Thread: The Gallantry of Getting Up

The next time you are tempted to denigrate professional prizefighters who don't live up to your keyboard fearlessness sufficiently or who don't perform with the skill you do while risking air-conditioned typing think about the gallantry of getting up.

A prizefighter has been knocked down. That means the opponent has momentarily been a superior judge of distance and/or has been too fast to have been slipped, blocked, ducked, caught, parried or avoided and/or too powerful to have been withstood or so skillful as to prevent the knocked down fighter from avoiding the shot. It is always a shock to be knocked down. Frequently the fighter on the canvas is not certain how he got there.

If it has been a body shot? Breathing is difficult and therefore so is thinking. If it was a head shot? Thinking can be REALLY difficult.

Yet some things are certain. If he gets up, unless he can change something, and fast, he will be damaged further. In less than ten seconds, a professional prizefighter on the canvas has to acknowledge that for at least a moment the other man was better, understand he will get hit again, must formulate some plan for surviving the next few seconds and then find a way to get to his feet. He is surrounded by bellowing fans, his corner is shouting advice and he is faced faced by another gloved warrior seeking to do him harm. He may be dazed, not breathing well, bruised, in pain, exhausted and behind on the cards.

And yet they arise. Alexis Arguello had been knocked cold by the Hawk in their first fight. He was knocked down twice more in the second fight. Each time he got up. Finally the third knockdown finished him and he was willingly counted out. Was he a coward? Hardly. The majesty was that he got up even once.

But it is not just the greats who do this. Every week across the sport club level fighters and journeymen fighting for a small purse get knocked down and choose to get up. Most lose, a few overcome it and win. But they choose to get up. They choose to go into the breach once more.
There is immense dignity in that and those who display it should always be shown the respect they have earned.

These men are not garbage, bums, trash, losers or any of the other terms so many feel comfortable using describing fighters. If they have gotten up even once in their careers, they are gallant.

stop preaching!..oh wait.

Has this guy ever started a thread with just a few words?

I like Jack Dempseys saying: 'A champion is someone who gets up when he can't'

Obviously big respect to anyone who can get up from a knockdown but sometimes it's just not possible.

the above sentence does not apply to Audley Harrison

Mike Tyson never got up from a knockdown to win a fight.

Enzo maccrinelli does well to get up even if he is out on his feet once he's standing.

Originally Posted by armyash

Enzo maccrinelli does well to get up even if he is out on his feet once he's standing.

Poor Enzo needs to not get hit anymore...ever...by anybody.

Damn Marble, you had me going for a minute, I thought you might be talking about 'getting it up'. bahahaha.
Seriously though, it is gallant (and even foolish sometimes) to get back up from a knock down, it also takes some cojones.
I love fights when someone gets knocked down, even several times, before coming back to knock his opponent down and out, to me that's boxing at it's finest.

I agree. There is a great nobility to a fighter who gets up. It doesn't even matter if he wins, but it is that getting up that is significant. It is Don Quixote getting back on his horse and going out to battle once more. It is inherently absurd and might even be considered lunacy, but it is essential. When you get knocked down in life, you must carry on and keep on doing so. The boxing knockdown is a microcosm of this. There is nothing else.

Originally Posted by miles

I agree. There is a great nobility to a fighter who gets up. It doesn't even matter if he wins, but it is that getting up that is significant. It is Don Quixote getting back on his horse and going out to battle once more. It is inherently absurd and might even be considered lunacy, but it is essential. When you get knocked down in life, you must carry on and keep on doing so. The boxing knockdown is a microcosm of this. There is nothing else.

Damn, I wish I'd written that!

Originally Posted by Mars_ax

Damn Marble, you had me going for a minute, I thought you might be talking about 'getting it up'. bahahaha.
Seriously though, it is gallant (and even foolish sometimes) to get back up from a knock down, it also takes some cojones.
I love fights when someone gets knocked down, even several times, before coming back to knock his opponent down and out, to me that's boxing at it's finest.

George Foreman vs. Ron Lyle is a great example of this.

Originally Posted by marbleheadmaui

The next time you are tempted to denigrate professional prizefighters who don't live up to your keyboard fearlessness sufficiently or who don't perform with the skill you do while risking air-conditioned typing think about the gallantry of getting up.

A prizefighter has been knocked down. That means the opponent has momentarily been a superior judge of distance and/or has been too fast to have been slipped, blocked, ducked, caught, parried or avoided and/or too powerful to have been withstood or so skillful as to prevent the knocked down fighter from avoiding the shot. It is always a shock to be knocked down. Frequently the fighter on the canvas is not certain how he got there.

If it has been a body shot? Breathing is difficult and therefore so is thinking. If it was a head shot? Thinking can be REALLY difficult.

Yet some things are certain. If he gets up, unless he can change something, and fast, he will be damaged further. In less than ten seconds, a professional prizefighter on the canvas has to acknowledge that for at least a moment the other man was better, understand he will get hit again, must formulate some plan for surviving the next few seconds and then find a way to get to his feet. He is surrounded by bellowing fans, his corner is shouting advice and he is faced faced by another gloved warrior seeking to do him harm. He may be dazed, not breathing well, bruised, in pain, exhausted and behind on the cards.

And yet they arise. Alexis Arguello had been knocked cold by the Hawk in their first fight. He was knocked down twice more in the second fight. Each time he got up. Finally the third knockdown finished him and he was willingly counted out. Was he a coward? Hardly. The majesty was that he got up even once.

But it is not just the greats who do this. Every week across the sport club level fighters and journeymen fighting for a small purse get knocked down and choose to get up. Most lose, a few overcome it and win. But they choose to get up. They choose to go into the breach once more.
There is immense dignity in that and those who display it should always be shown the respect they have earned.

These men are not garbage, bums, trash, losers or any of the other terms so many feel comfortable using describing fighters. If they have gotten up even once in their careers, they are gallant.

I guess even this applies to Kid Thunder.

Originally Posted by Hulk

Originally Posted by Mars_ax

Damn Marble, you had me going for a minute, I thought you might be talking about 'getting it up'. bahahaha.
Seriously though, it is gallant (and even foolish sometimes) to get back up from a knock down, it also takes some cojones.
I love fights when someone gets knocked down, even several times, before coming back to knock his opponent down and out, to me that's boxing at it's finest.

George Foreman vs. Ron Lyle is a great example of this.

If I remember right, the Lyle vs. Foreman fight was sometime after Foreman had lost his title to Ali. You talk about a fookin' slugfest, both pugs were out on their feet at different times, but just kept on throwing big punches, that was one hell of a brawl.

Knockdowns have many variables but bottom line is opponent put you there....be it a knee taken or flash kd. You just cannot 'train' what it is to rise up after being humbled like that although it doesnt always mean a guy is hurt. How many guys get up on instinct alone though, still shakey and buzzed rather then know what is going on.

Joe Galzaghe had to do it a couple of time late in his career and so had B Hop. Tyson was the type of fighter once he went down he stayed down. Lewis got up, if a bit wobbly on his feet but always learned from the defeats and beat them back.