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Sugar Ray Leonard

Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed from 1977 to 1997, winning world titles in five weight divisions; the lineal championship in three weight divisions; as well as the undisputed welterweight title. Leonard was part of "The Fabulous Four", a group of boxers who all fought each other throughout the 1980s, consisting of Leonard, Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler.

"The Fabulous Four" created a wave of popularity in the lower weight classes that kept boxing relevant in the post-Muhammad Ali era, during which Leonard defeated future fellow International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Hearns, Durán, Hagler, and Wilfred Benítez. Leonard was also the first boxer to earn more than $100 million in purses, and was named "Boxer of the Decade" in the 1980s. The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1979 and 1981, while the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named him Fighter of the Year in 1976, 1979, and 1981. In 2002, Leonard was voted by The Ring as the ninth greatest fighter of the last 80 years; BoxRec ranks him as the 14th greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound.

Early life

Leonard, the fifth of seven children of Cicero and Getha Leonard, was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was named after Ray Charles, his mother's favorite singer. The family moved to Washington, D.C., when he was three, and they settled permanently in Palmer Park, Maryland when he was ten. His father worked as a supermarket night manager and his mother was a nurse. He attended Parkdale High School, Leonard was a shy child, and aside from the time he nearly drowned in a creek during a flood in Seat Pleasant, Maryland, his childhood was uneventful. He stayed home a lot, reading comic books and playing with his dog. His mother said: "He never did talk too much. We never could tell what he was thinking. But I never had any problems with him. I never had to go to school once because of him."

Amateur career

Leonard started boxing at the Palmer Park Recreation Center in 1969. His older brother, Roger, started boxing first. Roger helped start the boxing program, urging the center's director, Ollie Dunlap, to form a team. Dave Jacobs, a former boxer, and Janks Morton volunteered as boxing coaches. Roger won some trophies and showed them off in front of Ray, goading him to start boxing.

In 1972, Leonard boxed in the featherweight quarterfinals of the National AAU Tournament, losing by decision to Jerome Artis. It was his first defeat. Later that year, he boxed in the Eastern Olympic Trials. The rules stated that a boxer had to be seventeen to box in international competition, so Leonard, only sixteen, lied about his age. He made it to the lightweight semifinals, losing a disputed decision to Greg Whaley, who took such a beating that he wasn't allowed to continue in the trials and never boxed again.

Sarge Johnson, assistant coach of the US Olympic Boxing Team, said to Dave Jacobs, "That kid you got is sweet as sugar". The nickname stuck. However, given his style and first name, it was probably only a matter of time before people started calling him Sugar Ray, after the man many consider to be the best boxer of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson.

In 1973, Leonard won the National Golden Gloves Lightweight Championship, but lost to Randy Shields in the lightweight final of the National AAU Tournament. The following year, Leonard won the National Golden Gloves and National AAU Lightweight Championships. Leonard suffered his last two losses as an amateur in 1974. He lost a disputed decision to Anatoli Kamnev in Moscow, after which, Kamnev gave the winner's trophy to Leonard. In Poland, Kazimierz Szczerba was given a decision victory over Leonard, even though he was dominated in the first two rounds and dropped three times in the third.

Leonard won the National Golden Gloves and National AAU Light Welterweight Championships in 1974. The following year, he again won the National AAU Light Welterweight Championship, as well as the Light Welterweight Championship at the Pan American Games.

In 1976, Leonard made the U.S. Olympic Team as the light welterweight representative. The team also included Leon and Michael Spinks, Howard Davis Jr., Leo Randolph, Charles Mooney, and John Tate. Many consider the 1976 U.S. team to be the greatest boxing team in the history of the Olympics. Leonard won his first four Olympic bouts by 5–0 decisions. He faced Kazimierz Szczerba in the semifinals and won by a 5–0 decision, avenging his last amateur loss.

In the final, Leonard boxed the great Cuban knockout artist Andrés Aldama, who scored five straight knockouts to reach the final. Leonard landed several good left hooks in the first round. In the second, he dropped Aldama with a left to the chin. Late in the final round, he again hurt Aldama, which brought a standing eight count from the referee.

With only a few seconds left in the fight, a Leonard combination forced another standing eight count. Leonard was awarded a 5–0 decision and the Olympic Gold Medal. Afterward, Leonard announced, "I'm finished...I've fought my last fight. My journey has ended, my dream is fulfilled. Now I want to go to school." He was given a scholarship to the University of Maryland, a gift from the citizens of Glenarden, Maryland. He planned to study business administration and communications. He finished his amateur career with a record of 165–5 and 75 KOs.

Achievements

1973 National Golden Gloves Lightweight Champion, defeating Hilmer Kenty

1973 National AAU Light Welterweight Championship runner-up, losing to Randy Shields

1974 National Golden Gloves Light Welterweight Champion, defeating Jeff Lemeir

1974 National AAU Light Welterweight Champion, defeating Paul Sherry

1974 North American Championships Gold Medalist, defeating Robert Proulx

1975 National AAU Light Welterweight Champion, defeating Milton Seward

1975 North American Championships Gold Medalist, defeating Michel Briere

1975 Pan American Games Light Welterweight Gold Medalist, defeating Victor Corona

1976 Olympic Light Welterweight Gold Medalist, defeating Andrés Aldama

Olympic Results

1/32: Defeated Ulf Carlsson (Sweden) by unanimous decision, 5–0

1/16: Defeated Valery Limasov (Soviet Union) by unanimous decision, 5–0

1/8: Defeated Clinton McKenzie (Great Britain) by unanimous decision, 5–0

1/4: Defeated Ulrich Beyer (East Germany) by unanimous decision, 5–0

1/2: Defeated Kazimierz Szczerba (Poland) by unanimous decision, 5–0

Finals: Defeated Andrés Aldama (Cuba) by unanimous decision, 5–0

Change in plans

Juanita Wilkinson, Leonard's high school girlfriend, told him she was pregnant in the summer of 1973. They decided to have the baby but marriage would be put off until after the Olympics in 1976. Leonard would continue to pursue his Olympic dream while she and the baby, Ray Charles Leonard Jr., lived with her parents. When Leonard boxed in the Olympics, he had a picture of Wilkinson taped to his sock.

Shortly before the Olympics, Wilkinson had filed an application to receive $156 a month in child support payments from Prince George's County, Maryland. She named Leonard as the father and the county's state attorney's office filed a civil suit against Leonard to establish paternity and get support payments for the child. Leonard learned of the suit several days after returning home from the Olympics. The headline in the Washington Star read, "Sugar Ray Leonard Named in Welfare Dept. Paternity Suit".

Wilkinson went to the Olympics to watch Leonard box, but she did not tell him about the suit and never asked him for any money. "I didn't feel like being bothered by all those complications by asking him for any money for support", she said. Leonard pledged he would support his son, even if he had to scrap plans to attend college.

Leonard had hoped to get lucrative endorsements following his gold medal win, but the negative publicity from the paternity suit chased off any big commercial possibilities. To make matters worse, his father was hospitalized with meningitis and his mother suffered a heart attack. With neither parent able to work, with his child and the mother of his child to support, and without any endorsement opportunities, Leonard decided to become a professional boxer.

Professional career

Early professional career

When Leonard decided to turn professional, Janks Morton introduced him to Mike Trainer, a friend of his who was an attorney. Trainer talked 24 of his friends and clients into underwriting Leonard's career with an investment of $21,000 to be repaid within four years at 8% interest. Trainer then made Leonard the sole stockholder in Sugar Ray Leonard, Inc. Angelo Dundee, Muhammad Ali's trainer, was brought in to be Leonard's trainer and manager. Many of the people being considered wanted absolute control and a cut somewhere near the manager's traditional 33%. Dundee had a different proposition. Although he would prescribe the training procedures, he would leave the day-to-day work to Dave Jacobs and Janks Morton. He would also choose Leonard's opponents. For his services, Dundee would get 15% of Leonard's purse.

Leonard made his professional debut on February 5, 1977 before a crowd of 10,270 at the Civic Center in Baltimore. He was paid $40,044 for the fight. His opponent was Luis "The Bull" Vega, whom he defeated by a six-round unanimous decision. After the fight, Leonard paid back his $21,000 loan to the investors.

In his fourteenth professional fight, Leonard fought his first world-ranked opponent, Floyd Mayweather, who was ranked seventeenth. The fight took place on September 9, 1978. Leonard won by a tenth-round knockout. A month later, Leonard defeated his old amateur nemesis Randy Shields by a ten-round unanimous decision.

On August 12, 1979, Leonard knocked out Pete Ranzany in four rounds to win the NABF Welterweight Championship. The following month, he made his first title defense against Andy Price. Price, an up-and-coming contender who was sponsored by Marvin Gaye, had a reputation for prolonged bouts in earlier fights and was believed by sports reporters to defeat or give a long fight to Leonard. Although Price landed multiple good blows, Leonard knocked him out in the first round, advancing his record to 25–0 with 16 knockouts.

First world titleLeonard vs. Benitez

Leonard fought Wilfred Benítez for the WBC Welterweight Championship on November 30, 1979, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. There was a capacity crowd of about 4,600. Leonard received $1 million and Benitez, a two-division champion with a record of 38–0–1, received $1.2 million.

It was a highly competitive and tactical battle. In the first round, Leonard rocked Benitez with a left hook that came off a jab and right cross. Late in the third, Leonard dropped Benitez on the seat of his pants with a stiff left jab. More embarrassed than hurt, Benitez got up quickly. Benitez started improving in the fourth, slipping numerous punches and finding the range with his right hand. "I wasn't aware I was in a championship early because I hit him so easy", Leonard said. "But then he adjusted to my style. It was like looking in a mirror".

In the sixth, there was an accidental clash of heads, which opened a cut on the forehead of Benitez. Blood flowed down his forehead and the bridge of his nose but stayed out of his eyes.

Leonard landed the harder punches and had Benitez hurt several times late in the fight, but Leonard couldn't put him away. Benitez was very slick. "No one, I mean no one, can make me miss punches like that", Leonard said.

Going into the final round, Leonard led by scores of 137–130, 137–133, and 136–134. The two went toe-to-toe in the fifteenth. Late in the round, Leonard dropped Benitez with a left. He got up, but after a few more punches, the referee stopped the fight. The time was 2:54 of round fifteen.

The Boxing Writers Association of America and The Ring named Leonard "Fighter of the Year" for 1979.

Leonard vs. Green

Leonard made his first title defense in Landover, Maryland, on March 31, 1980. His opponent was Dave "Boy" Green. The British challenger had a record of 33–2. In the fourth round, Leonard knocked Green out with a devastating left hook. Leonard called it "the hardest single punch I ever threw."

The Brawl in Montreal

On June 20, 1980, Leonard returned to the Olympic Stadium in Montreal to defend his title against Roberto Durán before a crowd of 46,317. Durán, the former Undisputed World Lightweight Champion for 6 1/2 years, had a record of 71–1 and was the #1 welterweight contender and considered the best "Pound for Pound" fighter in the world. Durán received $1.5 million and Leonard, working for a percentage of the closed-circuit gate as well as a guarantee, received over $9 million.

Angelo Dundee counseled Leonard to box, to move side to side and not to get caught on the ropes. However, Leonard decided to fight Durán's way. "Flat-footed", he said. "I will not run."

Durán forced the issue and took the fight to Leonard, cutting off the ring and denying Leonard space to fight his fight. Durán attacked at almost every turn. Leonard battled back again and again, but he had to work just to find room to breathe and swing, at times simply to survive. In the second, Durán rocked Leonard with a left hook, sending him into the ropes. Leonard started to do better by the fifth round, finding some punching room and throwing numerous multi-punch combinations. The two fought with great intensity throughout the fight. According to Bill Nack:

It was, from almost the opening salvo, a fight that belonged to Durán. The Panamanian seized the evening and gave it what shape and momentum it had. He took control, attacking and driving Leonard against the ropes, bulling him back, hitting him with lefts and rights to the body as he maneuvered the champion against the ropes from corner to corner. Always moving forward, he mauled and wrestled Leonard, scoring inside with hooks and rights. For three rounds Durán drove at Sugar Ray with a fury, and there were moments when it seemed the fight could not last five. Unable to get away, unable to counter and unable to slide away to open up the ring, Leonard seemed almost helpless under the assault. Now and then he got loose and countered—left-right-left to Durán's bobbing head—but he missed punches and could not work inside, could not jab, could not mount an offense to keep Durán at bay.

Durán was awarded a unanimous decision, although it was mistakenly read as a majority decision in the ring. The scorecard of judge Angelo Poletti was incorrectly added and announced as 147–147. He actually scored it 148–147. In rounds, he had it three for Durán, two for Leonard, and ten even. Sports Illustrated called his scorecard "a monument to indecision." Judges Raymond Baldeyrou and Harry Gibbs scored the fight 146–144 and 145–144, respectively. Associated Press had it 144–141 for Durán, while The New York Times had Leonard ahead 144–142.

"I did the best I could", Leonard said. "I think I pretty much fought from the heart." Asked if Leonard was the best he ever fought, Durán thought for a moment and then answered, "Si, si." Durán said. "He does have a heart. That's why he's living."

"No Más"

in New Orleans

The rematch, billed as "Stone vs. Sugar.. Once Again", took place November 25, 1980 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans in front of 25,038 fans. Leonard received $7 million and Durán received $8 million.

Dave Jacobs disagreed with the decision to have an immediate rematch with Durán and terminated his relationship with Leonard when the rematch was made. "My idea is that he should have a tuneup fight before he fights with Roberto again", Jacobs said. "I think he won the fight with Durán, but I don't think it is healthy for him to be fighting Durán right away".

After the Montreal fight Durán went on a partying binge and ballooned in weight. Leonard was aware of this, and in an interview for Beyond the Glory he said: "My intention was to fight Durán ASAP because I knew Durán's habits. I knew he would indulge himself, he'd gain 40–50 lbs and then sweat it off to make 147." Unlike the fight in Montreal, Leonard used his superior speed and movement to outbox and befuddle Durán. "The whole fight, I was moving, I was moving", Leonard said. "And Voom! I snapped his head back with a jab. Voom! I snapped it back again. He tried to get me against the ropes, I'd pivot, spin off and Pow! Come under with a punch."

In round seven, Leonard started to taunt Durán. Leonard's most memorable punch came late in the round. Winding up his right hand, as if to throw a bolo punch, Leonard snapped out a left jab and caught Durán flush in the face. "It made his eyes water", Leonard said. He continued to taunt Durán mercilessly. He stuck out his chin, inviting Durán to hit it. Durán hesitated. Leonard kept it up, continuing to move, stop, and mug.

In the closing seconds of the eighth round, Durán turned his back to Leonard and quit, saying to referee Octavio Meyran, "No Más" (English: "No more"). Leonard was the winner by a technical knockout at 2:44 of round eight, regaining the WBC Welterweight Championship. Leonard led by scores of 68–66, 68–66 and 67–66.

Durán said he quit because of stomach cramps, caused by overeating after the weigh-in. "At the end of the fifth round, I got cramps in my stomach and it kept getting worse and worse", Duran later said. "I felt weaker and weaker in my body and arms." He then announced, "I am retiring from boxing right now." During the night Durán was admitted to a hospital with stomach pains, and discharged the following day.

Everyone was surprised by Durán's actions, none more so than his veteran trainers, Freddie Brown and Ray Arcel. "I was shocked", Brown said. "There was no indication that he was in pain or getting weak." Arcel was angry. "That's it", he said. "I've had it. This is terrible. I've handled thousands of fighters and never had anyone quit on me. I think he needs a psychiatrist more than he needs anything else." Durán's manager, Carlos Eleta, said, "Durán didn't quit because of stomach cramps. He quit because he was embarrassed. I know this." According to Randy Gordon, who witnessed Durán's antics beforehand and was in his dressing room immediately afterwards, Durán quit because of his huge eating binge prior to the fight.

"I made him quit", Leonard said. "To make a man quit, to make Roberto Durán quit, was better than knocking him out."

