The Boxing Trash Talkers

18.02.07 – By Matthew Hamill: “I’m a baaaadd man!” exclaimed Muhammad Ali after the first Liston fight. I wonder, did it all start then? Did Ali leave behind the unfortunate legacy of trash-talking. Clearly, he was the first athlete to verbally assault an opponent consistently, often referring to them as “chumps” or “bums.“ And he strengthened the legitimacy and acceptance of this noxious behavior by connecting it to his successes in the ring, including the accurate predictions of when he would knock out opponents..

For all the good things he is perceived to have done, this is something that has created a line of demarcation between old school and modern, and I believe the dignity of the sport has suffered mightily as a result. Joe Frazier, Floyd Patterson and Ernie Terrell were among his many victims. Curiously, Ali was named “Sportsman of the Century” by Sports Illustrated in 1999.

Since then, “trash talking” has become an art, or so it seems. The ballsy trash-talking Nicaraguan, Ricardo Mayorga, has seen it backfire, James Toney is a consistent practioner of this dubious behavior and his act has worn tnin, and so was Brooklyn born Mike Tyson who once vowed to eat the children of one of his opponents.

Speaking of Tyson, that brings us to that beautiful borough of Brooklyn , NY which seems to produce trash talkers at a reasonably consistent rate.

Riddick Bowe, before he became unintelligible, was a true practioner dumping his Belt in a garbage can while insulting Lennox Lewis…a feat that still haunts him. Of course, Zab Judah, who Max Kellerman predicted would be the next coming, carried on the tradition with his behavior against Referee Jay Nady and Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather (no shrinking violet himself when it comes to this noxious behavior), and his continual bad mouthing of opponents. Though in all fairness, he did show grace in victory against Cory Spinks, calling him a great fighter.

Then there is Paulie Malignaggi, blessed with uncanny boxing ability and cursed with no power. This brash product of Brooklyn seems to have followed in the footsteps of Hector “Macho” Camacho when it comes to showmanship. He even had to be carried out of the ring as a spectator at Foxwoods because of his heckling and behavior targeted at another fighter. Perhaps this makes up for the fact his fights are dreadfully and predictably boring with the exception of his strong effort against Miguel Cotto.

However, the undisputed champion of trash talking is WBO belt holder Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs, another Brooklyn home boy. Briggs sat ringside as IBF champ Wladimir Klitchko iced Calvin Brock on November 11, 2006 at the Garden. This is what he had to say about Brock’s effort:

“I told everyone that Brock-oli was green as grass,” Briggs said. “He looked like a rank amateur. The guy was a total flop on the US Olympic team and he was a total flop in the Garden. Is he animal, vegetable or mineral? After this showing, I think he can be stored in the vegetable section with the rest of the Brock-oli. I knew he was a pretender contender from Jump Street. That was an embarrassment to our whole country. You can stick a fork in Brock. Hush, hush, Sweet Charlotte and like that. No heavyweight from Brooklyn would perform like that in the Garden, that is for sure………………………go with the best and forget the rest………I am the real world heavyweight champ,. Not Klitchko, not the robotic Valuev and not Oleg Maskaev. I am the whole enchilada. These other guys are, well to use a Brooklyn expression, they are chopped liver.”(Evans, Ant. “Ringsider Briggs not impressed at Garden,” [Available Online]

This is the first times I ever heard one boxer go after a losing fighter in another fight. What possibly can be accomplished by pouring salt into the wounds of a fighter who has just been knocked out? Briggs seems to affirm the theme in this piece by mentioning his Brooklyn heritage, but my knowledge of Brooklyn and Gleason’s Gym tells me he has been away too long and has lost touch with the gritty reality of that turf.

Staged and phony press conference brawls and trash talking hyperbole to stoke up interest and gate figures have worn out their welcome. Can you imagine Jerry Quarry, Thomas Hearns, Bob Foster, Evander Holyfield or Floyd Patterson engaging in this? Let’s do the talking and the fightinbg in the ring.

“Trash talking is for some scared ass (brothers). I do my talking with my fists…” Winky Wright.