Thread: What about the sport of boxing makes you a fan?

What about boxing makes you a fan?.....Now some will say because they just love seeing two guys punch the shit out of each other and that is cool....I mean hey that is part of why we love the sport no?

I mean what else about it? everyone likes it for different reasons...Some are casual fans and some of us practically live it as a past time....

Me personally I became involed as a fan when I was about 5 or so because my Dad was such a huge fan....Then I just kept on with it...Just like some do in football, baseball etc....

As I got older I became friends with fighters Floyd Patterson was my first regular boxing pal he lived not too far from my Uncle and I ran into him often as a kid and he would talk to me sometimes for an hour or two until we became on a first name basis...Then I wanted to know everything about him and would read books etc....

Eventually I learned what it was like for these guys and the backgrounds of many of these guys coming up and why they became fighters...Most as a means to an end....

Today I undertsand what it is like for these guys to have a dream of glory, how hard they train, how many don't like to fight but know it is their best chance to make a life for their families...How most are not even violent people, what they sacrafice...It makes you understand why a loss is so hard...

Boxing is the ugliest thing to ever be involved in because the risk for most is not worth the reward, You learn how lonely it is for these guys when the spotlight fades, how they are taken advantage of by promoters...

It is the most interesting sport in the world because it shows exactly how much a person is willing to sacrafice, you get to see these guys reap the rewards from their hard work....You want to see these guys do well knowing what they go through..

It is almost like watching a never ending movie...

So I am just curious on what it is about the sport that keeps you coming back for more...Be it just the violence or be it you are just a fanatic

I'll never forget the first fight i saw was Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson 1, i actually remember the hype surronding it. And everyone in my family was saying Mike Tyson was going to crush Evander Holyfield etc, and to me at the time it was like King Kong vs Godzilla because of the hype it was crazy.

When i was watching the fight i remember thinking hold on a minute this guy Mike Tyson is getting his ass whooped ? how is this happening ? Evander Holyfield's skill, will, heart, was amazing to see. And funny enough i remember clearly the commentator saying Evander Holyfield hasn't got much left, them boom Evander Holyfield almost finishes him in the 10th round. I was actually laughing my ass off for about 2 minutes non stop at the commentator.

Then come the end in the 11th round and i thought to myself, wow what a sport this is one of the most exciting things i've ever seen. And thats how i got hooked on it, i come from a boxing family and i heard my grandfather and etc. Talking about boxing all the time but i never really took any notice until i see that fight, then i would get my grandfather to tell me stories of his boxing days. Then i learned his brother had KO'ed an olympic gold medalist Terry Spinks.

Which was amazing to hear and it gave me alot of dedication, but for me i love the amount of competition, skill, will, heart, desire, when a guy gives it his all aka Evander Holyfield vs Riddick Bowe 1, it just gives me a warm feeling inside and gives me so much dedication. Before a fight i watch a fight like that early in the day and it gives me the boost i need, some people say im crazy for being an Amateur boxer. But i can't help it i love the sport and i will be watching it until i die, and when i have my kid soon i learn him everything i know.

I just hand to hand combat , and in most cases it the sportsmanship afterwards.

Tyson's fights made me a fan of boxing. I'm a Tyson fanatic.

Duran, RJJ, Mosley,ODLH, Hopkins, Trinidad, Barrera, Pacquaio, Marquez, Morales made ma a fan of boxing.

I love boxing because in essence it is simple to understand, two guys trying to get the better of one another. But what keeps me coming back are the nuances, seeing how styles match-up with one another. A big thing for me nowadays is trying to predict how fights will go, so many things have to be taken into account dehydration, home town advantage, style match-up, and of course who has more will to walk through fire.

I know I'm gonna get crap for this, but I even enjoy trying to follow the alphabet titles, it's like this very complicated story line, that changes on a daily basis.

Lastly it gives something for me to talk about with my good friends at Saddo's

i dont really remember but i know i was boxing before i started watching it alot. but as i got older like around 10th grade i stopped boxing and started watchin it more. but the first big fight i remember watchin was tito vs vargas at my uncles, and it was crazy that day.