Second world titleLeonard vs. Bonds

On March 28, 1981, Leonard defended his title against Larry Bonds, the WBC sixth-ranked contender, at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. Bonds was a southpaw, which made him a good opponent for Leonard, given that his next opponent was scheduled to be the WBA Light Middleweight Champion Ayub Kalule, a southpaw.

Leonard was the aggressor throughout, with Bonds circling the ring. He staggered Bonds with a right in the fourth round and dropped him with a follow-up combination. Bonds got up and continued to move, with Leonard in pursuit. Leonard dropped him again in the tenth. Bonds rose but Leonard didn't let him off the hook. The referee stopped the fight with Bonds taking punishment in a corner.

Leonard vs. Kalule

Leonard moved up to the junior middleweight division and faced Kalule on June 25, 1981 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Kalule, who was 36–0, had been the WBA Light Middleweight Champion for two years.

Kalule and his handlers had expected Leonard to use lateral movement against him, but Leonard chose to fight inside instead. After eight tough rounds, Leonard was ahead although Kalule appeared to be coming on strong in the eight and ninth. Leonard finally hurt him with a right to the head. Shortly afterward, Leonard dropped him with a flurry of punches. Kalule got up but the referee waved it off. Leonard celebrated his victory with a full 360-degree, no-hands flip. Despite an official stoppage time of 2.59, the fight was actually stopped at 3.06 into the round, meaning Kalule should have been saved by the bell.

The Showdown

Promoted as "The Showdown", Leonard fought Thomas Hearns on September 16, 1981 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to unify the World Welterweight Championship in a scheduled fifteen-rounder. They fought before a live crowd of 23,618. Hearns was paid $5.1 million, and Leonard made over $11 million. The fight grossed over $35 million. The live gate was $5.9 million, and the revenue from pay-per-view was $7.5 million.

Hearns, 32–0 with 30 knockouts, won the WBA Welterweight Championship in 1980, scoring a second-round knockout of José "Pipino" Cuevas in Detroit, Michigan. He made three successful title defenses, stopping Luis Primera, Randy Shields, and Pablo Baez.

The fight began as expected, Leonard boxing from a distance and Hearns stalking. Leonard had difficulty with Hearns' long reach and sharp jab. By the end of round five, Leonard had a growing swelling under his left eye, and Hearns had built a considerable lead on the scorecards. Leonard, becoming more aggressive, hurt Hearns in the sixth with a left hook to the chin. Leonard battered Hearns in rounds six and seven, but Hearns regrouped. Hearns started to stick and move, and he started to pile up points again. The roles reversed: Leonard became the stalker and Hearns became the boxer. The fight billed as a classic showdown between a powerful knockout artist and the best boxer/puncher the welterweight division had seen in decades devolved into a tactical and boring fight.

Hearns won rounds nine through twelve on all three scorecards. Between rounds twelve and thirteen, Angelo Dundee told Leonard, "You're blowing it, son! You're blowing it!".

Leonard, with a badly swollen left eye, came out roaring for the thirteenth round. After hurting Hearns with a right, Leonard exploded with a combination of punches. Hearns' legs were clearly gone and after more pressure from Leonard he was bundled through the ropes, no knockdown was given as it wasn't a punch that sent him there. Hearns managed to rise, but was dropped by a flurry of hard punches near the end of the round.

In round fourteen, after staggering Hearns with an overhand right, Leonard pinned Hearns against the ropes, where he unleashed another furious combination, prompting referee Davey Pearl to stop the contest and award Sugar Ray Leonard the Unified World Welterweight Championship. Hearns was leading by scores of 124–122, 125–122, and 125–121.

After the fight, there was controversy due to the scoring of rounds six and seven. Even though Leonard dominated, hurting Hearns and battering him, all three judges gave both rounds to Leonard by a 10–9 margin. Many felt that the ten-point must scoring system was not properly used and those rounds should have been scored 10–8. Some also considered the stoppage premature. Veteran ringside commentator Don Dunphy said "They're stopping the fight. I don't believe it. Hearns was ahead on points." However, Emanuel Steward, Hearns' manager and trainer, said, "I felt that the referee was justified in stopping the fight ... Tommy did not have enough energy to make it through the fight."

The fight was named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring. Leonard was named "Fighter of the Year" by The Ring and The Boxing Writers Association of America. He was also named "Athlete of the Year" by ABC's Wide World of Sports and "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated.

Retirement and return

On February 15, 1982, Leonard defended the unified title against Bruce Finch, the WBC fourth-ranked contender, in a bout at Reno, NV. Leonard knocked him out in the third round. Leonard's next fight was scheduled to be against Roger Stafford on May 14, 1982, in Buffalo, New York. While training, Leonard started to see floaters. He went to a doctor and discovered that he had a detached retina. The fight was cancelled, and Leonard had surgery to repair the retina on May 9, 1982.

On November 9, 1982, Leonard invited Marvin Hagler and other boxing dignitaries to a charity event in Baltimore, Maryland to hear him announce whether he would continue his career. Standing in a boxing ring with Howard Cosell, the master of ceremonies, Leonard announced his retirement, saying a bout with Hagler would unfortunately never happen. Leonard maintained his eye was fully healed, but that he just didn't want to box anymore.

Missing the limelight and the competition, Leonard announced in December 1983 that he was returning to the ring. Leonard boasted that he would have a couple of ten-round bouts and then take on Milton McCrory, Donald Curry, Durán, Hearns and finally Hagler. This decision was met with a torrent of criticism from fans and the media, who felt Leonard was taking unnecessary risks with his surgically repaired eye.

A bout with Philadelphia's Kevin Howard, who was 20–4–1, was scheduled for February 25, 1984. The fight was postponed when Leonard had minor surgery on his right eye to fix a loose retina. This latest eye problem further fueled the flames of those who opposed Leonard's comeback.

Before the fight with Howard, Dave Jacobs rejoined Leonard's team in a limited role. Jacobs had quit in 1980, disagreeing with Leonard's decision to have an immediate rematch with Durán.

Leonard and Howard fought on May 11, 1984, in Worcester, Massachusetts. Howard knocked Leonard flat on his back in the fourth round. It was the first knockdown of Leonard's professional career. Leonard came back to stop Howard in the ninth round, but the stoppage was disputed, with some feeling that the referee stopped the fight prematurely. Leonard was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage. At the post-fight press conference, Leonard surprised everyone by announcing his retirement again, saying he just didn't have it anymore.

Leonard vs. Hagler

On March 10, 1986, Marvin Hagler knocked out John Mugabi in eleven rounds to retain the Undisputed World Middleweight Championship for the twelfth time and advance his record to 62–2–2. "I was ringside", Leonard said. "I'm watching John 'The Beast' Mugabi outbox Hagler. Of all people, John 'The Beast' Mugabi." It was then that Leonard decided to come back and fight Hagler. He called Mike Trainer and said, "I can beat Hagler".

On May 1, 1986, Leonard announced on a Washington, D.C. talk show that he would return to the ring to fight Hagler. The announcement generated a lot of controversy because of Leonard's inactivity and eye injuries, yet it also excited many sports fans who had hoped to see them fight years earlier. Hagler took a few months to decide, then agreed to the match.

The fight, promoted as "The Super Fight" and "The King of the Ring", was scheduled for April 6, 1987, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Leonard was guaranteed $11 million, and Hagler was guaranteed $12 million. Hagler was a heavy favorite. The odds started at 4–1, then settled at 3–1. A paying crowd 12,379 generated a live gate of $6.2 million. According to Bob Arum, the fight grossed $78 million (which equates to $170 million in 2016).

The original fight plan for Leonard was to go toe-to-toe with Hagler and try to cut him, but the plan changed about five days before the fight. Leonard got hit by sparring partner Quincy Taylor and was badly buckled. "He almost knocked me out", Leonard said. After that, Leonard decided to box Hagler.

Many were surprised that Hagler, a natural southpaw, opened the fight boxing out of an orthodox stance. After the quick and slick Leonard won the first two rounds on all three scorecards, Hagler started the third round as a southpaw. Hagler did better, but Leonard's superior speed and boxing skill still allowed him to control the fight. Hagler looked stiff and mechanical and missed the speedy Leonard time and again prompting CBS ringside commentator Gil Clancy to remark "...and is he ever missing...Leonard isn't doing anything to make him miss, he's just missing!"

By the fifth, Leonard, who was moving a lot, began to tire and Hagler started to get closer. Hagler buckled Leonard's knees with a right uppercut near the end of the round, which finished with Leonard on the ropes. Hagler continued to score somewhat effectively in round six. Leonard, having slowed down, was obliged to fight more and move less. However, he was able to outpunch Hagler along the ropes and got the better of several bristling exchanges. Hagler never seized total control of the fight as he had against Thomas Hearns two years earlier, when he brutalized Hearns and scored a third-round knockout. Hagler's punches lacked snap and, although he was scoring solidly to the body, he looked nothing like the powerful fighter who had dominated the middleweight division for the previous five years. Leonard's observation that the Hagler who beat John Mugabi was older and slower proved to be spot on. In rounds seven and eight, Hagler's southpaw jab was landing solidly and Leonard's counter flurries were less frequent.

Round nine was the most exciting round of the fight. Hagler hurt Leonard with a left cross and pinned him in a corner. Leonard looked to be in trouble, but he furiously fought his way out of the corner. The action see-sawed back and forth for the rest of the round, with each man having his moments. However, Hagler's moments were more spectacular and one of Hagler's cornermen: Roger Perron (in an interview that took place on an episode of HBO's Legendary Nights episode segments in 2003) later stated that: "the ninth round was probably Marvin (Hagler)'s, best round".

Round ten was tame by comparison, as the pace slowed after the furious action of the previous round but with Hagler having more spectacular moments. Despite Leonard's obvious fatigue, he boxed well in the eleventh. Every time Hagler scored, Leonard came back with something flashier and more eye-catching, if not as effective. But at that point in the fight, Hagler appeared to be slightly more ring-general and clearly more aggressive. Between rounds eleven and twelve, Leonard's trainer: Angelo Dundee, implored Sugar Ray to get up off his stool yelling "We got three minutes...new champ...new champ!" Leonard yelled "Yeah!" and played to the screaming crowd. Hagler's corner was much more reserved prompting Clancy to comment: "They're talking to him like it's an IBM meeting or something...no emotion." In the final round, Hagler continued to chase Leonard. He hit Leonard with a big left hand and backed him into a corner. Leonard responded with a furious flurry, landing few punches but whipping the upset-hoping crowd into a frenzy. Hagler backed off, and Leonard danced away with Hagler in pursuit. The fight ended with Hagler and Leonard exchanging along the ropes. At the final bell, even uniformed ringside security rushed into the ring applauding and lauding Leonard's effort.

Leonard threw 629 punches and landed 306, while Hagler threw 792 and landed 291.

Leonard was awarded a controversial split-decision. Judge Dave Moretti scored it 115–113 for Leonard, while judge Lou Filippo had it 115–113 for Hagler. Judge José Guerra scored the fight 118–110 for Leonard. Many felt that Hagler deserved the decision because he was the aggressor and landed the harder punches. Scottish boxing journalist Hugh McIlvanney wrote that Leonard's plan was to "steal rounds with a few flashy and carefully timed flurries...he was happy to exaggerate hand speed at the expense of power, and neither he nor two of the scorers seemed bothered by the fact that many of the punches landed on the champion's gloves and arms."

Many others felt that Leonard deservedly got the decision, arguing that Leonard landed more punches and showed better defense and ring generalship. Jim Murray, long-time sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times, wrote, "It wasn't even close...He didn't just outpoint Hagler, he exposed him. He made him look like a guy chasing a bus. In snowshoes...Leonard repeatedly beat Hagler to the punch. When he did, he hit harder. He hit more often...He made Hagler into what he perceived him to be throughout his career—a brawler, a swarmer, a man who could club you to death only if you stood there and let him. If you moved, he was lost."

The scorecards from the ringside press and broadcast media attest to the polarizing views and opinions of the fight:

The fight was named "Fight of the Year" and "Upset of the Year" by The Ring.

Despite requests from the Hagler camp, Leonard was uninterested in a rematch and retired on May 27, 1987. "I'll try, I'll give it a shot", Leonard said of his latest retirement. "But you guys know me." A month after Hagler's formal retirement in June 1988, Leonard would announce another comeback.

Another comebackLeonard vs. Lalonde

On November 7, 1988, Leonard made another comeback, facing Donny Lalonde at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. They fought for Lalonde's WBC Light Heavyweight Championship and the newly created WBC Super Middleweight Championship, which meant that Lalonde had to make 168 lbs. Many were critical of the fact that Lalonde's light heavyweight title was on the line when the weight limit of the fight with Leonard was at 168 pounds, and critical of Leonard for stipulating that his opponent—a natural 175 pounder—should weigh less than his usual fighting weight, which could possibly weaken him. However, Lalonde later told HBO's Larry Merchant that he didn't have any trouble making weight.

Lalonde, 31–2 with 26 knockouts, was guaranteed at least $6 million and Leonard was guaranteed over $10 million.

This would be Leonard's first professional fight without Angelo Dundee. For Leonard's fight with Hagler, Dundee worked without a contract and received $175,000, which was less than 2% of Leonard's purse. Dundee was unhappy with that amount. He requested a contract for the Lalonde fight and Leonard refused. "I don't have contracts. My word is my bond", Leonard said. Janks Morton and Dave Jacobs trained Leonard for the Lalonde fight.

Lalonde's size and awkwardness troubled Leonard. In the fourth round, a right hand to the top of Leonard's head dropped him for just the second time in his career. Early in the ninth, Lalonde hurt Leonard with a right to the chin. Leonard fired back and hurt Lalonde with a right. He drove him to the ropes and unleashed a furious assault. Lalonde tried to tie up Leonard, but got dropped with a powerful left hook. He rose but was soon down again, and the fight was stopped. Judges Chuck Giampa and Franz Marti had Leonard ahead by scores of 77–74 and 77–75, respectively. Judge Stuart Kirshenbaum had Lalonde ahead 76–75.

After the fight, Leonard vacated the light heavyweight title, but kept the super middleweight title. Also, Leonard and Janks Morton split because of personal differences. Morton was replaced as co-trainer by Pepe Correa, who had worked with Leonard for most of the previous fifteen years.

Leonard vs. Hearns

On June 12, 1989, Leonard defended the WBC Super Middleweight Championship in a rematch with Thomas Hearns at Caesar's Palace. It was promoted as "The War." Hearns was guaranteed $11 million and Leonard was guaranteed $14 million.

Hearns dropped Leonard with a right cross in the third round, but Leonard came back and battered Hearns around the ring in the fifth. Early in the seventh round, Hearns hurt Leonard but punched himself out going for the knockout. With Hearns fatigued, Leonard came back and had a strong finish to the round. Rounds nine and ten were good rounds for Leonard, but he ran into trouble in the eleventh round. Three booming rights from Hearns sent Leonard down for the second time in the fight. Knowing he needed a big finish, Leonard fought furiously and had a big final round.

The judges scored the fight a draw and Leonard retained the title. Judge Jerry Roth scored the fight 113–112 for Hearns, Judge Tom Kazmarek scored it 113–112 for Leonard, and Judge Dalby Shirley scored it 112–112. Shirley was the only judge to give Leonard a 10–8 margin in the twelfth. If he had scored it 10–9, as his two colleagues did, Hearns would have won by a split decision. Eventually, Leonard admitted that Hearns deserved the decision.

Leonard vs. Durán III – Uno Más

On December 7, 1989, Leonard defended the title against Roberto Durán, who was the reigning WBC Middleweight Champion. Durán was guaranteed $7.6 million and Leonard's arrangement guaranteed him over $13 million.

For the Durán fight, Leonard cut his entourage from twenty-one to six. Dave Jacobs was one of the people let go, leaving Correa as the sole trainer. Correa was instructed not to spare the whip. "For the first time in a long time, I allowed someone to push me", Leonard said.

