Name examples of silly explanations given why an obvious mismatch is going to be serious. Here are some Yori Boy Campas' Indian potion that was going to help him defeat Oscar. Frans Botha claiming he taught McCall the right hand that knocked Lewis out, which was why he was going to do the same
On the preview show for Mayweather-Gatti, that annoying smug asshole Ron Borges was saying all these stupid cliches as to why Gatti had a good chance. “What is Floyd Mayweather going to do when he hits Arturo Gatti and realizes that Gatti isn’t going anywhere and won’t quit?” Umm, I think he’s just going to punch him again.
Before Tyson-Golota, a lot of people were saying "Golota is no Saverese" in trying to hype his chances. It was a mismatch from the start to me. A mental midget like Golota was never gonna all of a sudden gain mental fortitude.
To be fair, I kind of got it. It was interesting because Golota was CLEARLY the best guy Tyson faced in his post-Holyfield comeback at that point. He might have been a complete headcase but he did beat the shit out of an elite heavyweight twice (despite the losses), and was a big step up in competition at the time.
Also, Golota was way more skilled than Botha, for example, who was whitewashing Tyson before the KO. We just didn't really know where Tyson was at the time. To be fair, as it turned out, I'd say the Golota fight was the last world class performance Mike put in.
That was a big fear at the time. P.S. ill never forget the racism on Eastside going into Tyson-Golota was disgusting. Mike was being called the N-word in every prediction. That place was Nazi Germany back in 2000.
Another memory I have of Tyson-Golota... it was on a Friday night. Pretty unusual for a big fight post-80s to be on a Friday night instead of a Saturday night.
Victor Ortiz "functional weight advantage" was always one of my favourites. His weight was so functional that he dropped his hands. Nigel Collins (editor Ring magazine) saying that Mike Grants jab would land first Vs Golota because Grants arms were longer....Grant was systematically outjabbed all night. Truth be told Golota was bossing him before doing his usual routine. Boxing Monthly saying that Danny Williams was the "more explosive puncher" and a serious dawg in the fight with Vitali, all based on his stoppage of Tyson. Williams got hurt by the first solid shot he got hit by and was dropped and cut and stopped and never won a minute of a round.
It was also very common in the early 90s. Those Tyson-Ruddock fights, Holyfield-Foreman fights were all in the middle of the week or a Friday. Bowe-Holyfield 1 was on Friday the 13th. I think it started changing to Saturday in the mid 90s. Douglas-Tyson was a Saturday though, I remember I was watching the slam dunk contest
Maybe 'obvious mismatch' is stretch when it comes to superstars going head to head but it was hard to imagine De La Hoya beating Hopkins at middleweight. It could have been Ring mag or one of the other publications that used one of those charts with attributes of each. Essentially trying to give the impression because Oscar had a few advantages in a couple of categories as if it would matter in the outcome. They had to stretch it a bit by giving Oscar the edge in things like "big fight experience" and other non intangibles.
Tyson-Tillman also comes to mind. "I beat him before, i can beat him again" That was essentially it. It's not a mismatch because the guy outpointed Tyson in the amateurs.
To turn the thread on its head, Mike's got a good post hoc explanation for why he fought bettee than expected vs Golota: being baked relaxed him and helped him concentrate
Mitch Green's reason why he'd win his Tyson rematch was even better: 'i live in this neighbourhood & im on angel dust!' Turned out not to be enough, either.
Mike story about the shit Green used to get up to in Harlem... a regular scam was hed KO petrol station managers, lock them in the cupboard then just spend the whole day pumping gas and taking the money, pumping the gas and taking the money. Poor lad tied up with the mops in the dark, pissing and shitting himself
It's a good thing for him he didn't try that stunt in one of the gas stations the mob was skimming from. He would have been in for a stern lecture.
I was just watching this earlier. Mitch was hilarious. His bag work is atrocious for a pro boxer and Golden Glove Champ. PCP is definitely not a performance enhancer His personality and charisma would have made for a good WWF character.
