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Ask The "Iceman" Mailbag
Featuring "Iceman" John Scully
The "Iceman" answers questions regarding Hopkins-Tarver, Dawson-Harding, James Toney, and even fields a question from TSN's Russ Anber!
July 1, 2006
FightFan.com is proud to present another mailbag hosted by our resident boxing expert "Iceman" John Scully. The "Iceman" answers fan's questions, telling it like it is from a fighter's perspective!
To see the archives of past "Ask The Iceman" Mailbags, Click Here!
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HERE'S WHAT THE "ICEMAN" HAD TO SAY!
Hey Ice, what was your take on the Hopkins-Tarver fight, and with Bernard pulling off the one sided win how do you think his career stacks up against Roy Jones? Who ranks higher all time in your opinion? – Jbomb
ICE: I obviously thought Bernard executed a spectacular fight plan and I take my hat off to the guy. After losing to Jermain and being almost 41 it is an awesome thing that he was able to keep his focus and his eyes on the prize and win in such great fashion against a man that many thought would simply overpower him. As far as he and Roy and how they stack up against each other that is going to be a very hot debate. I mean, I think with wins over Oscar, Tito and now Tarver and the fact that he had such along and successful reign at middleweight he will of course go to the Hall of Fame and be remembered as a special fighter. You could make the case that those three wins combined with all other intangibles puts him above Roy, and maybe they do, but I still think that when it comes down to it the better fight was Roy Jones. It's sounds funny to say but a man could have lesser accomplishments but still be actually a better fighter than someone who statistically eclipses him.
Ask Ice what he thinks is the difference between fighters of today and fighters of his generation, in regards to all the pre-fight hype and choreographed ring entrances. – Russ Anber
ICE: Well, I think the younger guys of today have taken the lead of Ali and guys like that and went way to far with it. The so called "showmanship" and "self marketing" these fighters are trying to bring to the forefront of boxing seems to have taken over the game in many ways and it has become a priority with too many guys to focus much too much time and energy on pre-fight ring walks and trash talking and musical entrances and nonsense like that. The "show" ofit all has eclipsed the real boxing and it shows with too many of these guys. Boxers today, outside of guys like Bernard Hopkins, are some of the most inconsistent fighters in the history of the game and I bet guys like Benny Briscoe, Bob Foster, Georgie Benton and Alexis Arguello badly wish they were around today as opposed to the days when every guy in the top 15 in the world in every weight class was a killer.
Hello Iceman, did you see the Chad Dawson vs. Eric Harding fight? I heard you used to train Dawson, what did you think about the fight before it happened and what did you think of the result? What was Dawson like when you worked with him and do you see big things for him? - DS
ICE: I trained Chad for several fights in his pro career and would have kept training him but the situation with Gary Shaw stealing him away from Jimmy Birchfield put a spin on the situation that just wouldn't allow for me to train him anymore. Before the fight I figured it would be a much tougher and closer fight than it turned out to be because Eric is a guy I have known for a long time, too, and in his prime he was definitely one of the top three 175 pounders in the world. He looked old in the fight to me, though, and Chad really put on an awesome display. The light heavyweight division is in bad shape right now and a guy like Chad is in a great position to head to the forefront. Chad is going to win the light heavyweight title, I am pretty sure of that.
John, do you remember Steve Anderson from Springfield? What was your affiliation with John Tynan of Springfield's Central City Gym? – Jimmy D
ICE: Yes! I first met Steve when he was just 12 years old and I still have a photo of us in the gym together when he was that age. I sparred with him then and I sparred with him later on after he turned professional. Steve was a good boxer with a good punch. Really, really nice person, too. John Tynan was my amateur coach (he was Steve's coach, too) from the middle of 1986 all the way to when I won my bronze medal at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials. Tynan was one of the most dedicated coaches ever and he took time off from his job to travel with me to Montreal, Omaha, Knoxville, North Carolina, Buffalo, Jacksonville, California, Ohio and Maryland for sparring and tournaments. I won several big tournaments while representing the gym in Springfield.
Can you please ask the Iceman if he thinks James Toney has it in him to return to the ring in better shape, and is he still capable of excelling at heavyweight? Or is he too old? – J in Sactown
ICE: On the one hand you would have thought that if there was ever a fight he would have buckled down and got himself into great shape for it would have been the fight with Rock. On the other side of the coin he is still young enough and tricky enough to do some damage. If, and it is a big IF, if he ever got himself together and fought with real desire and hunger like he did when he was on the way up, I think he could outclass almost any heavyweight that was 6'3 or less. With his style, though, the 6'5, 6'8 guys that weight over 260 pounds would probably be a bit much for him.
