Category Archives: Boxing
LBJ punches out, Foreman punches in
Today is the 50th anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court case (one which I will not name, nor will I discuss), the death of a former President of the United States, and the birth of a sports legend.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, the Texan who succeeded to the presidency when Lee Harvey Oswald (probably) put a bullet in John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s head one November Friday afternoon in Dallas, died a little after 1600 Central Standard Time on 22 January 1973, approximately 52 hours after his successor, Richard Milhous Nixon, took the Oath of Office for his second term.
LBJ was death warmed over during the last several months of his life. In his 2011 biography, then-Louisiana Gov Edwin Edwards noted just how terrible the former president looked when he attended a memorial service for U.S. Representative Hale Boggs in New Orleans on 4 January, 18 days before LBJ succumbed to his fifth (recorded) heart attack.
In 1955, LBJ nearly died from a massive coronary, brought on by his heavy smoking, poor diet and the stress of being Senate Majority Leader. He tried to keep smoking, but Lady Bird and their daughters had to persuade him to quit. Unfortunately, LBJ returned to the nasty habit immediately after leaving the White House, and smoked heavier in his last four years than he did before the 1955 incident. In fact, LBJ started puffing away as soon as he boarded the plane to return to Texas following Nixon’s first inauguration in 1969.
LBJ’s death was announced live on the CBS Evening News by Walter Cronkite. After wrapping up his report on the Supreme Court decision, Cronkite was reporting on the stock market when he received a call from Tom Johnson (no relation), a LBJ spokesman, from the ranch in Johnson City. LBJ was stricken in his bed, and although a medical helicopter arrived almost immediately to transport him to a hospital in San Antonio, it was too late.
It was fitting Cronkite reported LBJ’s death live, since it brought the reporter and the politician full circle.
Cronkite became the Most Trusted Man in America in the hours after JFK’s assassination, including the announcement that LBJ would be taking the Oath of Office to succeed the fallen leader of the free world.
Less than three hours after LBJ was pronounced dead, Joe Frazier was set to defend his World Heavyweight Championship vs. George Foreman in Jamaica.
Foreman, a gold medalist at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, entered the fight 37-0 with 34 knockouts, but many experts felt he had fought nothing but punching bags and tomato cans, and would be no match for the powerful Frazier, who was 22 months removed from his pummeling of Muhammad Ali in the “Fight of the Century”.
On the other hand, Frazier defended his championship only twice since defeating Ali against men named Terry Daniels and Ron Stander. The fight against Daniels took place in New Orleans the night before Super Bowl VI, and it was just as one-sided as the Cowboys’ win vs. the Dolphins. Four months later, Stander was forced to retire after the fourth round in Omaha.
Frazier’s fight against Foreman did not reach the fourth round, but not because Smoking Joe was unstoppable.
Quite the opposite.
Foreman came out firing with hard rights mixed in with quick lefts, and less than two minutes into the bout, Joe Frazier went down.
Howard Cosell, describing the fight for ABC’s Wide World of Sports (that wouldn’t air until the following Saturday; the live closed -circuit feed was narrated by Don Dunphy), blurted out one of the most iconic lines in the history of sports broadcasting.
“DOWN GOES FRAZIER! DOWN GOES FRAZIER! DOWN GOES FRAZIER!”
Arthur Mercante, the third man in the ring for Ali-Frazier two years prior and possibly the greatest referee in the history of the sport, gave Frazier a standing eight count.
Foreman was just as relentless after the knockdown, raining down blows on Frazier and scoring a second knockdown a minute later. Just before the bell rang to end the opening round, Foreman scored a third knockdown.
It got no better in the second round. Foreman was more ruthless than the Israeli army during the Six-Day War, and scored three more knockdowns of the seemingly invincible Frazier.
On the sixth knockdown, Mercante said enough was enough. George Foreman was the new Heavyweight Champion of the World via technical knockout.
George Foreman was hated by many boxing fans for his angry demeanor, and was widely ridiculed when he lost the championship to Ali in October 1974 in “The Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo).