The fight took place at the new Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. Leonard used constant lateral movement and won by a lopsided twelve-round unanimous decision over a listless Durán. The scores were 120–110, 119–109, and 116–111. In a fight that many considered to be very boring, both fighters were booed often by the fans and many left the arena before the decision was announced. Pat Putnam of Sports Illustrated wrote, "Leonard gave them artistic perfection when they wanted heated battle, and they booed lustily. Most fight fans would not spend a dime to watch Van Gogh paint Sunflowers, but they would fill Yankee Stadium to see him cut off his ear." Although Leonard dominated the fight, he suffered several cuts. His lower lip was cut from a headbutt in the fourth round, his left eye was cut in the eleventh round, and his right eye was cut in the twelfth round. The cuts required a total of 60 stitches.

In January 1990, Leonard relinquished the WBC Super Middleweight Championship, saying that he was unsure whether he would fight again. When Leonard decided to continue his career, he offered Hagler a rematch, but Hagler decided to stay retired. He then offered Hearns a third fight, but Hearns said he could no longer make the weight and moved up to the light heavyweight division.

Leonard vs. Norris

On February 9, 1991, Leonard went down to 154 lbs and fought WBC Light Middleweight Champion Terry Norris at Madison Square Garden. Leonard entered the bout as a 3-1 favorite but Norris dominated the fight, giving Leonard a heavy beating. He knocked Leonard down with a left hook in the second round, and in the seventh, he dropped Leonard again with a short right. Leonard had no answer for the skillful, younger, faster man. Leonard went the distance but lost by a lopsided decision. The scores were 120–104, 119–103, and 116–110. After the verdict was announced, Leonard announced his retirement. "It took this fight to show me it is no longer my time", Leonard said. "Tonight was my last fight. I know how Hagler felt now."

Final comeback

In October 1996, the 40-year-old Leonard announced that he was coming out of retirement to fight 34-year-old Héctor Camacho for the lightly regarded International Boxing Council (IBC) Middleweight Championship. Camacho, a light-hitting southpaw, was a three-time world champion with a record of 62–3–1. However, Camacho was also considered to be past his prime. Leonard decided to fight Camacho after commentating on Camacho's fight with the 45-year-old Roberto Durán the previous year, describing the disputed unanimous decision as "an early Christmas gift".

Leonard blamed his poor performance against Norris on lack of motivation, a rib injury, moving down in weight, and divorce, which was being litigated while he was in training. "It was stupid for me to fight Norris at 154 lbs", Leonard said. "This is different. I'm in the best shape possible."

For the Camacho fight, Leonard had a new trainer, Adrian Davis. "He's a great trainer, a throwback", Leonard said. "He has really helped me get ready."

In January 1997, it was announced that Leonard had been voted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in Canastota, New York. The rules state that a boxer must be retired for five years before being eligible for induction. When the vote took place, Leonard had been retired for more than five years, therefore, he was eligible, even though he had a fight scheduled. The induction ceremony was on June 15, 1997.

The fight with Camacho took place on March 1, 1997, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Camacho applied pressure from the opening bell and started to score well in the third. He continued to score well in the fourth and opened a cut above Leonard's right eye. In the fifth, Camacho dropped Leonard with a right followed by two left uppercuts. Leonard got up, but was unable to ward off Camacho. The referee stopped the fight with Camacho teeing off on a defenseless Leonard on the ropes. It was the only time in Leonard's career that he was knocked out.

Afterward, Leonard retired again, saying, "For sure, my career is definitely over for me in the ring." However, less than a week after the fight, Leonard said he planned to fight again. He blamed his loss on a torn right calf muscle. His doctor suggested that he cancel the fight, but Leonard wanted to go through with it. Before the fight, he was given a shot of novocaine.

Leonard said he planned to have a series of tuneup fights before fighting a champion. He was scheduled to fight Tony Menefee on February 15, 1998, in Australia, but he pulled out of the fight, saying that he didn't have the motivation. The Camacho fight was Leonard's last. He finished his career with a record of 36–3–1 with 25 knockouts.

Media appearances

Leonard has worked as a boxing analyst for ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, HBO and EPIX. His relationship with HBO lasted for more than a decade. It ended in 1990, after HBO was not offered an opportunity to bid on the telecast rights to Leonard's fight with Terry Norris. HBO believed it would be inappropriate for Leonard to continue with them if they couldn't bid on his fights. Leonard's attorney, Mike Trainer, said, "There never has been a linkage between his broadcasting and his fighting."

Leonard has provided commercial endorsements for companies including Coca-Cola, EA Sports, Ford, Nabisco, Revlon and 7 Up. His most famous commercial was a 7 Up ad he did with his son, Ray Jr., Roberto Durán and Durán's son Roberto Jr. in the early 1980s. Leonard is among the most sought-after motivational/inspirational speakers in the world today. His speech, entitled "Power" (Prepare, Overcome and Win Every Round), is consistently booked with major Fortune 500 companies throughout the United States and abroad.

Leonard has also worked as an actor. He has appeared in numerous television shows, including Half & Half, L.A. Heat, Married... with Children, Renegade and Tales From The Crypt. He has also appeared in several movies, including I Spy and most recently The Fighter (2010), starring Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg. This movie brought back memories of his fight with Dicky Eklund. He also worked as an adviser in the 2011 robot boxing film Real Steel. Leonard served as host and mentor to the aspiring fighters on The Contender. Sylvester Stallone, who co-hosted during the first season, was one of the executive producers, along with Mark Burnett. When Leonard left the show, he was replaced as host by Tony Danza for the final season.

In 2001, Leonard launched Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing Inc., a boxing promotional company, and announced the company's strategic partnership with ESPN. Together, Leonard and ESPN would produce and promote "Sugar Ray Leonard and ESPN II Presents Friday Night Fights", which would air the first Friday of every month for twelve months. Leonard's boxing promotional company was dissolved in 2004. He had a falling out with partner Bjorn Rebney, whom he called "a cancer in my company." Speaking of his promotional company, Leonard said, "We did some great shows with evenly matched fights. I took great pride in it. But the TV show came about and made my decision a lot easier. I already had it in the back of my mind to dissolve the company. The working environment was not healthy."

Leonard competed on season 12 of Dancing with the Stars, which premiered on Monday, March 21, 2011, on ABC. His partner was Anna Trebunskaya. He was voted off in Week 4 of the show. During his appearance on The Colbert Report in 2011, Leonard was defeated by host Stephen Colbert in a thumb wrestling contest. He appeared as a guest at the chef's table, along with Tito Ortiz, during the tenth season of Hell's Kitchen. He is the celebrity spokesperson for the Atlanta law firm John Foy and Associates, PC.

Leonard was also the subject of a Seinfeld episode (season 6, episode 21) where George tries to flatter his boss by saying he looks like Sugar Ray Leonard. The real Leonard (a Seinfeld fan) mentioned that he was told about the episode by friends and family, but had never seen it for himself until a friend gave him the DVD set for a gift.

Personal life

Family

Leonard married his high school sweetheart, Juanita Wilkinson, in January 1980. Their six-year-old son, Ray Jr., served as the ring bearer. In 1984, they had another son, Jarrell. They were divorced in 1990. During divorce proceedings, Juanita Leonard testified that her husband physically abused her while under the influence of alcohol. She also said he was an occasional cocaine user. In his testimony, Leonard confirmed his wife's claims and went on to reveal that the problems of their marriage were not due to drug and alcohol use.

After the Los Angeles Times broke the story, Leonard held a press conference and publicly acknowledged that the accusations were true. He said he started using after he retired in 1982, following surgery to repair a detached retina. "I wanted more", Leonard said. "I wanted that arena. I didn't want anyone to tell me my career had to end." "I decided to search for a substitute...I resorted to cocaine. I used when I felt bad, I used when I missed competing at that level", he said. "It was a crutch, something that enabled me to forget." He said he quit using drugs in early 1986, when he woke up one morning and "what I saw in the mirror was scary." "I can never erase the pain or the scars I have made through my stupidity, my selfishness", Leonard said. "All I can do is say I'm sorry, but that is not enough." In 2011, Leonard revealed in an NPR interview that he had been free of alcohol since July 2006.

In 1989, Leonard was introduced to Bernadette Robi by Kenny G at a Luther Vandross concert. Robi is the daughter of Paul Robi, one of the original Platters, and she is the ex-wife of Lynn Swann. Leonard and Robi were married at Leonard's $8.7 million estate in Pacific Palisades, California in August 1993. At the wedding ceremony, the grounds were converted into a garden with 10,000 roses and blossoms of other flowers flown in from the Netherlands.

Leonard is also the godfather of Khloé Kardashian and has appeared on many episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

Charity work

For many years, Leonard has been the International Chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk for a Cure and is actively involved in raising both awareness and funds.

Leonard testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs in 2009. The Senate hearing was titled "Type 1 Diabetes Research: Real Progress and Real Hope for a Cure". He testified about the burden of diabetes and the need for continued research funding to find a cure.

Leonard and his wife, Bernadette, founded the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and its annual Walk for a Cure. In 2009, the foundation expanded to support programs that help people rebuild their communities in ten cities across the United States. It supports accessible housing, healthcare services, and educational services and job training.

In 2007 he was awarded The Ambassador Award of Excellence by the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission at the Riviera Country Club for his continued community involvement.

Advocacy against child molestation

In his autobiography The Big Fight: My Life in and out of the Ring, published in June 2011, Leonard reveals that as a young boxer he was the victim of sexual abuse from an Olympic trainer as well as another man, a benefactor. He has since made public appearances to bring attention to the issue of child sex abuse, declaring himself a "poster child" for the cause and encouraging victims to report their abuse.

#05/17

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kdtheghostwriter · 5 years

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I stepped through the old job site last night before NYE festivities to visit some folks. The best convo I had was with a friend of mine about Muhammad Ali. More specifically, Cassius Clay. It went something like this:

His question regarded Ali’s famous conversion to Islam. If Clay had never become Ali, he wondered, would he still be regarded as the ‘GOAT’ of boxing? It’s an interesting question - one I’d never really considered even after he passed. My grandfather schooled me on the history of the sport as most of the greats (Ali included) were long-retired when I began following events.

My answer was that Ali always would have been regarded as the greatest boxer, but if he hadn’t done what he did his name wouldn’t be the cultural landmark that it is now. For context, it’s important for me to recount exactly what he did.

What the man did was no less than throwing away [checks notes] everything. His titles; his livelihood; his good name with a sizable swath of the American public. He refused to fight in Vietnam: in a war that was morally and legally wrong, for a country that treated him like less than a person. For this, he was denigrated and persecuted and it was the single most important action a public figure has taken then or since.

Because sometimes...money and fame be damned. You gotta do the right thing.

When Joe Lewis and Jackie Robinson were in their primes, they were tasked with integrating their respective sports and did so with grace and monastic composure. Their temperament was what was needed at the time for various different reasons - least of which was the fact that they were both the best in the world by a large margin and playing ball with the racists in the stands (and on the bench) was the best chance to showcase their talent to the world.

Cassius Clay could have done the same and wouldn’t have been faulted. But the needs of the culture changed. The country didn’t need Cassius Clay and Cassius Clay needed Muhammad Ali. This is what lead to a once-in-a-century mercurial talent walking away from the sport he dominated at the peak of his athletic prowess.

Spike Lee made a whole fucking movie about this next point, but I’ll say it anyway because...damn, b. I can’t help but feel some kind of way when everyone is telling me to #resist! when...uh? My people have been resisting from the very start of this goddamn country. Just! To stay! Alive! It makes Ali’s sacrifice even more amazing, knowing those same people would do nothing to make their own existence even a little bit uncomfortable.

Which reminds me! I promised myself I wouldn’t make this a salt post on the state of boxing but oh well!

My break-up with boxing happened long ago. I wasn’t sure that the industry could find a way to ruin my favorite boxer of the past five years but, oh was I wrong! That first damn Canelo/GGG bout ending in a draw? Are you real? Even the fake wrestling that I spend so many hours watching would not (always) be so brazen.

It sucks, because my grandfather and I truly bonded thanks to his love and knowledge of the sport. I carried it over into adulthood even as my interest (and patience) waned year after year. Now the closest thing to a real event fans can get is a past-it Floyd Mayweather getting a quick buck in Japan beating up on some helpless 20-year-old rook.

Boxing died when Ali passed on. I wish I could say it’s worth saving but that ship left port fifteen years ago. Rest well, Champ. You are truly missed.

#KDtxt #muhammad ali #rip

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authorrashod · 3 years

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Third Street took A Loss

Life is busy as ever, but I finally found a couple of minutes for my writing therapy. You know I love third street, and we had so many wins I can't remember, but there was a loss.

Most boxers -- except for Floyd Mayweather and Rocco Marchegiano -- will tell you that eventually, you're going to lose if you fight long enough. Whether it's old age, a lack of training, or just an off night, eventually, someone will beat you.

The Italian Festival is one of the most fun times in my memory of growing up in Wilmington. Besides the Elsmere skating rink on Saturday nights, The Italian Festival, which only comes once a year, is the closest thing to it. It wasn't necessarily the rides or activities that the carnival brought to Wilmington; it was the females that not only come from other sides of town, but also girls that would travel from Newark, Newcastle, and as far as Dover -- which is about a 40-minute ride away. The only problem is that while there are girls who traveled to the Italian Festival from the other side of town, there are also boys who traveled to the Festival for the same reason. And when you put a bunch of guys in a small area, all of whom think they are the toughest in the world, eventually heads will clash.

I don't remember the exact year this was, but I believe I was in the ninth or tenth grade on this particular night. We were about ten deep, and it was a crowded but quiet night. At around 8 pm, my boy D, a year younger than me, told the group that he got in an argument with another individual at the carnival. Once he pointed the guy out, who was a lot older and bigger than us, we headed over to see if there was a problem. The guy sort of resembled an undersized defensive end on the football field. His size meant nothing to us because we thought and knew we could beat the world in a fistfight; We didn't take heed to my O.G. P-Rock's (RIP) words of wisdom: "You can't beat the world, Doodles."

D approached the guy who was busy talking to a girl and had three of his boys next to him. Usually, when we approached someone, in the manner we were approaching this guy, they would quickly back down and try to talk it out -- not this guy. He met our stairs and aggression with the same energy. I can even remember he had a teddy bear in one hand as he and D argued back and forth about what I don't know. All of sudden, boom! A right hook hit D square in the face, and then chaos broke out. I'll give it to D; he ate the punch and started swinging back. Everyone swung, kicked, and punched, except for me; well, not just me, but for the story purpose, just me. Lol. As much as I tried to pump myself up mentally to get into the fighting mode (As I usually did), it just wasn't in me on this night. If you have watched the HBO hit series, The Wire, you will remember the gangster, Cutty, who was a tough guy and had put in work in the past, but on the day Barksdale needed him to clear Marlo's block, he just couldn't put his mind back in that place, and I felt the same way.

I witness uncle Wolly, not my real uncle, just a nickname, body slam a guy who kicked my other boy in the stomach while he was fighting someone on the ground; I witness smooth, another nickname, punch another guy in the face while that guy was attempting to pick D up and slam in on the floor; I noticed Wax, another nickname, going punch for punch with another guy. One of the worst feelings is your friends getting into a fight and not having a story to tell about what you did when everything has settled down. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that's the position I was in that night.

On March 8, 1971, something extraordinary happened in the boxing world. A guy born in Beaufort, S.C., eventually finding himself training as a boxer in Philadelphia, did the inevitable: On March 8, 1971, Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight belt. Since that day, the boxing world has been fascinated with legendary tales about how Joe Frazier accomplished this. Stories from Joe predicting he would be the champion, to Joe's father having one arm forcing Joe to carry everything with his left arm when helping his father as a kid. Ironically, this same arm just happened to be the left hook that caught Ali in the 15th round. With that hook, Joe Frazier shocked the world and beat Ali, but truth be told, Ali didn't have the juice that night -- and neither did I.

Barksdale: "HE A MAN TODAY."

Thanks for reading. Book available at Authorrashod.com

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wsmith215 · 4 years

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Boxing is back! Now, please change

7:34 AM ET

Mark KriegelESPN

For the week of April 13 �� a period that coincided with the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, and the panic it engendered — nine of the 20 top-rated sports shows in the country were classic fights, according to ShowBuzzDaily.

The oldest dated back almost half a century, to 1971, the first installment of the Ali-Frazier trilogy. And, yes, there were a couple of Mike Tyson fights, too, from 1988, including his 91-second destruction of Michael Spinks.

