Oh yeah, to answer the TS, you aren't allowed to smoke inside anymore, so it is probably out of habit or a trademark. He does smoke though, look at his green teeth. Plus he was smoking outside one time on an ESPN show.
Didn't Butch Lewis confirm this story? Tyson was doing something to cause a lot of noise though... that could be an exaggeration from Bert Sugar.
yup and apparently Sports Illustrated ran a picture of the dressing room wall he punch through, though i thought it led to the street. either way burt sugar is ****ing hilarious. he's like george foreman and larry merchant: crazy old ****ers who couldn't give a **** what we think about them cause they're legends
You know what i respect his knowledge he has actually lived through the times and seen and been on the front lines. However i agree with you that he is full of ****, i met him at the WBHOF banquet at the VIP party and this was shortly after the TiTO and Delahoys robbery, I had a few to many to drink and was debating the decision with Bert and he is telling me he scored the fight a draw and giving me every reason why he thought so. OK fine agree to disagree then i see him on ESPN classic a few years later talking about what a horrendous decision it was and how Delahoya was robbed, oh atsch Man i was really tripping after i heard that and was convinced the man is Senile. My son told me dont mad Dad maybe you convinced him that ODLH deserved the fight
If it wasn't for Bert, Ring Magazine might not even exist today. At the very least, he pulled it from the brink after Gnat Loubet. And he's great fun to talk to, an entertaining character and good storyteller (even if he is one of the most foul mouthed non politicians I've ever heard speak off camera). Of course he's fulla ****. What kinda lawyer would he be otherwise? Around a dozen years ago, my father and his since deceased best friend were chatting with Bert during an IBHOF induction weekend, and they asked him what he though his own chances were of eventually getting enshrined himself. He didn't think they were very good, because he felt he'd antagonized and alienated too many key people in the industry. That didn't seem to bother him at all. He was probably more shocked than anybody else when he actually did get inducted in 2005.
The guys a cartoon, plenty of fun, loves the hyperbowl, which is plain fun if you dont know the reality, but you dont take a cartoon as gospel guys
Sugar tells a good story, and does a good job of bring old fighters to life. I would not call Sugar a well researched historian who does his own homework tough.
He is ,as you say a story teller ,many of them are probably apocryphal though. I will restrain myself this time.
He's knowledgable and I've read his 100 greatest boxers book, good stuff. The old timers hat and Cigars are full of win, who hasn't smoken a Flor De Olivia or some kind of Cigar when they're watching their favorite fights? :rasta Alot of the stuff he says is BS don't get me wrong, but whenever a Bert Sugar interview is on, I always take the time to watch it and hear him out...
why are you offended by the fact that i stated? Bert Sugar has more knowledge in his little finger than a bunch of anonymous internet know it alls. Is that really up for debate???
No, Butch Lewis said that Tyson was punching holes in the wall, not all the way through to Spinks' dressing room.
I think Tyson punched a hole in the dressing room wall and his fist went through and hit Michael Spinks in the back of the head. Put him out with an illegal rabbit punch before the fight even started !! :shock: Really, it's no wonder Spinks came to the ring looking sick and got blasted out so quick. I consider the result should have been changed to a No-Contest really, under the circumstances.
I have always found his views cliche laden and tailored for the mainstream layman. ok for general sports fans but certainly no more informed than an average keen historian who opts entirely for the established view. Im certain genuine Boxing folk only humor him. From a participants stand point he can never talk about technical styles and gameplans in the way a teddy atlas can so i question his authority to rate greats any higher than even a fair coach but then he is not "boxing people", he is a writer, tells a good story and is funny. somehow he is the established face of boxing history since he wears a hat...nothing wrong with that but his credibilty dosnt outrank many posters on here.