After retiring in 1977 following a loss to Jimmy Ellis, Foreman became a born-again Christian. When he returned to the ring in 1987, he became the most popular figure in the sport.
On 5 November 1994, George Foreman, five days away from his 46th birthday, knocked out Michael Moorer in the 10th round to capture the championship almost 20 years to the day after he lost it.
The Chiefs won yesterday. ICK. The Bengals are leading. ICK. It means the AFC championship might be in Kansas City. PUKE.
Day of memories
A lot of things happened on January 22 in the past.
Three of those came before I was born.
On January 22, 1973, the following occurred:
- The Supreme Court of the United States legalized abortion in Roe v Wade. Harry Blackmun wrote the majority opinion, although much of it was crafted by William Brennan, the leading progressive on the court for over 30 years. Byron White and William Rehnquist dissented. If you’re looking for my opinion on this case, keep waiting. Not here. Not now.
- Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, died of a massive heart attack at his ranch in Johnson City, Texas. LBJ was in poor health throughout his post-presidential life, and it was only a matter of time before his bad habits caught up with him.
- George Foreman battered Joe Frazier in Jamaica, winning by TKO in the second round to claim the World Heavyweight Championship. Referee Arthur Mercante, also in charge of Frazier’s epic 15-round unanimous decision over Muhammad Ali in 1971 in New York City, mercifully stopped the fight after Frazier was knocked down for the sixth time. Howard Cosell shouted “DOWN GOES FRAZIER” after the first knockdown, the most iconic line uttered by the man who always bragged he “Tells It Like It Is”.
January 22 just happened to be one busy day in one of the most hectic months of the last 50 years. To wit:
- January 7–Mark James Robert Essex went full commando in downtown New Orleans, killing seven–including three members of the New Orleans Police Department–and wounding 19 others in a siege at the Downtown Howard Johnson’s Hotel. It was discovered later that Essex killed two other NOPD members on New Year’s Eve and also was the probable culprit for the Rault Center fire of November 29, 1972, which killed six.
- January 14–The Dolphins defeated the Redskins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII to complete their 17-0 season. Also that day, Elvis Presley performed in Honolulu to a worldwide audience over over one billion (none in the United States and Canada; the concert was not aired until April in those countries).
- January 27–The Paris Peace Accords were signed, ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Two events of January 22 in the 1980s I remember much better.
The first Super Bowl I recall watching from beginning to end was Super Bowl XVIII, January 22, 1984 in Tampa.
The Redskins were the defending champion, having beaten the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII. Washington went 14-2 in 1983, scoring a then-NFL record behind a dynamic offense led by quarterabck Joe Theismann, the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, and running back John (The Diesel) Riggins, who scored a then-NFL record 24 touchdowns. Theismann had one of the NFL’s best receivers in Art Monk, who would be healthy for Super Bowl XVIII after missing the 1982 playoffs with a leg injury. Washington’s defense was overshadowed by its offense, but the Redskins had a stout unit, led by tackle Dave Butz, end Dexter Manley, linebacker Neal Olkewicz, and safety Mark Murphy, as well as a rookie cornerback from Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville) named Darrell Green.
The Raiders were in their second season in Los Angeles. They had a superstar running back of their own in Marcus Allen, as well as speedy receiver Cliff Branch and sure-handed tight end Todd Christensen. Jim Plunkett did not have the big numbers Theismann had, but he was a fearless leader who had survived terrible stints in New England and San Francisco. Oakland’s defense was powered by a secondary led by cornerback Lester Hayes and safety Mike Haynes, acquired from the Patriots during the season. Up front, Oakland had a pair of studs at end, Lyle Alzado and Howie Long, while linebacker Ted Hendricks was still going strong in his 15th–and final–NFL season.
