I think prize fighting had its 'Exile on Main Street' moment in Tokyo.
Last edited by Sammy Ambrose (2011-06-29 09:31:26)
Boxers did not make as much money a few years ago. Henry Cooper won several Lonsdale belts and was a hugely popular figure in the UK. Yet when he retired he ran a greengrocer's stall on Wembley High Road at the corner of the Ealing Road. He served customers on a regular basis too. A real gent of the old school as well.
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=44562
Last edited by Kingstonian (2011-06-29 10:45:39)
Last edited by Maximilien de Robespierre (2011-06-29 11:07:20)
^The UK has in parts experienced a similar degradation of working-class opportunities and aspiration, still not as bad as the USA. But in the same neo-liberal 'let the market decide' excuse for asset stripping and destruction of the means of production for a quick fix now for the chosen few. The final nail in the coffin is the closing of higher university education to the masses which has just now been inacted to a dumbed-down populance who has meagerly accepted their children's and grandchildren's fate.
The bad old days are coming and they will say; the baby-boomers were a blip, a rock and roll selfish generation content with pulling up the ladder of opportunity after them.
Boxing remains the closest sport to writing, with the same casuality rate.
Last edited by 4F Hepcat (2011-06-29 11:40:16)
And what of wrestling, Bukwoski was a big fan.
Last edited by Maximilien de Robespierre (2011-06-29 12:48:03)
^Agreed, Olympic wrestling has about as much interest as a raw-fooders breakfast after a heavy night.
I absolutely loathe most sports and sports persons - women included - sport is dominated by bullies and cowards - with overly macho fantasies.
However without any sense of contradiction or self awareness I do follow boxing. (As a callow youth I did some boxing taking lessons and doing a few bouts. I also won prizes for shooting.)
Here we haven't had a decent boxer for decades. In fact one of our best Lionel Rose just died the other week.
Theres so many ersatz Boxing Federations these days it is possible to be World Champion and never had a fight and never have to ever face a challenger who is more than some washed up drunk and street brawler. This as much as anything is to blame for the lack of any fights worth watching.
The only stuff worth watching is the Olympic Boxing - for all its rules and tameness it does have proper boxers and fit people with skills.
Last edited by fxh (2011-06-29 21:12:29)