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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - It never fails. Whenever I enter a week in need of inspiration for my Tuesday morning labor of boxing love, I have a go-to source who’s never once left me hanging.
Lebron James.
What, you were expecting someone else?
Indeed, when the NBA’s best active player triggered a week’s worth of headlines and sports radio palaver with musings about which players belonged on his historical hoops “Mount Rushmore,” I instinctively thought, “Hey, maybe I can get some mileage out of this, too.”
And while King James’ picks of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson were difficult to quarrel with given the completeness of each player chosen, I’m reckoning that assembling a similar list when it comes to boxing might generate a few more cross words of disagreement.
But first, let’s set some ground rules.
Because I’m a 44-year-old man who watched his first professional fight in 1977, I’m going to limit myself to that time frame when it comes to deciding who belongs and who doesn’t. Yes, I realize that cheats guys like Muhammad Ali and Ray Robinson, among others, but if I’m not old enough to have seen them fight at their peaks in real-time, then I don’t think it’s my jurisdiction to deem them worthy or unworthy.
If there are readers who quibble with that approach or find it a ghastly offense to the Willie Peps or Tommy Loughrans of the world, I apologize. And I welcome them to concoct their own lists that reflect those viewpoints. But for these second-day-of-the-week purposes, that’s what we’re going with in terms of who’s considered for the monument being erected here in sunny Southwest Florida. [Click Here To Read More]
Lebron James.
What, you were expecting someone else?
Indeed, when the NBA’s best active player triggered a week’s worth of headlines and sports radio palaver with musings about which players belonged on his historical hoops “Mount Rushmore,” I instinctively thought, “Hey, maybe I can get some mileage out of this, too.”
And while King James’ picks of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson were difficult to quarrel with given the completeness of each player chosen, I’m reckoning that assembling a similar list when it comes to boxing might generate a few more cross words of disagreement.
But first, let’s set some ground rules.
Because I’m a 44-year-old man who watched his first professional fight in 1977, I’m going to limit myself to that time frame when it comes to deciding who belongs and who doesn’t. Yes, I realize that cheats guys like Muhammad Ali and Ray Robinson, among others, but if I’m not old enough to have seen them fight at their peaks in real-time, then I don’t think it’s my jurisdiction to deem them worthy or unworthy.
If there are readers who quibble with that approach or find it a ghastly offense to the Willie Peps or Tommy Loughrans of the world, I apologize. And I welcome them to concoct their own lists that reflect those viewpoints. But for these second-day-of-the-week purposes, that’s what we’re going with in terms of who’s considered for the monument being erected here in sunny Southwest Florida. [Click Here To Read More]
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