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You have sucky taste.

 

WHAT 90 years !!! you must have had a tele in the womb, big up respect old boy. I would normally end with " stay safe " well you clearly have, till the next time.

 

It's a matter of perspective.

 

What’s the first fight you remember sir?

 

Well, history (Roman collisseum, public executions and torture, etc) says there's basically no level where people will stop watching violence.

As for me personally, there's a level (and I'm already there) where the rules need some modification for the safety of the fighters. Not sure if I'd actually stop watching unless it went full ridiculous fight to the death.

As far as rules changes, first off, fighters at every age need regular screenings for CTE. With the guys who ended up pretty bad off, like Quarry or Bowe or Hearns, I'd wager there was a point mid-career where a proper scan would have said hey you need to stop now. NOW, the libertarian side of me says let them continue with informed consent, but I also recognize that some guys may feel they have no choice. So, together with the scans, second thing for me is that I think the sanctioning bodies somehow need to provide for a pension (the NFL manages a pension, I believe) so that guys don't feel they HAVE to continue.

There you go, two suggestions that don't ruin the sport.

 

I personally draw the line at evisceration, if it gets to that point then I may be out. Until then let’s just all beat the hell out of each other…as long as it’s two consenting adults.

 

Hold up. You're mid 90s or older?

Story time for us young youngsters (er, middle aged folk like myself). What do you remember the fan culture around boxing being like when you were young? What are some classics you clearly remember actually watching? (I'm proud of my clear memories of Hagler Hearns, even though I was a kid) Have you gone to see any of the big classics in person? What was the experience like?

 

I went with my Dad to see a friend of his fight, in person. Dad called him Cowboy. His last name was Wallace. He fought Arnold Cream. In time we came to realize that we had actually seen Jersey Joe Walcott's 1st Professional fight, and it was against a friend of my Dad's! The year was 1930. (I was 6 years old.) The location was Vineland, New Jersey, where I grew up. (Where my house was, was actually called Landis Township in those days). Right on Delsea Drive. My Dad's friend didn't do well. Arnold KO'd him in the 1st round. I can remember it like it was yesterday! Now if I can just remember where I left my glasses 5 minutes ago.

 

That's an awesome story.

 

God bless you sir
In a sense you are a walking piece of history seeing these legends fight live yourself.
How about the first fight where you were let s say old enough and savy enough to know what you wwre seeing in terms of what was happening?

 

When I was young, almost everybody knew who the Heavyweight Boxing Champion was, and most knew the Middleweight Champion as well. Results of matches were often on the front page of the Newspaper, and sometimes was the Headline at the top! I came from a boxing fan family so I've seen a lot of the Classics in person, a lot of the big fights that happened in Philadelphia or New York City, I was there. Too many to count really. Sometimes we were close to ringside, sometimes not. Boxing was always THE Sport to follow in my family! There's nothing like being there! The films are great to watch, but it's not like being there, hearing the sounds of the fights up close. Often, also, the films are incomplete, or in the case of some fights, not available to watch. IMHO, you get a better sense of the quality of the fighters you're watching in person.

 

I would watch gladiatorial bouts if they were legal and the gladiators were not coerced.

So I don't think I'll give up watching boxing anytime soon.



Also, I liked the other poster's idea of only counting KO's, TKO's or quittages.

Would we have all these vitriolic debates about Ward-Kov, GGG-Canelo etc if fights continued until one guy got stopped or decided to 'resign?'

It would seriously curtail the robbery factor.

 

Were you at the FOTC? Anything you can share about that experience, I'd love to hear. You'd have been around my age now, I think.

 

I wish things were still like that. Now the headlines are always the latest bad news, the latest political scandal, etc. No wonder everyone is so miserable. Those things are important too, but they can't be all consuming.

 

I have stopped watching at times.

I have never seen Carnera Schaff, or Benn McClellan, and I never will.

As you have probably figured out, I am a big fan of the fighters of the past.

Anybody who doesn't feel an element of romanticism about about fighters, probably lacks a soul. Anybody who wants that kind of boxing back, most probably lacks a brain, and a degree of humanity with it!