Looking back, it’s difficult to imagine that Tyson’s prime would soon be over. In 1990, Buster Douglas took him out in Tokyo. He would never again be what he was, much less the fighter he was forecast to be.

Still, the idea of Tyson doesn’t merely endure; it’s more potent than ever. Since March 15, his Instagram following has grown to in excess of 2.3 million, most of that owing to a couple of training videos posted in the beginning of May. Give him great credit. Not only has Mike Tyson, formerly of Brownsville, Brooklyn, and the Tryon School for Boys in upstate New York, disproved F. Scott Fitzgerald’s line that there are no second acts in American lives, he’s infinitely more charming than when he was playing the bully and screaming about eating people’s children.

Mike Tyson has hinted at a return to boxing with recent social media posts of him training. Donald Kravitz/Getty Images

Of course everybody suddenly wants to fight him. How else can you get rich fighting a 53-year-old?

But as much as this phenomenon says about Tyson, it says more about boxing — especially now that boxing is back, starting Tuesday night, with four-hour broadcasts twice a week.

No sport is more addicted to its own past. No sport depends on storytelling and mythmaking the way boxing does.

Not only do I get it, I profit handsomely from it.

Top Rank Boxing is on ESPN and ESPN+. Subscribe to ESPN+ to get exclusive boxing events, weigh-ins and more.

Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN: Shakur Stevenson vs. Felix Caraballo, 10 rounds, junior lightweights

Thursday, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN: Jessie Magdaleno vs. Yenifel Vicente, 10 rounds, junior lightweights

With backing from ESPN, Fox and streaming service DAZN, boxing has an opportunity it’s never had before. But if, after several years of corporate investment, the hottest properties in the game are a 53-year-old Tyson, Floyd Mayweather training videos and a couple of YouTubers, then you don’t have a real sport. All that corporate money matters for nothing. There’s only so much shine to go around. And if you keep mining the past, it will come at the future’s expense. The sport needs a present tense.

Boxing needs to change. Now.

Ryan Garcia wants to be the next big thing? It’s time to prove it. AP Photo/John Locher

If there’s a ghost voice from the past that boxing should hear, it’s Angelo Dundee telling Ray Leonard, before the 13th round with Tommy Hearns, “You’re blowing it, son.”

1 Related

Hearns was 22, making the fourth defense of his title. Leonard, 25, was in his seventh world title fight, capping a less-than two-year stretch that included Wilfred Benitez, two fights with Roberto Duran, plus the undefeated Ayub Kalule for a 154-pound title. The best fought the best.

You want to be a boxing legend? Great. Just understand you can only get there by fighting, not Instagramming.

Ryan Garcia, who’ll turn 22 in August, recently said that he envisions “a throwback” era with fellow lightweights (at least for now) Gervonta Davis, 25; Teofimo Lopez, 22; and Devin Haney, 21.

It should happen. But if Garcia is really sincere, he’s going to have to push for it now. With 6.3 million Instagram followers, it’s not as though he lacks leverage.

“We do need to try and eradicate the warm-up fight or the easy fight for big money,” promoter Eddie Hearn recently told Sports Illustrated, reflecting on the pandemic’s impact. “Everybody’s going to feel the squeeze. … We can’t afford weak fights anymore.”

Again, we’ll see. If the star fighters are really as good as advertised, the promoters shouldn’t be so damn worried about them getting beaten. As for those fighters, it’s on you, too. Terence Crawford, whose profanity-laced tweet I can quote only selectively, wasn’t wrong when he admonished Errol Spence: “Stop using the f—ing promoters, managers and advisors for that weak-ass excuse … they work for us.”

play

0:24

Ryan Garcia shows off incredible punching speed as he works through drills at his house.

Not making light of anyone’s losses here, but I hope the fight game — fighters, promoters and networks — has lost just enough to really change now. If a mere defeat didn’t hurt the Four Kings — Leonard, Duran, Hagler and Hearns — it won’t hurt these guys now.

Combat sports are the purest exercise in storytelling, a truly organic form of theater. But fights that tell no stories — that reveal little or nothing about the fighters — should be gone from prime time. Network and streaming partners have some responsibility here, too. Don’t just lay it off on “the boxing people.”

No, the June cards aren’t perfect, but it’s a start in less-than-perfect times. Getting sparring partners and gym time on short notice in a pandemic? Not so easy. Nor was putting this production together to the satisfaction of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. But it’s happening, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge how savagely hard certain people pushed themselves to get boxing back on the air safely.

But here’s the good news, as those classic fights attest: Boxing works on television. Going back to the “Gillette Cavalcade of Sports” in 1946, boxing has been on TV about as long as TV has been in American homes. A live audience would be nice, yes, but it’s not essential, not yet.

Television needs conflict. Boxing is elemental conflict: stripped down, stage-managed, produced for the masses.

The sport has survived the mob, the more transparent greed of the sanctioning bodies, injury, avarice and the seemingly eternal prognostication of its death.

And now, COVID-19.

What’s more, a certain kind of fighter will prosper amid the pandemic. He doesn’t have to be Tyson. He doesn’t need to be a social media celebrity. He merely has to resonate with the fans at home.

He’s a hungry fighter — which shouldn’t be hard to find in a sport that lacks both seasons and guaranteed contracts. Right about now, most fighters should be starving for opportunity.

Joshua Greer Jr. isn’t a household name just yet, but he hopes to make the most of his upcoming moment in the spotlight. Mikey Williams/Top Rank

I’m thinking of someone like Joshua Greer Jr., a top-rated bantamweight, who’s matched tougher than he might think in the main event on June 16. Greer — from Chicago, his neighborhood recently occupied by the National Guard as a result of the George Floyd-related protests — knows about hungry. He remembers being 17, living with his grandmother, the two of them down to a single Snickers bar, which he cut into equal pieces in lieu of dinner.

“Oppression and depression,” he said last week. “That’s what it’s been about lately.”

And fight night? What will that be about?

“I just need to get back in that ring. I have to make people know: I will be a champion.”

The audience watching at home — another way of describing the great American mainstream — doesn’t need Greer to be the best fighter in the world. It needs him to be brave.

More than anything, that’s what makes a bout a classic, bravery.

So go ahead: Goof on boxing all you want. Boxing deserves it.

Just remember these nights can be more than mere paydays.

A fight isn’t another game.

It’s the night that changes your life.

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evancarmichael · 5 years

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✎ Deontay Wilder's Top 10 Rules for Success. Need motivation? Watch a Top 10 with Believe Nation! Grab a snack and chew on today's lessons from a man who went from dreaming to play football or basketball, but the birth of his daughter who suffers from spinal disorder made him give up everything to support her and focus on his boxing career, to becoming a heavyweight champion that won 40 fights, and 39 of those wins by knockout! He's Deontay Wilder and here's my take on his Top 10 Rules for Success! ★★★ BLACK EXCELLENCE ★★★ Get a FREE video every morning showcasing successful black leaders for the next 254 days. Find out here: https://ift.tt/2vdp5xK ★★★ SECRET BONUS VIDEO ★★★ What is the One Word that is most important to Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, will.i.am, Oprah Winfrey, and Howard Schultz? Find out here: https://ift.tt/2yEDhU2 📜 DEONTAY WILDER'S RULES 📜 1. Prove them wrong 2. Master the mind 3. Master your craft 4. Be your own boss 5. Be yourself 6. Be confident 7. Be passionate 8. Never give up 9. Find your fuel 10. Be willing to lose it all 11. BONUS - Have a great team ✈ THREE-POINT LANDING QUESTIONS ✈ 1) What excuse are you making that you're going to get rid of? 2) Who is underestimating you right now? 3) Who do you need to add to your team to make it great? ✎ More about Deontay Wilder. He started boxing in 2005 when he was 20 years old. He's particularly known for his formidable punching power, having finished all but one of his fights inside the distance. By 2007 he upset the favorites to win both the National Golden Gloves and the US championships. He won his first title in professional boxing when he knocked out then unbeaten 37 year old Kelvin Price. As an amateur he won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 2008 Olympics. His knockout-to-win ratio stands at 98%, with 19 knockouts in the first round. He has held the WBC heavyweight title since 2015, and in doing so became the first American world heavyweight champion in nine years. He's a two-time winner of the Premier Boxing Champions Knockout of the Year award, in 2016 and 2017. As of March 2018, Wilder is ranked as the world's second best active heavyweight. ★ RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU ★ If you liked this video, you'll love these ones: • Mike Tyson's Top 10 Rules For Success - https://youtu.be/-1oYfRCHAzk • "TALKING Does NOT Win FIGHTS!" - Floyd Mayweather - https://youtu.be/JNSgulF96zQ • Muhammad Ali's Top 10 Rules For Success - https://youtu.be/Nw2BULNOhz0 ❤ HELP TRANSLATE THIS VIDEO ❤ If you loved this video, help people in other countries enjoy it too by making captions for it. Spread the love and impact. https://www.youtube.com/timedtext_video?v=krd56dy8Ca0 ✔ SOURCES ✔ https://youtu.be/QQWuidpXIUw BT Sport https://youtu.be/4mPO_CT6Wy8 SecondsOut https://youtu.be/FgzXDkERwzc BT Sport https://youtu.be/4mPO_CT6Wy8 SecondsOut https://youtu.be/gS6vyfAsSHQ SHOWTIME Sports https://youtu.be/R2pBFXmdlb0 Deontay Wilder https://youtu.be/UyZeyaTLedE shooterk ♛ BUY MY BOOKS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE ♛ Some used the ideas in these books to build multi-billion-dollar businesses. I'll give you the simple-yet-powerful formula that they used (and you can) to realize your dreams. Get yours. https://ift.tt/2auuYKa https://ift.tt/2DWNJZU ✉ JOIN MY #BELIEVE NEWSLETTER ✉ This is the best way to have entrepreneur gold delivered to your inbox, and to be inspired, encouraged and supported in your business. Join #BelieveNation and feel the love. https://ift.tt/1DyhRRs ⚑ SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL ⚑ If you want to do great things you need to have a great environment. Create one by subbing and watching daily. http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=Modelingthemasters ¿ COMMON QUESTIONS ¿ • What is #BTA?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsY8bmTUVP8 • How do I get one of Evan's t-shirts?: https://ift.tt/2MP9tqL • Why does Evan look like Nicolas Cage?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZHRniTcRwo • Why does Evan make so many videos? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEKxGA8xr1k • How do I vote for the next Top 10 video Evan should make? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0arZb0xLIDM • How do I vote for the next #7Ways video Evan should make? https://youtu.be/sXgcP79xrNQ ツ CONNECT WITH ME ツ Leave a comment on this video and it'll get a response. Or you can connect with me on different social platforms too: • Instagram: https://ift.tt/2oPc4Xb • Twitter: https://twitter.com/evancarmichael • Facebook: https://ift.tt/1t8ruBM • Website: https://ift.tt/LfsMJ5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for watching - I really appreciate it :) Cheers, Evan #Believe

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thisdaynews · 4 years

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Deontay Wilder v Tyson Fury II: Fight preview and all you need to know

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/deontay-wilder-v-tyson-fury-ii-fight-preview-and-all-you-need-to-know/

Deontay Wilder v Tyson Fury II: Fight preview and all you need to know

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Wilder v Fury II weigh-in: ‘The atmosphere & buzz is phenomenal’

WBC world heavyweight title: Deontay Wilder v Tyson Fury Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las VegasDate: Saturday, 22 FebruaryTime: About 05:00 GMT on Sunday, 23 February Coverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website, plus daily podcasts on BBC Sounds.

Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will face each other again on Saturday almost 15 months on from a controversial draw that left punters desperate for a rerun of their thrilling affair in Los Angeles.

Tickets in Las Vegas are exchanging hands for thousands of dollars, the fighters are volleying spiteful words at one another with gusto, and pundits who have frequented Sin City more times than they care to remember have described the occasion as a “monster”.

Somewhere amid the chaos is the prize of Wilder’s WBC world title. If Fury wins it, all four heavyweight belts will be shared between two British fighters – him and Anthony Joshua, who holds the IBF, WBA and WBO titles.

Wilder starts as favourite (just) before the fighters walk to the ring at about 05:00 GMT on Sunday.

At Friday’s weigh-in, where a face-off was banned and the pair shouted abuse at one another from behind cordons, the American weighed in at 231lb – the heaviest of his career. Fury, at 273lb, has not been as heavy since his comeback fight in 2018.

Former world champion Kell Brook told BBC Sport: “It looks to me from that they are going to stand in the middle of the ring and have a right scrap.”

Here is everything you need to know about the fight – including the 5 Live Boxing predictions.

Las Vegas is all in for fight night

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Tyson Fury on Deontay Wilder fight: ‘All bullies fold when you stand up to them’

A handful of tickets remain for the fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, with prices ranging from $425 (£330) on the open market to $10,000 (£7,754) on resale.

On the Las Vegas Strip, fans can pay $100 (£77) to watch on a big screen, while the fight will cost $74.99 (£58) to buy at home in the US. If organisers sell the two million pay-per-views they are predicting, about $150m (£116m) could be raised before even accounting for ticket revenue. In terms of earnings, it will be an eight-figure night for both men.

It is the biggest heavyweight bout in 20, 30, or – if you listen to Fury – close to 50 years. And the hype is not lost on this city of bright lights and razzmatazz. Fight billboards run the length of the famous Strip; on the ground of the MGM Grand itself, three boxing rings act as stages for US TV networks.

“I have been coming here 25 years and I have never seen this kind of investment into the building of hype of a pay-per-view fight,” said BBC Sport boxing correspondent Mike Costello.

His 5 Live Boxing sidekick Steve Bunce added: “Two unbeaten men, elite versus elite. Let’s not lose the fact we are seeing something we don’t often see. This is a monster.”

Podcast: Weigh-in, final analysis and predictions

Wilder v Fury fight predictions

Why does it matter for Fury?

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‘He’s cut no corners’ – Inside Tyson Fury’s team

Fury would have taken the WBC world heavyweight title with a points win had he not been pummelled to the canvas in the absorbing 12th round of their 2018 draw.

He said he kidded Wilder’s team into fighting him by implying he was finished, having struggled with personal problems and weight gain and taken a 30-month break from the sport after beating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 to take the IBF, WBA and WBO world titles.

He lost those titles outside the ring – vacating them as he dealt with the issues he was facing. A victory on Saturday would complete a remarkable return to the top of world boxing.

“Not only did he have three years out but did you see the size of him?” former world champion Carl Froch told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“He is a real inspiration for someone sat in their armchair supping on their beer thinking their life isn’t going anywhere.”

Podcast: Costello and Bunce rewatch first fight

Are Wilder and Fury doing too much before the fight?

Devastating Wilder can silence doubters

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Witness Deontay Wilder’s punching power

Wilder, according to Costello, is moving into “rare company” in heavyweight history.

The American is seeking to defend his title for an 11th time; if he did, it would surpass Muhammad Ali’s best run as a champion. He can also perhaps win over those who still question his ability despite a 43-fight unbeaten record.

Fans and pundits point to his technical flaws and expect Fury to outwit him. To do so, the Briton would have to avoid Wilder’s power punches. Jay Deas, the American’s trainer, says taking shots on the pads from his fighter feels like receiving a “sprained ankle in your elbow”.

Former world heavyweight champion David Haye told BBC Radio 5 Live: “On two occasions I brought him over to spar – and of all the partners – he was the one with the most devastating punch power.

“I have never experienced getting hit like anything close to that. He has a formula that works. Why would anyone tamper with that formula? This fight will be electric.”

So what has changed since last time?

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Deontay Wilder says rematch with Tyson Fury is ‘bigger’ than Mayweather v Pacquiao

Wilder has changed little, so the outcome to the fight will lie in the success or failure of the changes Fury has made.

Outside the gym, his profile in the US has sky-rocketed, bringing with it new demands.

Inside the gym, he has a new trainer. SugarHill Steward, a former policeman, calls himself “a knockout architect”, having learned his craft at Detroit’s legendary Kronk Gym.

Fury has a new cuts man – in case the wound that needed 47 stitches after September’s win over Otto Wallin re-opens – and has recruited the chef used by UFC star Conor McGregor. He has even given up Diet Coke, his drink of choice.

