Tell us a novel thought about boxing history that we haven't heard before

After watching every single boxer lose in truly open rule fights vs wrestlers or mma guys I view the sport differently ... of course I still love it but seeing guys from Jack Johnson through Duran easily taken to submission makes me realize it's pretty much just a sport and the heavyweight champion is obviously not the "baddest" man on the planet ..

 

Never saw that but saw him get blown out by Kimbo ... was that a dump ?

 

Two very thoughtful and well expressed opinions. Very well said.

 

I have a couple of Boxing Books in mind, I will not say for the purpose of protecting my ideas...

One would make an absolutely 1st Class Doc or film 'Victorian Times' the other a great fictional film, based on adventure & boxing.

one of my ideas has already been scooped up by a known boxing figure & historian, whom I told about it back in 2004 or 05, next thing you know, he has done 'precisely that theme based book (non fiction).

an other Book idea I will say, because I am not going to write it, but I should, because 'they' are the greatest overall divisional fighters in the history of Boxing - the Little BIG Men - the Middleweights,
known & unknown.

anyway, most Boxing Books are mediocre, as far as writing goes...

but one must look for fighters stories that have more than quite a few Factual Truths, that expose Boxing - in Corruption, Greed, Protection, Partisanship, Nationalistic Bias, Ownership and ALL the facts that actually disqualify Boxing as a Sport, but rather expose it as Solely a Business and an Extremely Corrupt One at that!

 

Hi Shay ( if I may be so bold ) thanks for your kind comments and all though I don't know you apart from the medium of this forum, I firmly believe you are polite, courteous, and honest .
On the subject of women boxing, I also agree with you when you say they have a right to compete, for the record, I have a huge admiration for women, in all aspects of life, whether it's bringing up children, working most of the day at home , or in the workplace, guiding and counselling their husbands, and the kindness and compassion that emanates from nearly all the women I have met, if more women were in positions of power, the world would be a safer place, of that I have no doubt.
Regards women boxing, I am uneasy about the whole spectacle, for many a reason, no one can know what long term effect to a woman's body years of taking blows to the midsection might have on childbirth for instance, who knows ? and again I do not relish the picture of a long time retired female boxer with a flat nose, heavy hooded brows, scar tissue around both eyes, and in some cases slurred of speech, seeing a young woman battered and bruised at the end of a hard fight is not my idea of a good night out, but as always, that is just my opinion, it's worth no more, or less than yours.
stay safe Shay.

 

The Heavyweight Champion is the baddest on the planet in that sport. MMA, Submission Wrestling, and Boxing are different sports, with entirely different rules. Take the MMA people and make them follow boxing's rules in the ring, and they will lose most of the time. Sports are different, and sometimes different people can excel at one sport only. Michael Jordan could not hit a baseball for any respectable average but that takes nothing away from his Basketball achievements, or from Basketball itself as a sport.

 

In keeping with the literal interpretation by @thistle, I don’t have any ideas for a boxing novel but I did have an idea for a reality TV show that I’m positive would have been a huge hit.

Remember how many times during Tyson’s heyday you’d gather somewhere to watch one of his fights and HBO or whoever would mention the purses and some casual boxing fan along for the event would inevitably (thinking he was, um, novel and clever, say ‘I’d fight him for a million dollars’?

Well that’s my idea, a reality TV show called: I’ll Fight Mike Tyson for a Million Dollars.

The premise: some Schmoe (plumber, middle manager, dog catcher … whatever) takes up the challenge. The idea is he collects $1M if he lasts 3 minutes in a real ring with a real ref, no headgears, real fight gloves and wraps, etc. If they fail, Mike gets the $1M per episode.

He gets like a month to train with some real top-level boxing trainer and a state-of-the-art gym. So they show him how to fight, we see him do his Rocky montage — meanwhile a retired Tyson is of course barely training and living his life … then at some point the Schmoe of course mouths off on what he’s going to do to Tyson and of course Mike takes it personally.

Then in the final segment of each episode, Tyson rips into them and inevitably knocks them out (which even if he’s in his 40s or 50s is what’s bound to happen). Then we get a quick glimpse at the next episode’s challenger before the credits roll.

I should have shopped this to Hollywood and then I’d be the millionaire.

 

All only underlies my point that in H2H in an anything goes the boxer loses, decisively ... it is a huge drop in imagination and perspective ..

 

I have two somewhat related propositions to run up their respective flag poles. Lets see how they fly.

1) An American Idol style, fan based voting system to determine the winner upon the completion of full route matches. More sophisticated systems could perhaps be introduced to allow fans to have even more say in real time - like say minimum majority % of fans voting at any given moment for a warning, DQ, stoppage etc. In these scenarios CompuFans dictate.

2) Global Vision Boxing Contest. Held annually of course, it would allow single representatives from participating countries to compete for ultimate national bragging rights. To arrest any potential concerns - NO, the boxers will not be allowed to also sing and therefore the scoring criteria will not account for vocal ability or put fans through any unnecessary auditory torture. Larry Holmes - you’ve been warned.

Not saying they’re good ideas but they’re certainly novel.

 

Archie Moore was a vegetarian. The story of him sucking the juice out of steak was a myth.

 

Not 'IF' the Boxer is a Street tough fighting wildman too, that type of Boxer/fighter has as much a chance against any other type of fighter on the cobbles - Loads of 'Proper' Hardmen out there on the mean streets and some of them are physically fit TRAINED Boxers & Fighters too.

a Frightening prospect coming up against these people, I've seen some fiercesome boys on the Streets, it truly is scary.

 

I think some people are confused by the use of the term "novel". I don't think the OP means ideas for a book!

 

yes, he was talking about NEW ways of thinking or sizing up boxing or analyses or conclusions about Boxing. that could translate into Discussions, Thesis's or Books and what have you.

I think most people understood that.