Featuring "Iceman" John Scully
The "Iceman" answers questions regarding Hopkins-Tarver, Dawson-Harding, James Toney, and even fields a question from TSN's Russ Anber!
July 1, 2006
FightFan.com is proud to present another mailbag hosted by our resident boxing expert "Iceman" John Scully. The "Iceman" answers fan's questions, telling it like it is from a fighter's perspective!
To see the archives of past "Ask The Iceman" Mailbags, Click Here!
--------------------------------------------
HERE'S WHAT THE "ICEMAN" HAD TO SAY!
Hey Ice, what was your take on the Hopkins-Tarver fight, and with Bernard pulling off the one sided win how do you think his career stacks up against Roy Jones? Who ranks higher all time in your opinion? – Jbomb
ICE: I obviously thought Bernard executed a spectacular fight plan and I take my hat off to the guy. After losing to Jermain and being almost 41 it is an awesome thing that he was able to keep his focus and his eyes on the prize and win in such great fashion against a man that many thought would simply overpower him. As far as he and Roy and how they stack up against each other that is going to be a very hot debate. I mean, I think with wins over Oscar, Tito and now Tarver and the fact that he had such along and successful reign at middleweight he will of course go to the Hall of Fame and be remembered as a special fighter. You could make the case that those three wins combined with all other intangibles puts him above Roy, and maybe they do, but I still think that when it comes down to it the better fight was Roy Jones. It's sounds funny to say but a man could have lesser accomplishments but still be actually a better fighter than someone who statistically eclipses him.
Ask Ice what he thinks is the difference between fighters of today and fighters of his generation, in regards to all the pre-fight hype and choreographed ring entrances. – Russ Anber
ICE: Well, I think the younger guys of today have taken the lead of Ali and guys like that and went way to far with it. The so called "showmanship" and "self marketing" these fighters are trying to bring to the forefront of boxing seems to have taken over the game in many ways and it has become a priority with too many guys to focus much too much time and energy on pre-fight ring walks and trash talking and musical entrances and nonsense like that. The "show" ofit all has eclipsed the real boxing and it shows with too many of these guys. Boxers today, outside of guys like Bernard Hopkins, are some of the most inconsistent fighters in the history of the game and I bet guys like Benny Briscoe, Bob Foster, Georgie Benton and Alexis Arguello badly wish they were around today as opposed to the days when every guy in the top 15 in the world in every weight class was a killer.
Hello Iceman, did you see the Chad Dawson vs. Eric Harding fight? I heard you used to train Dawson, what did you think about the fight before it happened and what did you think of the result? What was Dawson like when you worked with him and do you see big things for him? - DS
ICE: I trained Chad for several fights in his pro career and would have kept training him but the situation with Gary Shaw stealing him away from Jimmy Birchfield put a spin on the situation that just wouldn't allow for me to train him anymore. Before the fight I figured it would be a much tougher and closer fight than it turned out to be because Eric is a guy I have known for a long time, too, and in his prime he was definitely one of the top three 175 pounders in the world. He looked old in the fight to me, though, and Chad really put on an awesome display. The light heavyweight division is in bad shape right now and a guy like Chad is in a great position to head to the forefront. Chad is going to win the light heavyweight title, I am pretty sure of that.
John, do you remember Steve Anderson from Springfield? What was your affiliation with John Tynan of Springfield's Central City Gym? – Jimmy D
ICE: Yes! I first met Steve when he was just 12 years old and I still have a photo of us in the gym together when he was that age. I sparred with him then and I sparred with him later on after he turned professional. Steve was a good boxer with a good punch. Really, really nice person, too. John Tynan was my amateur coach (he was Steve's coach, too) from the middle of 1986 all the way to when I won my bronze medal at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials. Tynan was one of the most dedicated coaches ever and he took time off from his job to travel with me to Montreal, Omaha, Knoxville, North Carolina, Buffalo, Jacksonville, California, Ohio and Maryland for sparring and tournaments. I won several big tournaments while representing the gym in Springfield.
Can you please ask the Iceman if he thinks James Toney has it in him to return to the ring in better shape, and is he still capable of excelling at heavyweight? Or is he too old? – J in Sactown
ICE: On the one hand you would have thought that if there was ever a fight he would have buckled down and got himself into great shape for it would have been the fight with Rock. On the other side of the coin he is still young enough and tricky enough to do some damage. If, and it is a big IF, if he ever got himself together and fought with real desire and hunger like he did when he was on the way up, I think he could outclass almost any heavyweight that was 6'3 or less. With his style, though, the 6'5, 6'8 guys that weight over 260 pounds would probably be a bit much for him.
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