Perhaps most important of all, though, is his pledge to move away from his evasive style and attempt to knock out a feared puncher.

“What I did last time clearly wasn’t good enough, so we are going to go for the knockout,” said Fury. “I think Wilder will come out of the gates like a galloping horse, flat out, to try to knock me out.”

‘My job is to ensure Fury walks out as handsome as when he walks into the ring’

And the winner is?

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Steve Bunce says Deontay Wilder beat Tyson Fury in their final press conference.

Some UK bookmakers have the pair evenly priced but Wilder is a slight favourite in the mammoth sports betting facility at the MGM Grand, where high rollers are expected to force changes in the prices as the fight nears.

Costello added: “I think Wilder has learned from the first fight and will be better at closing the space this time. I don’t know when he will catch up with Fury but I think he will.”

Bunce responded: “I think we will see a bit more boxing from Wilder and a far more aggressive Fury. I don’t think either of those changes will last. I believe Fury survives rocky moments and wins on points. And, yes, it will be controversial.”

The pundits and bookmakers are split down the middle.

“This is the moment in time we have both been waiting for,” Wilder said this week.

A relentless rivalry is set for its latest twist. At least the waiting is nearly over.

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Watch Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury face off in news conference

Subscribe now to the 5 Live Boxing with Costello & Bunce podcast on BBC Sounds – their post-fight pod with all the analysis and reaction will be there soon after the bout on Sunday morning

#fight #preview

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sempiternalsandpitturtle · 5 years

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Boosting your website marketing efforts in 2019

In this day and age, a business must have a strong digital presence in order to be an effective marketer; after all the world wide web is where so many people spend much of their time and money. So, it makes perfect sense to get in on the action and join those businesses marketing their products and services to target audiences that lay in waiting.

But, in 2019, standing out from the competitor crowd isn’t always an easy feat.

With so many updates and algorithm changes taking place on various social media networks, businesses can often lose sight of the bigger picture and leave one crucial online platform behind: their website.

Thankfully, we’ve got the inside scoop on what it takes to step up your website marketing efforts and implement a strong strategy for 2019.

Social media versus websites: Who comes out on top?

You’ve heard of Fury, Mayweather and Ali, but today in the red corner we’ve got social media and in the blue, websites.

Long ago, before dog filters and live streams, websites ruled the roost.

However, it wasn’t long before MySpace, LinkedIn and of course, Facebook were born and started making waves in the online community. Now, in 2019, social media’s worldwide penetration is showing no signs of slowing down. Latest figures from Statista show there are currently 2.77 billion social media users around the globe, showcasing a 1.95 billion increase from 2010!

With benefits ranging from increased brand awareness to ease of promoting products, it’s no surprise many businesses asked the question:

“Why do I need a website when I can just use social media to promote my business?”

Well, here’s why websites are such an integral part of your online marketing efforts.

Why websites are so important

On social media, a business is somewhat at the mercy of that particular platform, with limited leeway to customise how its customer experience plays out. With set rules and regulations to adhere to, if you make a mistake, the platform may choose to cancel your space on its site leaving your reputation and revenue at risk.

This is why it’s crucial to combine the benefits of social media with the control and stability of a website. Your website is created to reflect your brand, product/service and your business’ identity and gives you complete control in the management of your site. Think of social media as a tool to attract people to your site where conversions can then take place – almost like stepping stones!

However, it’s no use blindly posting content whenever you feel like it – you must have a plan in place, otherwise known as a website marketing strategy.

What is a website marketing strategy and why is it so important for 2019?

A website marketing strategy is a plan of action that relates to all marketing efforts associated with your site. This strategy often includes the steps you’ll take in order to achieve your specific website marketing goals, such as generating more leads or increasing conversions.

In 2019, having a strong website marketing strategy in place is more essential than ever. If you know what you want to accomplish but don’t know how to get there, you’re setting yourself up for failure

This is why it’s important to stay on top of changes and updates. Doing so will ensure your strategy remains relevant, smart and competitive.

So, what are the tactics that can help your boost your website marketing efforts in the present day?

Understand and implement voice search

“Siri, show me the best doughnuts in Melbourne.”

“Alexa, what are the most popular digital trends right now?”

The above examples are just two questions people may ask their smartphones, after all, the three big names in phone operating systems (iOS, Android and Windows) support voice activated search.

Back in 2011, when Siri was first introduced by iOS, mobile users enjoyed the theatrical element of asking the in-house robot some pointless questions. Fast forward eight years, and Google estimates that 20% of its searches are conducted through voice, But that’s not all. In 2020, ComScore predicts that 50% of all searches will be through voice activated operations!

While it’s clear that there’s a serious demand for voice search, what does this mean for businesses?

Basically, if you want to boost your website’s marketing efforts in 2019, you must leverage voice search optimisation.

Voice search optimisation refers to the way in which businesses online ‘enhance’ their content for voice search. The ultimate aim of this is to earn the featured snippet spot in the search engine results page (SERP) for keywords related to your business and target audience. For example, if someone asks, “Siri, show me homeware shops in my area”, you’ll have hopefully adapted your content to appear in the number one spot. By ranking in this position, your business increases its online visibility, which can lead to more website visits and hopefully more conversions!

In order to cater for voice search intentions, your website and content must:

Be mobile friendly.

Provide concise answers to questions.

Include and target long-tail keywords.

Focus on action queries.

Be up to date with opening hours, business name, address and other important listing details.

Tune into chatbots

Staying on the subject of Siri and her voice-activated counterpart crew, this group of technologies is also known as a type of chatbot.

Don’t worry, chatbots aren’t as scary or complex as you think, and it’s important you’re aware of what they are and how they work.

In its simplest form, a chatbot is a computer program that aims to replicate human conversation, through text or voice with a user’

They offer a variety of different purposes, such as recommending products, answering questions and having conversations with people on your website.

For brands looking to boost website marketing efforts, implementing chatbot technology should be a top consideration for the following reasons:

Collect and analyse customer data: Since chatbots are interactive tools, they’re capable of gathering customer insights and feedback. Such information can help improve your products/services and even make your website better for users.

Save time: Chatbots can provide fast, automated answers to a range of common questions customers may ask. This ensures consumers gain the information they need in the quickest possible time, without having to wait on hold or email your business. In turn, this increases customer satisfaction.

Make communication with your brand more fun: Chatbots offer a new way of communication and ultimately make your brand appear more up-to-date and interesting – two qualities that help separate you from the competitor crowd.

With great benefits like the above, it’s hardly surprising chatbots are becoming a crucial part of website marketing in 2019. Are you ready for the rise of the ‘bots?

Get involved with video

YouTube is more than just the home of cats playing pianos and channels dedicated to hydraulic presses crushing an array of household objects (if you haven’t already, it’s worth a watch!) In fact, YouTube, as reported by endless sites and reports, remains the world’s third most visited platform, after Google and Facebook. However, we’re not done yet. In 2019, a whopping 87% of internet users in Australia watched videos online, according to data published in a joint We Are Social and Hootsuite report.

With more and more people choosing video content over other mediums, businesses can’t afford to miss out on including video in their website marketing efforts.

But why is video such a sought after content medium?

It’s easy to digest: You’ve probably heard the phrase, ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’, so just imagine what a video can offer! Your consumers can learn a great amount of detail in a matter of minutes, all while staying engaged on what you’re offering.

It’s sharable: Click and share. It’s as easy as that. If you spend time creating a captivating, attractive and informative video that’s useful for your target audience, why wouldn’t they want to share it with their friends and followers? Giving them the option to share your video content helps spread your brand awareness and reach a wider pool of people.

It’s great for SEO: Google rewards businesses who offer relevant and engaging content by ranking them higher on the SERP. Importantly the search engine favours video content as it ticks the boxes of ranking requirements (presuming it is both relevant and engaging, of course!)

You don’t have to possess the director and producer prowess of Spielberg to reap the rewards of video content. All it takes is a good idea (behind-the-scenes previews, employee interviews or new product reveals), a strong story and great visuals to create compelling and captivating video content!

Content marketing still matters

While we’re welcoming a plethora of new technology and bots, there’s one strategy that has been around for a number of years but shows no signs of slowing down: Content marketing.

No business can deny the benefits associated with publishing regular, relevant and engaging content. Doing so keeps you visible to both your target audience and search engines, as well as increasing your credibility and building trust – qualities that lead to higher page views and rates of conversion.

So, what’s changed with content marketing in 2019?

For starters, Facebook announced a change to its algorithm to favour posts from users’ loved ones over businesses on the platform. As such, companies have had to adapt content when posting on the popular social media site. They must place a bigger emphasis on ensuring content sparks emotion and therefore encourages users to interact.

Due to stronger competition and more businesses battling for the number one ranking position, it’s getting harder to get your content reaching the right people. As such, more and more brands are turning to a combination of organic and paid options. Together, this amalgamation can drive growth and generate substantial ROI for your marketing efforts.

Publishing regular and valuable content keeps Google on your scent for the right reasons, while employing paid ads now and again gives it a boost to help it reach further afield.

from http://bit.ly/2Y4fjKS

#content marketing

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freethinkingmom-blog · 6 years

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Boxing has become bit of a passion of mine; no other workout makes me sweat more. Long days with the kids’ can sometimes leave me feeling frustrated and frazzled. By channelling these negative emotions into my boxing, I am able to release and let go of the bad energy; I come home feeling euphoric and invigorated.

Fortunately, my local gym offers boxing classes several times a week and this is where I first met Scott Burrell. Very quickly, it become apparent that Scott was no ordinary class instructor; his technique and style seemed so different to the former ex-US Army coach. It was at this point, I suspected he had professional boxing experience which he indeed confirmed to me. Eventually, I dug up the courage to request an interview and he graciously obliged. So without further ado, here is my interview with professional boxer Scott ‘Bang Bang’ Burrell…

Scott Burrell (pictured right), twin brother Dean Burrell (left)

When did you start boxing? How many fights in your career so far?

I started at age 11 and I am 29 now, so I have been boxing for 18 years. Currently, I have 69 amateur fights and 15 professional fights.

You were a talented footballer, so why choose boxing?

Yes I was the top scorer for my team and league for many years. However once I started boxing, I found the training and competition times often clashed. So I was forced to choose one. Although, I loved football and was good at it, I loved boxing that little bit more and felt I was better at boxing – with boxing I always felt like the best! That was the deciding factor.

Do you have a favourite quote/ saying?

My favorite quotes are: ‘As you sow, so shall you reap!’ and ‘to thine own self be true’.

What’s your favorite boxing movie?

I enjoyed Rocky as a child and Creed more recently. Creed is more realistic but Rocky was fun as a child.

Your twin brother Dean ‘Bad Newz’ Burrell (pictured left) is also a pro-boxer. The key theme in the fight movies Warrior and Foxcatcher is sibling rivalry – are you competitive with your brother?

My brother and I have a healthy competitive relationship. We push each other in the gym and keep each other on point but we would never fight each other and there’s no animosity between us.

Do you have an idol?

I wouldn’t say I have an idol. I watch great fighters from all eras of boxing including now and I learn from everybody. Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray Leonard were huge motivators for me growing up but I have so many other fighters that I learn from and look up to in the sport.

Do you have a theme song when entering the ring?

I wouldn’t say I have a theme song but I like to come out to reggae music and my favorite for many fights has been Bob Marley – Buffalo Soldier.

What are the different weight classes in boxing and what is your weight?

There are 17 weight classes in boxing, ranging from heavyweight 200lbs+ (91kg+) to minimum weight which is 105lbs (48kg). I fight at lightweight which is 135lbs (61kg). I can be no more than 135lbs and no less than 130.1lbs (59kg).

What is your % body fat vs muscle? How do you keep so lean?

I honestly don’t know my exact body fat percentage but when I am making weight for my fight (when I get down to 135lb), I’m pretty sure it’s no more than 5-7% (it could be less). My key to staying lean is consistent training. Whether I am preparing for a fight or not I’m typically training at least 5 days a week. When I am training for a fight it is often 6 days and twice a day. I steer away from obvious fatty and bad foods (i.e. fast food). I only eat meat 2/3 times a week max and have a good amount of fruits and vegetables in every meal. When making weight I cut down on heavy carbs and cut my meals sizes in order to lose weight.

How much weight do you lose pre-fight? Why lose weight at all? Some weight loss methods (i.e. saunas) are said to be dangerous?

I lose 10-15lbs during my training camp for fights. Some fighters lose as much as 40lbs during training camps. The reason fighters lose so much weight varies. We train so hard for fights that people often take long breaks after big fights to allow their bodies to rest both physically and mentally; this is when a lot of weight is put on. Also we are allowed to rehydrate one day after the weigh-in, so some fighters regain as much as 20lbs in a day. I personally still train in-between fights so I don’t put on a lot of weight, I walk around pretty comfortable and cut weight for my fights. Too much sauna can be dangerous but it’s said that you can fully rehydrate within 2 hours so most fighters come back into the ring fully hydrated even after using a sauna or a sauna like technique to lose water weight.

How much of boxing is physical vs mental strength?

Boxing is actually more mental than physical. Physical is obviously important in boxing but as fighters become more experienced being in great shape it’s usually a given. This is when mental strength, discipline and concentration in the fight and preparation plays a major key.

Are boxers intimidated by each other at pre-fight meet-ups?

Press conferences are mainly for the press. As professionals, it is highly unlikely you will be intimidated by any of your opponent’s pre-fight antics. I can’t speak for everybody but for me this is definitely the case.

Do you need to be an aggressive person to fight?

No not all, we all have fight in us and it’s comes from different places for different people. Sometimes fighters that appear angry in public are doing this for show, some not. Sometimes people that appear calm and relaxed perhaps are not as calm or relaxed as they seem. In boxing it’s better to be calm and level headed during the fight. Irate, angry or crazy will usually always work against you. As crazy as Tyson seemed outside of the ring and as aggressive as his style was inside the ring, his fighting was a learned discipline.

After considering McGregor’s recent ‘rampage’ against other boxers on a coach, do you think pro-boxers should be good role models in public?

Well, McGregor is an MMA fighter and they tend to be a little less professional than boxers in their behavior in general. I think if you’re in the public eye it’s good to be a role model, however, every person has to be themselves and not every person in the public eye will be a great role model for kids. The nature of either sport cannot be used as an excuse for bad behavior; above all we are professionals and should try to behave that way as much as possible.

What’s your take on the Mayweather vs McGregor fight?

I think the fight was great for Mayweather and McGregor as far as money goes and it was good for fighting sports in terms of publicity. But aside from that, the fight was never going to be truly competitive. Floyd Mayweather has beaten over 20 world champions; he’s beaten Olympic gold medalists who have become professional world champions. All of these guys have had at least 20 pro-fights and usually extensive amateur backgrounds too. So realistically McGregor with 0 pro boxing matches had no chance.

Do you visual a real life person when you punch a bag?

When I’m preparing for a fight I’m visualizing my opponent. If I’m just training in general I’m visualizing an opponent, yes – but not necessarily a specific person.

How do you feel when your opponent gets hurt?

This is the hurt business, so as crazy as it may sound, I’m happy when I hurt my opponent. I don’t wish any long-term injury on my opponent but during the fight I am absolutely trying to hurt him and I am happy if I do.

What is recovery like after a fight?

Every fight is different but I am often a little cramped up after fights. The recovery usually takes a few days if there is no serious injury. Usually after 3/4 days most cramps and soreness has subsided. The best thing you can do for recovery after a fight is rest. Stop training, eat well, drink plenty of water and take some Epsom salt baths.

is boxing for me?

What are the different benefits of boxing? Can it be considered self-defense?

There are many benefits to boxing. The obvious is the fitness aspect; boxing is a full body workout that forces you to use all your muscles including your brain. Yes, it is absolutely a form of self-defense. It can give you more confidence in your ability to defend yourself if necessary. Also boxing is a sport which involves a great deal of discipline so this can be great for anybody, in any walk of life.

What are your thoughts on women boxing?

