Has anyone read an explanation as to why Dick Tiger tapped his gloves together so often?

Yes & what an amazing era it was, too. Shavers got a rematch after being outboxed every single round in their first fight. I’ll bet my kids life Spinks wouldn’t have got a rematch either had he lost the first decision.

 

In the old, old days, it was almost a cliche in the movies and elsewhere that fighters tapped at their noses. Maybe it came from clearing a nostril or checking for blood, but I think it became a nervous habit with some. Billy Petrolle comes to my mind as an example.

 

Or, depending on who you ask, poking them in the eye with a thumb.

 

That was related to finding your center line. The centerline concept is part of the fundamentals of proper punching technique and it gets wobbly if you fight out of a correct angled stance. The Haislet book on boxing references this and his inspiration was the St Paul style. Bruce Lee always touched his nose and, in his book on his JKD fighting system, the boxing parts are literally word for word from the Haislet book.

 

Shavers got a rematch for knocking Ken Norton out in one round. It was an eliminator.

Should that be ignored because he lost the first time to Larry?

In what world would the guy who knocked out the previous champ in one round in an eliminator NOT get a title shot. That’s preposterous.

Buster Douglas dominated Mike Tyson AND knocked him out. Yet people wanted him to get a rematch … not because of anything Tyson did afterward either, just because he was Mike Tyson.

 

or was it born of an embarrassing experience while sparring?

 

jock strap probably too tight!

 

I was thinking their trunks fell down while sparing.

 

I would assume Holmes would have much preferred to not rematch Shavers. He did it -- he fought the most dangerous puncher of the era, launched his career into the spotlight, won every single round, never got hurt. Why on earth risk it again? Only Quarry made it look easier.

Holmes had worked for Shavers as a sparring partner. He always would have knew the score there, that Shavers (in comparison to Holmes) can't box for **** but jesus you don't want to get hit by him.

No conspiracy here -- Holmes took the rematch because he had to. And, hey, the rematch proved the danger. Probably the worst he ever got hurt in the ring.

Imo, the champ always deserves a rematch. Especially a champ who, despite being dominated, DID score a KD.

 

I couldn’t disagree more. You shouldn’t have to beat someone twice to be champion … the champ already has the benefit of keeping the title if it’s a draw plus more power in negotiating (choosing non-mandatory challengers and usually on the champ’s terms as far as where, when, etc) AND in those days especially close rounds usually went to the champ and you had to really dominate to ‘take’ the championship.

In your way of looking at it, the challenger not only has to beat the champ, he has to do it again to prove he’s truly the champion. That’s bunk.

 

A prime example are the Patterson-Johansson and the Patterson-Liston series, especially when you consider they occurred back-to-back. The McNeely fight aside (he wasn't a deserving contender compared to those who had been growing old waiting in the wings for years), those three fighters tied up the division for five years. At a minimum, Patterson (twice) and Johansson (once) should have been required to fight a top contender to earn a return match, especially in the era when the marginal US tax rate was so high that only one defense a year was feasible. That's the way Tex Rickard handled it when he made Dempsey fight Sharkey before the Tunney rematch. And Sharkey had to earn his rematch with Schmeling by fighting Mickey Walker and Primo Carnera.

 

If there had been a world where Shavers scored his knockdown in the first fight rather than the rematch, that one. Holmes would go nowhere near a return fight with a difficult opponent. I refuse point blank to consider the Weaver fight in 1999, on the grounds it lacks all meaningful weight to the point of a rematch as discussed here. Two decades later, with no belt on the line? Get out of here.

 

So you’re saying after Earnie knocked Ken Norton out in 1 devastating round in an eliminator, Holmes should have fought the guy who got annihilated because he and Ken had a close fight previously rather than the annihilator because he had won comfortably against Shavers?

And if a challenger gets beat by a wide margin in a first fight with a champ, he should never be given a rematch no matter what he does to enhance his resume, how much he improves, even if he wipes out the No. 1 contender (and heck maybe cleans up the whole division)? I just don’t see it that way.

How do you feel about Norton not giving rematches to: Jimmy Young, Scott LeDoux, Tex Cobb

Tim Witherspoon not giving rematches to: Tony Tubbs, Renaldo Snipes, Greg Page (he did 15 years later, sort of like Holmes and Weaver … and Tim got KO’d, but not when it mattered), Carl Williams

(Tim did rematch Bonecrusher Smith, who he practically shut out, and got KO’d in 1 when he thought he had an easier touch rather than fighting any of the above again)

Mike Weaver not giving rematches to: John Tate, Bill Sharkey, Jody Ballard (plus a host of guys who beat him like Duane and Rodney Bobick)

Where is your outrage over these three guys habitually not rematching opponents who gave them tough times while standing up demanding that Holmes give the same courtesy to them? Be consistent and bang the drum for their victims with the same volume and passion.

 

No, I am saying Holmes avoided rematches with difficult opponents. He himself said toward the end of his reign he was only taking on guys he knew he could beat.

We can discuss other fighters in another thread about them. Who said I give a free pass to everyone but Holmes?

 

So let’s hear it.

This thread is about Dick Tiger tapping his gloves and I made an innocuous reference to Larry’s jab and you decided you had to deride him. That’s where the road forked. So that’s where we are.

Tell me about Norton, Witherspoon and Weaver and their habit of ducking. Bring it with the same passion you did for Larry.