Thread: Was this the greatest fight ever?

Originally Posted by smashup

Must have been the ultimate battle of wills to watch though... Jeannette was down about 20 odd times then turned it round around the 20th round.

People tend to get sensitive these days about what the fight game is all about I think, its a brutal brutal sport where the main aim is to punch your opponent unconscious and knock him out

Id have loved to have witnessed a tear up like that personally.

Fair enough, but at some point it becomes solely about wills, and that's when it gets a bit to savage to interest me. I'd imagine it was a case where each man was just so damaged and fatigued that they weren't punching hard enough to put the other man out for good, you might not actually enjoy it as much as you'd imagine. Between that, and by the sounds of it, the oxygen baloons keeping these guys going, it isn't really what boxing has been about in our lifetimes. Would Corrales Castillo have been a more exciting fight if instead of stopping it, the ref had dragged Jose to his corner and shot him up with adrenaline to come out another round?

Originally Posted by beenKOed

Most of the older films are disappointing as hell to me, even some from the 30s and 40s are piss poor.
I love to read about the old fights and then see the film. It's been my experience to wonder if some of the writers even saw the fight. They either exaggerate or don't do the fight justice. Most are very accurate though.
Good luck finding a usable copy, I'm interested in you opinion of the writing compared to the fight.

I've got stacks of books from the gloved and pre gloved eras , every birthday and xmas a family member will buy me a few more and its been that way since I was a kid

One of my faves is a retrospective review of fights over the last 80 -90 odd years from Daily Mirror ringside reports of big fights, the Ali v Cooper review is brilliant and pretty much spot on with the guy going into gory detail of the spurts of blood pumping from Enrys cut and how Ali just pounded away at it as soon as he saw it.

He claims it was squirting so far it hit people 3 rows back from ringside.

I've checked a lot of fights covered in that book and its pretty bang on to be honest but I think like you I enjoy reading the reviews as much if not more than the actual footage.

Other books I've got (and no offence here) with reviews by a lot of American journalists are totally exaggerated and often conflict with other guys reviewing the same fight which is a total let down if you manage to see the footage

I've got another on the history of boxing (I think saddo has or had it too if I remember back years ago ) from the origins in greece with leather studded gloves through pre gloved to prent day and ends up around Lennox Lewis time at the top.

Its an A4 size glossy paperback about the size of an old uk phone book (maybe a bit thinner).

The pre gloved era stories (Daniel Mendoza etc) are amazing but with no footage from well over 100 years ago you just gotta take the writers word for it and make your own mental pictures up.

Mendoza was hardcore and it was said he used to train his bare knuckles by punching the bark on a tree to make his knuckles 'horned' and more deadly weapons.

The phrase "your not up to scratch" comes from this era of boxing when a chalk line called the scratch line was drawn across the ring and a knockdown ended and started a new round (the reason some of these fights were well over 150 rounds , so you could have six knockdowns and six new rounds in the space of a few minutes)

If you weren't up to scratch you lost the fight

Originally Posted by p4pking

Originally Posted by smashup

Must have been the ultimate battle of wills to watch though... Jeannette was down about 20 odd times then turned it round around the 20th round.

People tend to get sensitive these days about what the fight game is all about I think, its a brutal brutal sport where the main aim is to punch your opponent unconscious and knock him out

Id have loved to have witnessed a tear up like that personally.

Fair enough, but at some point it becomes solely about wills, and that's when it gets a bit to savage to interest me. I'd imagine it was a case where each man was just so damaged and fatigued that they weren't punching hard enough to put the other man out for good, you might not actually enjoy it as much as you'd imagine. Between that, and by the sounds of it, the oxygen baloons keeping these guys going, it isn't really what boxing has been about in our lifetimes. Would Corrales Castillo have been a more exciting fight if instead of stopping it, the ref had dragged Jose to his corner and shot him up with adrenaline to come out another round?

In a word Yes but thats just my opinion.

Dont get me wrong I love a good tactical battle but deep down I think we as fight fans really wanna see two guys locked in a serious battle of wills and beating the absolute cunt out of each other.

Foreman v Lyle - im sure most members who have seen it will agree is pure drama and excitment and one of the most thrilling heavyweight battles ever.
Boxing skill was out the window after a round or so and it was purely about a battle of wills .. " the way the public wants it" .... said the commentator

I know which I find more exciting as a fight fan , at the end of the day I wanna see some action but respect totally say a Mayweather style.

Like I said boxing has been made safer and safer over the years and one day will be a distant memory people will look back on in disgust.

We are the last of a certain breed people, trust me on that

Originally Posted by smashup

They were both fighting around the time of Jack Johnson with another Black fighter (cant remember his name off the top of my head) who made up the awesone foursome as they were sometimes known.

Harry Wills and Sam Langford were part of that group.

Originally Posted by smashup

If anyone can track this fight down and post it up it would be much appreciated

Film does not exist.

Originally Posted by IamInuit

Originally Posted by smashup

They were both fighting around the time of Jack Johnson with another Black fighter (cant remember his name off the top of my head) who made up the awesone foursome as they were sometimes known.

Harry Wills and Sam Langford were part of that group.

Thats the guy Langford

I think some of his fights are on youtube as it goes but poor quality.

So there was actually 5 in the same era

Originally Posted by smashup

Originally Posted by IamInuit

Originally Posted by smashup

They were both fighting around the time of Jack Johnson with another Black fighter (cant remember his name off the top of my head) who made up the awesone foursome as they were sometimes known.

Harry Wills and Sam Langford were part of that group.

Thats the guy Langford

I think some of his fights are on youtube as it goes but poor quality.

So there was actually 5 in the same era

Some dont include Johnson as he was champion and ducked those guys. "No money in fighting another black man" He fought Jeanette a few times when Joe was first starting out and the same with Langford once early.

Originally Posted by FinitoElDinamita

Originally Posted by Vendettos

Sounds like a pretty shit fight tbh.

Sounds skill less.

No interest in it.

My thoughts exactly.. two skill challenged 1909 fighters lol just swinging away at each other..

Sounds like some bum fight on Thunderbox..

We don't mention that name on these forums....

First recorded fight EVER...

Jack Cushing vs Mike Leonard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiTXye62mAY

The guy in the white shorts looks like he had MURDEROUS intentions... hahahhahahhahhaa....