How often do you watch Boxing?

I always appreciate hearing from those who remember when this was ESB and the world forum was just called general!

 

Nothing wrong with highlights per se. But as you noted, they're a very poor substitute for watching actual fights if you want to gain any understanding of fighters' strengths, weaknesses, technique, and tendencies. And they can be misleading by omission. A lot of the hero-worshipper types and the guys who lack solid boxing foundations don't get that. They seem to think that if someone can cobble together three or four 2-second clips of a guy successfully slipping punches, it proves that he's defensively skilled, or a couple clips of him throwing combinations and he's an offensive technician, etc.

 

It ebbs and flows for me personally.

I stopped posting on here, stopped following the current fighters and even stopped watching old fights on youtube for about 12 months. There was no real reason I think I just wasn't that invested in the sport or any fighters anymore. Roy Jones was shot, Holyfield retired, Pacquiao past prime, LL long retired etc...

But then I started lurking here for a bit and following some really good threads and discussions and my love for the sport was rekindled. Now I'm watching fights daily and subscribing to some top youtube accounts by some of the esteemed fellow posters on here. Plus I'm following the current scene more closely than I have since the 1990's. Really enjoying the heavyweights at the moment and the lighter weights too. There's been some excellent bouts and some excellent fighters it's been my pleasure to watch. And it's by and large from following the boxing cranks and crackpots on this site that got me back into it. Thanks guys!

 

I'm busy... Got kids and a troubled marriage... Gotta get it in when I can. Don't watch nearly as much as I used to. I used to have a one fight per day policy....



That ended with my marriage and kids.

 

A lot ! Fights I missed 70s and 80s on you tube .better than telly !

 

Haha marriage and kids is a death sentence for your "you time"...

 

I hear that, brother...

 

College life has cut my boxing time short, but usually I try to get in at least a fight or a youtube video every day, and I watch and score current bouts when they're on TV. As for other media forms, I've been reading a few books like Boxing's Greatest Fighters and Ringside (though once again, time doesn't let me get very far with them) and I pick up any books or copies of the Ring magazine when i find them.

 

Seems perfect for my circumstance, I'll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation

 

Agreed. It’s all dependent on if I’m tied up w work (I own a restaurant so anywhere from 70-95 hours a week) or chasing skirts, or whatever the hell gets in the way of my boxing that week. And inevitably...it’s always something.

I’d guess I watch a half a dozen full fights a week on average. @Jel ‘s recent topic of the greatest fights under 6 rounds has helped see a little spike in my numbers though hah.

I don’t read Ring magazine anymore; travesty what that outfit’s become. But I’m ALWAYS reading a book on boxing. @ChrisJS made a fantastic topic last year that I bookmarked and used to really bulk up my shelf. Went on an amazon spree and bought probably 20 mostly used books for a few hundred bucks. Amongst them, I’m pretty sure I now own 4 different boxing books with titles ranging from, get this...
In THE Corner
In THIS Corner...
The View From MY Corner
Corner Men

Getting back to what I watch, maybe something I read here or in a book will catch my attention and I’ll just jump down the rabbit hole of a particular fighter (or era, or division). Binge 5-10 or more of a fighter’s top fights over the course of a few days. If I have the time, this is my favorite way to watch and really study a fighter. It’s a learning experience for me. And if it’s a guy I’m not too familiar with, well now I feel like I know him.

Other times I’ll collapse on the couch after working 9 straight 12 hour days....and fall asleep to the middle rounds of the same damn Monzon fight I’ve been trying to get through for what seems like weeks.

Or if I know I got an hour, I’ll just pick one off the running list I keep in the back of my head. Only guys like us have names like Boza Edwards or Sithchatchawal-Monshipour floating around upstairs somewhere haha.

Worst case, if I’m really jammed up w work...I got a little 12 inch TV/VHS combo in my back office at the shop. I’ll have it playing in the background while I’m doing paperwork. Last week it was Robinson-Fulmer 1 and 2, this week it’s a string of Hagler’s title defenses. Not ideal, but it’s better than the alternative of no boxing that day.

I’ll echo that I personally don’t watch highlight vids that often either. Just not my cup of tea. On the other hand, I’ll enjoy the hell out of a well made boxing documentary. Watched one on Emile Griffith recently where he finally meets Benny Paret’s son after all these years. Both men begin tearing up as they approach each other in a park. After a brief exchange of words, the Kid’s son absolves a trembling Griffith of the terrible, crippling guilt he’s been carrying all these years. The two men finally embrace! Oh Christ, I was crying like a baby with them!

Where else are you gonna see a moment like that? Basketball?? Get the f*** outta here. There’s nothing...absolutely nothing even comes close to the dramatic storylines we see in our sport. Sometimes comedy, often times tragedy. But always compelling! The fighters, their families, and the fascinating story arcs that revolve around the actual fights themselves...you don’t get that anywhere else but this awesome sport of ours.

I love it. And I always try to squeeze just a little more time into it.

 

Is it kindle format only or are there hard copies? I love his writing and Greb is great reading.

 

I pay for a big fight on pay per view occasionally.

Beyond that, if I have a friend in a local bout, I always turn up to support them!