Many of those who follow boxing always put together All Time Great lists. I've seen people with a top 10 all the way through a top 100. What I am going to do is make an ATG list of the boxers who have fought while I have been alive. The careers did not have to start after I was born, just fighters who fought between 1985 and the present. Based on talent, legacy, and overall accomplishments in the ring.
1)Sugar Ray Leonard
2)Marvin Hagler
3)Manny Pacqiuao
4)Roberto Duran
5)Floyd Mayweather Jr.
6)Roy Jones Jr.
7)Mike Tyson
8)Evander Holyfield
9)Bernard Hopkins/Larry Holmes
10) Oscar De La Hoya
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Dover Downs Card and Sonny Liston
ESPN's Friday Night Fights will be making its return to Dover Downs for a card on Feb. 25th with hometown veteran, and former world title challenger, Michael "No Joke" Stewart headlining the card against tough David Torres. Stewart, undoubtedly, in the twilight of his career has enough time to make one last run at it. This run will start with a decisive win over Torres, which could propel him into Top 10 status with one of the alphabet organizations.
Also on the card are many local products such as Rockin' Ryan Belasco sporting his 14-4-3 record into the ring. Dan 'Bada Bing' Biddle will be back in action at 5-1, also Anthony 'Caputo' Smith of Kennett Square will be stepping in the ring with his 8-0 record still intact.
The two fighters I will be paying most attention to, other than Stewart, will be 'Mighty; Mike Tiberi, and Amir “Hardcore” Mansour. Tiberi is an extremely promising fighter, who has spent time at Middleweight and as high as Light Heavy, is coming in at 15-1 so far in his career and is starting to catch more attention on the East Coast. Mansour is an interesting story, he was starting off a great career before he was incarcerated years back, and is now on the comeback trail and supposedly picking up right where he left off. Known for having devastating KO power Monsour is a very fun fighter to watch.
I recently have been reading more about Sonny Liston, former heavyweight champion. Basically his entire life is a mystery, no one knows when he was born, and no one knows when he died. We knew every time he stepped into the ring that where he came from must not have been nice. Liston had numerous large scars on his back from what looked like to be a whip. In between those two moments of time (life and death) he was a human wrecking machine, one of the most feared punchers of all time. His supposed link to the mafia almost discredits the man, but in that time, how many boxers of relevance weren't owned by someone? He worked just as hard as anyone else, no one can say he did not. Liston was renowned for his jump roping ability(appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show to demonstrate), and would stand on his head 2 hours a day to strengthen his neck and back.
He ran with the wrong crowd some say, the hustlers and gangsters, but that is who he liked to be with, they were his friends. The public was never on Sonny's side, he came in at a bad time, just like Larry Holmes. He knocked out the lovable Floyd Patterson in the first round to win the title, and again in the rematch, and then the charismatic Cassius Clay came along yelling and rhyming. People feared the quiet spoken man, who's badness transcended race and put fear into blacks and whites alike.
But I believe the man was misunderstood, a product of where he came from, doing what he had to do to provide and survive. Not the villain most made him out to be.
Sonny Liston was a great champion who, unfortunately, for the most part is still under recognized for his abilities. From what I gathered and have watched and read about the man, Sonny can best be described like this...'A quiet man, with sadness in his eyes, and dynamite in his fists.'
Also on the card are many local products such as Rockin' Ryan Belasco sporting his 14-4-3 record into the ring. Dan 'Bada Bing' Biddle will be back in action at 5-1, also Anthony 'Caputo' Smith of Kennett Square will be stepping in the ring with his 8-0 record still intact.
The two fighters I will be paying most attention to, other than Stewart, will be 'Mighty; Mike Tiberi, and Amir “Hardcore” Mansour. Tiberi is an extremely promising fighter, who has spent time at Middleweight and as high as Light Heavy, is coming in at 15-1 so far in his career and is starting to catch more attention on the East Coast. Mansour is an interesting story, he was starting off a great career before he was incarcerated years back, and is now on the comeback trail and supposedly picking up right where he left off. Known for having devastating KO power Monsour is a very fun fighter to watch.