Washington defeated the Raiders 37-35 at RFK Stadium in week five, rallying from a 35-20 deficit in the fourth quarter to do so. The Redskins’ only losses were each by one point on Monday Night Football, at home vs. the Cowboys in the opener and at Green Bay two weeks after the game with the Raiders.Washington blew away the Rams 51-7 in the divisional playoffs, but barely beat the 49ers 24-21 in the NFC championship. San Francisco coach Bill Walsh (he will be mentioned later in this post, and with good reason) was incensed over two very marginal penalties called against the 49ers on the drive which led to the Redskins’ game-winning field goal, and he would use those calls as a rallying point for 1984, when San Francisco tore apart the league by going 15-1 in the regular season and winning Super Bowl XIX.
Los Angeles lost twice to division rival Seattle and suffered an inexplicable December loss at home to the Cardinals, but came on strong in the playoffs, routing Pittsburgh 38-10 and Seattle 30-14.
Many of the scribes who considered themselves experts on professional football felt Super Bowl XVIII had the potential to be one of the best Super Bowls ever.
Instead, it was a super rout.
The Raiders scored following Washington’s first possession when Derrick Jensen blocked a Jeff Hayes punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. A touchdown pass from Plunkett to Branch early in the second quarter made it 14-0. The Redskins got a field goal later in the period, but one of the most disastrous plays in the history of championship football was about to occur.
The Redskins had the ball inside their own 20 with 12 seconds to go in the first half. The smart play would be for Theismann to take a knee and for Joe Gibbs and his players to regroup during the long halftime.
Instead, Gibbs sent in a play called Rocket Screen.
During the October game with the Raiders, Theismann and Joe Washington executed it to perfection. Theismann dumped off to Washington in the right flat, and the ex-Oklahoma speedster took it for 67 yards to set up a Redskin touchdown as part of the Redskins’ 17-point rally in the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles defensive coordinator Charlie Sumner believed Gibbs might call the play even though very little time remained in the half, and made an important substitution.
Sumner sent in 6-foot-4 reserve linebacker Jack Squirek, a second-year player from Illinois, in for Matt Millen (yes, THAT Matt Millen). Millen was angry that Sumner removed him, but Squirek was a better pass defender than Millen, who was a defensive tackle at Penn State before becoming a linebacker when he was drafted by the Raiders in 1980.
Squirek was asked to play man-to-man coverage against Joe Washington. If Washington caught the screen pass and broke contain, he would have a chance to gain enough yardage to set up Moseley for a field goal attempt to end the first half.
Rocket Screen did lead to a score.
Theismann dropped back and looked left for Joe Washington. Instead, Squirek caught the ball in stride at the 5 and pranced into the north end zone of Tampa Stadium.
Game, set, match, Raiders. It was 21-3 at halftime, and the Redskins’ reign as champion had 30 minutes to run.
Washington scored a touchdown on its first drive of the second half, but it was far too little, too late.
Later in the third quarter, Allen gobbled up huge chunks of real estate on his way to a then-Super Bowl record 191 yards. He scored two touchdowns during the stanza, the second on a remarkable 74-yard run on the final play of the period.
On the play, 17 Bob Trey O, Allen started out as if he would sweep left end, but reversed his field when confronted by Redskins strong safety Ken Coffey. Allen found a crease up the middle and avoided a diving tackle attempt by Olkewicz near midfield. Green and Anthony Washington gave chase, but were hopelessly behind the 1981 Heisman Trophy winner from USC.
The 74-yard jaunt sewed up MVP honors for Allen and was the icing on the cake of the Raiders’ 38-9 victory.
However, to many who watched, Super Bowl XVIII is not remembered for Allen, Squirek or Theismann, but instead for a commercial which aired during the third quarter.
In honor of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, published in 1949, Apple Computers aired a commercial where its new product, the Macintosh, would free the human race from the sinister grip of Big Brother and allow for the continued free will of man and the free exchange of ideas.
The commercial, created by famous movie director Ridley Scott, never aired again, but it is remembered by many not only as the greatest Super Bowl ad ever, but the greatest ad ever, period, regardless of air time or air date.
Five years later, the second–and last–Super Bowl played on January 22 produced one of the great championship games in NFL annals.
