newblokes
05-03-2003, 01:07 AM
Let me start by saying.. I did not write this! So no insults o.k !?
But I found it very interesting with some VERY valid points. If you got the sec you should have a read! Hamish.
I know it's the first week in March, but I do have a New Year's resolution now. It took me some time, but I feel very confident that - like many of you who wanted to quit eating, smoking, drinking, gambling etc. - I can for at least a few months swear off one of my major weaknesses. No, I don't fully expect to be able to follow through on this for the entire year, because I'm a sucker and I know it. But I will try and stay strong and if I can just take it day by day, week by week and then month by month. Who knows? Maybe I will have a chance. My problem like many of you is that I have been addicted to this habit for a long, long time, so breaking it won't be easy. But I do need to break it before it breaks me. So here goes - I will not watch a heavyweight fight again.
Yes, that was me. Sucker number 485,342 who spent $49.95 plus some stupid $1.50 fee they charged me over the phone to watch the Johnny Ruiz vs. Roy Jones Jr. matchup Saturday night. What a waste of money. I could have done something worthwhile with that money, like thrown it out my window. At least it would have ended up in the hands of some kids who would have turned that into a sweet-tooth binge. But no, not me, I decided to throw it at the heavyweight division. Well, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Only problem is I've been fooled like 30 times in the past five years.
All I need to do for motivation to stay the course and fight this addiction of mine is look at the heavyweight standings every day. It will be like my nicotine patch, because every time I do look at those standings it will say "Roy Jones Jr. - Heavyweight Champion." And somewhere Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano are turning over in their graves. That Roy Jones Jr. is a heavyweight champion is a testament to how bad the heavyweight division has become. Any top-10 heavyweight from any other era would have destroyed Jones in his bid to jump from light heavyweight champion to heavyweight champion. But Jones happens to fight in this era of pathetic tomato cans. And it's not just Johnny Ruiz, it's all of them outside of Lennox Lewis who will never be in anyone's top-10 list but looks like a world-beater in this era. It's Kirk Johnson, Chris Byrd, Fres Oquendo, David Tua, Lou Savarese and Hasim Rahman. They all stink, all of them. I'll reserve judgment on the Klitschko brothers because I haven't seen enough of them, but if they have an ounce of talent in them they should rule this division for the remainder of the decade.
And we thought that the '80s and '90s were bad. At least in the '80s we had Larry Holmes and the guys beneath him. Michael Spinks, Mike Weaver, Tim Witherspoon, James 'Bonecrusher Smith,' Gerry Cooney and even Trever Berbick were 10 times better than the garbage that's out there now. Heck, I'd take the '90s with Evander Holyfield, Rid**** Bowe, Michael Moorer, Ray Mercer, George Foreman Part II, Andrew Golota and Buster Douglas over this pathetic group. Can you imagine the guys in the '70s fighting Jones Jr.? Take out Muhammad Ali, Foreman and Joe Frazier, who each would have likely knocked him out inside of two rounds. But how about Ken Norton, Jerry Quarry, Earnie Shaves, Jimmy Young, Ron Lyle and Jimmy Ellis? Jones Jr. wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of lasting five rounds against that group.
Don't get me wrong, Jones Jr. is a very good fighter. But in Ruiz, he fought another hand-picked meatball without a pulse. I agree the ref did an awful job, but how a 230-pound Ruiz, who had a seven-inch reach advantage and was four inches taller, could complain after getting thoroughly beaten by a guy over 30 pounds lighter is beyond me. That the fight was BORING because not once did we see the guy who was the real heavyweight put any pressure on the guy who wasn't. In fact, Ruiz kept his distance, attempting to box Jones.
Ruiz had a belt and held the title of the WBA heavyweight champion. Today, I anoint him Worst Heavyweight Champion of All Time. Can you imagine what Evander Holyfield would have done to him when the "Real Deal" was in his prime? That Holyfield hasn't been able to fight in about five years is the real reason Ruiz was even in this fight in the first place.
But why stop at light heavyweights? If I'm Oscar De La Hoya I'd look to have the 190-pound rule abolished and give away the 80 pounds to Ruiz. I know featherweights are small but you have to think that Marco Antonio Barrera at 127 pounds could beat Ruiz to the punch because Ruiz doesn't punch. Outside of a few jabs and an occasional left-right against the ropes, Ruiz never let his hands go. He didn't throw combinations, never cut off the ring and pressured Jones and gave his opponent too much distance throughout the fight. In reality, he gave Jones Jr. way too much respect. Sure, Jones Jr is quick and elusive, but this was his first fight at heavyweight.
It was an awful performance by Ruiz. An embarrassment and one that should seriously have him contemplating quitting the sport. As for Jones Jr., as long as he stays away from Tyson and Lewis everyone else should be fair game. Because as bad as Ruiz is, the rest of the group is not that much better. I give Jones Jr. credit for taking on the challenge at the heavyweight ranks. No one really knew what to expect on this fight because history has proven that light heavyweight champs don't usually have success jumping up to challenge for heavyweight titles. So Jones Jr. went against the grain and defied the odds. He may not be able to hurt many heavyweights with his punching power, but he is highly skilled and has great ring generalship, which should allow him to control many of the fights' tempo if he decides to stay at heavyweight. At 34, he could easily hold on to that belt for a couple of years before retiring. But no matter how many more fights he has at heavyweight, he'll have one less customer. Because I won't be watching. No way, no how. No thanks.
