The Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones press conference last week was held debate-style. While both fighters repeatedly said the public wanted this fight, that fact may be what should actually up for debate.
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Some quick thoughts about current goings-on in the Sweet Science:
Floyd Mayweather continually says he cannot understand why he isn’t given more respect by fans and the boxing community. Even if you were giving “Money” major props for standing his ground against Manny Pacquiao in regards to Olympic-style drug testing, Mayweather then has to take it a step further with this gem (to Grand Rapids Press and Ring Magazine reporter David Mayo):
“If it was all about money for me, I would’ve said ‘I don’t care what Manny Pacquiao does, just give me the money, I’ll take it,’ ” he said. “But it’s me taking a stand for something that means something. And it’s for the fighters who are up and coming.
“It’s sort of the same stance Martin Luther King and Malcolm X made, so we could have freedoms, so everybody could tell the world that we’re equal. The only thing I’m saying is that we are equal. So if you’re not on nothing and I’m not on nothing, then let’s go take the test. That’s all I’m saying."
So let me get this straight then, Floyd. So your stand against standard drug testing for slightly more rigid drug testing (in a sporting contest, no less) somehow compares to civil rights leaders fighting for a race of people to be able to attend the same schools as their white counterparts? Are you from another planet or something? You would think that having two uncles and a father involved in the sport (giving uncle Jeff a pass) who lived through the civil rights era might give Floyd some badly needed perspective, but that would be like asking John Ruiz to go through an entire minute without clinching. Chances are Roger and Floyd, Sr. probably don’t even remember the 60’s. And Mr. Mayo, please don’t go asking them.
Let’s not even ponder what Floyd considers “freedom” to be. Maybe he needs to go to North Korea or Krygyzstan, where he wouldn’t even be allowed to make such comments publicly. Fairness, as in sports drug testing, and freedom, as in having free speech, aren’t even close to the same thing.
Floyd, in his quest to make news again whenever someone stops talking about him for five minutes, personifies the out-of-touch athlete perfectly. If he hasn’t learned by this point to be careful to whom he compares himself, he never will. What’s next? The next time he decides not to take a fight, is Mayweather going to say he’s being non-violent like Ghandi?
And remember, Manny Pacquiao, this is the man you were worried was smearing your reputation. Still feel like suing?
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The best part about the press tour that began last week for the long awaited (?) rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones is hearing the two try and explain why anyone should be interested in this fight. Forget that their fight in ’93 was nothing much to write home about, or that Hopkins is now 45 and Jones recently got his head handed to him the last time he stepped into a ring. Like every fight that has ever been signed, it’s “what the people wanted”, right?
Said Jones: "We're giving the fans what they want to see. They deserve this fight and why not supply the fans with what they demand? Now I can finally terminate the Executioner once and for all. My new nickname for this fight will be - The Terminator."
You know what the fans want to see? Mayweather-Paquiao. You know what fans wanted to see ten years ago? Jones-Hopkins. Just because you guys took longer to fight again than Guns N’ Roses took to make Chinese Democracy does not entitle you to the same fervor that would have been the case back in 2000. Besides, if Roy Jones wanted to supply the fans with what they truly demand, how about giving everyone their money back for that terrible fight he had with Jeff Lacy? There were more than a few who demanded a return for their PPV dollars for that one…
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Now that we’ve all spent the week reliving the incredible Buster Douglas-Mike Tyson upset of 20 years ago (has it really been that long?), it’s interesting to reflect upon just how a single fight can change everything. Unlike maybe any other sport there is, one night in the ring can send careers in directions inconceivable the day before.
Buster Douglas, unknown journeyman, goes from obscurity to greatness, beating the invincible “Iron” Mike as a dedication to his recently deceased mother. He then throws it all away, falling out of shape and losing his championship to Evander Holyfield in his very next fight. From there, the parties, women and alcohol become an uncontrollable roller coaster ride, pushing him out of the sport. He nearly dies four years later from a diabetic coma, at nearly 450 pounds. He then dedicates his life to beating the disease, writing a book on his struggles that he and his family still have in overcoming it. Douglas has said that beating Tyson was nothing compared to some of the other issues he had to overcome in his life afterwards. He’s lucky to be alive, and a Tyson right hand may have been the least of his problems.
For all the press that Tyson has received in the past for his topsy-turvy life since that night, Douglas may have had just as unlikely a road to where he currently resides. The only difference may be Buster’s lack of facial tattoos!
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