One thing I used to love about watching Evander Hoyfield fight, was when he would wade into danger against a bigger man, abandoning Lou Duva’s plan to win on points by boxing, and Lou, the ugliest man in boxing, would scream, “Don’t be a fuckin’ hero!”
Well, Lou would have been happy cornering either of these cowards—I said cowards, materialistic boxers who sat back on their rear hip, did not throw a single significant blow in the premier event of their sport, and ran and clinched rather than box to avoid damage. This fight disgusted me, and is an argument for MMA. The older Klitschko would have eaten this trash-talking British clown alive.
You know what, I am such a careful coach, that I will not even put fighters in the pro ring, and always preach caution over heroics. But, even in my relatively bland pugilistic world, there is a time to be a hero, such as while fighting for the heavyweight crown, when the alternative choice is tarnishing it?
Seriously, if this were two hundred years ago, I think I would challenge both of them to a back-to-back sword duel and cut them down to save the sport any more embarrassment.
Wondering why I liked Vitali so much more than his pretty brother, I looked at some highlight films and noted that while the younger Klitschko brother hugs a lot, that Vitali primarily stiff-armed, which is not holding, and also had double the work-rate.
In my mind, the justification for boxing—admittedly an artificial form of combat—as a combat art is two-fold:
1. Does it prepare you mentally for balancing prudence and risk in combat, caging the demon of fear and using him as a canary of the soul rather than extinguishing him or falling prey to him?
2. Could what you have done in this ring have worked in another context, where there was no third neutral man to protect you with rules and pry you apart?
One man held on like a fading king clinging to his purple robe and sucking his thumb, while the other skulked about the ring attempting to thieve the very crown he tarnished in so doing.
Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury are cowards, a black mark on boxing, the bitch Siamese twins of pugilism’s lattest disgrace.
A stinging, thorough and accurate review on this fight.
Armando, we are counting on you to redeem tall boxers!
I legit fell asleep, in a public place, while trying to watch this fight. I've seen a hundred-fold more bravery from a 12-year-old boy than these two world-class dopes.