Let's talk about Nova vs Baer brawls

Narrator: He was not.

 

Wouldn't say I dislike them. I just don't think very highly of them compared to the heavyweights who followed them.

But yeah--Schmeling is mischaracterized and overrated, and Nova was never very good. But Louis is an ATG though, obviously.

 

You have good points .. Baer really seemed to age fast between 25 to 30 .. maybe he partied too much .. I sure feel the Baer that fought Schmeling beats Nova ..

 

There were actually people who said that he would be a threat to Louis, after he got battered by Louis!

Obviously Louis lost to Schmeling, which showed that he was human, and then Max Baer had a bit of an Indian summer.

People said things like "if Baer had fought like that against Louis, he might have won!"

You should be grateful to Lou Nova, for putting a stop to that nonsense!

 

I'm not an Ali worshiper or fanboy, in fact I actually think Ali is overrated. You are correct that Ali did revel in giving beatings to Floyd Patterson and Ernie Terrell, just like Larry Holmes reveled in beating Ali. Haven't you seen that footage after the fight of Holmes crying pure unadulterated tears of joy?

 

Those were not "tears of joy" man,....they were tears of pain and remorse Holmes was crying.....Ali was his hero...like the tears Marciano was said to cry after he finished ko'ing his idol Joe Louis...please know the difference.

 

I just watched a round of Baer - Nova, maybe the reason some of us don't enjoy watching them is there is no rhythm to their fighting. They move like the TinMan from The Wizard of Oz. Their boxing reminds me more of a man pushing a wheel barrow than of a man doing a practiced athletic movement.

Joe Frazier fought in close, he mostly moved in one direction, but there was a rhythm to his boxing, up, down, left, right, left hook, recoil, left hook, right hand...not like Baer - Nova, right hand, stumble, get under control, cover for incoming, repeat...

 

I think you nailed it. The lack of rhythm and fluidity in the fighters’ movements and the overall action makes fights like this even less enjoyable to watch. I wonder if that’s my taste being skewed by the way people box today though, or whether fighting with rhythm generally signals something meaningful about a fighter’s skill set and training.

 

Your taste probably has been skewed by watching modern boxing, but IMO, fighting with rhythm is one of the places that boxing has progressed. I don't know how long music has been a part of boxing, but as long as I can remember most gyms have had music playing while the fighters train. I had a trainer who said "if you can't dance, you can't box."

Our gym was known for playing old R&B, one of the trainers had a brother who would put together mix tapes/CDs of his favorites. I remember Patti Labelle and "When you've been Blessed" playing twice a day, seems slow but it works. Sometimes the trainer would have a new fighter shadow box to music after his workout just to develop his rhythm. Sonny Liston worked out to Night Train, slow too, but he liked working out to it.

Now at our place the fighters hook their phones up to the speakers and play whatever is on their play list. Some of it is "R/X" rated but most people who come to the gym don't mind. Regardless, if somebody forgets to hook up the music it won't be long until somebody asks for it. I don't know if music affects the fighter's skill set but it helps them develop rhythm while moving and that improves the skill set.

 

Wow, you are further gone than I thought. You really have bought into that agenda, haven't you? Such delusional lies, you fraudulent man how can you bear to look at yourself in the mirror?

 

This content is protected

 

What are you, 12 or something? What are you doing in a classic boxing forum anyway?

 

What are you doing in the classic boxing forum other than spreading toxicity and embarrassing yourself?