snap_the_jab

Physically, not mentally... Who are the best fighters who are lacking in speed when compared to other elite fighters, and how do you think that they are able to compensate for this deficit in natural skill? Erik Morales is one of my favorite examples - he seems slower than alot of the guys he fights, but he's just got this great sense of timing, it seems, and so he manages to pop them anyway...

(or whatever that is in Ukranian...) Because of your age, you're out of time. At just about 34 years of age you're now at the end of your prime boxing years - if you've got something more that you want to achieve in the sport of boxing, you'd better do it now. I'd say that you've got maybe 4 or 5 more top-notch performances left in you, if you fight once every 5 months for the next couple of years, starting with whoever the hell you fight in September - better pick the 4 or 5 best heavyweights that you can set up fights with, maybe Brewster, Toney, Rahman, and Byrd, and try to beat them all within the next couple years. Rematch if you lose or if the fight was close and exciting, but otherwise just go right on to the next guy. Screw trying to unite the belts - just fight the best guys that you can while you still have a shot at beating them. Then retire gracefully just before your 36th birthday, having hopefully secured for yourself some modest position in the pantheon of heavyweight champions...

i just finished watching Ali-Frazier III (the thrilla in manila) for the first time in years and first of all lemme just say that if you haven't seen this fight, you've gotta watch it - it might be the best boxing match that i've ever seen. there are lots of comments i could make about this fight, but the biggest thing i was wondering about was this: how the hell could Ali take all of those body shots from Frazier, and still have the juice left in round 14 to tko the guy?? i mean Frazier just slams him to the body over and over again, round after round, lots of good clean body blows, and Ali doesn't even seem to flinch. same thing as when he fought George Foreman, of all people - big george nailed him with some huge body punches, and Ali just took them. talk about an iron ribcage... i still think, though, that if Frazier had kept his hands up instead of coming in with his head unprotected, he would have been able to last the full 15 and possibly won the decision despite ali's incredible ability and toughness.