Which famous fighters maintained lifelong good health, and which didn't?
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I think Lennox like Hagler was smart. He called it quits and really did quit. I like when guys do that. They give their bodies a chance to heal. One thing I always wondered abou is why some fighters improve or modify and others just get worse. Even Hearns or Duran modified their style a little when they moved up. Little things made them effective. Holyfield modified also and became a little more of a guy who picked his shots. Then you have Donald Curry who slipped and kept slipping, like Tyson a little. They could still have good days, but their defenses got worse and they did not have any modification to deal with that other slippage.
Good call. The Mayor has all his marbles,and more,as has his brother. As a fighter,Vitali might just have been the best heavyweight ever. Nobody will ever convince me they know what would have happened against Lennox had he not got cut. And Vitali dominated everybody else. The only question mark on him was when he retired against a much lighter American. But so did Sonny Liston,who should be in anybodys top 10 in the division IMO.
As a politician,he absolutely dwarfs anybody in this country. If he was British,he would get my vote any day.
Ken,I saw a documentary on the brothers and Gene in particular was shaking like a leaf. Which I believe is a sympton of Parkinsons. Call me cynical if you like but a lot of boxers seem to suffer from this. Not in every case,but it can be another term for punch drunk.
Yes that was brilliant mate. One size does not fit all. Still having a think mate,but on this subject dunno if he's been mentioned but how about Archie Moore? That man had literally HUNDREDS of fights against the very best. ATG,won most but was also knocked out on quite a few occasions. Fantasticc career,must have been 50 when he reired. Almost at the end he knocked out a young Argentinian heavyweight who was all the rage. Ive seen interiews with him at the end of his life. Must have lived to almost,or at,80. Arcticulate,all his marbles,hardly a mark on him.
In contrast Ive seen fighters,particularly,British guys,who retire,look and sound OK . Then years later they show the effects. Unless they're having as many street fights as they had in the ring,which I consider very unlikely,I just don't understand this.
IM a bit late in the discussion Trail. But some good ones. And you mentioned the best one,Moore. But lets see how some of the younger ones go in later life,considering my previous post.
Main thing is,every individual is different,whatever we are talking about. I think the OP said that.
I thnk that was a great post mate and hope we see more. But Im not sure Ive heard him talking ANY nonsense. Thing is,we only hear him speaking English. Maybe he's not the best at it and not as good as his brother,who lives in the US I believe. But he puts his point across,and can do so in more thann 3 languages .
I remember Herbie Hide going on a rant before their fight and trying to intimidate him. Vitali calmly took the piss by saying he didn't speak English very well so could Herbie address him in Russian? Then proceeded to beat the shit out of him when they got in the ring.
@Trail. A personal opinion about Moore and how extraordinary a character he was.
1. My cousin used to give me The Ring magazine after Id read it. One artcle I distinctly remember was "Charley Burley the best fighter I ever saw" Written buy Moore. Not ghost written. Written. They'd printed his story but also showed the original draft that he'd provided,complete with corrections when he'd made the {rare} spelling mistake . Corrections made by himself. At that point he was still an active boxer,but it was definitely AFTER the Patterson fight. So he would have been around 50 with a couple hundred fights behind him at the time. Against some we know and some we won't. But Id bet none of them couldn't fight.
2. Maybe after that time,while STILL active he appeared in a film called Huckleberry Finn,as a slave before abolition. I think this was the only time Ive ever seen a boxer in a film where he didn't play a tough guy. This wasn't Mandingo. He put in a masterful performance and never acted again. Get the film if you can.
3. People talk about Ali and how great a guy he was,and how he was discriminated against. I venture to say that Moore encounter much more discrimination,but never seemed bitter. Had more fights than Ali and didn't show as many signs of damage. And,only my opinion and not denigrating Ali as he was quite unique,a better man.
1. My cousin used to give me The Ring magazine after Id read it. One artcle I distinctly remember was "Charley Burley the best fighter I ever saw" Written buy Moore. Not ghost written. Written. They'd printed his story but also showed the original draft that he'd provided,complete with corrections when he'd made the {rare} spelling mistake . Corrections made by himself. At that point he was still an active boxer,but it was definitely AFTER the Patterson fight. So he would have been around 50 with a couple hundred fights behind him at the time. Against some we know and some we won't. But Id bet none of them couldn't fight.
2. Maybe after that time,while STILL active he appeared in a film called Huckleberry Finn,as a slave before abolition. I think this was the only time Ive ever seen a boxer in a film where he didn't play a tough guy. This wasn't Mandingo. He put in a masterful performance and never acted again. Get the film if you can.
3. People talk about Ali and how great a guy he was,and how he was discriminated against. I venture to say that Moore encounter much more discrimination,but never seemed bitter. Had more fights than Ali and didn't show as many signs of damage. And,only my opinion and not denigrating Ali as he was quite unique,a better man.
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I need to find out more about Archie Moore. My Dad is a good authority on Archie Moore - being a lifelong boxing fan, and @Gero a good friend of mine knows his stuff about said gentleman.
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@nordend33 sorry mate. I got a bit confused,realised you meant Lennox not Vitali. Old age.
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well...i know nothing about such things if i am honest.....but i based what i said on this....the video isnt in english but the title translates as...'Sunday Spectacular: At age 78, fighter Éder Jofre faces the drama of memory loss'...
where as in the couple of years afterwards...
Thanks for that Doug. I don't know Portuguese but got the gist of the comparison. Must admit he looks slightly better in the 2nd film but nothing significant from what I could see. I DO know that there is medication for illnesses like dementia. Maybe he had been started on something when he appeared in it.
I DO have knowledge of dementia. Someone very dear to me suffered from it for years,and sas said was a fairly slow,progressive illness. I have also known quite a few others with same illness. Always quite slow,always getting worse. Ive never known anybody actually "beat" it.
I vaguely remember Jofre boxing. He was an ATG. Clever with a punch. In the film he was doing something he was a master at,which I think could be significant. For a 78 year old layman he looked good,but for an ATG?? And like any boxer who had the number of fights he had,I wonder if it was dementia or something boxing related. No way of knowing.
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Ive commented on Rubin Carter in the other discussion. Never had an easy opponentt,fought champions and some who should have been. Lost an eye in prison,where he spent many years and no doubt had MORE fights. Yet looked and sounded like a self made professor till almost the day he died.
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Huckleberry Finn was in 1960. I later saw it as a kid. Here's a British Pathé one minute clip about it:
That is a B&W silent film insert showing Moore's facial expressions. His acting talent is off the charts...
Still the reigning LHW Champion, he apparently acted in this between Durelle II and Besmanoff, with his final LHW Title defense in his rematch dissection of Rinaldi II. His HW demolitions of Rademacher and Lavorante would also take place in 1961. As he is filming this during 1960, he remains LHW Champion and one of the best active boxers in the world.
Fixed....:smile :
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