The more I know about Bert Sugar, the less a fan of his I am. I don't hate the guy but he embellishes the so called urban legends and stories that were simply not true. I guess it's a way to enhance the business. Anyways, Hank Kaplan is solid. Is he even still around?
As long as Jim Lampley isn't named as a great boxing Historian or announcer for that matter .. I'm good .. Curious to know what people think of Teddy Atlas???
Bert Sugar was not good... He knew old fighters who were popular, but boxing he was sort of just a repeater of what everyone said.. I liked him. Met him and his cigar in his mouth thing was interesting.
Like him or not he was either friends with or had talked to just about every legend in the game and had anecdotes aplenty. I wish I'd met him.
I sat next to him at the Roy Jones-Tony Thornton fight at MSG. He was a bit of a blow hard. But, pretty funny. And you couldn't deny he loved the sport and was a true boxing icon.
Bert Sugar wasnt a historian he was a promoter. A promoter who promoted himself. He had his schtick and he told a good story but a LOT of what he told was just that, STORIES. He didnt care to get to the truth of the matter. When he ran the Ring (into the ground) he relied on Herb Goldman for historical perspective and if you know Goldmans take on "history" youll likely agree thats marginally better than what Sugar had to offer. Calling Lampley and Atlas historians is laughable. Some of the best boxing historians alive today youve never heard of because they arent out there pretending to be know-it-alls to get five minutes on espn, or the occasional 30 second interview on someones boxing documentary but there at least a few guys alive who forgot more history before their morning coffee today than atlas, lampley, and sugar combined ever knew.
