Fighters who got craftier as they got older....

....and as a result compensated for declining stamina and achieved greater longevity. These are fighters who in the later stages of their careers learned to relax in the ring and trust their defense.

James Toney - he was always brilliant but as he got older, his craft became of utmost importance

George Foreman - in his 40's Foreman was obviously not the specimen he'd been in his 20's. But he was calm and patient.

Others?

 

The obvious answer is Duran. The transformation from attacking killer as a youth to methodical counterpuncher as an old man was pretty incredible.

In reality though, he had already become a masterful counterpuncher by the mid-t0-late 70s.

 

Mayweather jr

 

Hopkins obviously

 

Manny Pacquiao is one.

Also, John Ruiz, even though his craft wasn't the most traditional sort

 

Lennox, although that might have more to do with Emanuel Steward than self adjustment.

 

I wish Manny was alive to train his dumbass on how to call fights.

"He's a terrible commentator, Manny!"

"Just as I expected."

 

Roy Jones calling a fight: "Fighter A is having a problem penetrating fighter B's defense. He need to throw that jab down to the body, feint, then bring that right hand up top and he'll catch him everytime, son!"

Lennox Lewis calling a fight: "Fighter A needs to hit Fighter B more times than Fighter B wishes to be hit, while trying to avoid getting hit by Fighter B, because Fighter B wants to hit him back, definitely."

 

Archie Moore

 

Accent Aside, Lennox Really IS Shit in Terms of Commentary...He's Neither Quick Witted NOR the Least Bit Insightful, Despite the Obvious Level of Skill He Showcased In the Ring...

Again REED Asks, WHO Did Lennox Impress w/His Ability to Articulate the Goings On of a Boxing Match, and WHEN???...WHAT Fight Was It???...Dude has Been Consistently AWFUL and He Actually DETRACTS from the Work Joe Goosen Does on Fox...

w/Out Exaggeration, Lennox Lewis is THE Worst English Speaking Boxing Commentator REED's Ever Heard in His Life...By Faaaaaaaaaar…

"Sugar" Ray Leonard had his Flaws, was PARODIED by Tommy Davidson, Yet was CLEARLY Better @ the Task than Lennox...Tim Bradley SUCKS in REED's Opinion; BETTER than Lennox Lewis Though...






REED

 

Bradley's problem is that he's Bob Arum's bitch and is a total, unapologetic stan for TR fighters. He analyzes fights well, but I can't get past his bias.

Ward at least calls it like it is, regardless if its the house fighter or not.

 

I remember one telecast Lummox said: "Like I always say, you can't hit what you can't see."

Me yelling at the TV: "There's a brotha from Louisville rolling in his fucking grave right now!"

 

As a big time fan of Lennox the fighter, I have to agree.

It is odd how difficult being a boxing commentator actually is, as most ex-fighters and trainers are poor in analyzing it out loud (though not as poor as Lennox, quite few of them can add much interesting yo the broadcasts).

Maybe what it means is that fighting is often an intuitive skill. A smart fighter knows what to do, when to do it and WHY to fo it, but can't necessarily express it through words

 

As for how Lennox has probably gotten the job, he has SOME likeability factor in him. He smiles, speaks softly and articulates pretty clearly so if you listen to him for like five minutes, he might sound useful. Then his hollowness kicks in

 

I have no idea why PBC/DAZN doesn't seriously consider hiring Mike to call fights.

I'm serious, especially if you're DAZN, hiring Mike to call fights will generate more attention.

Or, maybe one of them has reached out, and he declined.

Though I have zero proof, I suspect DAZN might be waiting for Roy's HBO contract to expire at the end of this year.

At which point, I think they might bring him in and either can or demote The Latin Fake (who's truly awful).

 

Ward is EXCELLENT...He CARRIES Bradley in REED's Opinion, But in a Lowkey, Diplomatic Way...

Bradley IS a Top Rank Shill for Sure and he Also Tries Tooooooooooooo HARD to Be Controversial...

Ever Since Max Kellerman PLAYFULLY Referred to Bradley as the "Charles Barkley of Boxing", Tim Has Gone OUT of His Way to Be (Clumsily) Provocative...





REED

 

If you mean Sergio Mora - he is as bad as I have ever heard. Very irritating voice and offers zero I thought I was listening to a civilian. I use to not even turn the volume on - depending on the stream I find - I do not watch present day television - hopefully I don't have to listen to the network commentators.

 

I remember Lewis' first night as the HBO Boxing After Dark color commentator on the Brock-Ibragimov card. He was trying to list Carlos Quintana's (who was on the undercard) top five favorite fighters, and then he took like a five second pause, before Kellerman rattled off Pernell Whitaker. Then Lewis is like... "Pernell Whitaker..." another five second pause, and then he says "Uhh... there were a couple other fighters on there but I forgot"

 

lewis was a pretty smooth shit talker up until the two holyfield fights, after that he suffered too much punishment and was never as eloquent.

 

Huh?

 

Sarcasm be kickin Doub's ass.

 

Most fighters get smarter with experience

Jersey Joe Walcott is a great example for this topic

 

Marvin Johnson seemed to learn how to slow the pace of his fights so he could win ones without having to throw a million punches a round.

Harold Johnson adopted a more flat footed approach in which he used his arms and gloves to pick off punches rather than rely on his legs to get himself out of trouble (somewhat similar to Winky Wright). Ironically, he was dropped and KO'd a lot less over the second half of his career as he learned to pace himself better and also step in to smother punches instead of getting caught on the end of them.

 

Bernard Hopkins early on became more of an offensive minded attacker with great stamina, although still skilled as a boxer. As he got older he relied on boxing craft alone and that got him to being the oldest boxing champ.

 

Yep, Hopkins is one of the best, if not the best, amswer to this. Fought completely diffently as he got older

 

Evander Holyfield learned to adapt as he got older and fight more controlled. After he got stopped by Bowe in the third fight, suffering from HGH-itis, he said he had to control his aggression and tendency to go to war. He fought a very smart controlled fight against Tyson, picking his spots when to trade and when to clinch.

I think a lot of ATGs adapt like this, at least to an extent. Not just in boxing.

 

Dick Tiger is the best example after Hopkins for my money. Got off to a late start, aged 22, and was little more than a crude brawler at the beginning of his career in Nigeria. Shortly afterwards he made the move to the UK. That’s when he began really developing his skills. After a few years at the British domestic level he made the final leap to the American Middleweight scene. Wasn’t long before he’d proven himself one of the best of the best, but he was already into his 30s by then. Still, he managed to remain a top fighter for the next decade.

 

BRILLIANT!! Thanks for the belly laughs, X

 

Great post about an ATG. Thanks, Pea

 

Great post, Ring. Cheers