Absolute bums

Harsh but true.

Greg Page was almost as over-hyped as Cooney. Not only was he undisiciplined and lazy, his style absolutely stank. Seemed to be trying hard to be like Ali.

 

This is true.
I'd make a distinction between a legitimate world champion (such as Ali) "training like a bum" and a fighter who's a habitual bum.
There's no excuse for Ali in those instances, it is disgraceful still, but clearly he was no bum.

Simply by way of status, a legitimate world champion can't be classed a "bum" anyway.

 

That doesn't seem to be the case at all.
Many of the great (and not so great) fighters are quoted as refering to other fighters as bums. They often accuse rivals of being bums or fighting bums.
Many of the great trainers use the term.

It's part of the boxing lexicon.
And for good reason. Bums are allowed to fight too. Boxing is democratic that way.

No. Patterson trained for the Liston fights.
Tubbs's own trainer walked out on him saying Tubbs didn't want to do any work.
What do you call a man who doesn't want to do any work ?

 

Mario Cawley was memorable in this display :

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Heavyweight division produces the most bums by far.
Since they don't have to make weight at all, it is open to every fat guy and tough guy bum in town.

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1992-09-15 : [url]Randall Cobb[/url] 239 lbs fought without result [url]Sonny Barch[/url] 303¾ lbs by NC at 1:10 in round 1 of 6

• Location: War Memorial Auditorium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
• Referee: [url]William Conners[/url]

This fight aired on USA Network's "Tuesday Night Fights" and was originally declared a first-round TKO win for Cobb. The result was later changed to a [url]no contest[/url] when both Cobb and Barch tested positive for cocaine.

A 1993 Sports Illustrated article alleged that Barch had taken a dive. The article contained an interview with Barch himself, who said the two fighters did cocaine together before and after the fight and that he took a dive after being bribed by the promoter, Rick "Elvis" Parker.

Cobb sued Sports Illustrated for defamation and a jury awarded him over $10 million. However, the verdict was overturned by a federal appeals court, which said that the story wasn't published with "actual malice."