I would say at the moment I train more women than men, perhaps 60:40 or even 70:30. Boxing has become an increasingly popular sport for women and it’s great for the sport and it shows people that you don’t have to be a big strong man to be a great boxer. Also I’m a big fan of women’s professional boxing. I think there are great female fighters with a lot of skills and they deserve the accolades they get, in fact they should get more. Everybody should be treated equally and I look forward to the progression of women’s pro-boxing.

Are there any pre-requisite skills for boxing? Do you have to be well coordinated?

You don’t have to be well coordinated. Strong, fast, agile – these are attributes that will be beneficial to you but they are not imperative for learning the sport. Anybody can learn how to box and enjoy the workout. What you don’t have naturally you can work on to improve.

Boxing is about self-achievement! Ultimately the fight is to become to best version of yourself.

What equipment do you need to start boxing?

Ideally, hand wraps, jump (aka skipping) rope and boxing gloves.

To start boxing, can I just start punching a bag or should I learn techniques from class/ instructor?

If you want to learn the sport and art of boxing I would highly recommend getting a good coach.

For more info on Scott Burrell, please check out these links:

Web: https://www.burrellboxing.com Instagram/ Twitter: bangbangburrell Email: [email protected]

Interview with Pro-Boxer Scott ‘Bang Bang’ Burrell Boxing has become bit of a passion of mine; no other workout makes me sweat more. Long days with the kids' can sometimes leave me feeling frustrated and frazzled.

#Boxing #Fitness #Health

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amtushinfosolutionspage · 7 years

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Forged in Baltimore, Lorenzo Simpson Wants to Box His Way to Greatness

After finishing his first training session of the day, Lorenzo Simpson changes out of his USA Boxing track jacket into a plain white t-shirt and drives to Park Heights, the northwest Baltimore neighborhood where he grew up. Leaning on the trunk of his 2011 Acura, he looks with heavy eyes toward consecutive vacant buildings at the bottom of the street. There are more blighted houses behind him, and hard-staring passersby walking along trash-strewn sidewalks.

Simpson is a kinetic person. In his idle moments, he’s usually shadowboxing, throwing combinations and cutting angles. But here, in his old neighborhood under an afternoon sky turning stormy, he withdraws into near motionlessness. Around the corner is Simpson’s old elementary school. He recalls seeing dealers and addicts trade vials for cash as he walked to class. Drug transactions were normal. So was the sound of gunfire in the distance. “People started shooting and you’d just run,” Simpson says. “You don’t never stand there and watch because you gonna get shot too.”

Ray Lego

Simpson’s story, that of the inner-city kid finding a refuge in boxing and fighting his way to the top, sounds like it could be the stuff of boxing cliche. But that would ignore the outsized circumstances informing Simpson’s life: the father murdered before he reached kindergarten; the coach who inspired a character on HBO’s The Wire; the 181-3 combined record and the half-dozen National Silver Gloves titles; the praise from Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Heading into his senior year of high school, 17-year-old Simpson is the top-ranked 165-pound fighter in the country, a hard-hitting southpaw with an eye on the 2020 Olympic team. “When you come from this type of lifestyle, you can’t be nothing but an animal,” he says. “If you show that you soft, it’s a wrap. I wouldn’t have been as good a fighter if Baltimore hadn’t made me [like] this.”

Baltimore is a city of abrupt changes in scenery. Pimlico Race Course, the track that hosts the Preakness Stakes, is less than a mile from the Park Heights neighborhood where Simpson and I are speaking, but getting there means driving past liquor store after liquor store, bail bondsman after bail bondsman. On the gentrified blocks branching out around the Inner Harbor, row houses are renovated and rented out to young creatives; unfashionable neighborhoods such as West Baltimore’s Penn North and Sandtown-Winchester, meanwhile, are home to a significant amount of the city’s 17,000 vacant buildings, many of which are boarded up and forgotten. In 2016, a year after riots consumed the city following the death of West Baltimore resident Freddie Gray while in police custody, the Justice Department found systemic racial bias within the city’s police department. Last month, state attorneys dismissed dozens of cases after discovering body camera footage showing a Baltimore police officer allegedly planting drugs. In 2017, the murder rate has averaged nearly one homicide per day, a record-high.

Ray Lego

Simpson knows how grim his city can be, but he criticizes the assumptions made about Baltimore and its residents from afar. “[The media] makes it look like shootings and killings and kids running wild. Really, you choose your own crowd—you choose what you’re gonna gravitate to,” he says. “Me, I never touched a drug, never sold a drug. Some of my best friends are in that life, but it’s just where we’re from.”

Danica Nicole Carroll, Simpson’s mother and a Baltimore native, shielded her sons from the city’s worst. “I didn’t want my kids to sell drugs, use drugs, or have to depend on anybody or anything else but themselves,” she says. Her father, she says, went from working for Coca-Cola to dealing, and is currently in the federal prison system. Her relationship with her high school sweetheart and father of her three boys—Lorenzo is the middle child—turned rocky after he started dealing drugs himself. In 2004, he was murdered during a robbery gone bad.

Ray Lego

Neighbors alerted the family to the shooting, and they arrived to the scene of the crime before the police could even get there. Simpson, just four years old at the time, still remembers seeing his father bleeding. After his father’s death, the young Simpson’s anger boiled over. He acted out at school and responded to perceived slights with violent outbursts. Carroll says that her son stabbed another student in the hand with a pencil. “Something had to change.”

As Simpson’s mother encouraged him to find an outlet for his rage, a family connection led him to the sweet science. His uncle Hasim Rahman, a Baltimorean who briefly became heavyweight champion after knocking out Lennox Lewis in 2001, began letting him tag along during training camps. At seven years old, Simpson walked into Upton Boxing Center, now on Pennsylvania Avenue in West Baltimore, for the first time. Too young to put on gloves, Simpson watched from the sidelines of the gym, run by the city’s parks and rec department, and practiced what he saw on his own. “He went in the gym and showed the coaches what he’d been working on,” Carroll recalls. “They looked at him and said, ‘Come on, you can start training.'”

Ray Lego

Ever since then, he’s trained under Calvin Ford, a former lieutenant for a West Baltimore drug enterprise who served a decade in federal prison on racketeering and conspiracy charges before becoming a boxing trainer, eventually becoming Upton’s head coach. Ford’s story was the inspiration for Dennis “Cutty” Wise, the youth boxing coach on the Baltimore-centric HBO series The Wire. “Calvin was like that missing piece that he lost with his father,” Carroll says.

Simpson spent hours training and watching film during downtime. His grades stabilized and the extracurricular fights diminished. “Instead of me zapping out on you because you say something disrespectful, now it’s in the ring,” Simpson says. He first fought at eight years old, stopping his opponent in the second round. At ten, he traveled to Missouri to compete in his first National Silver Gloves tournament—the under-16 counterpart to the Golden Gloves—and came home a winner, surprising even his mentor. “I told his mother he was gonna be a national champ his first time going away,” Ford says. “I didn’t [really] expect it, but he was.”

Ray Lego

Since then, Simpson has turned into the most touted junior amateur fighter in the country, with six consecutive National Silver Gloves titles, two Junior Olympics accolades, and a host of other honors to his name. USA Boxing’s youth rankings have him first in his weight class, and it hasn’t been easy keeping his spot: in the third round of his final Silver Gloves appearance in February 2016, his opponent knocked him down with a wild overhand. It was the first time he’d ever been dropped. “I told the ref, ‘I’m good.’ Then I dropped him back right away—uppercut, hook, straight hand,” he says. Simpson took the decision.

The next month, TMZ recorded Floyd Mayweather, Jr., flanked by Money Team affiliate and Simpson’s Upton training partner Gervonta “Tank” Davis, pointing out Simpson in a crowd and saying, “That kid can fight right there, I can tell.”

Ray Lego

“Floyd’s got all the young kids thinking about the pros,” Ford says, “but it misses the essence of how he got where he got: through the Olympics.” Mayweather’s hundred-million-dollar paydays have made a generation of up-and-coming boxers impatient about scraping by in the amateurs, so the fact that Simpson never talks about fighting professionally is “a blessing,” says Ford. He wants Simpson to chase a gold medal, to try putting himself in the company of Oscar de la Hoya, Andre Ward, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Muhammad Ali. Those hopes aren’t so far-fetched: Tyrieshia Douglas, another Upton fighter, came within one fight of winning a spot on the 2012 Olympic squad.

Simpson has a good shot to qualify. Last year, he became a member of Team USA. Ford’s against-all-odds optimism has paid off before: Gervonta Davis has become something of a West Baltimore celebrity, capturing the IBF junior lightweight champion and becoming the youngest living pro boxing titleholder. Mayweather eventually took Davis under his wing, and in August, he fought in the co-main event for the Mayweather-McGregor pay-per-view. “If [Davis did] it on this level, in the projects, in a parks and recreation facility, and you wearing a gold medal around your neck—[Lorenzo] can do it,” Ford says.

Ray Lego

When his gloves are laced up, Simpson is a solid pressure fighter, an expert at swerving from his opponents’ worst, cutting off the ring, and making them pay without getting winded. His sparring sessions with Davis, his knockout artist friend and mentor, frequently turn into brutal brotherly brawls. Simpson spends six hours a day training and travels around the country to train with the likes of 28-year-old, four-division champion Adrien Broner. This summer he spent two weeks at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and then traveled to Germany for the Brandenburg Cup—his first international tournament—where he beat three of the top youth boxers in the world before losing in a split decision to Ukraine’s Ivan Papakin in the finals.

These days, Simpson lives with his mother and younger brother in an apartment in Reisterstown, a suburb half an hour outside Baltimore. Carroll left the city in 2013: the last straw, she says, was when she found out about a fight that began with Lorenzo defending his younger cousin against a few boys throwing rocks, and then spiraled out of control. As much as she loves her hometown, Carroll couldn’t risk her sons falling victim to the streets. “The drug epidemic is what hurts Baltimore,” she says. “Poverty is what hurts Baltimore. It’s a beautiful city outside of that—it’s just people trying to adapt and live the only way they know.”

Ray Lego

It’s a shared sentiment in Simpson’s family—heartbreak at how bad things have gotten, but pride in a place they love, warts and all. There are signs of hope, like a city-directed effort underway to redevelop Park Heights. It’s a step in the right direction: the way Simpson sees it, spending millions to lure tourists to the Inner Harbor and hospitals buying up run-down real estate only pushes inner-city problems to the outskirts. In this part of the city, the trick is finding the good within the bad. Outside the front doors of Upton Boxing Center, a man wearing one shoe nods off on the sidewalk. Inside, a few days out from traveling to Germany, Simpson and a handful of other fighters suffer through a regimen of lateral pushups and weighted squats up and down the length of agility ladder. First, Simpson fusses—he just did his roadwork last night, he says—but finds his groove once the sweating starts. Eventually, he becomes the jester of the session. In between squats, Ford asks him the name of a past opponent. “Deez…” Simpson deadpans, and Ford howls.

Forged in Baltimore, Lorenzo Simpson Wants to Box His Way to Greatness syndicated from http://ift.tt/2ug2Ns6

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flauntpage · 7 years

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Forged in Baltimore, Lorenzo Simpson Wants to Box His Way to Greatness

Simpson is a kinetic person. In his idle moments, he's usually shadowboxing, throwing combinations and cutting angles. But here, in his old neighborhood under an afternoon sky turning stormy, he withdraws into near motionlessness. Around the corner is Simpson's old elementary school. He recalls seeing dealers and addicts trade vials for cash as he walked to class. Drug transactions were normal. So was the sound of gunfire in the distance. "People started shooting and you'd just run," Simpson says. "You don't never stand there and watch because you gonna get shot too."

Ray Lego

Simpson's story, that of the inner-city kid finding a refuge in boxing and fighting his way to the top, sounds like it could be the stuff of boxing cliche. But that would ignore the outsized circumstances informing Simpson's life: the father murdered before he reached kindergarten; the coach who inspired a character on HBO's The Wire; the 181-3 combined record and the half-dozen National Silver Gloves titles; the praise from Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Heading into his senior year of high school, 17-year-old Simpson is the top-ranked 165-pound fighter in the country, a hard-hitting southpaw with an eye on the 2020 Olympic team. "When you come from this type of lifestyle, you can't be nothing but an animal," he says. "If you show that you soft, it's a wrap. I wouldn't have been as good a fighter if Baltimore hadn't made me [like] this."

Baltimore is a city of abrupt changes in scenery. Pimlico Race Course, the track that hosts the Preakness Stakes, is less than a mile from the Park Heights neighborhood where Simpson and I are speaking, but getting there means driving past liquor store after liquor store, bail bondsman after bail bondsman. On the gentrified blocks branching out around the Inner Harbor, row houses are renovated and rented out to young creatives; unfashionable neighborhoods such as West Baltimore's Penn North and Sandtown-Winchester, meanwhile, are home to a significant amount of the city's 17,000 vacant buildings, many of which are boarded up and forgotten. In 2016, a year after riots consumed the city following the death of West Baltimore resident Freddie Gray while in police custody, the Justice Department found systemic racial bias within the city's police department. Last month, state attorneys dismissed dozens of cases after discovering body camera footage showing a Baltimore police officer allegedly planting drugs. In 2017, the murder rate has averaged nearly one homicide per day, a record-high.

Ray Lego

Simpson knows how grim his city can be, but he criticizes the assumptions made about Baltimore and its residents from afar. "[The media] makes it look like shootings and killings and kids running wild. Really, you choose your own crowd—you choose what you're gonna gravitate to," he says. "Me, I never touched a drug, never sold a drug. Some of my best friends are in that life, but it's just where we're from."

Danica Nicole Carroll, Simpson's mother and a Baltimore native, shielded her sons from the city's worst. "I didn't want my kids to sell drugs, use drugs, or have to depend on anybody or anything else but themselves," she says. Her father, she says, went from working for Coca-Cola to dealing, and is currently in the federal prison system. Her relationship with her high school sweetheart and father of her three boys—Lorenzo is the middle child—turned rocky after he started dealing drugs himself. In 2004, he was murdered during a robbery gone bad.

Ray Lego

Neighbors alerted the family to the shooting, and they arrived to the scene of the crime before the police could even get there. Simpson, just four years old at the time, still remembers seeing his father bleeding. After his father's death, the young Simpson's anger boiled over. He acted out at school and responded to perceived slights with violent outbursts. Carroll says that her son stabbed another student in the hand with a pencil. "Something had to change."

As Simpson's mother encouraged him to find an outlet for his rage, a family connection led him to the sweet science. His uncle Hasim Rahman, a Baltimorean who briefly became heavyweight champion after knocking out Lennox Lewis in 2001, began letting him tag along during training camps. At seven years old, Simpson walked into Upton Boxing Center, now on Pennsylvania Avenue in West Baltimore, for the first time. Too young to put on gloves, Simpson watched from the sidelines of the gym, run by the city's parks and rec department, and practiced what he saw on his own. "He went in the gym and showed the coaches what he'd been working on," Carroll recalls. "They looked at him and said, 'Come on, you can start training.'"

Ray Lego

Ever since then, he's trained under Calvin Ford, a former lieutenant for a West Baltimore drug enterprise who served a decade in federal prison on racketeering and conspiracy charges before becoming a boxing trainer, eventually becoming Upton's head coach. Ford's story was the inspiration for Dennis "Cutty" Wise, the youth boxing coach on the Baltimore-centric HBO series The Wire. "Calvin was like that missing piece that he lost with his father," Carroll says.

Simpson spent hours training and watching film during downtime. His grades stabilized and the extracurricular fights diminished. "Instead of me zapping out on you because you say something disrespectful, now it's in the ring," Simpson says. He first fought at eight years old, stopping his opponent in the second round. At ten, he traveled to Missouri to compete in his first National Silver Gloves tournament—the under-16 counterpart to the Golden Gloves—and came home a winner, surprising even his mentor. "I told his mother he was gonna be a national champ his first time going away," Ford says. "I didn't [really] expect it, but he was."

Ray Lego

Since then, Simpson has turned into the most touted junior amateur fighter in the country, with six consecutive National Silver Gloves titles, two Junior Olympics accolades, and a host of other honors to his name. USA Boxing's youth rankings have him first in his weight class, and it hasn't been easy keeping his spot: in the third round of his final Silver Gloves appearance in February 2016, his opponent knocked him down with a wild overhand. It was the first time he'd ever been dropped. "I told the ref, 'I'm good.' Then I dropped him back right away—uppercut, hook, straight hand," he says. Simpson took the decision.

