The next great American heavyweight?

Mr Big · 04-24-2008, 12:10 PM

Looks like somebody's getting serious about an American fighter reclaiming the greatest title in all of sports, "The Heavyweight Championship of the World."

Click on the link below...

THE AMERICAN CHAMPION

What are your thoughts?

Ric915 · 04-24-2008, 03:56 PM

Not sure this is a grand idea most guys who have went from the NFL to boxing were decent enough against the lower tier fighters but once they step up against someone who can fight just a little it turns out badly ala Mark Gastineau. Mind you most of the nfl stars took up the sport after their football careers were over and they were alot older then the class of athletes they are looking for. I'm sure it will be interesting and I'm sure I will tune in to check it out but I doubt a true Heavyweight Champion will be found, but who knows I've been wrong before just ask my wife.

Cap · 04-24-2008, 04:52 PM

Pheeew! (Cap holding his nose) Not another smelly reality show! Big Brother Boxing. 30 guys living together sharing their hopes, their dreams, their......yadda yadda. I predict you'll be able to take the finalist, put him in the ring with a b level light heavyweight and he'll get the snot beat out of him....between commercials for Dove soap and feminine hygene products.

Does anyone think the future heavyweight champion of the world is a failed football player?

Cap

Mr Big · 04-24-2008, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cap

Does anyone think the future heavyweight champion of the world is a failed football player?

Cap

I definitely don't. Kind of reminds me of when Tyson was champ, and everyone kept saying, "the only guy that could have beaten him is now playing in the NFL, or the NBA, or, whatever..." Absolute crap.

As if boxing gets all the "reject" athletes. Just another way to disrespect our beloved sport. I don't think the winner of this competition wins anything more than a WBF or WBE-type version of "the heavyweight championship of the world." To think they could actually beat somenone like Wladimir Klitschko is absolutely ridiculous.

gdf82 · 04-24-2008, 08:27 PM

Football players today can't even play more than three plays series. How are they going to fight a ten round fight or even 6 round fight. What a joke. I remember in the 70's when Too Tall Jones started boxing. It was the best comedy show of the year. The boxing did make him a better football player when he went back to football.

Mr Big · 04-25-2008, 10:06 AM

Having formerly lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I have been a fan of "Too Tall" and the Cowboys for many years. According to boxrec, during a 12 week stint in late '79-early '80, Mr. Jones compliled a record of 6-0 with 5 KOs vs competition with an aggregate winning pct. of .408.

Glad he went back to football full-time.

I live in Tennessee now, and have always wondered why former Vol Shazzon Bradley stopped boxing in '99. His record was 21-0 (17) against .286 fighters. Guess he knew that he wasn't capable of beating guys in the upper echelons of the sport.

Syd Thrift · 04-25-2008, 11:44 AM

Geez, even when these kinds of shows bring in actual boxers, the only "prize" those guys ever end up winning is the right to lose to somebody way out of their class. The only "success" I can think of from The Contender is Sakio Bika, and even then has he done anything near his pre-Contender heights (getting his face beat in by Joe Calzaghe - well, he had to get to that level, at least)? They should just call this "Search For The Next Turnbow" and be done with it.

mh2365 · 04-25-2008, 12:29 PM

IMO Bika's fight with Calzaghe was closer than Joe's fight with Kessler or Hopkins (barring the GBP judging) even.

David Ball · 04-25-2008, 07:06 PM

Imagine what a star Muhammad Ali might have been if he'd had more "articulate individuality."

aaaaaaaaa · 04-26-2008, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mh2365

IMO Bika's fight with Calzaghe was closer than Joe's fight with Kessler or Hopkins (barring the GBP judging) even.

are you serious? please rewatch that fight.. it was nowhere near as close.

mh2365 · 04-26-2008, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaaaaaaaa

are you serious? please rewatch that fight.. it was nowhere near as close.

I've rewatched it several times .. of course IMO this was one of the fights that Joe kinda took off. Also notice I didn't say the fight was close ... just closer than the Kessler and/or Hopkins fights.

Also it is an indication that I don't think the Kessler or the Hopkins fights were very close at all.

HBO: Boxing: Event: JOE CALZAGHE VS. SAKIO BIKA: CALZAGHE RETAINS TITLE IN CLOSE BATTLE

mh2365 · 04-26-2008, 02:56 PM

Here is another quote from an Eastside Boxing article after the Calzaghe/Manfredo bout

Diverting slightly, I must also defend Joe against some of the criticisms that were heaped upon him after the Bika fight. All the detractions seemed to focus on the larger issues of Calzaghe’s career. No one was interested in Bika before, during, or after, the fight in question. But they damn well should have been. Even without the injury, Bika would have been a handful. It was not that Calzaghe was unmotivated, or under-performing. It was, in fact, that Bika, unheralded and untested as he was, rose to the occasion. What Bika lacked in fistic-technique and balance, he made up for with a combination of drive, determination, chin, pressure, and innate ruggedness. “The Scorpion” even appeared to accidentally fall into the role of ring-general at times as a byproduct his aptitude for using pressure-punching to cut off the ring against a quicker opponent.

