Brutal ways that boxers got into fighting...

[Tom Cruise]

Mostly talking about old timers here, but if there are modern examples (probably from 3rd world countries) that'd be very interesting too.

I was watching a Jack Johnson doc a little while back and they said that before he was a boxer, he used to be forced to fight in battle royals, where many Black men were blindfolded and pitted against each other in a last man standing event. Which sounds absolutely unreal, and probably explains a bit about how he got so good at inside fighting and could read his opponents movements even when chatting to spectators at ringside.

The just now im watching a doc on Tommy Farr, a welsh HW opponent of Joe Louis, who learned to fight 'in the holes' of slag heaps in wales. They would dig out the holes, every one would gather around, and the two fighters would batter each other bare knuckle with no rules until the other could not continue.

Any other variants on these?

[yngwie]

The old timers were just tough.
Jack Dempsey and Stanley Ketchel learned how to fight at the trains, with nothing to eat and just teenagers fighting for a little money against adults so they could buy some food, something similar happened to Jimmy Wilde in the mines when he fought and knocked out men twice his size.

[OctoberRed]

These days guys fails at other sports and decide to take up boxing.

[Tom Cruise]

The old timers were just tough.
Jack Dempsey and Stanley Ketchel learned how to fight at the trains, with nothing to eat and just teenagers fighting for a little money against adults so they could buy some food, something similar happened to Jimmy Wilde in the mines when he fought and knocked out men twice his size.

Yeah ive read about those. I bet there are similar stories today from the Phillipines and other place where kids turn pro under 17.

Cant be good for your body, but it must give you a huge psychological edge... that dont give a **** attitude.

[billeau2]

Mostly talking about old timers here, but if there are modern examples (probably from 3rd world countries) that'd be very interesting too.

I was watching a Jack Johnson doc a little while back and they said that before he was a boxer, he used to be forced to fight in battle royals, where many Black men were blindfolded and pitted against each other in a last man standing event. Which sounds absolutely unreal, and probably explains a bit about how he got so good at inside fighting and could read his opponents movements even when chatting to spectators at ringside.

The just now im watching a doc on Tommy Farr, a welsh HW opponent of Joe Louis, who learned to fight 'in the holes' of slag heaps in wales. They would dig out the holes, every one would gather around, and the two fighters would batter each other bare knuckle with no rules until the other could not continue.

Any other variants on these?

Like many activities...there are logical constraints. battle Royals were also a feature with Chinese immigrants, many historians think that is how we got the modern Kung Fu genre. In truth, Black people and Chinese people, as well as poor Irish, Welsh, etc all had one feature: Like Hegel's Bondsman, they had to be smarter than masser, so to speak and they were! What they would do was to develop methods to choreograph these supposed random fights.

As time went by, most notably the Chinese developed rather elaborate moves that were executed like wrassling, i.e. choreographed. The supposed high society watching never really caught on, or cared lol. Human ingenuity at its best. That stick? has a crack in it and will break when I hit you!

[billeau2]

Yeah ive read about those. I bet there are similar stories today from the Phillipines and other place where kids turn pro under 17.

Cant be good for your body, but it must give you a huge psychological edge... that dont give a **** attitude.

Actually thats what the human body is designed for...the very act of getting strong bones results from fighting against the forces of gravity. Ever notice that there are in effect many different diets that a human being can thive upon? You have people in parts of Africa that just eat dairy, people in India that eat plant foods and meat eaters, etc. When we struggle we develop.

Fighters in that time were different because they fought so much and were always ready. When given an advantage, or a trick, they used it the next day so to speak. A guy like David Haye who fights once every year or so has one thing he does by comparison.

[Ray Corso]

When a child is brutalized by adults or older children they can develop the attitude to fight back and not just survive but conquer.
It can be mental & physical abuse and when those situations are internalized serious social issues occur as they age.
Thats what youth boxing is all about, giving a kid some direction and a chance along with him being able to strike back without social troubles coming their way.
My best moments in the sport was actually assisting a child to not succumb to the pressures from the streets.
I won ONE out of 50! That's considered a success!

Ray

[kafkod]

These days guys fails at other sports and decide to take up boxing.

Then they fail at boxing too, usually. Seems like half the journeyman HWs in the USA are former basketball or NFL players.

[The Old LefHook]

Like many activities...there are logical constraints. battle Royals were also a feature with Chinese immigrants, many historians think that is how we got the modern Kung Fu genre. In truth, Black people and Chinese people, as well as poor Irish, Welsh, etc all had one feature: Like Hegel's Bondsman, they had to be smarter than masser, so to speak and they were! What they would do was to develop methods to choreograph these supposed random fights.

As time went by, most notably the Chinese developed rather elaborate moves that were executed like wrassling, i.e. choreographed. The supposed high society watching never really caught on, or cared lol. Human ingenuity at its best. That stick? has a crack in it and will break when I hit you!

Quite informative. I did not know the origin of those ritualized moves.

[The Old LefHook]

When a child is brutalized by adults or older children they can develop the attitude to fight back and not just survive but conquer.
It can be mental & physical abuse and when those situations are internalized serious social issues occur as they age.
Thats what youth boxing is all about, giving a kid some direction and a chance along with him being able to strike back without social troubles coming their way.
My best moments in the sport was actually assisting a child to not succumb to the pressures from the streets.
I won ONE out of 50! That's considered a success!

Ray

A beautiful post which states clearly your motivation with youth boxing and shows its importance. One out of 50 is a big deal when you consider the damage one misdirected individual can wreak.

Did you ever feel you might have a champion in the making?