The next month, TMZ recorded Floyd Mayweather, Jr., flanked by Money Team affiliate and Simpson's Upton training partner Gervonta "Tank" Davis, pointing out Simpson in a crowd and saying, "That kid can fight right there, I can tell."

Ray Lego

"Floyd's got all the young kids thinking about the pros," Ford says, "but it misses the essence of how he got where he got: through the Olympics." Mayweather's hundred-million-dollar paydays have made a generation of up-and-coming boxers impatient about scraping by in the amateurs, so the fact that Simpson never talks about fighting professionally is "a blessing," says Ford. He wants Simpson to chase a gold medal, to try putting himself in the company of Oscar de la Hoya, Andre Ward, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Muhammad Ali. Those hopes aren't so far-fetched: Tyrieshia Douglas, another Upton fighter, came within one fight of winning a spot on the 2012 Olympic squad.

Simpson has a good shot to qualify. Last year, he became a member of Team USA. Ford's against-all-odds optimism has paid off before: Gervonta Davis has become something of a West Baltimore celebrity, capturing the IBF junior lightweight champion and becoming the youngest living pro boxing titleholder. Mayweather eventually took Davis under his wing, and in August, he fought in the co-main event for the Mayweather-McGregor pay-per-view. "If [Davis did] it on this level, in the projects, in a parks and recreation facility, and you wearing a gold medal around your neck—[Lorenzo] can do it," Ford says.

Ray Lego

When his gloves are laced up, Simpson is a solid pressure fighter, an expert at swerving from his opponents' worst, cutting off the ring, and making them pay without getting winded. His sparring sessions with Davis, his knockout artist friend and mentor, frequently turn into brutal brotherly brawls. Simpson spends six hours a day training and travels around the country to train with the likes of 28-year-old, four-division champion Adrien Broner. This summer he spent two weeks at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and then traveled to Germany for the Brandenburg Cup—his first international tournament—where he beat three of the top youth boxers in the world before losing in a split decision to Ukraine's Ivan Papakin in the finals.

These days, Simpson lives with his mother and younger brother in an apartment in Reisterstown, a suburb half an hour outside Baltimore. Carroll left the city in 2013: the last straw, she says, was when she found out about a fight that began with Lorenzo defending his younger cousin against a few boys throwing rocks, and then spiraled out of control. As much as she loves her hometown, Carroll couldn't risk her sons falling victim to the streets. "The drug epidemic is what hurts Baltimore," she says. "Poverty is what hurts Baltimore. It's a beautiful city outside of that—it's just people trying to adapt and live the only way they know."

Ray Lego

It's a shared sentiment in Simpson's family—heartbreak at how bad things have gotten, but pride in a place they love, warts and all. There are signs of hope, like a city-directed effort underway to redevelop Park Heights. It's a step in the right direction: the way Simpson sees it, spending millions to lure tourists to the Inner Harbor and hospitals buying up run-down real estate only pushes inner-city problems to the outskirts. In this part of the city, the trick is finding the good within the bad. Outside the front doors of Upton Boxing Center, a man wearing one shoe nods off on the sidewalk. Inside, a few days out from traveling to Germany, Simpson and a handful of other fighters suffer through a regimen of lateral pushups and weighted squats up and down the length of agility ladder. First, Simpson fusses—he just did his roadwork last night, he says—but finds his groove once the sweating starts. Eventually, he becomes the jester of the session. In between squats, Ford asks him the name of a past opponent. "Deez…" Simpson deadpans, and Ford howls.

Forged in Baltimore, Lorenzo Simpson Wants to Box His Way to Greatness published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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jaeame-blog · 7 years

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Mayweather | Mayweather McGregor fight

The highly anticipated boxing match between the undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather and UFC champion Conor McGregor is finally here. It's hard saying whether the bout between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor is something akin to the Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki sideshow in 1976, or a bonafide boxing match. What started as a seemingly preposterous idea will come to fruition on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Here's everything you need to know before they face off on Saturday night.

The showdown between undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather and mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor on Saturday may be poised to become the richest fight of all-time but despite the hype had yet to generate a sellout. The most interesting fight of the year has finally arrived, with Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor just hours away from finally meeting in the ring. Your best bet is if you have Dish Network.The highly-anticipated fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor is finally here. Great fights don't always have them but they often do.

Saturday, August 26 is fight night in Las Vegas, and after months of debates, trash talking and moving betting lines, undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather will take on UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor at T-Mobile Arena. Mayweather will pick McGregor apart in a true boxing match, so McGregor has to bring the fight to Mayweather in the early rounds.The wait is over for the long-anticipated fight between Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor, and the only thing left to do now that the calendar has turned to Aug. 26 is determining how you will watch it live Saturday night. Conor McGregor knows how to take advantage of an opportunity. Floyd Mayweather Jr., center left, and Conor McGregor face off during a weigh-in Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, in Las Vegas. Asked this morning whether he would be attending Floyd Mayweather's fight against UFC champion Conor McGregor at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Arum replied: "No, because it is an event for schmucks and I am not a schmuck. Prior to putting his name on a contract to fight undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a boxing match, he was loud, egomaniacal, confident and charismatic.

#Mayweather McGregor fight

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junker-town · 7 years

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12 must-read stories on the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight

Floyd Mayweather is fighting Conor McGregor so we can talk about it. Born out of that comes every other reason that the two fighters — a 49-0 boxer known as one of the greatest ever, and a MMA fighter whose grandiose facade may come crashing down over 12 rounds — are inflicting bodily harm upon each other, for sport, in front of an audience of millions, on Saturday. Without us talking about it, there would be no fight. They don’t care about this unless we did first.

Talk about it we have, in bars and on radio shows and to friends and with strangers. There’s so much to talk about! The actual substance of the fight and whether there’s actually anything to it. The morality of these two objectively bad people. The reasons why they’re fighting. Why we should or should not care. Where they came from. We’ve even talked about the people talking about them, and why they did or didn’t talk about them in the right way, and how the act of talking about them is bad, or maybe it’s fine.

Saturday night, we can finally stop talking them. They’ll fight, one will win, and we’ll move on. Until then, with so many people talking about it, you should consume the very best of it.

We curated 12 rounds of stories — boxing term! — and tacked a few equally worthy ones to the end. If you read anything between now and Saturday night, and you haven’t read any of these, allow this to be your one-stop Mayweather vs. McGregor guide.

1st round: Mayweather-McGregor and the death spiral of American sports

(Spencer Hall | SB Nation)

Boxing is American sports’ prized zombie. When it shows up, everyone freaks the hell out and pays attention. It’s horrifying, arresting, contagious, and probably a bad thing for anyone concerned with human life. Hang out around it too much, and it will eventually eat you. Boxing, as a major sport, isn’t exactly alive—but it’s certainly not dead, and when there’s an outbreak people can’t pay attention to anything else.

It’s also one of those sports that can easily break quarantine as a discipline. They can crash all the way over into something else entirely. That something ends up being less like a sport, and more like pure, horrific, and inevitably absurd spectacle.

2nd round: Mayweather vs. McGregor: The complete beef history timeline

(James Dator | SB Nation)

This is where things get silly.

Both Mayweather and McGregor post fake flyers for the fight, which puts gas on the fire. From here the two jab back-and-forth over the possibility of the fight, with the impasse routinely being how much money they would both be paid.

McGregor kept contending that he deserved more money than the fight as offering, while Mayweather poked fun at Conor’s net worth — saying he didn’t deserve being paid more than $2.5 million.

3rd round: You Don't Have To Pick A Side Between Floyd Mayweather And Conor McGregor

(Diana Moskovitz | Deadspin)

And so even though Floyd Mayweather Jr. sucks, and even though he has signed up to spar against horrible people for the two most recent fights of his anyone cares about—Manny Pacquiao, then Conor McGregor—the urge remains. One of them has to be good, right? Or at least less bad? Someone has to be worth rooting for?

No. Not even close. In this case, like before, they both suck.

4th round: Floyd Mayweather's fight-week prep? Hanging at his strip club until the wee hours

(Dan Wetzel | Yahoo Sports)

Some would wonder if hanging out in a gentlemen’s club into the wee hours of the morning is the best way to prepare for a fast approaching fight, but Mayweather laughs that off. He is, as a matter of point, 49-0 in his career heading into Saturday’s bout with Conor McGregor.

There is no one else on earth who knows more about not just what it takes to win, but to never lose.

“Nobody can beat me,” Mayweather says over the din of the club. “Nobody can beat me.”

5th round: True stories of the incredible, unbelievable, unstoppable Conor McGregor!

(Flinder Boyd | Bleacher Report)

Once, before he had a driver's license, (McGregor) persuaded Egan to let him take the wheel of Egan's parents' car. He drove in perfect circles around an industrial park. He flashed his blinker at the optimal time and turned with precision. As long as he was in motion, he was in control. When it came time to park, McGregor hit the gas and made a beeline toward the spot. The car crashed into the wall and smoke billowed into the sky. He had forgotten to hit the brakes.

6th round: Why Floyd Mayweather can still box after beating women

(Soraya Nadia McDonald and Lonnae O’Neal | The Undefeated)

Why does Mayweather remain such a compelling figure despite his repeated and documented instances of domestic abuse? Let us count the ways: There are no publicly available photos showing the evidence of his crimes; there’s no central organization to hold Mayweather and other abusive boxers to account; and there’s an understanding, however contentious, that some boxers are inherently violent, their rage uncontrollable. Furthermore, there’s a long-standing pattern of victims, especially black women, holding their tongues to protect the black men who hit them.

All of those factors leave some fans torn, some indifferent and some completely disgusted. Despite the moral split decision, many boxing fans remain reliable spectators who continue to reward Mayweather with cultural cachet, fame and money, money, money.

7th round: Conor McGregor is still shaped by his Dublin roots as he prepares for his fight against Floyd Mayweather

(Wright Thompson | ESPN The Magazine)

McGregor hit the throttle and roared down the street. Drug dealers scrambled to whatever safety they could find as he sped through the intersection. A wise move in practice for a Crumlin native, but McGregor had underestimated the mania sweeping the projects and the lower-class quarters of Dublin. The dealers didn't want to confront him.

They all had a phone in their hands.

They wanted to take his picture.

8th round: Ballad of an Irish Son

(Shaun Al-Shatti | MMA Fighting)

Owen Roddy shakes his head. This feels like a dream, he says, like none of this is real. He may be the superstar’s striking coach now — or rather, his boxing coach; these are strange times — but that was never the plan. Because when he started, none of this was possible in Ireland. The dream didn’t exist. Mixed martial arts in the country was fiction and the notion of an Irishman vying for the world’s respect was ludicrous. The Irish hadn’t won a single fight in the UFC, much less achieved any measure of genuine success.

But Roddy was the one. He was always the one. He was the one who was going to break through.

9th round: Conor McGregor Is Not A Pioneer

(Oliver Roeder and Brin-Jonathan Butler | FiveThirtyEight)

McGregor isn’t the first superstar to move from the octagon to the boxing ring. One of MMA’s greatest fighters, Anderson “The Spider” Silva, tried the same thing back in 1998. He faced the not-exactly-household-name Osmar “Animal” Luiz Teixeira and after all of six minutes, Teixeira’s pugilistic skills proved too much for fellow Brazilian Silva. To protect him, Silva’s corner threw in the towel in the second round. Silva’s unparalleled genius in the octagon translated into his losing to someone even charitably described as a journeyman boxer; if this is any litmus test of what to expect from McGregor squaring off against Mayweather — one of boxing’s all-time greatest fighters— the current +400 money line somehow doesn’t reflect it.

10th round: Mayweather-McGregor Is the Feel-Bad Fight of the Century

(Bryan Curtis | The Ringer)

Mayweather-McGregor is often compared to Muhammad Ali’s bout with Japanese pro wrestler Antonio Inoki. In terms of horrible watchability, a better analogue is the 1982 title bout between Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney, which was peddled in the crudest racial terms imaginable. Time magazine paired Cooney and Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky on the cover as boxing’s great white hopes; Cooney spoke of his fondness for the movie Death Wish, in which a white vigilante rubs out the black bad guys. When Holmes, who was the reigning heavyweight champ, complained he was getting the same purse as the challenger, he was called a racist.

Mayweather-McGregor hasn’t yet scraped bottom in quite the same way. But the months of hype have felt equally dismal. George Vecsey’s 1982 column about Holmes-Cooney could run this week with only minor edits. The column was titled “Get It Over With.”

11th round: The Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight is about the green, but also about black and white

(Khaled A. Beydoun | The Undefeated)

With no great white American hope in the ring, and no promising contender on the horizon, boxing is still without what it needs to capture the attention of the coveted white male fan base. McGregor, far more the mixed martial artist than boxer, offers what the sport has long fantasized about: a brash, charismatic showman outside of the ring who not only talks a good game, but delivers by way of victories and the brutal knockouts fans crave. Especially the legions of white male fans who have come to adore him and flock to the UFC en masse to see his fights.

12th round: Conor McGregor's 'movement' training is just another part of the circus

(Spencer Hall | SB Nation)

Maybe most importantly, the advantage McGregor has in using movement training in MMA fights is a psychological one — both for his own psyche and to use against his opponent. Fighters all train, but not all of them have a good handle on tuning their psychological wiring to the exact right frequency before a fight. Some rely on superstition, some rely on habit and routine, but all of them — at least those who aren’t complete head cases in the ring — have something they lean on to tolerate the absurd pressure of what is an inherently absurd situation.

The Decision: A few more things you should read

Why I won’t be watching Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight (Nancy Armour | USA Today)

Floyd Mayweather can trademark 50-0 but never knock out Rocky Marciano's record (James Brady | SB Nation)

A Theory on How Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather Will Play Out (Mick Rouse | GQ)

Four Ways of Looking at Mayweather vs. McGregor (Nancy Kidder | The Atlantic)

The myth of Floyd Mayweather's southpaw struggles (Mike Chiappetta | MMA Fighting)

7 experts who actually predict Conor McGregor can beat Floyd Mayweather (Kurt Mensching | SB Nation)

All of SB Nation’s Mayweather-McGregor coverage can be found here

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sportslive247news-blog · 7 years

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Watch Mayweather vs McGregor Live ticket prices, on-sale date set

Mayweather vs McGregor Live Boxing are set to meet in a 12-round boxing session on Aug. 26 at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena. While it's not yet definitively approved, NSAC Executive Director Bob Bennett has communicated that the commission will have no issue green-lighting it given McGregor's involvement.

Event : Mayweather vs McGregor

Date: 26, August,2017 Place: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

Broadcasting: mayweathervsmcgregorliveboxing.org

Ratner, who was enrolled into the International Boxing Hall of Fame early a year prior, says he had no powerful part in the talks. His at first sign that things were truly progressing returned fourteen days, when Mayweather Promotions' Leonard Ellerbe and Mayweather himself suggested at it to him.

Regardless, Ratner says that White counseled him in regards to the boxing specifics –, for instance, glove size and ring estimations – that would be set up. The warriors will meet at 154 pounds (super welterweight in boxing) and wear 10-ounce gloves, inside a 20-foot by 20-foot ring – which has been the standard in Nevada for an impressive time allotment. On his end, Ratner is anxious to watch both the piece and its entire extraordinary process – including people in general meeting, which he says may very well breeze up being a pay for each view event itself. At the day's end, Rather says, it's incitement.

"I'm suspecting it," Ratner said. "I will be empowered and we'll see what Conor can do. I'm a noteworthy devotee of Floyd. He can do everything. He's genuinely hard to hit. In addition, he's been off a few years. He never escapes shape, nonetheless he is 40 years old. So we'll see.