Super Bowl XXIII, played on January 22, 1989, marked the return of the big game to South Florida after a ten-year absence. This was the first Super Bowl played in the Dolphins’ palatial new facility, known then as Joe Robbie Stadium, in honor of the Miami owner, who built the $115 million stadium without a dime of taxpayer assistance.
The stadium now known as Hard Rock Stadium is a much better facility for football today than it was when it opened in 1987.
Robbie built the stadium with baseball in mind as well, thinking the area would receive a Major League Baseball expansion team in the near future, which it did when the Marlins joined the National League in 1993.
When the Marlins received their own stadium in 2012 (that’s another story for another post), the NFL required the Dolphins to make major renovations to the facility in order to host another Super Bowl. Current owner Stephen Ross complied, and the Super Bowl returns to South Florida in February 2020.
Super Bowl XXIII was a rematch of Super Bowl XVI, with the Bengals taking on the 49ers.
Some of the same players who were part of the 49ers’ first championship team in 1981 were still with the squad seven years later, most importantly Joe Montana. However, Montana had gone through a dip in his career following the victory over Miami in Super Bowl XIX after the 1984 season. He had a major back injury in 1986 which required surgery, and although he led the 49ers to an NFL-best 13-2 record in 1987, he struggled in a divisional playoff loss to the Vikings and was pulled from the game in favor of Steve Young, who had been acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay before the 1987 draft.
In 1988, Walsh could not make up his mind between Montana and Young through the first half of the season. San Francisco was wildly inconsistent, one week defeating Minnesota when Young scored the game-winning touchdown on a 49-yard scramble around left end on which Young somehow kept his balance, then losing the next week to the Cardinals by blowing a 23-0 lead and losing 24-23.
With the Niners 6-5 and two games behind the Saints in the NFC West, Walsh made Montana the full-time starter. The move paid off, as San Francisco won its next five games, including a 30-17 victory over New Orleans in week 15, to clinch the division championship.
In the playoffs, the 49ers blasted the Vikings 34-9, then went to Chicago and pummeled the Bears 28-3 despite a minus-18 wind chill factor.
This would be the first Super Bowl appearance for Jerry Rice, who had already established himself as one of the NFL’s all-time great receivers in just his fourth season. The Mississippi Valley State product set the league on fire in 1987 when he caught a record 22 touchdown passes in only 12 games. That record would stand for 20 years, when Randy Moss took advantage of the full 16-game slate to haul in 23 scoring passes from Tom Brady.
San Francisco’s underrated defense still featured Ronnie Lott in the secondary, but had a new star in pass rushing ace Charles Haley, who had the freedom to roam and line up at either end or linebacker. 0
The Bengals were a vastly different bunch from the 1981 team which lost to the 49ers in the Pontiac Silverdome, save for veterans Cris Collinsworth, Eddie Edwards and Reggie Williams.
In 1984, Boomer Esiason took over the quarterback duties from all-time Bengals passing leader Ken Anderson. By 1988, the left-hander from Maryland was the NFL’s leading passer, triggering a no-huddle attack which featured fleet receivers Eddie Brown and Tim McGee, plus bruising tight end Rodney Holman. Esiason was protected by an offensive line anchored by Anthony Munoz, one of the NFL’s all-time best offensive tackles.
The Bengals’ running game was led by the versatile James Brooks and a tough fullback from UNLV named Elbert Woods, who became famous as Ickey Woods. The Ickey Shuffle, Woods’ dance after touchdowns, became a national fad as the Bengals began the season 6-0 and went on to a 12-4 record, a far cry from the 4-11 mark of 1987.
Cincinnati defeated Seattle and Buffalo to win its second AFC championship and send coach Sam Wyche, a former Bengals quarterback, into a matchup against his mentor. Wyche was an assistant to Walsh in 1981. Walsh was also a longtime Bengals assistant under Paul Brown before becoming the coach at Stanford in 1977.
The expected offensive explosion didn’t happen in the first half. Each team could muster only a field goal, and each team saw a player suffer a horrific injury.
