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

well lets see. pops started me way back when i was 8. i watched the PBF/Angel Manfredy fight. Saw how good FLoyd Mayweather was, asked my dad who his favourite fighter was. Started watching Duran films my dad kept. been with it ever since.

 

I have been a boxing fan since 1930. Listening to my Dad and Uncle talking about the Schmeling - Sharkey fight got me interested and I never stopped being interested. :hat

 

I didn't have much in common with my dad. We share(d) very little in terms of what we like. He was a hardcore boxing fan though and wanted to introduce me to the sport. He told me about Mike Tyson and gave me a brief run down on his opponent Frank Bruno. I was pretty scared because Bruno's record was pretty impressive to a guy who knew nothing about boxing. I can't even tell you who was on the undercard, I was just insanely excited about seeing this Tyson guy fight. Sure enough Tyson was as described, an absolute machine who blew through an overmatched (frightened) Frank Bruno. The speed and power had my attention and I was desperate to see more boxing.

From that day forward, I decided to pay more attention to the sport. Even though I didn't have a clue who half the guys fighting were but that didn't stop me from wanting to watch it. He taught me the rules, how to score fights and how to appreciate all different styles of boxing. It all clicked when he surprised me by taking me to see Lewis vs Holyfield in MSG. That was arguably one of the best nights of my life, sitting there in the cheap(er) seats and watching Holyfield vs Lewis sorrounded by a mix of hardcore british boxing fans and casual Holyfield fans. It was a unique atmosphere and the entire night was electric. The ending took the heat out of the night and ironically turned my dad away from boxing forever. Still even with the worst robbery of the modern era, I was an official boxing fan. I refuse to let 2 judges who were dumber than a 12 yr old kid (I think I was 12) turn me away from boxing.

Since then I've been pretty much hooked. I've done all sorts of round by rounds here, punch by punch stuff on a multitude of events. I've gone to live fights, hosted boxing parties and done as much as I can to promote the sport on my own. Over the past year and a half, I've backed off since there's been so much gobbely gook in boxing that makes it hard to really support the sport. That said, I'm still a hardcore boxing fan at heart. Every time I get frustrated, they give me some sort of fight that brings me back into the fan zone. I can still be a very big fan and express my frustration with the entire boxing scene, it's the job of a fan to be objective in times of good and bad. My hope is to one day return the favor and take my dad to a big time fight in MSG. I figure it's the least I can do for the guy.

 

damn how old are you 99

:hat

 

i am puerto rican it comes with the territory ......since i saw Leonard vs. Hearns i was a toddler