I’ve met Larry twice (during his second career and when he did an exhibition post-retirement) and he couldn’t have been nicer. I get that there were times he might have chafed at things or been churlish, but the LH that I met was really good-spirited and a nice guy.
Packey McFarland made a ton of purse money, invested wisely. Put his 7 siblings all through school. Then after his finance' wealthy father suddenly passed, he was thrust into managing 2 banks, a brewery, insurance and real estate investments, then was asked to join the Illinois State Athletic Commission. If you ever wondered why Packey retired at 24 well before his Prime, now you know. He was in love and already set up for life at 24 years old
Evander Holyfield is super smart. His problem is just that to the fans think he is all balls and nothing else. And Evander basically was responsible for this reputaiton as he would think with his balls more than his brain. But he broke down Mike Tyson's fighting style before he left Kevin Rooney and when he explained it, it made all the sense in the world why Mike was so succesful in his prime. "When Tyson's hands were on his face, you had no idea which hand he was gonna punch with" Which was something I never realized until Evander said it and it is one of the unspoken reasons for why D'amato chose the guard to be that way. You can't tell which stance he is in when his hands are like that so you don't know where the punch is coming from
Even when he was young, he always seemed like he was wise beyond his years. He had a level of maturity with how he approached the sport that you don't often see.
I can believe it, I meant that he seems to have some hang ups for being overlooked by his contemporaries, which can be relatable for the average person.
Reading this filled me with admiration for Larry's business smarts. I wish I was more like him. Alas, too late now.
In this thread we've been talking more about education, accomplishments, business acumen and many other signs of intelligence outside the ring. Evander may have had a decent ring IQ -- he's certainly a brave and admirable fighter -- but outside the ring few would attest to his genius.
Anytime Ken Norton was on a TV broadcast for a fight he gave insightful commentary. He was a great color analyst!
Lewis is as thick as pigs spunk, anybody doubting me listen to him commentating on the Tyson/Ruddock bout.