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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Ahhh… hero worship.
It’s a dangerous game in any form.
But it can take a particularly macabre turn in boxing.
Unlike sports where the saddest occurrence for a favorite player is a long, slow decline ultimately leading to impromptu release, trade or fade (see: Namath, Joe; Los Angeles Rams), diminishing talents in the ring too often result in sad surrender of title belts, not to mention dramatically increased peril.
See: Ali, Muhammad; Robinson, Sugar Ray; and Jones, Roy Jr.
Of course, while admittedly littered with carcasses of pugs that stayed too long, the streets are also dotted with gritty champions that grabbed a final night of glory because they were too brave and too stubborn to give in to wavering public opinion.
See: Duran, Roberto TKO 8 Moore, Davey; and Mosley, Shane TKO 9 Margarito, Antonio.
So the trick here becomes knowing just how to recognize whether an admittedly less-than-vintage fighter has already gone one too far, or if he’s got one great one left.
My reviews on such assessments are mixed at best.
While I’ll happily point out prescient picks of an aging Hopkins over Tarver and an even more aging Holyfield over Valuev – we all agree that Evander deserved the decision, right? – I’m just as eternally saddled with having chosen Jones over Calzaghe, and, even further back, Holmes over Tyson.
I was just a kid for that last one… but it’s still not one I put on the resume.
And it’s the uncertainty of it all that’s got me in a quandary this week. [Click Here To Read More]
It’s a dangerous game in any form.
But it can take a particularly macabre turn in boxing.
Unlike sports where the saddest occurrence for a favorite player is a long, slow decline ultimately leading to impromptu release, trade or fade (see: Namath, Joe; Los Angeles Rams), diminishing talents in the ring too often result in sad surrender of title belts, not to mention dramatically increased peril.
See: Ali, Muhammad; Robinson, Sugar Ray; and Jones, Roy Jr.
Of course, while admittedly littered with carcasses of pugs that stayed too long, the streets are also dotted with gritty champions that grabbed a final night of glory because they were too brave and too stubborn to give in to wavering public opinion.
See: Duran, Roberto TKO 8 Moore, Davey; and Mosley, Shane TKO 9 Margarito, Antonio.
So the trick here becomes knowing just how to recognize whether an admittedly less-than-vintage fighter has already gone one too far, or if he’s got one great one left.
My reviews on such assessments are mixed at best.
While I’ll happily point out prescient picks of an aging Hopkins over Tarver and an even more aging Holyfield over Valuev – we all agree that Evander deserved the decision, right? – I’m just as eternally saddled with having chosen Jones over Calzaghe, and, even further back, Holmes over Tyson.
I was just a kid for that last one… but it’s still not one I put on the resume.
And it’s the uncertainty of it all that’s got me in a quandary this week. [Click Here To Read More]
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