First to go was 49ers offensive tackle Steve Wallace, who suffered a broken ankle. A few plays later, Bengals nose tackle Tim Krumrie also broke an ankle, but his injury was even more gruesome than Wallace’s.
The first touchdown did not come until late in the third quarter, and it was on a kickoff return by the Bengals’ Stanford Jennings. The 49ers went to the final period down 13-6.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Montana hit Roger Craig for 40 yards to the Bengal 14. Monata’s next pass was almost disastrous for San Francisco, for it hit Cincinnati defender Lewis Billups in the hands.
Had Billups hung on, it might have been curtains for the 49ers.
Instead, Montana made the Bengals pay dearly. He found Rice in the left flat, and #80 did the rest, battling his way past the Bengals secondary to the pylon for the touchdown which tied the game at 13.
With 3:20 to go, Jim Breech nailed a 40-yard field goal which put Cincinnati up 16-13. The 49ers could only return the ensuing kickoff to their own 15, but were further backed up by an illegal block in the back.
With 3:10 remaining, San Francisco was at its own 8-yard line. It would take at least 60 yards to get into field goal range, but that was no sure thing, as Mike Cofer shanked a 19-yard attempt in the second quarter.
Before the first play of the drive, Montana added some levity to the situation when he pointed to the big television screen in the west end of the stadium and said “Hey, isn’t that John Candy?”.
It worked.
Montana led the 49ers on a drive for the ages, as 10 plays moved the ball 82 yards to the Cincinnati 10 with 39 seconds to play. Now the Bengals had to stiffen and hope they could force the 49ers to try a field goal.
With everyone expecting Montana to look for Rice, who finished with 11 receptions for 215 yards, both Super Bowl records, Joe Cool instead found the other wideout, John Taylor, in the middle of the end zone.
Montana’s dart nestled snugly in Taylor’s hands as the clock showed 34 seconds to play.
San Francisco was Super Bowl champion for the third time, 20-16. Walsh announced his retirement in the locker room immediately after the game. Rice, of course, was named MVP.
It’s almost January 23, so that’s it for now.
One overhyped event down, one to go
The solar eclipse came and went Monday. Could not see a damn thing in Russell, where it was overcast. Good. I’m glad. I was in my basement working on something Frank needed done when the eclipse passed.
Now it’s on to the other overhyped happening of August 2017, not counting Patrick Mahomes’ performance in the Chiefs’ exhibition vs. the Bengals the other night, or the Royals’ playoff chances.
McGregor-Mayweather.
UFC fighter Connor McGregor faces boxer Floyd Mayweather this Saturday in Las Vegas.
Count me out.
I have never, ever watched UFC, unless it happened to be on while I was in a Buffalo Wild Wings, and even then, I did my best to ignore it, playing trivia and trying to watch other sporting events–even if the other events included the NBA (good Lord).
I don’t like Mayweather. He has a long history of domestic violence. He is boastful to the point where Muhammad Ali was downright humble. I didn’t watch one second of his fight vs. Manny Pacquiao two years ago, and there’s no way in hell I’m watching this farce.
Buffalo Wild Wings Zona Rosa usually shows UFC cards, but it will not be televising the McGregor-Mayweather fight.
Mayweather’s promoters contorl the pay-per-view rights, and his fights are routinely far, far higher to buy than a typical UFC card. It would cost the consumer $99.99 plus tax to watch the fight–if it is availlable on their cable system, that is. It won’t be on the cable systems in Russell, Hays and northwest Kansas. Too freaking bad.
I recall two years ago there were scores of angry people who came into Buffalo Wild Wings at Zona Rosa hoping to see the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, only to find out B-Dubs wasn’t carrying it.
I have done all I can to tune out McGregor-Mayweather. The hype is going to ramp up signifcantly between tonight and the fight, and it won’t subuside until the fight is reviewed ad nauseam Sunday and Monday.
The next total solar eclipse is in 2024. Oh boy. At least Kansas and Missouri are far from the path of totality.
The “fight” is finally over
For those of you who wasted your money and your time watching the Mayweather-Pacquiao match last night, too bad.
