For all you young Whipper-Snappers here comes a short education on what it’s like when you reach middle-age. I call 50 middle-age because I am going to live way past 100 and 50 is the midway point.
At age 50 you start questioning all kinds of things, like your place in the Universe, what contribution you’ve made to the human race and other useless crap like that. But this is a Boxing website and successful authors need to remember to give the audience what they came for.
So, young Whipper-Snappers since I started following the sport of Boxing somewhere around my 10th birthday I have seen and learned a few things that your average 20 year old doesn’t know about. One thing that I’ve learned is that History sometimes does get clearer as the hype of recent events dies away. What seems to be wonderful today may not look that incredible looking back in ten years.
Here comes my list of Boxing Bests as it jumps out of my brain as experienced over the last 41 years.
Some of these bests you will disagree with. Some of these will be an, “Of course dude!” But it’s my list, so it is what it is.
Best Fight:
Ward VS Gatti 1
Notice that I’m not calling this the best Boxing Match. Ward/Gatti 1 was not a Boxing Match. It was a war!
Neither guy is an All-Time-Great as far as Boxing skill is concerned. Both Ward and Gatti had All-Time-Great Heart and Determination. Neither knew the meaning of the word quit and both were willing to walk through Hell to win.
I remember yelling during the middle of this fight, “They’re gonna need to stop this or somebody’s gonna get killed!” It was that intense of a fight. The thing was both guys were handing out so much punishment both deserved to win.
If you’re a Boxing Fan and you’ve never seen this fight really, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Just to let you know, I spotted the Gatti/Ward Trilogy for sale on Ebay.
The Ward/Gatti Trilogy was Great.
Ward VS Gatti 1 was Awsome!
Best Heavyweight Champion:
Larry Holmes
A lot of people are going to disagree with me on this one but that’s OK. You can write your own lists of Boxing Bests that you’ve seen. This one is mine.
From the moment that Larry Holmes won the Heavyweight Championship from Ken Norton, in arguably one of the best fights of the 1970’s, until he lost it to Michael Spinks by disputed decision Larry Holmes was an extremely fun fighter to watch.
For some reason Holmes got into brutal give and take slugfests with fighters who he could have dominated with his Boxing skills if he would have chosen to have done that. Larry Holmes was the kind of fighter who fought to win. He did not put in a performance where he was fighting not to lose. As World Champion he did not use the Prevent Defense where you just stop the opponent from doing very much and don’t do much yourself.
Larry Holmes went for it. If you weren’t putting a hurt on Larry, then Larry was putting the hurt on you. That style and attitude made for some very entertaining fights. Just check out Holmes VS Norton, Ocasio, Weaver, Shavers, Leon Spinks or Snipes to see what I mean. Fifteen wins by stoppage in twenty title defenses is extremely impressive.
Larry Holmes, you get my vote as the Most Entertaining, Best Heavyweight Champion of the last 41 years.
Best Pure Boxer:
Floyd Mayweather
Anybody who’s read very many of my Boxing Blogs knows that I am no fan of Floyd Mayweather. The thing is though, despite personal likes or dislikes, if you are naming the Best Pure Boxer of the last 41 years you’ve got to give it to Floyd Mayweather.
A Pure Boxer is the guy who hits without being hit. The Pure Boxer controls the flow of the contest by using Brains over Brawn. He controls the opponent by using superior technique and superior tactics. He makes the correct choices at the correct time to get the win.
It’s as simple as that.
Floyd Mayweather is the best at doing all of the above.
When watching Mayweather’s fight against Diego Corrales notice that the knockdowns were scored by using Diego’s aggression against him. Mayweather did not force the situation against Corrales. He let Diego put himself in position to be repeatedly dropped.
It was masterful.
That performance, as well as many others just as masterful is the reason why I chose Floyd Mayweather as the Best Pure Boxer of the last 41 years.
(This list will be continued periodically.)
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A few other matters that need a few words:
When Luck is not Good Enough
I absolutely loved the Nonito Donaire VS Fernando Montiel fight except for the ending.
As you all know by now, Donaire flattened Montiel with as beautiful a left hook as has ever been thrown. They just don’t get better than that.
Montiel went down hard and his legs started twitching into the air like he was trying to run from his back.
I want to know what the hell Referee Russell Mora was thinking when he did not wave the fight over at that moment. Or maybe he wasn’t thinking at all. Maybe he was just as stunned as Montiel was.
Even counting was the Referee’s 1st mistake. The fight should have been stopped at that moment. After showing unbelievable courage and somehow getting up before the count of ten, the 2nd mistake occurred a few moments later. Montiel couldn’t raise his gloves up when told to do so and Russell Mora waved the fight to continue.
I repeat: What was the Referee thinking?
He sure wasn’t thinking about the safety of the fighter. A referee’s first responsibility, his most important responsibility, is to save a fighter from his own heart and courage.
This Referee made two mistakes that could have been fatal. Fernando Montiel was wide open and out on his feet when that fight was waved to continue. It was pure luck that kept a brave young prizefighter from suffering a severe injury.
In a game where the very best fighters are lethal, swift killers relying on luck just isn’t good enough.
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Final Word:
A Special Thanks
I want to send out a personal thanks to Bill and Pat who stopped by and talked Boxing for awhile during the book signing on 02.19.11 at Borders Tacoma. It was nice to meet some people who have read a few of these Blogs and don’t want to choke the life out of me. It was a much needed mental break from what was going on around us.
Book signings are usually boring and mentally exhausting. People ask questions that there are no good answers for and sometimes feel the need to tell authors things that well, are better left unsaid.
Right after some religious guy was insisting that I must have murderous urges because I’ve written some horror novels you guys rescued me. When we started talking about Donaire VS Montiel happening later that night, it gave me a reason to ignore that flake.
Thanks a whole bunch.
As to having murderous urges: If you guys hadn’t showed up … who knows?
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Boxing quote of the day: “You always say, ‘I’ll quit when I start to slide,’ and then you wake up one day and you’ve done slid.” — Sugar Ray Robinson on Retirement.
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B.L. Morgan is the author of Blood and Rain, Blood for the Masses, Blood on Celluloid and Night Knuckles through Speaking Volumes http://speakingvolumes.us/authors_ebooks.asp?pid=79
He is also the author of Blood and Bones & You Play, You Pay through StoneGarden.net Publishing. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!