hit them again

A boxing tragic's look at the world of boxing. No hidden agendas, no cash for comment, just my opinion, for what it's worth, of the greatest sport there is. Oh yeah, and i can't fight for shit!

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

land of the giants

Don King can fuck the heavyweights if he wants to but he ain’t fucking me. Remember the good old days when Tyson could still strike fear into people in the ring as opposed to people who are unlucky enough to cross his path in the street? Remember when the heavyweight division was exciting? Sure there were still the usual schmucks, ‘white hopes’ and talentless lard-arses but there was also a killing machine raised on Jack Dempsey and pure fear. And there was Holyfield the younger (as opposed to the wreck we now see). There was excitement, power, there were guys who threw big punches, who tried to knock each other down. I know there’s some big punchers now but back then they could actually put the punches together, they could throw a hook, an uppercut, they didn’t just close their eyes and fucking swing and pray. The guys at the top now just pitter patter, cling on and hope the other guy will drop dead with boredom. The last decent fight amongst the so called top echelon was probably Kali Meehan and Lamon Brewster and we all know how that finished. Good old ‘lectric hair.
When will it end? Will we see someone step up? Klitschko ain’t bad but he ain’t got my vote yet. He can throw a big punch but christ it’s like watching one of those toy robots on a 60’s cartoon sometimes. And the new crop are all getting handpicked opponents so they have perfect records but none of them have proven a thing yet. No one is game enough to actually lose a fight or to step up. To be fair though that problem is not just in the heavyweights, all of the divisions seem to have the same problem now. No one is willing to risk anything. Christ you can lose and still get another shot at the top. Just look at Golota, he makes his living out of it!
I mean the biggest thing in the heavyweights right now is James Toney and he’s a blown up cruiserweight for christsake. And he still beat Ruiz! Of course now he’s looking like a drug cheat (or an idiot). I’m not sure if I accept his excuse, it seems feasible if not stupid, as does he right now. And it is stupid cos that means we have to put up with Ruiz again and he is the worst fighter I’ve been bored to tears by in a long time. Thanks James. Let’s hope someone else steps up, maybe one of the young guns can do it or maybe good ol’ Iron (rusty) Mike can get another shot. He can’t be any worse than the current bunch can he?

let's get ready to rumble

First of all let’s make one thing clear – this is a fan’s eye view of boxing. I have no hidden agenda, I’m on no one’s payroll, hell, I can’t even box! But I am a fanatic, I love the damn sport and have for a long time. I watch it, I read it, I study it and I’m opinionated about it. You don’t have to agree with me, I don’t expect you to but I’m going to voice my views and most of the time I’ll be right! (Maybe I will have to learn some self defence skills)
Hit Them Again is purely fan-based, self-opinionated and a chance to let of some steam. I love the sport of boxing and I don’t like to see the bullshit that goes on both within the sport and against it. Bad decisions, lousy matchmaking and Don King make it a hard sport to love sometimes but I still sit there watching card after card, ppv after ppv, because for every Fenech/Nelson ripoff there’s a Hopkins/Trinidad or a Barrera/Morales. There’s a lot more good fights than bad it’s just that we always remember the bad. Yes Danny Green was completely ripped off the first time he fought Beyer but he was outboxed and outsmarted the second time. (Sorry Danny, it was just the first example that came to mind.) Who’s going to really remember the second fight though in years to come? The first will go into boxing’s (potted) history, the second is destined to be just another statistic. At least until/if Danny gets another shot at him. Sorry, the point I was trying to make was that there is plenty of good stuff happening, there are plenty of damn good fights out there and we shouldn’t just dwell on the bad decisions or the hometown judges or the bad match ups. Of course, I’m probably just as guilty as anyone else for doing just that but I’m trying to change my ways, honest. So, let’s get rrrrrrrready to rumble and see what happens.