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Mickey Massuco

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I got Fury but beating anyone at that level twice in a row is super hard. There might be a trilogy.

I think Ruiz could beat em both, but Fury might retire after this.
 

AA484

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This was FOTY so far. I thought Chocolatito won 116-112 but I thought his rounds were more obvious than Estrada's. About half could have gone either way but I thought Chocolatito safely won the other six. If you flip a coin for the other six rounds and only give Chocolatito one, he wins the majority of the time. That's why I fought the 117-111 card for Estrada was so weird.
 

AA484

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How weird was it to watch a sporting event with a decent-sized crowd last night (Ortiz v Hooker)? It was to me anyway.
 

AA484

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I'm not sure what it says about the state of boxing in this country when 90% of the posts in this thread deal with celebrity or freak show matches :(

No indictment on anyone who posts about them, it's just a disturbing trend in the boxing world that I'm not really sure what to make of. As an aside, bare knuckle fighting has absolutely no appeal to me either, as it mostly consists of washed up MMA or boxing fighters.
 

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And it's all the weirder because the, you know, actual boxing is good right now. Some great fights have been put together despite covid. I think there will be more of those when crowds return.
 

909

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And then for some reason Cotto is fighting Marquez in another one of these freak shows. I'm gonna watch that though. It's different for that one because it's like two hero figures.
 

AA484

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909

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Also, can they please do Cotto/Marquez in LA? Marquez is my dad's favorite fighter of all time and it would be a good Father's Day present to take him to that.
 

King Kamala

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And it's all the weirder because the, you know, actual boxing is good right now. Some great fights have been put together despite covid. I think there will be more of those when crowds return.
That's what I don't get. These freak shows would seem indicate a further sign of a massive decline but boxing industry seems healthiest it has been since the '90s

Although I suppose you could come up with a galaxy brained argument that boxing industry is doing so well that these old dogs are able to make millions farting around in exhibitions instead of being discarded to the dung heaps of pugilistic history like past retired fighters.
 

alkeiper

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There's money in boxing and people are trying to grab it without actually fighting. I don't think that's a stretch. Though it certainly also says something that people are way, way too invested in nostalgia.
 

Mickey Massuco

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I talk the regular boxing in chat. I think people need to get off their high horse about these celeb fights though. These people are being matched up properly first of all, which is a problem “real” mma and boxing still have. It seems people are angry about the attention, but there’s nothing unethical about people with fanbases capitalizing on them by getting in the ring and fighting. They’re still putting their asses on the line in the ring and earning those views. If you don’t like it, don’t watch.

the only issue I have is fighters who clearly have too much brain damage getting in the ring again. But again, that happens all the time in real fighting so that isn’t exclusive to this. Also, people seem to be having issues with the celeb aspect of this, where that’s not an issue. At the end of the day though, I’m not gonna make someone else’s health decision for them. They know what they’re getting into at this point.

The bottom line is this brings more eyes to the sport. There are ranked boxers fighting on these cards because it will help their career. It’s easy to talk about the integrity of the sport when you’re not the one getting in there and you’re not paying their bills.
 

909

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I don't think it hurts the integrity of the sport at all, and conversely it leaves these exhibition fights as a more proper sendoff for their career than in many cases the way these guys were knocked out. I don't think there's anything wrong with an old guy getting in there with their greatest rival or best guy they never faced. My nostalgia also comes from a place of appreciation for when these guys bled for my entertainment. It's not how people will remember them in the grand scheme of things, but it's a dignified way to leave the sport with their fans feeling happy.

I do think these fights are in direct relation to there being too much money in the sport right now, but there's also nothing wrong with that. The sport is in a more healthy place from division to division than at any point since the 90s, and that reflects in this sport having a stacked heavyweight division for the first time since then.


I think it's one thing if guys who weren't stars started fighting in these old man fights, but this is like when Camacho and Duran and Hearns kept on fighting. The Floyd fight against the YouTube guy, that seems like a bigger deal to me and is something I don't think is a good thing at all. I don't begrudge anyone for making money but the YouTube guy doesn't belong in the ring with him.

Also, in so far as talking about regular boxing, in here I find that I almost literally can't due to having to remain impartial and I don't want anything I say to be tracked back to me. When this pandemic is over I'm going to get my amateur judge's license and start hitting the pavement and progressing along this plan to pro judging that I've laid out, but yeah, it limits what I'm comfortable with saying.
 

snuffbox

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That's what I don't get. These freak shows would seem indicate a further sign of a massive decline but boxing industry seems healthiest it has been since the '90s

Although I suppose you could come up with a galaxy brained argument that boxing industry is doing so well that these old dogs are able to make millions farting around in exhibitions instead of being discarded to the dung heaps of pugilistic history like past retired fighters.

The 90s is a good analogy for this. That was such a great (and still underrated) era for boxing. I agree that, if a few more of the dream fights get put together over the next couple years, this era could be comparable.

But even during that 1990s heyday there was still a similar carnival sideshow thing that developed. Started with the Holyfield-Foreman fight. People worried about George going into that fight. It ended up being a better fight than expected and a ppv bonanza. Then Larry Holmes followed Foreman (and somehow beat Ray Mercer) to get a couple title shots. By the end of the decade there were old timer ppv cards with Bonecrusher Smith, Juan Laporte, etc.

Christy Martin, Butterbean, Mia St John, etc. The best example of this is the 1999 ppv headlined by Paulie Ayala vs Johnny Tapia. That ended up the fight of the year. Couple title fights on the undercard. But also St John and a fight straight out 2021: Butterbean vs Peter McNeely.

I think a big part of boxing's success in the 90s (HBO, Showtime, ppv) was that circus aspect. People watched to see what happened just as muc as the fights, which included some of the best ever. Fan Man, Tyson's shenanigans of the month, so many crazy things.

But, yeah, it doesn't upset me. I just don't get it. Or after this rambling post, maybe I do. And I was talking more about the public at large or whatever, not any posters here.
 

AA484

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Something 909 or YPOV mentioned (can't remember, too lazy to reread) that I forgot to mention earlier is that some of these cards provide bigger paydays and more exposure for guys on the undercard. So in that sense I can find a use for them, even if I don't care about them.
 

909

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