Knights & Knaves Alehouse

I haven't been in the same room as a televised boxing match in probably 15 years. I have nothing against the sport, but other than Rocky Balboa beating up on opponents of the American Dream, I'm not much of a fan, either.

I was just reading a rather clever article that compares various video-game consoles to classic prizefighters. Good stuff. But after reading it, I realized that I had no earthly idea who the "undisputed heavyweight champion" might be in the good old present tense. Last I heard, Lennox Lewis had beaten Tyson, and that was years ago. Boxing seems to have pretty much faded from general coverage on ESPN, so I'm out of touch due to lack of coverage in the mainstream media.

Determined to purge my ignorance, I surfed over to a boxing site and clicked on the list of top heavyweights.

Interesting. About eight of the top ten names are eastern European. In fact, it seems that these fellows are now dominating the sport. Wow! That's cool, but . . . when did it happen? Has the Russia/Ukraine region experienced some kind of boxing renaissance?

Lance Hawvermale wrote:Interesting. About eight of the top ten names are eastern European. In fact, it seems that these fellows are now dominating the sport. Wow! That's cool, but . . . when did it happen? Has the Russia/Ukraine region experienced some kind of boxing renaissance?

I'm not a huge boxing fan... it's alright... but I noticed that trend too.

If I had to guess, I would mark it down to a new breed of men who grew up in hard times... the 90s in Russia. I don't remember which one it was, but a particular Russian boxer said that he grew up hungry, and he always pictured his opponent as someone who would put him back in a state of poverty. He wins a lot, IIRC.

Additionally, a lot of our boxers here have adopted a pampered life and have an atrocious attitude. Basically, they all think they're the next Muhammed Ali and all that jazz. That hurts them in the ring when they meet someone not impressed by the act.

Boxing's kind of gone back to the pre-Tyson days of the 80's (Tommy Hearns, Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, etc.) where the really premiere fighters are in the lighter weight divisions. Welterweights like Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather are the superstars of boxing right now.

When I was in high school, it was all about the heavy weights. Not just Tyson, but also Evander Hollyfield, Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, etc. No one at the heavy weight division has really risen to the same level of the previous generation. When Lennox Lewis retired, he was the best boxer in his weight class, and it wasn't even close.

Have any of you ever played an online boxing simulator that allows you to point build a fighter and develop a fight plan to match against other players? I've participated in small, regional leagues ar www.vivi.com.

My last heavyweight champion was Sir Elmer Fudd.