Now, this thread is not to mock or belittle the poster Destruction and Mayhem, who is my buddy. I just use him as an example since his opinions are well-known (since he expresses them a lot). The main point is this thing I have been wondering When we watch fighters, we cheer for the ones that we like the most, naturally. But who are the ones we like? In the psychology of theatre arts, the spectator usually finds the characters that either 1) are like him, on some level, or 2) Are the way he wants to be or see himself (super ego) as the most interesting ones. Who that actually is, changes in time and as we grow up. Teenage boys of the 80s used to like the characters that Arnold or Stallone played, for example. The characters of theatre that we don't like are the ones we consider enemies, either so that 1) they are somehow a threat for us or 2)they represent values we don't like or 3) they represent the sides of us that we don't like. There is more, but the principle is this. So, when you think of the fighters you like the best, they usually have something in common, on a deeper level than merely their style of boxing. You can like your local fighters (as they are the easiest to indentify with). You can like fighters that are somehow anarchic for example, outside and/or inside the ring (guys like Pryor, Roy, Tyson) who do things their way. If you like the idea that individualism is the way to go, this might be your thing. If you like order and safety, safety-first fighters might be your thing, you might like clever fighters etc. Now, naturally there are exceptions and this is a very much simplicated formula, but this is how it works in theatre according to studies and boxing is one type of theatre as well. Now, back to Sly example. The fighters he hates the most are the likes of Mosley, Bruno, Grant and Michael Spinks. All are fighters who played it nice, respected their opponents or behaved in interviews, or expressed fear. If I had to guess, I'd say Sly is more into rebellious characters and probably sees himself (or would like to see himself) in them. Thoughts?
What if you like slow guys who follow their opponents and throw three punches per round or slow guys who get punched in the face in a subtle, scientific way?
I think that Sly is a self hating nerdy, unassuming polite person. Inconsciously, he would like to be a badass, but his superego is so strong that he don't even realise it himself, and the only way to resolve that tension is by externalising this phantasm into the adoration of insolent, do whatever they want,boxers.
:) I don't take stance on who you might be referring to, but I'd guess in boxing theatre a guy who stands still and tries to stop his opponent from coming would represent a guy with strong principles. The fighter you described would be a case of 'strong will prevails over everything'. That, or stupidity
Bingo! I appreciate guys that have virtuoso performances and look like men among boys. Hence Prime Ali, Prime Tyson, Prime Roy Jones, Prime Mayweather, Hopkins, Pacquiao and Calzaghe. However I equally love fighters that have demonstrated PURE HEART like the following favourites: Marquez Holyfield Morales Now this may not come across in my posts because I like to be devil's advocate against these guys to rile people up but I'm a huge fan of the following also: Leonard Hearns Hagler I tend to appear to hate on these guys from time to time because fight fans have the tendency to refuse to acknowledge their weakness. The fab 4 were GREAT fighters, but they are also often spoken of as if they were from Asgard or Krypton, and same happens with Ray Robinson. The Fab 4 were in the same ballpark, talent wise as contemporary greats like Hopkins, Mayweather, Jones and Pacquiao but boxing fans have the tendency to elevate them above that...with no justification whatsoever other than the fact the fought each other 9 times and gave us great fights.
I'm a nicer person in real life, this is true, but self-hating? Are you mad? It's hard to be humble when you're as pretty as I am! I like a lot of nice guy boxers...however most very good boxers are arrogant. Arrogance correlates with success.
I actually don't hate Mosley. At one time he was horrendously overrated (some were calling him the GOAT, I kid you not) and I just couldn't sit back and listen to that shit. He was never this virtuoso master boxer that people were thinking. People went overboard and so I had to step in and stop the madness. The Forrest and Wright fights vindicated my position. Bruno, yes I hate....but not because he played it nice. It was because he was a useless robot with a big punch...and the fact that he was a court jester. Damn embarrassing sambo. Grant...was because he was an utter bum that HBO had hyped up because they were so desperate for the next great American Hope. Spinks, I liked. I was a HUGE fan of Spinks and actually wanted him to beat Tyson at the time. No joke. However, the way he was terrified of Mike and was content to be knocked out in the first round just disgusted me for all eternity. He went into that fight to lose as quickly as possible and I don't care what anyone says.
