When a Boxing Historian Struggled to Maintain His Interest
That kind of special “leave it all in the ring” style is now the exception and certainly not the rule…
“There’s only one way you can lick [Tony] Zale—you gotta kill him.”—Rocky Graziano
”I’ll get you, you son of a bitch!”—Rocky Marciano
Boredom
Over a year ago (August 2010 to be exact) I hit a dry patch and had a hard time getting excited about the sport for which I have such a passion. It wasn’t writer’s block; it might have been because I was spending an inordinate amount of time on a book project in another genre. But it never had been a major problem before.
Listening to endless debates about performance-enhancing drugs (PEDS) and related testing, mindless back and forth exchanges about Pacquiao and Mayweather, issues associated with Margarito and loaded hand wraps, the dysfunctionalities of the Mayweathers, and whether James Toney had it in him to take the measure of Randy Couture flat out drained me. At that point and even more so today, I could care less if Manny and Junior ever get it on.
Watching the creative concept of the Super Six World Boxing Classic begin to fall apart because of injuries was remedied by having Prize Fighter tournaments in the UK. In the end, it was a winner but it had a long and arduous road to that end. But listening to unworthy guys call out the Klitschkos tested my patience. I understand the need for a big payday as much as the next guy, but seeing opponents line up like sacrificial lambs to take their inevitable beating from the Brothers has become almost farcical.
There was a pattern here and I didn’t like it. Thankfully, there was a Marquez-Katsidis fight. These two fought with an intensity reminiscent of warriors from a different time— warriors who defined fury. Guys like Diego Corrales, Gatti, Ward, Julian Letterlough, a prime Tyson, Nigel Benn, and before them, DeMarco and Basilio, and back even further, Zale and Graziano. That kind of special “leave it all in the ring” style is now the exception and certainly not the rule. Vasquez and Marquez showed it in their first three fights. Many Japanese fighters exhibit it at the lower weights, but when was the last time you witnessed it in a major heavyweight fight?
Now then, when I review my video footage of some of these older fights, I am astounded by the manner in which punches were thrown. The third Zale-Graziano fight should be witnessed by every serious fan for its sheer ferocity, not to mention one of the worse refereeing jobs in history. I wince every time I think of the ending.
This leads me back to my initial thought; namely, that I was having an atypical degree of difficulty getting excited about what I was witnessing on the boxing landscape. More PPV fights than ever before but with higher prices than ever before. Aside from the Klitschkos, the heavyweight division was quality-challenged.
Maybe I am too nostalgic and miss the old school stuff more than I should, but that’s never been a real issue with me. I have always taken great pains to avoid falling victim to generational or era prejudice and know full well that looking through the prism of nostalgia makes everything seem better. In this regard, I have always tried to be thoughtful and objective when making comparisons between the past and the present.
The Trigger for My Malaise: That Ninth Round
“When I go out there, I have no pity on my brother. I’m out there to win.”—Joe Frazier
Then I watched Tavoris Cloud get past an aging Glen Johnson (who rehydrated to a whopping 190 pounds) over 12 grueling rounds on August 7, 2010. In the ninth round of that fight, Cloud simply stopped fighting while Johnson threw 105 punches. And right there and then, my malaise set in. Men who fight for a living do not stop fighting when the outcome of a close championship fight is one the line. That ninth round troubled me, because back in the day, I never saw much of that. You left it in the ring; you did not take it back to the corner with you.
The Restoration of My Passion
“I just wanted Floyd to know that the WBC will always stay strongly in his corner.” –Jose Sulaiman
Since then, I have recovered my passion as I knew I would and happily have moved on. Tavoris Cloud (23-0) has become a fan-friendly champion with a bright future and a compelling personal story. Heck, after the strange things that occurred during 2011, how could anyone not enjoy boxing? The weirdness included Dawson vs. Hopkins, Pat Russell’s on again/off again behavior, Mayweather vs. Ortiz (with the added attraction of “Firm but Fair” Joe Cortez, “Vicious” Victor’s foot-in-mouth quotes, Russell Mora’s serial ineptness in Agbeko vs. Mares, Joe Cooper’s inexplicable point deduction in the last round of a championship fight with a “mystery man” in a hat at ringside, “Khanspiracy,’’ Adrien Broner’s bizarre hair combing before and after a fight, “Toe Gate,” “Eye Gate,” Lara vs. Williams and New Jersey’s boxing judges, Roy Jones ill-advised comeback, Hopkins doing pushups during a break in his fight against Pascal, Mayweather’s out-of-the ring troubles, Canelo’s alleged beat down of Solis, the dreadful neglect of selecting Myung-Woo Yuh in the IBHOF while inducting Michael Buffer, Glen Johnson’s whining after he lost every round to Bute, Toney’s vow to return after being slaughtered by Lebedev, Jose Sulaiman’s “sensitivity” to female abuse, and God only knows what else.
For a nostalgic tour, visit the author’s site at www.tedsares.com.