The lovely and taletned Elizabeth Banks said it best: “I was bored out of $100”.
I had no faith whatsoever that Pacquiao could win, especially by decision. I figured that the only way the Filipino could win is if he knocked out the woman beater. The judges, all of whom live in Las Vegas and were receiving $20,000 plus expenses (at least three nights in a MGM Grand luxury suite, five-course dinners) were clearly for Mayweather.
The fighters combined to land 229 punches. That sounds like a lot, but most championship boxers can land more than twice that in a 12-round championship bout. Pacquiao connected on just 19 percent of his punches and landed a miniscule 81.
Pacquiao was depressingly underagressive. He probably knew going in he would have to KO Mayweather, but he kept clutching and grabbing. That’s a great strategy in hockey, not so much in boxing.
Mayweather is now 48-0, one win short of Rocky Marciano’s record for an unbeaten career. However, to call Mayweather the greatest fighter of all time is a joke. He has cherry picked each and every opponent he has faced in recent years. He does not fight on a regular basis like Marciano and the other great fighters of the past. Mayweather is the greatest of all time in his own mind.
Also, I would like to see Mayweather or any of the other fighters who have been in their prime since the mid-1980s to fight 15 rounds. The first Ali-Frazier fight in 1971? The full 15. The Thrilla in Manila, Ali-Frazier III in 1975? 14 rounds. Heck, even Chuck Wepner, the inspiration for Rocky, took Ali to 14.
I would watch boxing before tennis, the Summer Olympics and the X-games, but that’s it.
Tonight, it’s just as bad. ESPN is treating us to yet another Yankees-Red Sox game. Ho hum.
Fight of the Century? Not quite.
ESPN is promoting today as the greatest day of sports this year.
Kentucky Derby? Horse racing has lost its prestige, but the Run for the Roses is still the world’s most prestigious race. NBA playoffs? Game 7 between the Spurs and Clippers should be entertaining. NHL playoffs? The Rangers face a must win at home today vs. the Capitals, and the Ducks will probably go up 2-0 on the Flames. Third day of the NFL draft? Take it or leave it.
Oh yeah, there’s a fight in Las Vegas. If you haven’t heard of it yet, you’ve been smart enough to avoid all forms of media, or at least turned off the TV when mention of the bout begins. I bristle at the idea that the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao duel is the “Fight of the Century”.
First, Pacquio’s best days are well behind him. Less than three years ago, he was knocked out in the sixth round by an undistinguished fighter, Juan Manuel Marquez.
Second, Mayweather may be a great fighter, as evidenced by his 47-0 record, but he’s a turd outside the ring. I have zero respect, and in fact, great enmity, for anyone who would commit domestic violence. Even worse, Mayweather has been convicted on multiple occasions, serving 90 days in jail during the summer of 2012 after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor and thus avoiding felony chargers.
Mayweather may be 47-0, two wins shy of Rocky Marciano’s career record, but Mayweather has been able to cherry pick his bouts, taking more than 18 years to build that mark. Marciano won 49 fights in less than nine years.
I wasn’t alive to witness it, but from all I’ve read and what I’ve watched on ESPN Classic, there is only one Fight of the Century, Joe Frazier’s 15 round unanimous decision over Muhammad Ali to retain the world’s heavyweight championship on March 8, 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The hype for that fight was remarkable, one of the most hyped sporting events in the era before cable television, but unlike numerous boxing matches, this fight lived up to the hype and then some.
I would put THREE Ali bouts ahead of anything Mayweather-Pacquiao could offer. I would also have to rank the third Ali-Frazier fight in 1975 in Manila and Ali’s 8th round knockout of George Foreman in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1974 higher. Another one I would rank higher is No Mas, the 1980 fight in the Superdome between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran.
To me, boxing hasn’t mattered since the evening of April 6, 1987, when Leonard surprised Marvelous Marvin Hagler in a 12 round split decision to win the middleweight championship. The fight was on pay-per-view, but I remember the reports before and after, and the wrapup the next morning on SportsCenter before I went to school.