I recently have been reading more about Sonny Liston, former heavyweight champion. Basically his entire life is a mystery, no one knows when he was born, and no one knows when he died. We knew every time he stepped into the ring that where he came from must not have been nice. Liston had numerous large scars on his back from what looked like to be a whip. In between those two moments of time (life and death) he was a human wrecking machine, one of the most feared punchers of all time. His supposed link to the mafia almost discredits the man, but in that time, how many boxers of relevance weren't owned by someone? He worked just as hard as anyone else, no one can say he did not. Liston was renowned for his jump roping ability(appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show to demonstrate), and would stand on his head 2 hours a day to strengthen his neck and back.
He ran with the wrong crowd some say, the hustlers and gangsters, but that is who he liked to be with, they were his friends. The public was never on Sonny's side, he came in at a bad time, just like Larry Holmes. He knocked out the lovable Floyd Patterson in the first round to win the title, and again in the rematch, and then the charismatic Cassius Clay came along yelling and rhyming. People feared the quiet spoken man, who's badness transcended race and put fear into blacks and whites alike.
But I believe the man was misunderstood, a product of where he came from, doing what he had to do to provide and survive. Not the villain most made him out to be.
Sonny Liston was a great champion who, unfortunately, for the most part is still under recognized for his abilities. From what I gathered and have watched and read about the man, Sonny can best be described like this...'A quiet man, with sadness in his eyes, and dynamite in his fists.'
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
The Fighter, Pavlik, Heavies, AC.
On Christmas Day I went to see the new movie about the rise of Micky Ward, The Fighter. For boxing fans, such as myself, this movie was amazing. Fight scenes were shot very and well Wahlberg did a wonderful job as Micky. I think what stole the show in this film was the performance of Christian Bale as Dickey Eklund. He was simply stunning, from his mannerism, speech, attitude, everything was Dickey. The movie as a whole was very good, I would recommend it to any non-boxing fan as well.
Kelly Pavlik left the Betty Ford Clinic yesterday and is said to be chomping at the bit to get back into the ring. Hopefully Kelly can keep his deamons at bay now and concentrate on the sport that made him so famous, and can continue to do so. I feel like he should stay at 160lb. for now, without the excess drinking and partying, keeping the weight off should be much easier for him. Many are calling for the head of his trainer Jack Loew. Jack has done a great job bringing Kelly up and I dont think Jack should leave the camp, but I think a different point of view is needed by maybe adding someone new to the camp. Only time will tell, but I wish the Ghost the best.
There are articles popping up suggesting that Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye will finally be mixing it up come late spring, early summer, most likely in a German soccer stadium. This will be good for boxing, to have 2 heavies, who genuinely do not like each other, that possess legitimate one punch KO power square off. Hope this one finally gets made.
For my new years wish I would like for Atlantic City to get some bigger fights. I know Vegas, and now Dallas are better for the box office, but Boardwalk Hall cannot be forgotten. It is a great venue and a lot of fun.
Kelly Pavlik left the Betty Ford Clinic yesterday and is said to be chomping at the bit to get back into the ring. Hopefully Kelly can keep his deamons at bay now and concentrate on the sport that made him so famous, and can continue to do so. I feel like he should stay at 160lb. for now, without the excess drinking and partying, keeping the weight off should be much easier for him. Many are calling for the head of his trainer Jack Loew. Jack has done a great job bringing Kelly up and I dont think Jack should leave the camp, but I think a different point of view is needed by maybe adding someone new to the camp. Only time will tell, but I wish the Ghost the best.
There are articles popping up suggesting that Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye will finally be mixing it up come late spring, early summer, most likely in a German soccer stadium. This will be good for boxing, to have 2 heavies, who genuinely do not like each other, that possess legitimate one punch KO power square off. Hope this one finally gets made.
For my new years wish I would like for Atlantic City to get some bigger fights. I know Vegas, and now Dallas are better for the box office, but Boardwalk Hall cannot be forgotten. It is a great venue and a lot of fun.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Pac-Man Vs. Sugar...thanks.
Well, Manny Pacquiao's next opponent has been determined, in a May 7th bout PacMan will be fighting the faded Shane Mosley. This is definitely not a good choice for a number of reasons and only a good choice for one. What we are looking at here is an aged Shane Mosley who in his last 3 fights, demolished Margarito, got taken to school by Mayweather, and had a draw with Sergio Mora. Not that good of an argument to validate him getting a crack at CongressManny. Mosley has shown in his last few fights that he is having a harder time "pulling the trigger", which means he is hesitant in throwing his punches, and is a sign of age.
