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?BOXING is a complex art. They talk about the Tour de France and running marathons, those big tests of endurance, but try doing that while getting punched in the face the whole time! All Big Brother contestants should have to do a couple of rounds with Tyson.
So says actor, stand-up comedian and, don?t forget, BAFTA-winning script-writer, Ricky Gervais. He may or may not have said ?Fact!? at the end of that statement.Like Why I Like Boxing contemporary Andy Murray, Gervais credits Muhammad Ali with sparking his interest in boxing. ?My dad was a fan so I used to watch the fights with him and my brothers,? he recalled. ?My earliest memory was Cassius Clay against Henry Cooper. I loved Ali. When you?re a kid, you like a winner. Then, as I got older, I got into Ali refusing to go to Vietnam. Even now, Ali?s bigger than boxing ? a real hero.?
As Ricky got older, the lower weight classes grabbed his attention in the early 1980s.?I was fascinated with Leornard, Hearns, Hagler, Duran, all great and they could all beat each other. Joe Calzaghe deserves the plaudits they got but, obviously, that was a different era.?
But Ricky is, by his own admission, a fan of the big men, first and foremost. ?Yeah, well, obviously Ali, then I thought Tyson would never lose ? the sheer power and excitement of him. Just shows how wrong you can be. Lennox Lewis was a natural athlete. I can?t name you one of the big heavyweights now and that?s a shame.?
Indeed, Ricky is well aware of the reasons why boxing is less known to the man or woman on the street than in Ali?s day. ?Boxing has too many belts and divisions ? who are the stars? These days boxers want to hold on to their titles for sponsorship, merchandise, etc. It?s not like, ?I?ll fight anyone?. Fighters are so protected.?But it?s not all doom and gloom. Ricky sees promise in new ideas in boxing, in particular The Contender series.?One of the best boxing matches I?ve seen in the past five years was The Contender final [Sakio Bika-Jaidon?Codrington]. They both went for it and it was so entertainin.
So says actor, stand-up comedian and, don?t forget, BAFTA-winning script-writer, Ricky Gervais. He may or may not have said ?Fact!? at the end of that statement.Like Why I Like Boxing contemporary Andy Murray, Gervais credits Muhammad Ali with sparking his interest in boxing. ?My dad was a fan so I used to watch the fights with him and my brothers,? he recalled. ?My earliest memory was Cassius Clay against Henry Cooper. I loved Ali. When you?re a kid, you like a winner. Then, as I got older, I got into Ali refusing to go to Vietnam. Even now, Ali?s bigger than boxing ? a real hero.?
As Ricky got older, the lower weight classes grabbed his attention in the early 1980s.?I was fascinated with Leornard, Hearns, Hagler, Duran, all great and they could all beat each other. Joe Calzaghe deserves the plaudits they got but, obviously, that was a different era.?
But Ricky is, by his own admission, a fan of the big men, first and foremost. ?Yeah, well, obviously Ali, then I thought Tyson would never lose ? the sheer power and excitement of him. Just shows how wrong you can be. Lennox Lewis was a natural athlete. I can?t name you one of the big heavyweights now and that?s a shame.?
Indeed, Ricky is well aware of the reasons why boxing is less known to the man or woman on the street than in Ali?s day. ?Boxing has too many belts and divisions ? who are the stars? These days boxers want to hold on to their titles for sponsorship, merchandise, etc. It?s not like, ?I?ll fight anyone?. Fighters are so protected.?But it?s not all doom and gloom. Ricky sees promise in new ideas in boxing, in particular The Contender series.?One of the best boxing matches I?ve seen in the past five years was The Contender final [Sakio Bika-Jaidon?Codrington]. They both went for it and it was so entertainin.
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