I read an article online on the Kansas City Star website where the top tickets for the bout were going for $115,000. That’s not a typo. ONE HUNDRED FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. Bob Arum, the president of Top Rank Promotions, said he would not offer ringside seats to anyone who did not have a minimum credit line of $250,000 with MGM, which is hosting the fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
For the price of a ringside seat at the fight, you could buy 82 tickets to Super Bowl 50. And not nosebleed end zone seats. GOOD seats.
By comparison, the top price for a seat at the Ali-Frazier fight in 1971 went for a mere $150, a lot of money back then. By comparison, tickets for Super Bowl V, held two months earlier in Miami, carried a $20 face value. The most expensive Ali-Frazier ticket of 1971 would translate to $870 today. You couldn’t sniff the parking lot for $870 for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Prices for the worst seat start at $4,500.
I also did some reverse calculation. One hundred fifteen thousand in 2015 was a little less than $20,000 in 1971. For that price, you could have purchased 992 tickets to Super Bowl V.
Even if you want to watch the fight at home, it will cost $90 to $100. Way too much for me. Way, way too much for a fight which I doubt will come anywhere close to the hype.
Tyson busted
Where does time go?
I did not realize it until it was mentioned on ESPN this morning, but today–last night, actually, in the United States–marked the 25th anniversary of the most stunning upset in the history of professional boxing.
I’m talking about the World Heavyweight Championship fight in Tokyo between the seemingly invincible Mike Tyson and the journeyman James “Buster” Douglas, who had even less of a chance against Tyson than some of Iron Mike’s previous foes, which included much more accomplished boxers like Michael Spinks, Larry Holmes and Tony Tubbs.
Most were expecting the bout against Douglas to be a warm up before Tyson faced Evander Holyfield, who had risen to next in line to challenge for the title after Douglas. Many, in fact, predicted that Tyson not only would win by a first round knockout, but Douglas would go down faster than the 91 seconds it took Tyson to knock out Spinks in June 1988.
Douglas survived the first round. And the second. In fact, he was standing toe-to-toe with the so-called “Baddest Man on the Planet”, even though he was behind on the three judges’ scorecards.
In the eighth round, it appeared Douglas’ dream was going to die.
Tyson landed a hard right to the jaw and Douglas went down. Buster looked like he was busted. Bring on Holyfield.
Douglas was on the canvas and appeared to still be down after 10 seconds, but the count of Mexican referee Octavio Meryan had only reached nine. Douglas was still alive. Barely, but alive.
Tyson came out in the ninth round looking for the quick knockout. Instead, the bout’s tide turned 180 degrees towards Douglas, who began to devastate Iron Mike with right after right. Tyson did not go down, but he was backed into the ropes and found himself staggering when the bell sounded.
In the tenth round, Douglas continued to attack. He landed a hard uppercut to Tyson’s chin and followed with four straight right hands to Tyson’s head.
Down went Iron Mike.
Tyson was being counted down by Meryan, but it took him until three or four before he realized he was about to lose his championship.
Tyson used the ropes as leverage in his attempt to get up, but it was too late. Meryan counted 10 and called for the bell.
James “Buster” Douglas. Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Douglas liked being champion so much he forgot the hard work and sacrifice it took to get him there.
Two weeks after winning the championship, he was the guest referee in a World Wrestling Federation championship match between Hulk Hogan and Randy “Macho King” Savage. He would continue to make the rounds on the celebrity circuit, all the while watching his weight balloon to over 250 pounds.
By time the Douglas-Holyfield fight arrived on October 25, Douglas still weighed 246 1/2 pounds, 38 1/2 more than Holyfield. To the surprise of nobody, save for those related to Douglas and his handlers, Holyfield won by third round knockout.
Maybe it was as good thing Tyson lost to Douglas, given the way “The Real Deal” took apart Iron Mike in their two bouts in 1996 and 1997, the latter of which ended when Tyson bit off a chunk of Holyfield’s ear.
Foots Prints 