The only fights I have trouble with are those that cause permanent damage or kill a man. I have no issue watching a fight where some ex-great gets his head handed to him. In a way things like that are a completion of the circle, letting this once peerless fighter get a taste of what it is to be human after all. I don't mind that. Not suggesting I enjoy watching a fighter get his head caved in or anything, I just like watching things "level out" a bit and see how time and nature take their due. It's comforting in a way.
Yeah I'm sure I didn't do him any good but it's hard to say how many fights towards the end furthered his damage. He fought on well beyond what he should have. Yet a much much lesser Ali was still winning fights, before Holmes/Berbick. It's strange all fighters take the abuse in different ways. Foreman sounds amazing today still but take someone like Rid**** Bowe who had fewer fights and he sounds terrible. Holyfield took tons of punches and also seems about the same. I guess it's how you're wired and what your brain can absorb. Terry Norris is another, good god he sounds bad it's hard to see. Especially when you grew up watching these guys at their peak.
Matthew Saad Muhammad v. Andrew Maynard Saad was totally shot. It is on youtube. I guess it can serve as a warning to boxers not to overstay their welcome.
Holyfeild vs Toney / Leonard vs Camacho / Ali vs Berbick / Benintez vs Hamsho / Leonard vs Norris /Duran vs Pazienza,(the last time I watched a live Duran fight).Azumah Nelson vs Leija/ or most fights were in their primes the losers would've destroyed the winner.
The only fights I don't watch on purpose are those resulting in serious injury or death. I'm a huge Ray Leonard fan, but I don't have a problem watching the Norris or Camacho fights. What goes up must come down. That's life.
Benn/McClellan - took me more than a decade to watch the fight again. Kovalev/Hopkins - seeing BHop dominated was a shock and as a big BHop fan it's a fight I'll avoid watching again. Any John Ruiz or Sven Ottke fight for obvious reasons.
I never want to see the Benn McClellan fight again. I have never watched Carnera Schaff, and I never will. That aside, it is always sad to see a past prime great beaten up, but as Joe Louis said “What’s the issue, I knocked loads of guys out”.
Holyfield - Toney is ugly .. Tyson - Holmes Quarry - Norton Louis - Sharkey Saad - Braxton 2 Marvin Johnson - Leslie Stewrard 2 Hagler - Leonard
Benn-McClellan, due to the horrible outcome and terrible refereeing performance. Hagler-Leonard. Hagler aged overnight and couldn't do what once came so naturally; Leonard's clowning and playing to the crowd annoys me to the point where I struggle to watch it. Moore-Duran is a clinic but painful to watch.