Fighters Who Are Bad People

Yes. That's true. The hero worship in general can get a wee bit strange sometimes.

Also the way you'll sometimes see people reinterpreting negative stuff (i.e., outright criminal behavior) as positive things that make the guy awesome.

 

I don't get it, A lot of weight is put on there outside the ring life and it seemingly affects there standing. For me all that matters is if it affected the fights. I couldn't care less if Roberto Duran was a serial rap1st and sold slaves to the Manson family I watch him to see him fight, it doesn't make him any less great.

 

Yep.

My own view is slightly complicated, but in general I agree that being a terrible person doesn't affect your ability or accomplishments as a boxer.

Of course, the flipside of what you're talking about is the praise that dirty fighters and criminals sometimes get for their personal flaws. Some people get weirdly gleeful when imagining how Lefty "The Merry Mugger" McFist or Jack "I Killed A Guy In Detroit" Murderson would scare the dickens out of their better-psychologically-adjusted opponent in a fantasy fight. And then probably thumb their opponent's eyes or something.

I exaggerate a bit for effect. But still. Fighters sometimes get extra coolness points for being criminals, mentally ill, and especially for being dirty in the ring. Duran would be even more popular if he stuffed a few police into trash cans, mugged some people, and...well, actually, he actually did foul Buchanan into submission...

 

Yes, I think that's right.

One other thing that occurs to me:

Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and some other guys get "greatness" credit on some lists for bringing civil rights forward, helping society, growing the sport, etc.

If we're consistent, though, the lists that give these people greatness credit for outside-the-ring accomplishments would also have to mark them off for the bad stuff...

 

You've tied it all into a neat bow. It's true. It reminds me of the worship high school girls in teen dramas have for "bad boys" it's just err- fruity at times.

 

It was tactical and a ten thousand year old technique passed down from the Saddler fighting clan.

 

I really should have added a section to Tire Iron Jones's biography about all of the people he punched in the groin, thumbed, put in Ali's Thai clinches, butted, elbowed, rabbit punched, etc.

 

Big Wheels Johnson was briefly trained by Saddler and employed a lot of those tactics in his stoppage of Ali.

 

You hit the nail on the head as far as dual application of standards go.

On one hand people could uniformly refuse to watch or feed into the celebrity of any sports person whose civilian life is replete with unsavoury and/or criminal behaviours.

And that attitude, if one was to be sufficiently true and dedicated to same, could entail doing your own research and not just lapping up what the media chooses to dish or not dish out - AS IF today’s audience would bother with that, rather, many lap up the good and bad press in equal naivety without critical thinking or making their own due comparisons to separate the true heroes from the true villains.

Anyway, if you seriously informed yourself and used the private practices of X,Y,Z celebrities, sports people etc. to determine if you will follow them or not in their chosen field/vocation - well, good luck with that, there wouldn’t be too many that you could morally pass 100% IF you were consistent in your judgments.

True, you’ve hit THE BIG TIME when it’s been broadly reported/circulated that you’ve dropped a policeman or two into the trash can.

Without height restrictions, it might be even easier to do than in days gone by - cherry pick your little cop - but they have tasers now too - IMAGINE that, withstand a good tasering then bin the cop - OMG, your stocks would well and truly go through the roof….

 

Some more than others, it seems.

 

I do have opinions.
Having opinions is not the same thing as being 'judgy.'

I didn't say I was offended.

In fact, I didn't say anything that you hadn't already said.

I quoted what you said, and agreed with you.

Come to think of it, you sound a bit offended.

 

Definitely James Butler, he’s one huge disgrace for boxing...