Watched that fight with my dad. When Holmes went down he jumped out of his chair yelling "the fights over!". He didn't live long enough to see Fury get up from Wilder's punch in their first fight. Surprised no one had mentioned the Brit announcer when David Price got sparked out "oh dear dear dear dear dear (5 dears!) it's all gone horribly wrong ".
Reading your first comment I was waiting for you to say ‘he didn’t live long enough to see Larry get up and win the fight,’ haha. I’m glad he did.
I have told this one a thousand time, but my favorite, from Tuesday night fights: Al Albert "He needs two things in this fight..." Sean O'Grady "Yeah, a left and a right." Al Albert "Ok, he needs four things..."
Sean had a pretty wry sense of humor and was also insightful. I remember him saying something like: “When you lose you’re never at your best. Because how could you have lost if you were at your best?” Great look inside the mentality of a fighter.
It does make you wonder whether George's boxing computer was just a little off during his actual fights as well. That the ref would be breaking up a clinch, and Big George would be thinking to himself, "Ah, it's the most important man in the ring aside from the two fighters!" Or one of his other odd announcing/commentating observations. In short, does George only make occasional announcing gaffes, or do his comments reflect the way he actually thinks about boxing strategy in the ring?
I think George sometimes says things to amuse himself, knowing that his partners are going to be perplexed but acting like he doesn’t know. But I think you could definitely learn a lot about his mentality as a fighter by things he would say during a fight. Guy’s getting shut out through six rounds, completely outclassed. George says something like, ‘He’s one right hand away from turning this fight around and being right back in it.’ When George was fighting, that was true for him. And probably exactly what he’s thinking while he’s in there with Holyfield or anyone else — just one right hand (or left hook or body shot or whatever) from turning this thing around and then I’ve got the edge. He’s not talking about the scorecards because George probably never thought about scorecards or ahead or behind … just that he was always in it and if he kept plugging away and landed that one punch (hello Michael Moorer) then it’s all him. Of course that held a lot less true for most guys he was commentating about, but it was a look inside his mind.
Very well put. I'm sure sometimes Foreman made those gaffes accidentally as being a commentator and trying to sound astute on the spot surely isn't easy. But yes, it also gave us a look inside Foreman's mind. He was never out of a fight.
I want someone to actually do a write up or a vid edit of Georges commentary being used as live fight thoughts. \ For example. *George Foreman vs Ken Norton stare down.* 90s George voice:" Look at those shoulders, he is the fairest of them all." *During the brutal stoppage* "Kenny could compete in any era"
One that sticks in my mind is Gary Mason announcing about 30 seconds into Douglas-Holyfield that Douglas had already lost. His co-commentator was saying, "It's a bit early for that," and Mason was just, "No."
"He's like a baby in a playpen!" Reg Gutteridge, as Berbick tried to get up from the Tyson KO. "Oh no, it is Cummings all over again!" 'arry Carpenter, Bruno/Smith Round ten.
Thanks. Actually I know, as I was just having a little silly fun. It's like asking, "Who is that Muhammad guy again?"
