can get to being pounded by Floyd Mayweather Jr.
No, I do not purposefully wear shaded glasses indoors... they are transitional lenses.
jermain wasnt a hype job at all. he is a textbook example of what happens when a fighter who came from nothing have too much success too soon and lose their drive and motivation.
taylor was really good when he fought hopkins and could have went on to become great. he was a hungry fighter who worked his ass off year round and having seen most of his early fights (unlike most ppl here) i know how much he he was improving each time out.
but then he won the title, got three big paydays in a row and got lazy. he stopped training between fights to improve his skills and boxing intelligence and just sat around getting fat. when a fight came close he would get in camp too late first of all, and then proceeded to spend the entire time just losing weight in preparation for the scale with hardly no preparation for the actual fight.
his skills declined and he started creating bad habits. showing up in poor shape made him lose much of his speed and strength and all of his stamina. as a result he fought in a different style attempting to just steal rounds while preserving energy as opposed to the "bad intentions" of old who got in there and went to work with just that.. bad intentions.
whenever ppl ask hopkins or marquez when they will retire they always say the same thing, "when they dont have the drive to pay the prize to be on top". jermain lost that but kept fighting. he lost his way but he was the real deal or at least could have been, he just didnt want it bad enough. by the time he realized his mistake his body had taken too much abuse inside and outside the ring for him to get back on track.
Well, in a very loving manner... Ozel said that even as a young kid JT was just an anxious kid and his biggest flaw was dedication to training camp. That was back before even Pat Burns showed up on the scene. Johnny DuPree used to tell stories of having to threated to tell JT's mom about his laziness (which meant a whoopin'). Burns came along as JT prepared for for the Olympics and found a way to put some much needed discipline into JT. When Pat left, so did a lot of the discipline. I can honestly say I appreciate the person Taylor is more than I appreciate the fighter he was/is, but HBO was grooming him to be their next star and built up an unfair hype around him... hence, why he makes the list.
I get the feeling that 20 or 30 years from now, Floyd will be considered the greater talent with the greater legacy.
However... when people discuss who didn't make the fight between them... that will also be attributed to Floyd.
Much like people criticize RJJ today, they'll say "Floyd was by far the best of his time.... BUT..... when it came to facing Pacquiao, he wanted no part of it".
more nationalistic bu11shyt from you. Ignorant post, even from you
From the man who says "Mexico = GOAT" in his title. Floyd does rank higher though. Now if Syria was going to spray one with chemicals and left it up to me to choose, I'd spare Joe because I despise crackbaby Floyd... but he is the much more esteemed and accomplished champion. Plus, he's still active.