But I found it very interesting with some VERY valid points. If you got the sec you should have a read! Hamish.
I know it's the first week in March, but I do have a New Year's resolution now. It took me some time, but I feel very confident that - like many of you who wanted to quit eating, smoking, drinking, gambling etc. - I can for at least a few months swear off one of my major weaknesses. No, I don't fully expect to be able to follow through on this for the entire year, because I'm a sucker and I know it. But I will try and stay strong and if I can just take it day by day, week by week and then month by month. Who knows? Maybe I will have a chance. My problem like many of you is that I have been addicted to this habit for a long, long time, so breaking it won't be easy. But I do need to break it before it breaks me. So here goes - I will not watch a heavyweight fight again.
Yes, that was me. Sucker number 485,342 who spent $49.95 plus some stupid $1.50 fee they charged me over the phone to watch the Johnny Ruiz vs. Roy Jones Jr. matchup Saturday night. What a waste of money. I could have done something worthwhile with that money, like thrown it out my window. At least it would have ended up in the hands of some kids who would have turned that into a sweet-tooth binge. But no, not me, I decided to throw it at the heavyweight division. Well, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Only problem is I've been fooled like 30 times in the past five years.
All I need to do for motivation to stay the course and fight this addiction of mine is look at the heavyweight standings every day. It will be like my nicotine patch, because every time I do look at those standings it will say "Roy Jones Jr. - Heavyweight Champion." And somewhere Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano are turning over in their graves. That Roy Jones Jr. is a heavyweight champion is a testament to how bad the heavyweight division has become. Any top-10 heavyweight from any other era would have destroyed Jones in his bid to jump from light heavyweight champion to heavyweight champion. But Jones happens to fight in this era of pathetic tomato cans. And it's not just Johnny Ruiz, it's all of them outside of Lennox Lewis who will never be in anyone's top-10 list but looks like a world-beater in this era. It's Kirk Johnson, Chris Byrd, Fres Oquendo, David Tua, Lou Savarese and Hasim Rahman. They all stink, all of them. I'll reserve judgment on the Klitschko brothers because I haven't seen enough of them, but if they have an ounce of talent in them they should rule this division for the remainder of the decade.
And we thought that the '80s and '90s were bad. At least in the '80s we had Larry Holmes and the guys beneath him. Michael Spinks, Mike Weaver, Tim Witherspoon, James 'Bonecrusher Smith,' Gerry Cooney and even Trever Berbick were 10 times better than the garbage that's out there now. Heck, I'd take the '90s with Evander Holyfield, Rid**** Bowe, Michael Moorer, Ray Mercer, George Foreman Part II, Andrew Golota and Buster Douglas over this pathetic group. Can you imagine the guys in the '70s fighting Jones Jr.? Take out Muhammad Ali, Foreman and Joe Frazier, who each would have likely knocked him out inside of two rounds. But how about Ken Norton, Jerry Quarry, Earnie Shaves, Jimmy Young, Ron Lyle and Jimmy Ellis? Jones Jr. wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of lasting five rounds against that group.
Don't get me wrong, Jones Jr. is a very good fighter. But in Ruiz, he fought another hand-picked meatball without a pulse. I agree the ref did an awful job, but how a 230-pound Ruiz, who had a seven-inch reach advantage and was four inches taller, could complain after getting thoroughly beaten by a guy over 30 pounds lighter is beyond me. That the fight was BORING because not once did we see the guy who was the real heavyweight put any pressure on the guy who wasn't. In fact, Ruiz kept his distance, attempting to box Jones.
Ruiz had a belt and held the title of the WBA heavyweight champion. Today, I anoint him Worst Heavyweight Champion of All Time. Can you imagine what Evander Holyfield would have done to him when the "Real Deal" was in his prime? That Holyfield hasn't been able to fight in about five years is the real reason Ruiz was even in this fight in the first place.
But why stop at light heavyweights? If I'm Oscar De La Hoya I'd look to have the 190-pound rule abolished and give away the 80 pounds to Ruiz. I know featherweights are small but you have to think that Marco Antonio Barrera at 127 pounds could beat Ruiz to the punch because Ruiz doesn't punch. Outside of a few jabs and an occasional left-right against the ropes, Ruiz never let his hands go. He didn't throw combinations, never cut off the ring and pressured Jones and gave his opponent too much distance throughout the fight. In reality, he gave Jones Jr. way too much respect. Sure, Jones Jr is quick and elusive, but this was his first fight at heavyweight.
It was an awful performance by Ruiz. An embarrassment and one that should seriously have him contemplating quitting the sport. As for Jones Jr., as long as he stays away from Tyson and Lewis everyone else should be fair game. Because as bad as Ruiz is, the rest of the group is not that much better. I give Jones Jr. credit for taking on the challenge at the heavyweight ranks. No one really knew what to expect on this fight because history has proven that light heavyweight champs don't usually have success jumping up to challenge for heavyweight titles. So Jones Jr. went against the grain and defied the odds. He may not be able to hurt many heavyweights with his punching power, but he is highly skilled and has great ring generalship, which should allow him to control many of the fights' tempo if he decides to stay at heavyweight. At 34, he could easily hold on to that belt for a couple of years before retiring. But no matter how many more fights he has at heavyweight, he'll have one less customer. Because I won't be watching. No way, no how. No thanks.