The only rewarding aspect of the fight for Manny is that it is another great name on his resume. It also can sort of debunk the theory that Manny does not fight black fighters.
Main problem here is that we have a faded great fighter , fighting a fighter in the prime of their career.
Bottom line is that Pacquiao has to fight Mayweather before it is all said and done to cement both fighters legacies.
The only rewarding aspect of the fight for Manny is that it is another great name on his resume. It also can sort of debunk the theory that Manny does not fight black fighters.
Main problem here is that we have a faded great fighter , fighting a fighter in the prime of their career.
Bottom line is that Pacquiao has to fight Mayweather before it is all said and done to cement both fighters legacies.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Sergio Martinez, Paul Williams, and Bernard Hopkins comments.
Well I knew Sergio Martinez was going to win, but I had no idea he would win like that! The straight left hand he landed on Paul Williams chin was vicious! Sending "The Punisher" to the canvas out cold and totally limp! Martinez has continued to impress and improve over the past 3 years, he is hitting his stride right now, and no one is going to want to fight this man. He is fast, he is powerful, he can box, he can slug it out, I was sold on him after I saw him tear apart Pavlik in person. If Pac vs Mayweather can not happen, I'd pay good money to see Marivilla take on Money May.
What next for Paul Williams? Well if you ask me, and I am sure no one will, the best fight possible is Kelly Pavlik. Think about it, Williams is coming of a 2nd round KO to Martinez, Pavlik a UD loss, AND they were supposed to fight each other multiple times before. I think this is perfect for both fighters. Career defining match up for both of them, and still could draw good attendance and PPV numbers. I'd probably go to this one.
Bernard Hopkins, never at a loss for words, decided to stir the old racial pot last week saying that Manny Pacqiuao would lose to a black American fighter from the inner city (i.e. Floyd Mayweather) because the black style of fighting is a bad match up for him. Also went on to say that Manny has never fought and top black American fighters. I read it, digested it, and researched for about 5 minutes to find the truth to it and the why?
Here is the breakdown. Of the 9 possible weight classes for Manny to have fought in (he skipped 1 of the 9), when you take the top 10 fighters from Flyweight to Light Middleweight(9 weight classes) there are a total of 5 black American fighters in the top 10 combined, 4 being in Light Middleweight (1 being Mayweather) and 1 Nate Campbell (over the hill, not an option). Manny has fought at those 2 weight classes for 3 fights.
Now someone will throw in that he only fights at catchweights and drains his opponents, Sugar Ray Leonard did the same thing and no one is calling him out, so zip it!
Also something else to consider is that there aren't too many black Americans living in Asia, that's where the first 34 fights of Manny's 55 were held. That's like saying Floyd is scared of Filipino fighters...well there aren't too many of those in Detroit is there? Lastly, there is only one black American worth Pacquiao's time and effort, Floyd Mayweather. Why on earth would Manny Pacquiao fight Devon Alexander? Timothy Bradley? or Andre Berto? Neither bring big crowds, neither is proven enough against top competition to earn a fight against PacMan.
All of that brings me to why Bernard Hopkins said this stuff. He may come off as some delusional old man from Philly, but, with everything he does he has a purpose. Bernard Hopkins is partner in Golden Boy Promotions, which is handling Mayweather now. So basically what he is doing is calling Floyd out to be the "Great Black Hope", so he can sit back and watch the millions of dollars pour in for, what is guaranteed to be, the highest grossing fight in the history of Boxing.
He's smarter than he looks.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sergio Martinez vs Paul Williams 2. The War Wages On
Saturday night there will be another "War on the Shore" at historical Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Myself, and fans alike, are expecting them to pick right up where they left off from the first battle. Williams has been a little more inactive than Martinez, last action was a match with Kermit Cintron that ended in Cintron "falling" out of the ring. Martinez on the other hand went a full 12 with Kelly Pavlik, winning the Middleweight Championship of the World. In the second fight I like Martinez to take the W. If his weight is under control, was 175 only 2.5 weeks ago for a fight to be held at 156lbs, then I think with his skill and confidence from the Pavlik win, he will be hard to stop. Williams would be better severed to use his jab and reach and drop the overhand right when the timing is right, and not make it a brawl.
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