?I?ll moider da Bum??Tony Galento
?I?m a baaaadd man!? exclaimed Muhammad Ali after the first Liston fight. Did the trash-talking and bad-mouthing start then? Maybe Two Ton Tony started it, but that?s unlikely. Ali did leave behind this as a part of his overall legacy. Clearly, he was the first athlete to assault an opponent verbally in an aggressive way, often referring to them as ?chumps? or ?bums.? He strengthened the legitimacy and acceptance of this behavior by connecting it to his successes in the ring, including the accurate predictions of his knockouts. When it comes to talking trash, Ali was definitely ?the Greatest.? For all the good things he did, this was something that created a line of demarcation between old school and modern, and some believe the dignity of the sport may have suffered 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.
Shannon Briggs inexplicably insulting Calvin Brock after Brock had been iced and suffered a career-ending eye injury by Wladimir Klitschko was dreadfull. When Floyd Mayweather was getting ready for the highly anticipated junior lightweight unification bout against the late Diego Corrales, he taunted Chico about accusations of spousal abuse, for which Corrales would later serve time in jail.
Iron Mike Tyson went even farther (or lower) when he fought Lennox Lewis. ?I?m the best ever,? said Iron Mike. ?I?m the most brutal and vicious and most ruthless champion there?s ever been. There?s no one could stop me?. I?m the best ever. There?s never been anybody as ruthless. I?m Sonny Liston. I?m Jack Dempsey. There?s no one like me. I?m from their cloth. There?s no one that can match me. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable. And I?m just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah.?
A few years later, Mike quit on his stool against an Irishman named Kevin McBride, who himself had once been KO?d by journeyman Louis Monaco, who in turn had been iced by none other than Eric Esch, better known as Butterbean. What goes around can come around.
Old-school guys never engaged in feigned prefight episodes; they didn?t insult their opponents, nor did they insult the fans? intelligence by weeping and saying they would soon retire at a young age. There was a degree of mutual respect that was palpable. Of course, there were no mega purses to promote, and that may have something to do with the current noxious and melodramatic modern behavior.
Staged and phony press conference brawls or ugly trash-talking to stoke up interest and gate figures are wearing thin. They do the sport of boxing no favors. But, more to the point, can you imagine a Jerry Quarry, Earnie Shavers, George Chuvalo, or Floyd Patterson engaging in one of these? Mickey Ward and Arturo Gatti never did it. That they also are old-school throwbacks is no coincidence.
There was one fighter Juan Laporte, who boxed from 1977 to 1999 but unlike many other modern fighters, he fought and behaved in the quintessential old school manner. He fought often and he fought the very best, including Salvador Sanchez, Eusebio Pedroza, Azumah Nelson, Wilfredo Gomez, Barry McGuigan, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Kostya Tszyu. He battled Rocky Lockridge, John John Molina, Zack Padilla, Billy Costello, and champ Charles Murray. He beat many and was never knocked off his feet. Juan Laporte faced them all; he never had a bad word for his opponents nor did he engage in trash-talk. Laporte was a positive influence who was and is the essence of class.
Though they also stand to gain from mega promotions, the Eastern European fighters don?t generally engage in hyperbole and trash talk. The Klitschko?s never showed disrespect to an opponent they had just dispatched. Gennady Golovkin is beginning to waiver some and Kovalev needs to keep it zipped, However, for the most part, these guys tend to speak respectfully of their opponents before and after the fights, letting their performances speak for themselves. Whatever the case, their modest behavior and humility has caused American fans to embrace them.
