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I'm not a big Ali fan, but he didn't dodge anybody. I'll give him that. Did Foreman try to get a rematch with him? That would have been a good one.

 

These two posts sum things up pretty well in terms of boxing’s priorities. On the one hand the fight game needs people to follow it and to support it to help make money but on the other hand, the sport has been content for some time for the lunatics to run the asylum.There are too many people interested in maintaining the status quo to change it, from the promotors to the alphabet organisations and down to the fighters themselves.

I’m trying to think of a comparable sport to boxing in terms of current general popularity in the US. I’ve been watching a lot of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, this past week and it’s an interesting one in that no-one ducks their opposition because it is the main event in the calendar and the best compete against the best. Some of the performances have been amazing. And the stadium is half empty.

When a big (usually heavyweight) fight happens, you get packed venues because it is seen as a showpiece event for the sport and there is still enough interest in seeing two big guys hitting each other to draw interest. But it’s not enough to guarantee sustained interest in boxing. An overhaul top to bottom is needed to get more people interested but no-one has any interest in doing it, apart from the die-hard fans who feel they are getting short-changed.

 

Others have laid it out in effective, systematic & florid terms, so I will be uncharacteristically terse/
Of course it is immoral. That their are worse & Neo-theological definitions of the term also, & that boxing is also a business, does not mean it is not

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to deny worthy contenders, the fans, & the integrity of the whole sport their due & fight the best competition.
If you are not trying to be champion or are not there, then you can choose easier fights & bigger money. As long as you train hard & fight your level best.

The options & temptations available may mitigate the blame for the fighter & management.
But then you should fight more often if you want big money too.
The system does need a complete overhaul & a governing body that maximizes fairness, opportunity, & assurances of integrity over only money & profit.

The more you justify corruption, cheating & lack of authenticity in the name of self-interest, the more deserved contempt the public will have of the decency & legitimacy of the sport.

 

Ali ducked st least One out of Foreman/Young/Norton.

Foreman was the nr. 1 challenger in late '76 intill he Lost to Young in '77 who later that year lost to Norton.

At the very least Young should havet gotten another shot after beating Foreman. And also Norton after beating Young. No excuses for not facing either.

 

It is, but unfortunately in our sport it happens all the time, has done for years.

 

Liston wasn't nr 1 when Patterson faced London. Ingo, whom he faced next, was.

 

I agree. Even one or two years prior to this time,Muhammad would have been yelling "Bring 'em all on!" As big an Ali fan as I am,if he no longer felt that he could beat the best out there he should have retired there and then.

 

Yep. After Norton 3 he held the title somewhat hostage. There's no getting away from that.

 

Spinks was actually the one who refused Norton after he beat Young (he chose an Ali rematch - WBA title on the line) hence Spinks being stripped of the WBC title before the Ali rematch. Norton had already list to Holmes by the time Ali won the title back and retired.

Foreman was certainly more than a tad unlucky not to get a return shot. One wonders if that fight wasn't substantially more grueling than it looked for Ali.

 

It wasn't Foreman was totally, man handled and spanked. Young and Lyle let us know what level he is on.

Oh no, save the "Bu-but his shattered mind, the lamps!"

 

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Ah...

I always suspected that Moralman was a cross_trainer alias.

 

thanks Nietzsche. Well being a puss and not fighting the number one contender (or whatever ranked contender) and denying another man's dream of getting a shot at being champion that was not unlike your own... that person is vindictive and lost my respect.

Who said morals don't exist in boxing? it's goofy of you to just make these presuppositions like it is unanimously believed there are no morals inside the ring when you could not be further from the truth.

I think there are mutual agreements, both fighters know they could die in there as a result of the other, and its business, but there is still morals, there is respect and love. Don't see where you are coming from at all other than trying to sound like a hard ass.

 

For the last time billy Patterson did not duck fighters, his management did. The moment he dropped his management he went and got obliterated by Liston. Quit trying to demonize Patterson's character

 

Patterson chose his management. The buck stopped with Patterson.