Why I love boxing, why do you, and since when?

I know these threads have been done before, but with all this bickering going on about you know what, and some of the robberies weve had lately and boxings shortcomings, id like for boxing fans to tell me what brought them into the sport and the what/why's of their fondness of the sport and kinda refocus ourselves on the positives of this great sport.

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For me, I think it comes down to the essence of boxing.
one on one, survival of the fittest, to match yourself against the fighter that has come to destroy you, stare him in the eyes, and then fight him in hand to hand combat.

I find boxing to be perfection through reduction…. Like a focused laser, boxing focuses on my most loved aspects of fighting, and I think builds and reveals character like no other. It is the art of offense and defence with ones hands. Boxing is the way of modern day warriors....
two men trying to beat the other with their fists...

the fist
the symbol of humanities born weapon.

Boxing is a sport of heart, soul, and chin,
its a sport of power, speed, and accuracy, Its a sport of toughness, intelligance, timing, and skills, and through these, boxing finds its champions.

It is the ultimate perfection through reduction.... seperating all that is base from combat and leaving you with the substance that is the essence of the ultimate warrior..... the blood and guts warriors in boxing take more punishment then anyone, and have payed the sport they love with their most valuable commodities, their health, and sometimes their lives.

The complete variance of boxing,
to say 'boxing is just striking' is such an oversimplification.... of course its just striking. But how many differant styles do you have within that?
You have the toney style, the whitaker style, the hatton style, the spinks style, the judah style, the cotto style, the trinidad style, the winky style, the foreman style, the ali style, the frazier style,

Got pitty patters like JC
Got brawlers like mayorga
Got pure boxers like malignaggi,
the masterful movements of the likes of mayweather
The living artwork that can be a Whitaker display
Got killers like Tyson
Got ferocity monsters like Kirkland
Got technicions like Marquez
Displays of an endless well of heart n soul in Fernando Vargas rising again and again to certain destruction against champion Trininad


Boxing is more then 'just striking', in the same way music is more then just a man saying words.


Other sports are tough, other sports have their own skillsets and artforms, and i respect that.... but when trying to compare other sports to boxing, for me its just like trying to hold a match next to a star, and asking me to be impressed with the match. its hard to be effected by one when the other is so grand.

Am i romanticizing it? yes i am.... but thats what boxing does to me.


The Anatomy of boxing
Intelligence/Skill - The need for the majority of the time to use your intelligance in the ring, the one thing that can take an otherwise limited fighter and make him a fighter to be rekoned with. To be able to adjust within the ring, to adapt. To use ring generalship, and to learn the craft to the point of mastership, and then apply it.

Spirit/Heart/Guts – To withstand the heat, to walk through shots to land your own, the determination to stand in there under fire and make your opponent wilt to YOUR will.

Athleticism – Some of the most gifted athletes, most being able to get away with fighting so unconventionally because they are indeed, superhuman. Fighters blessed with great speed, from hitting opponents with 3 or 4 left hook in a row, to hitting opponents before they know youve thrown a punch, it is one of the most coveted attributes in boxing.

Defence - You have differant styles of defence, shell defence, philly defence, differant style of footwork, ect, ect, each one a skill and art in their own right, and when mastered, sets their practitioner apart from the pack in terms of defence.

Stamina - You can have all the tools and gifts in the world at your disposal, but if you do not have stamina, there will be a certain level one will not pass in the championship ranks. It is what seperates good fighters from great fighters.

Strength - The ability to outmuscle your opponent, to drive him backwards, to plant your feet and not be moved. Strength is an often overlooked aspect and allows fighters to push around and impose themselves on weaker opponents.

Chin - ah, the ever important chin. With one, a fighter can go from an otherwise ordinary fighter, to one that is able to impose his will on his opponent because he can not be hurt. And on the flip side, can make an otherwise championship material fighter into a house of cards, when one good shot makes it all collapse.

and many, many more.

But boxing is more then just two men fighting,
the storied history, and the larger then life characters are in itself a thread worthy discussion…. From child soldiers (ouma) to concentration camp survivors (haft), from trash talking street thugs (mayorga) to golden boys (hoya), from poor feather duster sellers (baldomir) to would be lawyers (mab), there is not a deeper roster you can find then within the historic pages of boxings history.

Where a man can be completely outdone physically, but win on guts, chin, toughness and strength….. WILL. (Baldomir/Judah)
Where a man can come back from the clutches of defeat and write his own destiny (cotto/torres)
Where a 40+ year old can fight a man in his twenties who regularly seperates other professional fighters from their senses, and dissects them and picks them apart, taking them to the school of boxing (Hopkins/Pavlik)

The brutal beauty of boxing has brought me chills, tears, shouts of joy, shouts of anger, and taken me through every human emotion and back again. I wouldn’t trade it for any other sport in the world…. It is a passion, and truly is, the greatest sport in the world.

im know im being dramatic about it but its the drama that i love... lol.

long live boxing...

 

I remember watching the Mayorga/Tito fight with you n hector, not a good night for me :rofl

Good to see you around m'man :good

 

:yep:-patsch

 

Yes, unfortunatly m'man they are two sides to the same coin eh? one i guess must take the good with the bad.... :good