Why watch the same fights over and over again?

Lol when I say 100's I exaggerate. I mean likely more than 20 and to many to keep track off.

1 specific fighter I will use as an example is Tyson. I loved Tyson in 85-87 (although I picked Holyfield to beat Tyson when Tyson pulled out of their fight, I was actually picking him after the Dokes fight...many/most will say he wouldn't both then and now. Holyfield won the real life fight but I don't believe either guy was peak at that time, so I don't feel other than the fight plan that it bears much evidence for a primes battle!)
Anyway back on point...I am a huge Frazier fan, and years ago Tyson fan boys would denigrate Frazier to elevate Tyson as greater. In my fiery youth I became an anti-Tyson guy or perhaps just anti his fan boys? I would denigrate him as a knee jerk reaction to elevate Frazier. Now 20 years later I can look at them both more fairly IMHO. Both due to studying their respective eras and fights.

I am back to being a Tyson fan and rate them side by side on my 7-9 tier. I love watching his explosiveness and brutality as young Iron Mike destroyed everything in his path. I have watched his fights multiple times not, but not sure of how many times? Vs Ferguson is likely the one I enjoy and turn to the most to study his bob and weave as well as how he used devastating body shots as a prelude to his uppercut and hook...wow beautifully brutal. However if you study his fights you can se a decline in his discipline as he adapted to millions of $ and a new management team. It might be just subtle changes if you watch once or twice? By the time he fights Douglas his bob and weave were not prominent, his head movement became stationary, and his body punches became an afterthought as he became a head hunter looking for a quick brutal ko to a large degree. If we study these fights the writing is on the wall prior to the Douglas upset (Don't want to take anything away from Douglas's victory as it is the greatest HW upset alongside Schmeling vs Louis 1. And he was so poised and tough that night it may not have mattered anyway? Although the possibility that he does not get off the hook earlier in the fight when Tyson has him down is another very real possibility) the writing is already on the wall. Only the fact that no one thought Tyson would lose to Douglas or anyone for that matter lied in the fact that he was still brutal and no one was able to last long enough to expose this. But if you go back and rewatch them...not just for the highlights or exciting KOS, but for the subtle nuances and changes in his approach it reveals quite a bit.

There are other fighters who I have changed my opinion on by rewatching them and their strategy and evolution and adaptation to age, loss of power/speed movements in weight classes etc. that I believe let me enjoy modern and classic fighters more than I did in my younger days...I only wished I had started doing this years earlier because there is still so much to learn and appreciate

 

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I've seen several Tyson fights 3 or 4 times, which is a lot for me (I've seen the Spinks and Berbick fights even more). Started a thread a while back making a point similar to yours, about his decline: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/tyson-already-on-the-slide-in-bruno-i.569347/

But I see that example as going with a point I made in some earlier posts. The things you mention about Tyson are things that you can notice by watching a lot of his fights a few times (or even just once or twice), instead of watching certain fights 10 or 20 times. When it comes to admiring his technique though, I'm more likely to rewatch particular rounds (or minutes) of certain fights.

 

I must've seen Ali-Williams 20 times at least.

 

I've seen Young-Foreman at least 20 times,...and the same for Locche-Fuji....all hail the displays of defensive magic over brawn!!

 

I would probably say..most Tyson fights, the Ruddock ones..the Douglas one,i actually watched the McNeeley one too for the circus type fight, not for actual film study..lol....I watched Golota vs Bowe countless times..Really most HW's mainly from 90's the most since I considered that the best HW era so far and talent pool.Ive already prob seen all Joshua fights 20x his recent Klitchko won ive seen more than 20 easily. Hes one where it wont get old ,theres a lot going on there that he does...Lewis vs V.klitchko has got to be over 50.

collectively old fights like foreman/Ali Cooney /Holmes have to be up there too




Im always a fan more of the style than the fighter but with Joshua I get both which is a plus,pretty much like Klitchko was but his style is more superior and how I would approach than the basic long tall HW outside range guys.

 

I love the particular fight. I get inspired by the fight, the fighter, the backstory. A lot f time I was at the fight for instance many Fletcher Hamsho Saad Briscoe fights and get to relive them and in some see my younger self in the crowd. It's like listening to records or reading favorite books or mags again and again. It what I DO IN THE INSANE ASYLUM OF MY MIND.

 

Great post.

 

Interesting post.

What multiple watching of bouts does is to provide you with a microscope view. And it usually requires turning the sound off if the commentator is talking about the house fighter. You can start to pay attention to the finer details---like how a guy's knee's are compared to previous efforts. How wide are those hooks now? Susceptibility to certain styles. Kind of like having a windshield view as opposed to a view from the rear view mirror. But you will see signs of deterioration with everyone---it gives you a chance to see their re-adjustments & lots of guys do not have any.

Ringsmarts always shows up as well. Sometimes the brawlers have more savvy than you originally thought. Just think of other fighters trying that style.

A personal favorite of mine is to watch the guys with the great radar for incoming punches. Man does that radar have very little margin for error.

 

You see something different each time you watch a fight again.
Also from reading peoples opinions on here , I will go back and watch something again and maybe change or reinforce my own opinion on something. You can't change something that's happened but you can re-evaluate .

 

There are precious few fights I've seen more than a couple times. Too many classic fights out there to focus on to delve THAT deeply into one. I don't watch all that much these days anyway.

 

Most of the best reasons for watching a fight over and over again have been articulately stated already by the posters here...but I think I'll add one more personal reason for watching a fight over and over again...and that is it's a form of meditation in a way.
Thereis one fight that I watch a lot...and this fight is featured in a current thread, the aforementioned (in a previous post) Locche-Fuji. There is something strange, arresting and almost magical in watching this fight unfold. The casual mastery that Locche exhibits from round one on till the end, is just amazing to me. There's no way that a fighter can climb through the ropes and just simply start emulating Locche...even with a top class, gifted trainer barking instructions to him. You don't see that happening in that fight...no, Locche is strictly intuitive..putting on a master class performance that's just intoxicating to me, and I never get tired of watching it. It's as satisfying to me as any display of knockout power and savagery by any top performer. Locche was a genius....and you just can't "teach" that. I've seen similar fights with Whitaker, Pep and a few others, where their great skill predominates, but nothing quite like Locche-Fuji. It's as an artistic a show of defensive boxing skill as I think exists....and is immensely fun to just watch and appreciate..and consider that this dangerous, explosive puncher named Paul Fuji was captured, tamed, defrocked and like McGrain said (I think it was him) emasculated in a way that required no big punches...basically nothing more than a seemingly paltry jab and left hook...and that just because Locche had to some kind of punching after all. This emasculation of the otherwise dangerous Paul Fuji was done with sublime, otherwordly defensive skill...that totally broke Fuji's will and desire...all in his own back yard in front of his countrymen. All done so casually, and sublimely.
To me, this fight is worth watching over and over again.

 

I often when I have a spare few minutes at work dial up Gatti-Ward Round 9 just to rewitness the savagery and bravery on display. Nothing like it.

 

Personally I watch a lot of classic fighters because I haven't found too many current fighters that excite me .

 

I like the way you think Morlocks!

 

Brother got that right. Leave all troubles worries boredom old hot cold behind board the board the dreamweavers train back to a fav fight and walla you re ringside in PanamaCity for Duran\DeJesus 2 or r DempseyFirpo. All that matters uring that time is a FIGHT. KUDOS BRO! Excellent writing