what would have happened if.............

117-111 Floyd

 

Hatton on pts

Ps. Ive been holding in this shite for the last half hour but now I have to go, Im off for a 15-20 minute shite where my `four kings` book awaits me, its a hangover **** too, probably one of those black ones, Im currently on the Hagler-Duran chapter, decent read.
I`ll let you know how it goes (both the book & the ****)

:good

 

Four Kings is a quality book, slightly anti-Leonard and overly pro-Hagler i found but its very difficult getting a book that says anything positive about Leonard .... Hagler is always the put upon white knight, and Leonard is always the ultra manipulative business man who was handed everything on a plate ..

Bill get 'Mcilvanney on Boxing' and 'Ringside - A Treasury of Booxing Reportage' by the incomparable Budd Schulberg .. The 2 best books ive ever read on boxing .. I really want the Archie Moore biography but its over £20 on Amazon, i aint paying that for a book ..

 

Says a lot of good stuff about Leonard as a kid, how he wasn't athletic at all and cried when he was first in the gym but came through it to be a prodigy. I think it's a pretty well balanced book. Only bad thing is when it says Kirkland Laing was 'a journeyman'

 

Excellent point, Kirkland Laing is best classed as a fighter that could have been great, if not the greatest British Fighter of the last 50 years, he was no way a journeyman, his priorities lay elsewere, he just wasnt dedicated ..

Ive never read a book that gives Leonard his fair doos, a balanced book would say he was one of the greatest fighters in history, because that is a fact. Its ok giving him praise as a youngster, thats just window dressing .. To kind of gloss over his stellar pro career and make excuses of why Hagler never got his dues, or Duran wasnt prepared for the re-match or Leonard never gave Hearns a re-match is fairly churlish in my opinion ..
Ive read loads of books covering the fab four and its really the same agenda, 'Duran - The Warrior, take on anyone at anytime, but sometimes unprepared', 'Hagler - The Warrior, a true boxing blue collar hero, he never got a shot at the title, he was jobbed in his early days and he was always chasing a big payday'
'Leonard - The middle class prodigy with the million dollar smile, the good looks, the business brain who was handed everything on a plate. A man who picked and choosed his opponents so that they were either not ready or past they're best' ....

The Anti Leonard agenda is clear to see in these books, and there are echos of it in the way people talk about Roy Jones Jr and Floyd Mayweather today .. People simply dont like these kind of fighters who are clearly brilliant but everyone wants to pick them apart .. I dont understand that psychology but it very clearly exists ....