Isn't he the reason why we are all really here?? For without John Ruiz, would there be boxing?

Thats a ruiztorical question.

I grew up in the world of Ali,Holmes,Hagler,Duran,Leanord,Howard Cosell,etc,etc
I got my first boxing lesson 30 years ago this year.
The downside of being involved in the sport,I rarely just get to watch a fight,just to watch a fight,I have to analyze whats happening.
One of the reasons I re-watch the Vonda Ward Ann Wolfe knockout,there's nothing to study,a cross,and you just say "Oooooooooooo damn she got KTFO"

At it's best, Boxing is the purest form of competition. It's fighter against fighter. You stand in the ring along. Nobody can help you, and there a potential for bodily hard if you fail. It's primal. Yeah, judges and refs muddle the purity, but at it's root, it appeals to the most basic levels of human instinct. But that's not what makes boxing truly great. It is great because it combines the raw, primal, violent, animalist elements of competition with cerebral, higher order, humanistic thinking. No other sport combines strength, intelligence, toughness, preparation, and risk the way that boxing does. No other sport draws on as many elements of the human condition.

At it's low points, driven by the business of boxing, boxing is probably worse than any other sport. Unfair matchups, corruption, etc, but at it's best, it is the most compelling sport to watch. As boxing fans, we put up with so much bad product. We stick with it because at it's best, it's magic, and that magic can happen on a FnF or BAD or a PPV. All the crappy fights are more than made up for by getting to see the Gatti/Wards, Cotto/Tony, Pavlik/Taylor 1, Marquez/Vasquez or Bika/Codrington type of fights.

It's the sport you need the most dedication for. It's the sport in which you have to accept defeat on your own, not as part of a team, in full public view. And it's not like you lost 1-0 to a late goal or something, you lost because the other guy beat you up more than you did him. So there is endless inspiration and nobility in the sport. And when boxers aren't being inspiring and noble they're being controversial. You've got all that side of it too, the braggadocio and the verbal battle and everything that goes with that.

In the format of a fight in a square ring you get to see and feel the full range of emotions and sensations of the human condition* I suppose is the concise way of putting it. Certainly more than any other sport, for me anyway.



*Apart from sexual stuuf, obviously. They have yet to incorporate that in any kind of recognised sport.

I look at it as a metaphor for life in some ways.The roller coaster of highs and low's and ultimately,being responsible for making your way,good or bad.Even when all is going your way ....out of the blue someone or something can come along and take you down a notch Or vice versa.The emotional investment can be huge as you follow some fighters.Not to go all Oprah but when they win...you almost live vicariously through that moment and celebrate in kind.And when they lose also.With me,Evander Holyfields lose to Riddick Bowe in the 3rd Fight,the fashion and way it happened.....doing well and just steamed out and BOOM,out, face first and KO'd.I actually quit watching and following boxing for about 5 or 6 months after that.Lost the attraction as My favorite fighter had just been defeated.It kills me when I hear some so-so fans talk about the sport ..."They're just punching each other in the head" etc.etc. Or when you have a couple of them over and are watching a pretty good tactical Fight and all they can say is "Come on already,hit that guy....they're just standing there".Much more going on in there.....not all about mashing faces.When I was young,KO's were king,I did not have the patients to sit through 12-15 rounds at times Lol and as Ive grown old as dirt,I actually like watching two thinking fighters face off,physically & mentally trying to one up each other.

Originally Posted by RozzySean

At it's best, Boxing is the purest form of competition. It's fighter against fighter. You stand in the ring along. Nobody can help you, and there a potential for bodily hard if you fail. It's primal. Yeah, judges and refs muddle the purity, but at it's root, it appeals to the most basic levels of human instinct. But that's not what makes boxing truly great. It is great because it combines the raw, primal, violent, animalist elements of competition with cerebral, higher order, humanistic thinking. No other sport combines strength, intelligence, toughness, preparation, and risk the way that boxing does. No other sport draws on as many elements of the human condition.

