This week, the things that are special about the squared circle, some unexpected face time for this writer on ESPN and why we should praise Pacquiao even more than before in this weeks edition of Ringside With Raymundo…
There are many things that set boxing aside from all other sports.
From the many differing aspects that making the sport so unique and special, here’s a complied list from yours truly as well as my 411 family:
Its all year, baby:
This is one of my favorite things about boxing: there is no off season for the sport.
Anytime during the year, on any continent, there is boxing being held.
You can watch the sport during Christmas or Thanksgiving time, Cinco De Mayo and Mexican Independence Day, as well as anytime during the year.
Boxing has no set schedule, and last all twelve months of the year and starts over with each new ano’.
It’s worldwide:
Other than soccer, what other sport can be compared to as occurring all around the globe?
Much like the Olympics, boxing spans across the globe, with fighters hailing from Australia to Africa, to Europe, to South America and across the United States.
There is a squared circle in almost every continent.
That’s awesome.
The age factor:
Boxers can compete well into their 40’s, 50’s, and in even some cases, until their 60’s. (Insert Archie Moore)
The sport is one of the very that don’t discriminate an athlete’s age.
Even in present times, we are witnessing fighters Evander Holyfield and Hector “Macho” Camacho compete into their late 40’s.
In April, Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins will fight in a bout where the combined age between the two is a whopping 85 years.
The underdog:
Everyone loves an underdog in any sport.
In boxing, the lesser man in the ring still has supporters and wishers well, and it was a shock heard round’ the world when a lesser known Buster Douglass knocks out an undefeated Mike Tyson, described as the biggest upset in all of sports history.
The danger factor:
411’s Matt Knowles referenced former Sportssenter broadcaster Charlie Steiner, who once claimed that boxing has that “infinite sudden death” element.
You can watch the final two minutes of any major sport and receive the outcome of the game.
Another notable, although slightly gruesome quote in boxing, that was brought up by 411’a FJ Parlan, and hails true on all factors.
“Boxing is the only sport you can get your brain shook, your money took, and your name in the undertaker book”- “Smokin” Joe Frazier.
In boxing, one punch can end the fight; or the fighter’s life.
The sport can undoubtedly be described as one of the most violent, if not the most violent in sports. Fighters die every year in the squared circle, throwing every punch in valiant attempt to reach the top and/or feed their children.
After a boxer’s death, many are heralded for participating in such a grueling sport and giving their all so adoring fans can say they watched a great boxing match.
The life and death component isn’t as nearly witnessed in the mainstream sports world as it is in the ‘sweet science’.
Drama enhancement:
While the mainline sports attempt to build a natural dislike of other teams in order to entice fans, (Yankees/Red Sox, Celtics/Lakers, etc.) boxing utilizes this technique to the tenth degree. The sweet science uses press conferences, conference calls, media rumors and other things of that nature to openly acclaim and hype the dislike of fighters before they step into the ring.
Most of the rhetoric and punches thrown before the bout are admittedly only in attempts to maximize tickets and pay-per-view buys, yet also provide a unique part in the fight promotion process.
I’ll never forget a PR person who I talked to during the Floyd Mayweather/Oscar De La Hoya press conference in Los Angeles, who told me that behind closed doors the fighters are cordial, and even nice when around each other. Yet, on that day they exchanged insults and got in each others faces!
Only in boxing.
Big fight pay-per-views, Super Bowl-like:
Fans across the nation routinely gather in each others homes for events like ‘The Finals’ and the ‘Super Bowl’, and do the same on a mega-fight-night.
Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya are two of the most purchased pay-per-view fighters in history, and would bring together fans in their homes whenever they fought.
Going back even further, old-time fans with black boxes would watch the Leonard’s, Hearn’s and Chavez type fighters, and into the 80’s with Holmes, Holyfield and Foreman, on a routine basis.
Pound for pound:
There is no top ten list in baseball, basketball or football that ranks players, yet in boxing, there stands a mythical list that a boxing fan can point to when talking about the best fighters in the world.
It’s an assembly of the top ten fighters in the sport, from one to ten, and makes for very much debate in the sport.
Although the top ten-list is not recognized by sanctioning bodies, (they conduct their own, at their peril, for each weight class) the list is universally recognized and is more sought after then a championship belt nowadays: boxers just want to be considered one of the best.
The Oscars:
Boxing has spawned some of the great films ever made.
Rocky, Raging Bull and Million Dollar Baby has garnered Academy Award wins, and boxing stands out as a sport that is not only beautiful in the ring, but is also graceful on the ‘big screen’.
1 on 1:
There’s a 24 foot ring, some ropers and side posts, then a person watching to keep things clean and another guy with the same gloves on trying to hurt you” that’s it.
While most fighters will openly refer to his trainers and corner-men as his team, once that bell rings, you are on your own.
The one on one element is very attractive and is as masculine as they come: one man, or woman, against another man or woman until one of them drops or wins enough rounds.
Atmosphere:
This is perhaps the most revered element of boxing: the atmosphere on fight night.
Walking into an arena where there is open drinking, hollering and yelling is not unusual when it comes to sports.
Yet when it’s done on an MGM Grand scale, with 20,000 plus fans and celebrity’s galore in attendance reacting to every big punch thrown, the feeling is hard to describe and even harder to put down in word form.
The easiest way to understand is of course to witness one in person.
If you don’t take that route, talk to someone who has attended a mega fight in boxing.
You’ll notice that you’d think they were talking about the Super Bowl or World Series.
Guaranteed.
Why we should even further praise Pacquiao
When talking or reading about boxing, it’s inevitable that you will end up on the subject of Manny Pacquiao.
And with due cause.
What Pacquiao has done in and for the sport has been quite simply: majestic.
His rise has been widely documented and is still occurring before our eyes.
Of the many things discussed in depth about Pacquiao, there is one other component of the future Hall of Fame fighter that came to my attention recently.
Pacquiao hasn’t lost a fight decisively since March of 2005, and when and if he does, the only reason he will is due to his willingness and desire to fight the best opponents he can every time out.
That’s noteworthy.
That guy in the checkered shirt!
I covered the Feb. 12 edition of ESPN’s great nationally televised ‘Friday Night Fights’ show, and caught some unexpected television time of my own.
Shown behind the great Teddy Atlas is me, sporting a checkered white and black shirt.
I knew the camera was there, yet didn’t want to do anything to disrupt the broadcast. So I kind of talked to another writer, tapped on the keyboard, and wrote down a quote while the ESPN camera rolled.
If you get a chance, log on to ESPN.com and look up ‘Friday Night Fights’ Recap.
Oh what the heck, here’s the link.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4910909&categoryid=2491554
THROUGH MY EYES
The Shane Mosley/Floyd Mayweather press tour kicks off next week, March 2 in NY, March 3 in Washington D.C. and March 4 in L.A. The event is also open to the public. Fans out there, it’s a nice chance to shake the boxers hand and grab a chance autograph. Break out those Sharpies… An eight foot statue of the great Joe Louis will be erected in the ‘Brown Bombers’ hometown of Montgomery, Alabama… There are some busy months coming up for boxing, March April and May, oh my… The plans are progressing to put Cotto/Foreman in the new Yankee stadium. As an admitted California based Yanks fan, I couldn’t be more excited… Hector “Macho” Camacho still pumping at 47 years old. His son, Camacho Jr., is tentatively schedule for a bout in Victorville, CA in late March… “Vicious” Victor Ortiz will headline a fight card on Feb. 25 at the Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. If victorious against Hector Allatore, Golden Boy Promotions looks to pit Ortiz against veteran Nate Campbell…