The fight should be seen as a credit to Bika, not a subtraction from Calzaghe’s late-surge onto the world-stage. In fact, Calzaghe should be lauded, lightly, for brawling effectively—with an injured hand—on the inside, taking more leather than usual to enable his hobbled hand speed in spaces that accommodated his injury.

04-24-2008, 12:10 PM	#1
Mr Big All Star Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 1,238	The next great American heavyweight? Looks like somebody's getting serious about an American fighter reclaiming the greatest title in all of sports, "The Heavyweight Championship of the World." Click on the link below... THE AMERICAN CHAMPION What are your thoughts? __________________ The M.O.B. Isaiah 54:17

04-24-2008, 04:52 PM	#3
Cap Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Large Province in God's Country Posts: 8,070	Pheeew! (Cap holding his nose) Not another smelly reality show! Big Brother Boxing. 30 guys living together sharing their hopes, their dreams, their......yadda yadda. I predict you'll be able to take the finalist, put him in the ring with a b level light heavyweight and he'll get the snot beat out of him....between commercials for Dove soap and feminine hygene products. Does anyone think the future heavyweight champion of the world is a failed football player? Cap __________________ "...There were Giants in Those Days.." Last edited by Cap; 04-24-2008 at 04:54 PM.

04-25-2008, 10:06 AM	#6
Mr Big All Star Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 1,238	Having formerly lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I have been a fan of "Too Tall" and the Cowboys for many years. According to boxrec, during a 12 week stint in late '79-early '80, Mr. Jones compliled a record of 6-0 with 5 KOs vs competition with an aggregate winning pct. of .408. Glad he went back to football full-time. I live in Tennessee now, and have always wondered why former Vol Shazzon Bradley stopped boxing in '99. His record was 21-0 (17) against .286 fighters. Guess he knew that he wasn't capable of beating guys in the upper echelons of the sport. __________________ The M.O.B. Isaiah 54:17

04-26-2008, 02:56 PM	#12
mh2365 Banned Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: louisville Posts: 14,941 Infractions: 0/2 (101)	Here is another quote from an Eastside Boxing article after the Calzaghe/Manfredo bout Diverting slightly, I must also defend Joe against some of the criticisms that were heaped upon him after the Bika fight. All the detractions seemed to focus on the larger issues of Calzaghe’s career. No one was interested in Bika before, during, or after, the fight in question. But they damn well should have been. Even without the injury, Bika would have been a handful. It was not that Calzaghe was unmotivated, or under-performing. It was, in fact, that Bika, unheralded and untested as he was, rose to the occasion. What Bika lacked in fistic-technique and balance, he made up for with a combination of drive, determination, chin, pressure, and innate ruggedness. “The Scorpion” even appeared to accidentally fall into the role of ring-general at times as a byproduct his aptitude for using pressure-punching to cut off the ring against a quicker opponent. The fight should be seen as a credit to Bika, not a subtraction from Calzaghe’s late-surge onto the world-stage. In fact, Calzaghe should be lauded, lightly, for brawling effectively—with an injured hand—on the inside, taking more leather than usual to enable his hobbled hand speed in spaces that accommodated his injury. Last edited by mh2365; 04-26-2008 at 02:57 PM.

04-24-2008, 03:56 PM	#2
Ric915 All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Lake Havasu City Arizona Posts: 1,262	Not sure this is a grand idea most guys who have went from the NFL to boxing were decent enough against the lower tier fighters but once they step up against someone who can fight just a little it turns out badly ala Mark Gastineau. Mind you most of the nfl stars took up the sport after their football careers were over and they were alot older then the class of athletes they are looking for. I'm sure it will be interesting and I'm sure I will tune in to check it out but I doubt a true Heavyweight Champion will be found, but who knows I've been wrong before just ask my wife.

04-24-2008, 08:27 PM	#5
gdf82 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: allen, tx Posts: 34	Football players today can't even play more than three plays series. How are they going to fight a ten round fight or even 6 round fight. What a joke. I remember in the 70's when Too Tall Jones started boxing. It was the best comedy show of the year. The boxing did make him a better football player when he went back to football.

04-25-2008, 12:29 PM	#8
mh2365 Banned Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: louisville Posts: 14,941 Infractions: 0/2 (101)	IMO Bika's fight with Calzaghe was closer than Joe's fight with Kessler or Hopkins (barring the GBP judging) even.

04-25-2008, 07:06 PM	#9
David Ball Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 281	Imagine what a star Muhammad Ali might have been if he'd had more "articulate individuality."