Irish Boxing

i'm out!

 

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I found more sportsmen in boxing than anywhere else'




CELEBRITY FANS/ULICK O'CONNOR, WRITER 81 BOXING: The dignity of those he met during an unbeaten career of 25 fights made a lasting impression on the renowned Dubliner
What weight class were you?
I was a welterweight.
What style of boxer were you?
I was very much a straight left. Sugar Ray Robinson was the person I modelled myself on. I used to watch footage of him on film reels. He had a wonderful left. I practised all the time with it. I never practised with my right; although it was always the right that knocked them out. The reason was that the damage would be done with a very hard left. They’d be slightly upset and the right would come over automatically.
Did you get knocked down yourself?
No. I was never beaten in 25 fights. I still hold the record for the fastest knockout at The Stadium – four seconds. I was a British Universities Champion.
Where did you train?
I used to go round to all the boxing gyms, which were in the heart of the city then, asking for a spar. They had bred an extraordinary tradition of boxers at that time. There were three or four European champions there – Jimmy Ingle and Paddy Dowdall. They were in these clubs which were mostly rooms at the bottom of not-quite tenement houses. St Andrew’s had their boxing club in a basement on Cuffe Street. There was another one on Gardiner Street.
That’s really how I picked up most of my boxing positions. Then I used to practise very hard. I used to practise on the train as it was going along if the carriage was empty. In those days, they’d small carriages that could only hold eight or nine people.
Did your mother approve of you boxing?
I come from a sporting family. My mother was captain of the UCD hockey team. My father was captain of the rugby, cricket and tennis teams. We didn’t talk sport at the table but it was taken as natural.
Has boxing changed since the 1940s?
It hasn’t. The basis of modern boxing is straight punching. The left is the lead one because it’s protecting you all the time as well. And the footwork is exactly the same. The most important thing about any punch is the movement of the feet.
Why did you stop boxing?
I had too many things really. I had rugby, athletics and cricket. Boxing was the easiest to give up. I felt I’d gone through it. There’s a nervous strain to boxing. I’d always be very nervous in the ring beforehand; not afraid of getting beaten or anything, or getting hurt, but you’re totally alone. You have absolute survival in your mind. Despite that, the wonderful thing about it is that it is the cleanest sport that I ever took part in. I found more sportsmen in boxing than anywhere else.
It’s a paradox, isn’t it?
It is. Another thing, my temperament is not the typical boxing one. I’m an extrovert, but most of the really good boxers are terribly quiet guys. That doesn’t apply to Ali, obviously.

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I remember being on a plane once from Chicago to New York. I was travelling ordinary class; he was in first class, with a travelling companion, a black gentleman with a broken nose.
He passed by and said he’d come down to my seat in a while. I was surprised when he did, 15 minutes later. He wanted to talk “poetry”. I showed him a book of my poems. He inspected it with care, placing an enormous thumb and finger on the pages to span alternate lines. “I like these ’cos they rhyme,” he announced finally.
Then, to my horror, he began to recite his own verse, declaiming it in a singsong Southern accent, looking ahead, but watching carefully out of the corner of his eye to see how I was reacting.
He came to one and the words were something like: “The same road that connects two souls together/When stretched becomes a path to God.”
And they were good lines so I was able to say that with sincerity, which got me off that hook.
There was a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce to meet him outside. Ali offered me a ride to town. He introduced me to his broken-nosed companion, who turned out to be Kid Gavilan, former welterweight champion of the world and master of the “Bolo” punch. The Kid was down and out, broke in Alabama when Ali discovered him and picked up the tab.
What was the funniest thing you experienced ringside?
I remember Ali was fighting in Croke Park in the open air, a terrible fight against Al “Blue” Lewis. Awful. Awful. It was a frightful affair, so slow that in the sixth round a Dublin voice was heard throughout the stadium, in the perfect pitch that these hecklers have: “Hit him, you have the wind behind you.”


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0310/1224265979515.html

 

your wrong there mate...theres amateur shows packing out up and down the country.... it happens week in and week out.... in belfast most professional shows sell well... the pro boxing in the south simply needs to package and promote its product more efficently:deal

 

Yeah I'm miles off. All my mates know loads about boxing and take an active interest in it. The public is really into boxing and all the pro events pack out. Everyone that went to the Dunne fights actually had a clue who the undercard fighters were and take an active interest in those lads careers to this day. The 4 Irish Title fight night wasn't only about 70% full :roll:

Thats why theres no more than 20 lads posting on here regularly. Look, like it or not, the general public (amateur shows in clubs are usually filled with friends and family in my experience) doesn't care. Unless you give them a personality to follow (a la Bernard Dunne) then they aren't going to bite on it. The next big personality may drag the rest of the game around with him for a while but when he exits stage left we're back at stage one.

Simple thing to do is this. Think of the place you work. How many people work there. Out of those people how many of them take an active interest in Irish boxing. I'd say if we average it out over all of us it wouldn't add up to a very high percentage at all.

We're all boxing fans so we are more likely to run into, seek out, like minded people. I wouldn't let the fact that i know a lot of people into boxing fool me into thinking that this is the norm.

I think 18 shows a year isn't going to happen. I don't like it but there it is. One a month somewhere in the country would be a big stretch.

There are a lot of problems. If you start dropping fighters purses then a few things can happen

a) the fighters say yeah thats great and just get on with it
b) fighters can't stay professional and have to take up jobs to pay the bills and their careers are no longer those of 'pro boxers'
c) they go elsewhere to pursue their full time boxing career dreams

Our northern brethren seem to be the most fight hungry fans in the country. I think that part of the country could run cards consistently.

 

fair enough your talking from a dublin view... most of my mates have tried boxing or where decent boxers in there own right... i work in the construction industry... a lot of hairy holed builders and all that... as much as soccer and gaa would be there main interests... if there is a decent fight on they will watch it.. or pay to watch it... theres more amateur boxing clubs in west belfast... than any other part of the country... so i suppose this part of ireland is different... but if this place can be boxing mad... why cant other parts of the country become the same:think

 

There have also been GAA boxing events in Monaghan and Armagh recently, all again for charity and all very popular.

The Armagh event even carried onto the street afterwards!

 

Hitman's right about West Belfast, it's heaving with amateur clubs. You could organise a trip down the Andersonstown Road as an alternative to the Vegas strip. Any takers?

 

This is how they bred them on the Shankill! atsch

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P06nqkEkCg8[/ame]


Looks like the Golden Boy has started a trend!

 

Right guys - am interviewing Andy Lee next Tuesday - lets have your questions?

 

If you can't land good clean shots on your opponent have you considered knocking them out with that horrible ****ing accent of yours boy!

Ask him what the plan is post Steward. And also see if he acknowledges the stagnation in his career recently. It would be a very positive sign if he did

 

Has he got a new manager ?
Is he likely to sign a promotional deal anytime soon ?
Does he plan to continue training with Joey Gamache ?
Does he plan to mainly fight out of Ireland/US for the future or continue fighting consistently in both ?

What are his immediate plans as far as fights go ?
What are his more long term plans(the next 12-18 months) ?
Is he looking at fighting for the European title or maybe an American title(USBA/NABF/NABA/NABO) anytime in the near future ?

Does he think he can fill the void left by Bernard Dunne in the Irish boxing scene ?

 

Good questions :good

 

cheers steve - I am looking forward to it more the closer we get to fight night

 

thats basically everything i wanna know in a nutshell try and get details of his next fight? opponent where when etc

 

James Moore also confirmed. Questions please.

Should know if Duddy is a go or not within 24 hours.