At it's low points, driven by the business of boxing, boxing is probably worse than any other sport. Unfair matchups, corruption, etc, but at it's best, it is the most compelling sport to watch. As boxing fans, we put up with so much bad product. We stick with it because at it's best, it's magic, and that magic can happen on a FnF or BAD or a PPV. All the crappy fights are more than made up for by getting to see the Gatti/Wards, Cotto/Tony, Pavlik/Taylor 1, Marquez/Vasquez or Bika/Codrington type of fights.

Great post. You said it all.

Despite all its flaws and all its fault, there is nothing in sports that can match a great fight.

Originally Posted by ICB

I'll never forget the first fight i saw was Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson 1, i actually remember the hype surronding it. And everyone in my family was saying Mike Tyson was going to crush Evander Holyfield etc, and to me at the time it was like King Kong vs Godzilla because of the hype it was crazy.

When i was watching the fight i remember thinking hold on a minute this guy Mike Tyson is getting his ass whooped ? how is this happening ? Evander Holyfield's skill, will, heart, was amazing to see. And funny enough i remember clearly the commentator saying Evander Holyfield hasn't got much left, them boom Evander Holyfield almost finishes him in the 10th round. I was actually laughing my ass off for about 2 minutes non stop at the commentator.

Then come the end in the 11th round and i thought to myself, wow what a sport this is one of the most exciting things i've ever seen. And thats how i got hooked on it, i come from a boxing family and i heard my grandfather and etc. Talking about boxing all the time but i never really took any notice until i see that fight, then i would get my grandfather to tell me stories of his boxing days. Then i learned his brother had KO'ed an olympic gold medalist Terry Spinks.

Which was amazing to hear and it gave me alot of dedication, but for me i love the amount of competition, skill, will, heart, desire, when a guy gives it his all aka Evander Holyfield vs Riddick Bowe 1, it just gives me a warm feeling inside and gives me so much dedication. Before a fight i watch a fight like that early in the day and it gives me the boost i need, some people say im crazy for being an Amateur boxer. But i can't help it i love the sport and i will be watching it until i die, and when i have my kid soon i learn him everything i know.

Blimey, that was a bit past your bedtime mate, considering it was early hours of the morning over here.

You must have only been 4 or 5 and yet you remember what the commentators were saying? I can't even remember for certain whether it was Darke and McCrory calling it...

Originally Posted by Fenster

Originally Posted by ICB

I'll never forget the first fight i saw was Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson 1, i actually remember the hype surronding it. And everyone in my family was saying Mike Tyson was going to crush Evander Holyfield etc, and to me at the time it was like King Kong vs Godzilla because of the hype it was crazy.

When i was watching the fight i remember thinking hold on a minute this guy Mike Tyson is getting his ass whooped ? how is this happening ? Evander Holyfield's skill, will, heart, was amazing to see. And funny enough i remember clearly the commentator saying Evander Holyfield hasn't got much left, them boom Evander Holyfield almost finishes him in the 10th round. I was actually laughing my ass off for about 2 minutes non stop at the commentator.

Then come the end in the 11th round and i thought to myself, wow what a sport this is one of the most exciting things i've ever seen. And thats how i got hooked on it, i come from a boxing family and i heard my grandfather and etc. Talking about boxing all the time but i never really took any notice until i see that fight, then i would get my grandfather to tell me stories of his boxing days. Then i learned his brother had KO'ed an olympic gold medalist Terry Spinks.

Which was amazing to hear and it gave me alot of dedication, but for me i love the amount of competition, skill, will, heart, desire, when a guy gives it his all aka Evander Holyfield vs Riddick Bowe 1, it just gives me a warm feeling inside and gives me so much dedication. Before a fight i watch a fight like that early in the day and it gives me the boost i need, some people say im crazy for being an Amateur boxer. But i can't help it i love the sport and i will be watching it until i die, and when i have my kid soon i learn him everything i know.

Blimey, that was a bit past your bedtime mate, considering it was early hours of the morning over here.

You must have only been 4 or 5 and yet you remember what the commentators were saying? I can't even remember for certain whether it was Darke and McCrory calling it...

My sleeping hours are crazy mate i only have a few hours sleep, and i was actually 7 at the time Fenster

Two shirtless guys who put on gloves, fight for a belt and at the end get a purse--what's not to love?