Old School Boxing Thread

[Muscle Car Lover]

I know, boxing is dead. It's soul has been lost and comedians now populate the sport. I have not watched boxing since around 1998 or so.

But it's not dead in our hearts, the true fans.

I fought in 53 amateur fights, and have always been a student of boxing history. My trainer, Arthur Ramalho, was always adamant about watching the great fights and fighters to learn. I got an awesome move from Lightweight Jimmy Paul that was magic watching film.

So this thread is an old school boxing thread, dedicated to the great fights and fighters, so they know we have not forgotten.

I will try and post one great fight/fighter spotlight a week and add commentary. Hope you like it.

Tonight, because I just came up with this and I have already worked on it, is the OG-riginal SUPERFIGHT between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali in 1971. Here is my written recount:
http://economicdisconnect.blogspot.c...entury_29.html

If you hate links, here it is.

Rounds 1-3
Ali started fast and won all 3 rounds on my card.

Rounds 4-7
Frazier comes alive a bit and the fight heats up. A left hook from Frazier with 37 seconds left in the 4th round would foreshadow later events.

Rounds 8-11
The meat of the fight. The pace picks up and it is clear Frazier is wearing Ali down. Ali had just won a gruelling fight against a very good fighter, Oscar Bonavena (KO 15) and it becomes clear Ali is running out of gas. Still, in round 9 Ali almost ended the fight. The last 30 seconds of round 9 would have stopped any other fighter, just unreal how Frazier stayed upright! Flip the table and Frazier was so close to stopping Ali in the 11th round, so close. Watch the last 1:08 of round 11 to see. Ali was out on his feet.

Rounds 12-15
Ali composes himself and wins round 14 big. But then the 15th starts and what a finish! While leading on all cards, Frazier summons a gargantuan left hook to begin round 15 and puts Ali flat! What a shot. This round cements the win for Frazier. I had it scored 9 rounds to 6, but one judge gave Frazier 11 of 15 rounds which was a bit much.

Video:

[Red2014SS]

This should be a great thread! One of my best memories is the Leonard vs Hagler fight in 1987. My grandpa lived in Las Vegas and I'd flown out there to spend some time with him. He surprised me with tickets to the fight. We both went and had a great time. It was a great fight too. Makes me sad that boxing will probably never have days like that again.

[Muscle Car Lover]

Another week, another trip back in time when boxing was magical and fighters were amazing.

Tonight we look at the epic battle between IBF Junior Welterweight Champion Aaron "The Hawk" Pryor and 3 time world champion Alexis Arguello from 1982 in Miami.

Side note: I have a major bias here as Arguello is one of my most favorite fighters and back in time my gym hosted a big boxing tournament for charity and Arguello attended. I spent 3+ hours with the man and was amazed at his humility, grace, and class. What a man. Sadly, he is gone.

Pryor was undefeated and was looking for a fight against Sugar Ray Leonard. Leonard came out with his detached retina story, and the fight was never set up. Pryor being so much better than anyone around him needed a challenge.

Alexis Arguello, who never lost a title in the ring, would step up in weight yet again to take that challenge.

What ensued can only be seen to be believed.

Two great fighters at their peak (Pryor) or very near (Arguello) facing off, it still gives me goosebumps watching this fight.

Punch of the fight is at the 41:40 mark of the video where Aguello hits Pryor so hard with a right Pryor's own head touches his back. No one should be able to take a shot like that, wow.

In the 14th Pryor's relentless attack overwhelms Arguello, who is stopped brutally to end the fight.

Two judges had Pryor ahead at the time, with scores both at 127-124. One judge had Arguello ahead 127-125, which is how I had the fight scored going into the 14th round.
http://boxrec.com/boxer/8993

I could write all night about this epic contest, no words can really capture it.

There was an issue with this fight however.

Very clearly caught by the HBO corner cameras, Pryor's trainer/manager Panama Lewis is heard to say "give me the OTHER BOTTLE, THE ONE THAT I MIXED" and a corner second gives him a SPRAY bottle that Lewis removes the nozzle from and tells Pryor to drink it and "swallow some". This was after round 13 and the epic shot Pryor took. It's lost in history now, but no tests were done post fight and it's all over anyway.

I asked Alexis about that possibility that maybe Pryor was given something late in that fight. He said, and I quote "Aaron beat me. He was better that night and he beat me. I did my best." What a man, what a class act.

Good ESPN article on the fight:
http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id...xis-arguello-i

Enjoy!