January 2002 - October 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation
January 2002 - October 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation
January 2002 - October 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation
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speech isn't always affected, or as much in one fighter as in another. Look at<br />
George Chuvalo. A tough man to be sure, but in terms of speech, one would never<br />
know he'd a boxer, while I've heard Olympic boxers interviewed who sounded like<br />
Leon Spinks.<br />
Today in the newspaper, Warren Sapp, a former NFL lineman and<br />
All Star who weighs 350+ pounds and stands 6'7", is quoted as<br />
saying he is "confident" he could defeat Mike Tyson in the boxing<br />
ring. Sapp holds a championship in a competition combining<br />
karate, tae kwon do and other martial arts. Of course, if he were<br />
allowed to kick and so forth, he probably would win. ***Maybe, but<br />
it's no accident that in kick boxing tournaments, they have a minimum number of<br />
kicks the fighters have to execute each round. <strong>The</strong>y do this, then box the rest<br />
of the time. Tyson would train for kicks, which take much longer than a punch to<br />
arrive, and leave the athlete momentarily very vulnerable, just as a boxer<br />
crossing his feet when moving does - you talk about a paintbrush jab leaving a<br />
fighter open for a counter! <strong>The</strong> first time Sapp tossed out a kick, the<br />
footballer would have to have his corner tell him how many times he got hit.<br />
Tyson would have his choice of rope a dope with a little lateral movement, while<br />
Sapp punched himself out, street fighting style, or he could get the big man's<br />
respect real fast with a few body punches. Sapp wouldn't rush Tyson as he would<br />
someone in a bar, and he'd never be able to catch up in a gym on all the things<br />
MT would throw at him, top pro moves that fighters don't even think about (Joe<br />
Louis said he knew he was getting old when he started thinking about what to<br />
throw). This would be a massacre, and no responsible governing body would<br />
sanction it, though "responsible" and "boxing regulatory commissions" are pretty<br />
much oxymorons, contracictions in terms. Sapp would be as out of his league with<br />
Tyson as he'd be trying to play for the 76ers, or wrestling Rulon<br />
Gardner. A good<br />
heavyweight on a great night might stand a chance<br />
against an excellent one on a poor night. Otherwise, though,<br />
there is little chance an average fighter like Riddick Bowe would<br />
beat an excellent fighter like Ali or Frazier. It could happen, and<br />
there have been big upsets, but it's so improbable as to be<br />
ridiculous to discuss. ***<strong>The</strong>se Hail Mary situations tend to take on<br />
status as the rule, and something that could happen at any time, so used are<br />
people to the mostly ludicrous world of Hollywood boxing. Or Wepner and Cobb<br />
last 15 rounds as human punching bags, and their somewhat strange moral victory<br />
is turned around into something else. Once in a while weird combinations of<br />
styles, along with an off night by a great can produce surprises, ala Jimmy<br />
Young beating Foreman. Foreman beat Frazier like a drum, yet Frazier would have<br />
gone through Young like he was wet tissue paper. It can all get crazy, but<br />
that's all it is, crazy randomness, not patterns.<br />
Could we please knock off<br />
all this speculation over whether Joe<br />
Bugner or Tommy Morrison could KO George Foreman or Joe<br />
Louis on a big night?***This could happen only in the most bizarre<br />
of accidents. Call it luck even - a bad lapse on Louis's or Foreman's part, and<br />
Bugner, Morrison, whomever, in the right place at the right time to throw the<br />
right punch. Of course, they'd have to follow up, in all likelihood, which would<br />
tend to put things back in proper balance, as the top man cleared his head. Even<br />
the lucky punch at the proper time isn't being thrown on an ordinary guy on the<br />
street, and a fluke, one punch KO of your real big timers is extremely rare,<br />
even one superior fighter to another. <br />
And yes, I was just too sentimental to admit it at the time, but<br />
when I went to Ali-Norton II, Ken did win a decision but was<br />
robbed. It was close but not that close. ***It's like they say about<br />
fighting a champion. You have to ~take~ it away, and even when Ali wasn't