"I think it helps the two diversions from different perspectives. There will be an impressive measure of enmity, there's no uncertainty. Regardless, the more people talk about it, the more people loathe it, in spite of all that they'll watch it. Furthermore, that is the thing that really matters to it." To hear more from Ratner on the exceedingly expected session, take a gander at the video above.Want to see how the Mayweather vs Mcgregor boxing superfight on August 26th plays out live? It will cost you. Ticket costs for the event are by and by up on Stubhub, and it records the cost for nosebleed tickets at a mind boggling $2166. Seats for the essential bowl are going for $5450, while premium floor seating would run you a puzzling $20,000 to $79,000 for ringside seats. Movie theaters around the U.S. will show the Aug. 26 fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. moreover, Conor McGregor.

The session between the undefeated boxer and the Irish UFC champion will cost $99.95 on top quality pay-per-see TV. Tickets for the fight at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena will keep running from $500 to $10,000 — and there aren't various $500 seats.

He has been working with Michael Conlan (a bronze boxer at the London Games), amazingly prestigious in Ireland, to take all the key thoughts ." what's more, the pieces of clothing is through and through various, in spite of the way that Lloveras does not consider it an issue. " from the begin you feel exceptional: boots, boxing pants and colossal gloves, yet Mcgregor has been sharpening boxing for a significant long time and will be used to it ."The time differentiate between mixed hand to hand battling and boxing is impressive. In MMA sessions there are five-minute sessions, for the three that toward the end in boxing. 'The Money Fight' will be imparted just on DStv and will air live and in awesome HD on SuperSport 2 and Maximo 1 in the early hours of Sunday, August 27.

DStv Premium customers will be managed to a ringside see when SuperSport crosses to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at 1 am (GMT) for the action stuffed undercard, with the essential session foreseen that would start after 3 am.

"Not in any way like in the US where the fight will be available on pay-per-see in HD for $99.95, DStv customers will welcome the event as a part of the DStv Premium offering, at no extra cost" says Cecil Sunkwa Mills, General Manager, MultiChoice Ghana.

Where To Watch Mayweather vs Mcgregor Live Stream Online?

With respect to the tradition of showing super-fights, from Marvin Hagler versus Tommy Hearns and Mike Tyson versus Michael Spinks to Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao, SuperSport has been in the forefront of passing on the most-anticipated events in the domain of recreations.

"This has been at the most elevated need on our rundown as far back as the fight was announced," said Gideon Khobane, CEO of SuperSport. "People continue discussing the Mayweather vs Mcgregor Live Stream extensive fights we passed on to watchers in the 1980s and past. Nevertheless, this is more than a fight, it's a uber event with layers of conflict, enthusiasm, and intrigue. We'll furthermore be gathering magnificent establishment programming for our regarded DStv customers around the fight."

Charged as "The Money Fight", the test has drawn as much recognition as it has input for the possibility of the organize: boxing's most recognized warrior of the latest decade against Mixed Martial Arts' most splendid star who by and by can't take part in a specialist boxing fight.

Enormous fight fans can watch by methods for their decoders or on DStv Now, on the web or the application.

Non-DStv customers will have the ability to watch the fight on the web TV advantage Showmax by methods for Vodafone later in the day. By subscribing to the preoccupation bundle at a unimportant charge you can get to Showmax for unlimited study of more than 25 000 TV demonstrate scenes, movies, kids shows, and documentaries.Former boxing best on the planet Mayweather and UFC champion McGregor, who will box on 26 August, will begin the four-day visit in Los Angeles on 11 July. "It's outrageous for the commission to assert this current, there's no uncertainty," Ratner starting late told MMAjunkie. "Moreover, I think Conor maybe did some fledgling boxing, yet emphatically he's never fought star. You have to take that bounce. I assume that it's approvable from various perspectives, since he's such a respectable contender.

"I retreat to the late 50s, that I recall that Pete Rademacher was engaging Floyd Patterson. Pete Rademacher was making his expert introduction for the heavyweight title. So have these fights happened some time as of late? Without question. Antonio Inoki versus Cassius Clay – or Muhammad Ali around at that point. It's a scene, it's locks in. I know a huge amount of states would state, today, that they would never bolster it. If it went to their state, I think they would."

Keep in mind however that Stubhub is a discretionary market site, and tickets for the event are as yet not formally reduced. Prior to the finish of a month ago, Dana White prompted fans to watch out for fake merchants who were by then putting tickets accessible to be bought on vendor sites.

They will then continue ahead to Toronto and New York before appearing in London from 19:00 BST next Friday.

Tickets for the Los Angeles and New York events are free, with Toronto and London purposes important to be certified.

American Mayweather, a past champion at five weights, is leaving retirement at 40 to fight 28-year-old UFC lightweight champion McGregor from the Republic of Ireland.

The two contenders are depended upon to gain up to $100m (£78.5m) from the session, which would make it one of the wealthiest in history.Former official of the Nevada State Athletic Commission Marc Ratner appreciates the managerial challenges including Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor, yet watches no issue with it.

Ratner, who's by and by the UFC's Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, was responsible for coordinating different conspicuous battles in the midst of his more than 20-year residency with the NSAC. Also, he's totally going to have an impact with the polarizing coordinating between the boxing legend and the UFC's lightweight champ. While he comprehends that Mayweather vs Mcgregor Live nonattendance of expert boxing information is totally a factor in the condition, he assumes that conditions – and chronicled perspectives – make the ballyhoo a honest to goodness one.

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trilotechcorp · 7 years

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New Post has been published on PBA-Live

New Post has been published on http://pba-live.com/how-top-mma-trainers-would-prepare-conor-mcgregor-for-floyd-mayweather/

How top MMA trainers would prepare Conor McGregor for Floyd Mayweather

When it comes to Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor, there is no shortage of topics to discuss.

Every Instagram post is a headline. And you can bet all these different angles of coverage will tirelessly seek out your eyeballs between now and the night of the fight.

Today, we’re talking about the fight itself. Specifically, how a very good mixed martial artist can approach the task of fighting a world-class boxer in his own arena.

What can McGregor do, if anything, to even the playing field? What does he actually bring to the table that Mayweather hasn’t seen? What will happen when the fight actually starts and what, ultimately, will be the final outcome?

ESPN spoke to some of the best coaches in MMA to get a sense of what McGregor’s strategy and chances are, against the five-division world champion Mayweather.

Firas Zahabi, Tristar MMA

Conor is the better fighter and Mayweather is the better boxer. In my opinion, neither one belongs in the other’s arena. It’s like, “Who wins, a lion or a shark?” Well, if it’s in an aquarium, the shark. If it’s in the jungle, the lion.

The one X factor is we still don’t know the limit of Conor’s left hand. Will it knock someone out as efficiently as it does in MMA? He was born with a gift. That’s a gift. Nobody ever knows how that’s done. It’s a mystery, that kind of power. Boxing coaches have tried to duplicate it. We’re not crazy, we’re trying to figure out how that’s done, what it is exactly that makes someone hit that hard — and no one truly knows. No one can say that has been discovered.

Mayweather has seen that before, at the highest level, and dealt with it beautifully many times over. Conor’s going to try to land the left hand. He’s not going to jab Mayweather to death. He’s going to bully him, drive his forearms into his face. Don’t forget a boxing match is 36 minutes. That’s really a lot longer than we’re used to in MMA, and we’ve seen Conor get tired in the past. If it goes into the later rounds, it won’t be pretty.

I don’t think it will go 12 rounds. Either Conor catches him early or Mayweather puts him away in the later rounds.

Jason Parillo, RVCA VA Sport

If McGregor starts fading at any point, I think Mayweather will try to have a “showtime” moment. I’m sure he schools guys sometimes in the gym, talks s—. I could see him trying to make that type of example out of Conor.

Do I think McGregor has something special to him? He wouldn’t have the attention that’s on him if he didn’t. Is he heavy-handed enough to hurt somebody? Yes. But the way I look at it is that Canelo Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya were professional punchers and focused on nothing but punching their entire lives. McGregor’s been putting as much focus on everything else.

Mayweather is 40 years old and he’s been out of the ring, but I never saw that slight loss, that second of a reflex — I just never saw it. The guy is f—ing Gumby. He’s got the reflexes of a cat. You have guys who have 30 to 40 professional wins, fast as lightning, and Mayweather makes them miss all day long and then makes them pay.

You’ve got to remember, all our MMA champions go for is 25 minutes. This fight is another 11 minutes. That will come into play. If [McGregor’s] got grit and the beard to do it, he could put it on [Mayweather] and smother him, punch his arms, whatever he can hit. McGregor’s actually got the foot speed for it as well, to walk him down a bit. It gets confusing trying to talk about this though, because we know McGregor is a good MMA boxer, and god bless all the MMA guys that McGregor has knocked out, but they’re not Jose Luis Castillo or Oscar De La Hoya. This fight seems to be a lot about money. Justin Buchholz, Team Alpha Male

Go in there, get in his face right off the bat and try to win a round. First three rounds, win one of them by just being aggressive.

Floyd can fight in the clinch and he’ll stick his elbow up in your face. But we’re talking about an MMA fighter with McGregor. And you see this sometimes in boxing — Bernard Hopkins will be in a clinch, the referee will be on one side and on the other side Hopkins is hitting the dude illegally in the hamstring. Dirty tactics. Come in with your head. We’re MMA fighters, we train that s—. We train to tie guys up and overhook their arms and wear them out. Conor has a very big frame, and you’re talking about a little guy in Floyd.

Don’t get knocked out. McGregor will be thinking, “Oh, I’m gonna hit Floyd with the jab,” and Floyd will come back with a double right hand that will f—ing rock him because he’s so fast. People like to say Floyd doesn’t hit hard. What do you mean Floyd doesn’t hit hard? Are you f—ing kidding me? Who knocks out Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez? Nobody knocks those guys out. But ask Canelo if Floyd hits hard. Because Canelo stopped throwing punches on him. Of course he hits hard, he’s a master of boxing.

That’s why I’d say, when Floyd starts picking him apart, McGregor needs to turn it into an MMA fight at the risk of being DQ’d. If it’s Round 4 and you’re saying, “We’ve got no chance, this guy’s picking us apart, we don’t even want to move in there because we’re going to get knocked out” — next time you get into the clinch, double leg him. It’s better to get DQ’d than knocked the f— out. And just think about how easily Conor can manipulate Floyd’s body weight. You’ve got a master of boxing against a guy who is overmatched as f—, but the one time that guy puts his hands on him with the intent to do something that’s not completely handicapped by rules, he’d throw him down and your best boxer in the world couldn’t do s—.

Mike Winkeljohn, Jackson-Wink MMA

Floyd is going to go into his shell and hold his shoulder high. You can’t do that in MMA and you can’t do that in a street situation, but in boxing it’s a beautiful thing.

He has a god-given knack of not getting hit and using his defensive ability so well. Conor’s got the power though. I think Conor is a big, strong fighter who has speed and is a little slicker. What Conor can bring to the table is maybe some offline angles with his footwork that comes out of MMA and will be something Floyd might not be used to. Attack where Floyd can’t hide behind his shoulder.

We’re going to know one way or the other right away. Conor comes with a game plan of attacking Floyd in a way he has never seen before. Once it fails, or I should say “if” it fails, then it will fall into a traditional boxing match, which obviously favors Floyd. I’ll tell you what though, Conor’s got a smart camp and they’re going to come up with something. It might be worth putting some money on Conor as the underdog. Robert Follis, Xtreme Couture

When you’ve got someone who moves significantly better than you, putting them in a clinch is a great idea. You saw that with Mike Tyson, when he was getting beat by Evander Holyfield. What you don’t want to do is run around chasing with punches.

Conor’s striking is good, but I’ve got pro guys who will go to the boxing gym and work with some 14-year-old amateur who has 40 fights and they get picked apart.

If Conor goes out there and tries to box with him, look slick, he’ll get a hell of a payday and look real silly. If he can go in there and hang on his head, dirty box, take warnings from the referee, lose a point even — but potentially wear on him and be physical with him — Muhammad Ali did that in several fights; he’d take the warning and force the referee to slap his hand off the back of his opponent’s head.

It’s pretty tough for them to disqualify someone in that big of a fight, you know what I mean? Minus biting Floyd’s ear or throwing him out of the ring, he can get away with hanging on the head and dirty boxing. If he does round after round and then unleashes some of that power? If you’re coming up with a game plan that seems like the only way to go right? Duke Roufus, Roufusport MMA

A lot of people don’t understand Conor has more boxing experience than he’s showing. He amateur boxed at a club in Ireland that has a top coach.

But Floyd is not only one of the greatest fighters of his era, he’s one of the most elusive. It’s going to be tough for Conor to box 12 rounds. You’re going to throw more than you’re used to and you’re going to miss. It’s very tiring. That’s what Floyd does so well. When you miss, you start second-guessing yourself as a fighter.

I don’t know how many people will remember this, but Zab Judah, who is a real slick boxer, fought Kostya Tszyu [2001] and at times, Zab was very confused with the pace. Kostya fought like a mixed martial artist. He’s Russian and had this slower, meticulous pace — at a very long range. If you’re not used to that, it can really throw your timing off.

When fighters press Floyd, that’s where he’s magic. Conor almost needs to be like a jiu-jitsu guy who needs you to come into his guard. Stay back, use your reach and show him a style he’s never seen before. I give him a 20 percent chance if he does that, I really believe that. Henri Hooft, Combat Club MMA

We’re talking about the best boxer there is. One of my guys, Tyrone Spong, is boxing at the moment and he always tells me it’s so different, people are so fast. They’re used to doing what they do. It looks simple — the jab, straight hand — but they do it day in and day out for years.

Conor has really impressed me with his hands, but Mayweather will beat him in everything in a boxing match. I’ll watch the fight but I’m not really interested in it. I think it will go as long as Mayweather wants.

I will say, “You’re going to fight the best boxer of all time, make a lot of money, with the whole world watching, so just go for it.” It’s amazing. I’m kind of jealous of him and his coach. Live the moment. It’s something special. Trevor Wittman, Grudge Training Center

McGregor has shown problems with taller fighters. Nate Diaz is not a fast boxer and he’s not a great defensive fighter, but he beat McGregor in their first fight because of his range. He was able to land the one-two and McGregor didn’t even see the two coming because of the jab.

Mayweather is one of the tallest fighters out there — not meaning he’s physically tall but he’s a range fighter. He’s very good at shifting his hips back and forth to make it seem like he’s closer than he really is. He lures you in with that high lead shoulder and makes you reach. McGregor is a counter striker and I just don’t see Mayweather taking any chances reaching with power.

Mayweather is going to irritate him with the jab all night and then force him to lead. Mayweather is very fundamental with his feet, very fundamental defensively. He’s very good at learning round to round, so McGregor’s only chance will be in the first round. I think he will bring McGregor out of his realm, out of his mindset and it will be an out-classed match.

But it’s still a great fight for McGregor. He can retire and say he challenged the best. It’s a no-lose situation. Mike Brown, American Top Team

People think there’s no chance. I’ve heard people go, “Oh, there’s literally zero chance.” I’ve heard boxing analysts say that. And the chances are low. Whether it’s 5 percent, 10 percent — whatever it is, it’s low. But I think what McGregor does have is that Mayweather is the oldest he’s ever been. He’s slightly worse than he’s ever been. McGregor is a big guy, maybe the biggest guy Mayweather has ever fought or close to it. He’s a southpaw and he’s doesn’t move like a traditional boxer. So, the angles Mayweather is used to seeing are slightly off.

All of those variables tip it a little to Conor’s favor. Not like he’s a favorite, but there are some things that make this a little different from a normal boxing fight. McGregor could never win a decision, obviously. The only way he can win is getting Mayweather with a shot that he doesn’t see coming, hurting him and finishing him. You never know if that big shot could land. Brandon Gibson, Jackson-Wink MMA

I’m happy McGregor is getting so much attention for the sport, but we’ve got one of the best of his generation going against a boxer who is 0-0. I would think it would be a one-sided affair.

In Floyd’s first Marcos Maidana fight, Maidana was able to catch him with overhands. That kind of caught Floyd off-guard. Maybe Conor can do some of that. But whether Floyd is in the center of the ring or with his back against the ropes, he’s going to make him miss and make him pay with counters.

I don’t think you’ll see a finish, but I think you’ll see the difference between one of the best boxers ever and someone with no boxing experience.

Source: http://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/20089304/how-top-mma-trainers-prepare-conor-mcgregor-floyd-mayweather

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