Ringside vs. TV: My experience

See, people call ME overrated on youtube and such, but you are exactly right:

Guys in there aren't incompetent. They aren't chinny. I hit HARD. My punches sound like baseball homeruns. I've heard from guys who've sat ringside that they have NEVER seen a guy hit another guy as hard as I've hit some people.

And some youtube commenter is like "Look at how gunshy this guy is, he's not even fighting back." Dogging the dude like he's a coward. I'm hitting the guy with some serious concussive force, bro. Of course he's off balance and off put!

Ike looked scared to death in the 12th, btw. Like he KNEW his legs were gone, that he was all but out on his feet, and he was DESPERATE not to get stopped. He was throwing back, but to say the had nothing on them is an understatement. Ike was done, and was bravely trying not to get saved.

 

Line up 100 people who call somebody a "**** fighter", and give me 10 minutes under the unified rules. Bet you I could get through every single one of them, one by one, before you here DING.

Don't insult a skill somebody built for years when you yourself don't have it, and couldn't acquire it. There are other appropriate terms "Lower-class titlist" and such.

Not meaning to sound hard, btw. Just don't like being called a **** fighter by people who couldn't beat my grandma in fisticuffs. Ruffles my feathers, and I'm not feeling well today, so irritability is up. Finding an old youtube video of a bout of mine I've never seen should be a joy, not a seeth session.

 

I haven't seen a ton of my professional fights. A lot of undercards, and a lot of unmemorable 1 round ko's, people don't upload.

Guy would rather hunt down and post a meaningful, watchable scrap than me torching a fat guy in 20 seconds. I get that. Would still like to see one of them turn up without some hater calling me "skill-less" or a bum.

I tell you what, though, riles me up hearing journeymen get called names and getting dogged. It's a hard, lonely life fighting trained killers for a living when you don't have the toolbox to hang.

When I was in the ring with a guy I knew beforehand was just going to be a victim, I'd usually tip him some of my purse under the table for his time. I've seen how hard that life can be. Dudes 40, with 8 kids, never had an amateur fight getting obliterated on television by thoroughbred 25 year old with an axe to grind? ****, he's got bigger balls than I do.

 

Case in point, Garing Lane when he was touring about.

Garing was a freaking badass that couldn't get NO respect. He traveled 9 months out of the year, never had time to TRAIN with all the fights and sparring work he was take, just showed up to take punches, punch back as hard as he could, and TRY.

Words cannot express my respect for this man.

 

Do what you love, bro. Or what feeds the kids.

An example off the top of my head, a knockout victim of mine: 8th grade education, stint in prison, two little girls he absolutely adored. Couldn't take care of them on a fry cook's wage. Getting blasted because he learned to box a bit in prison kept food on the table. Ugly stuff.

 

I try to give back, man. I know how lucky I am. I was trained intimately and intensely because I was large, explosive, charismatic, and talented. Gobs of people invested themselves in my success, AND I was born with a great body for this.

I feel for the people who didn't have my opportunities.

 

The window can be narrow, man. If you aren't getting the fights? It's done.

I know a guy, he's in NC now, an absolute beast of a fighter. Knocked Verno Phillips out in the gym when he was champ. Schooled Mike Alvarado consistently in sparring. On the shelf for two years cause he had no backing. TWO YEARS.

His prime, gone like that. Had somebody guided his career, he'd have been fighting world class at the same time he broke world class. Instead, he was thrown into his toughest fights young and undertrained, and froze out again the second he became dangerous.

It happens ALL the time. Prison kills talented fighters, too.

 

Corrales-Castillo, no doubt. I'll never forget when the referee called it. The crowd went nuts, but it was hoarse from screaming, so the roar was dull. Then I'm walking in a line high fiving people, buzzed out of my mind, Corrales is interviewing looking like Rocky, Winky Wright is climbing up my back. James Toney is so excited his command of the English language was getting worse by the round...Great night, man. Never seen two guys THAT good go for it THAT hard.