I read page after page of discussions on here and only very rarely find anyone who seems to be convinced by someone else's arguments! Have you ever had your convictions changed after a debate on classic? If so what was it?
a bunch of times. flea man taught me more about boxing than anyone else, mcgrain and luf very close behind.
If you haven't then you are probably wasting your time. You will rarely see that eureka moment, where a poster sees the light, and acknowledges that they were an ass all along. What happens more often is that seeds and ideas get planted, which take the posters thoughts in a different direction, and that mounts up over time. When the better posters are confronted with a new source, which contradicts what they thought previously, then they will at least concede that part of the argument.
Yes I have ….I was a lurker for years before I actually became a member ….and every thread that I’ve made in here …was to hear other people’s opinions
When I came here over several years ago, I actively loathed Mike Tyson for being a convicted ******, and cheered his losses against Holy. Since I've been here, I've come to appreciate him way more, and consider his 80s incarnation to be a top 5 h2h for sure. I even like him better as a person, he seemed to change with his embrace of weed.
Best to answer yes to the question or you’ll come off as a non learning, closed system. I will say though, that some have already done the utmost research on given subjects and opinions, so rather than being stubborn, they simply haven’t been illuminated to fresh information that is sufficient to alter their views. I’m not talking me of course. Can’t recall exactly what but I have had some of my opinions modified due to the provision of fresh facts and alternate perspectives. Definitely open to further shifts in opinion as and when warranted. I myself have been trying forever to convince people that Ingo is the Thinking Man’s GOAT…this is fact, not fiction. I don’t know if I’ve won anyone over yet but I will never stop fighting the good fight. Unfortunately, while you can lead boxing fans to the well of wisdom, you still can’t make them think.
This. Someone has spent a good portion of their life forming an opinion about a fighter, or a fight, or boxing in general … one post isn’t going to reverse that. But over time, I’m sure many of my opinions have changed — as have those of other posters. I mean, we can have lots of posters on here saying ‘yes, I’ve changed opinions’ (or formed ones on topics they’d never had an opinion on previously) but OP is probably not going to concede his thesis that it doesn’t happen.
MoneyTheMan actually changed my opinion on one very important point. My opinion now, undemocratic as it maybe, is that not everyone should be necessarily free to post their opinions on a boxing forum. To isolate just one of many of Money’s flawed philosophies, it is absolutely false to believe that boxers dramatically improved simply due to the advent of their being filmed in colour! There’s, I said it.
Many times, especially early on. I was solidly educated on Duran and his achievements. I used to view his record vs Leonard, Hagler and Hearns as if he belonged in those divisions when in fact he'd gone on a long murderous rampage at 135 and was at a severe disadvantage against these guys. It took Stonehands89 months to stop me from autopicking Holmes over Tyson. We battled it out and he came up with the odd point that i never actually knew existed. Nothing's guaranteed but he certainly dragged me out of that ingrained mindset. I also left behind overstating the number of losses guys like Ezzard Charles had on their record once i became acclimatized to the various reasons and realisation as to the why's and context. Part of this was living and breathing the 80's boxing scene where a loss was often seen to be a huge stumbling block and a couple of them or more was hell on earth. It took me a while to shake that and find context with the earlier boxing scenes.
To be clear I was partially joking in my OP and I have not been on here that long so probably missed a few mea culpas I have definitely had my views changed regarding Floyd Mayweather, Lennox Lewis and Wlad Klitschko in a positive way from various threads.