Anyone from the board going to be there? I'm flying up on Saturday. I tried securing press passes after the May 1st deadline and missed out, so now I'm stuck as a spectator. Bert Sugar claims he's going to hook me up, but I don't drink alcohol!!!! I'll only be there from Saturday to Monday. I'm heading down to NYC Monday morning to visit the peeps before I fly back to Jax. I'll be there with a couple of guys that I've trained and a cameraman, so let me know if any of you want to hook up.
I wish I set myself up to go. I feel stupid for not doing so as I'm a big Chavez nuthugger. Instead, I'll be right in the thick of the puerto rican day parade.
If/When Roy Jones FINALLY Decides to RETIRE, REED's 1st Trip to Canastota will B 5 Years After, for Roy's INDUCTION...REED & BIGDAWG have Actually had PLANS to do this for about 10 YEARS Now.... REED
Though COMICAL on the Surface, there's VALIDITY to this Statement... Boxing Messageboards & Websites have All but WIPED OUT Boxing Magazines...All of the Notable FORMER Magazine Scribes NOW Write for Websites...If Thomas Hauser Isn't ALREADY in the Boxing Hall of Fame, he Obviously WILL B...Ditto for Steve Farhood, Mike Marley & Others... For Nearly 15 YEARS Now, the Internet has Given Boxing Fans their ONLY Outlet for Discussion...REED VIVIDLY Recalls the Sense of AWAKENING he Felt, when he Ran Across House of Boxing & then Secondsout....It Won't B Anytime Soooooooon, but EVENTUALLY, the Boxing Hall of Fame will HAVE to Acknowledge the IMPACT that the Internet had on the Sport....& w/that, Individual Websites, Messageboards, Owners, etc., will HAVE to B RECOGNIZED... REED
Same here. I couldn't believe there was actually a place apart from the boxing magazines, and fuck the magazines was how I felt then and how I feel now. This website puts out more quality in a day than Ring does in 10 editions.
Ring should just stick with its name, history and giving us lineal champs. By the way, I'm up here at the IBHOF. Staying just out of Syracuse. Heading to see Bert Sugar in a few.
I'd love to talk to Mike Tyson about mythical matches... guy is a history buff, loves boxing history... how many kids in the 1980s had Jack Dempsey as their idol?
Just got back. Most humorous sight. Just happen to be there when Mike Tyson arrives on the Hall of Fame grounds. Barely anybody there and they load Mike Tyson on the back of a golf cart and two upstate NY hick security guards jump on the back of the little golf cart, hovering over Tyson, playing secret service human shield for him. Tyson has this dumbfounded WTF look on his face, as they herd him towards the Hall of Fame. Obviously, he's looking for the man in the grassy knoll, as this is the scenario they must have played out in protecting him from all of his adoring fans at the empty HOF grounds. ::
Just got back to the hotel. It was a very nice deal. Mike couldn't speak because of emotion, but one thing is for sure, Iron Mike is still a super star! I heard that only Muhammad Ali had a bigger audience than Mike and the others had out there today. I was thinking about how Ali did not even have the benefit of the internet. I chatted with a few peeps and wannabe's; you know, the guy who's out there explaining to his friends, loudly of course (and non friends), how to throw a punch etc... Trying to get attention. I ran into Iran "The Blade" Barkley and was talking to him about how happy I was, to hear about him getting his shit together and not being homeless anymore. I told him how I heard he was planning a comeback and he said, "I never went away!", WTF!!!. After the ceremony, I spoke with a female Australian sports reporter who came all the way out to cover Kostya Tszyu. She was hot! Finally, I went to see Bert Sugar while everyone was clamoring for his autograph. We met up in the parking lot of the Days Inn, where he was staying. He was with Desmond Howard of the Michigan Wolverines and NFL. By the way, freaking Bert Sugar played rugby with some young guys just last week and fucked up his ankle!!!! Are you kidding me???? The shit was all bandaged up. We went to Graziano's Restaurant right on the boulevard. There, it was old school. There Bert, a few of the guys I went up there with, and I ate dinner. Arron Pryor was there, along with Vinny Pazienza. Michael Carbajal was drunk out of his ass and kept talking shit to Bert; he even hit him on the back while Bert was drinking his vodka with lemon! Angie Dundee was in a wheelchair and Bert told me how bad Ali was, and looked the last time he saw him. The coup de grace was, Bert paid the freakin tab!!!! I've known him for years and he's never footed the bill for ANYTHING! We took a lot of pictures, met a lot of great guys and it was time and money well spent. Now, I have to fly back down to Jacksonville, Florida tomorrow..... SHIT!! Just a few names I ran into outside of the ones I mentioned: Ref. Tony Weeks, Leon Spinks, Marvin Hagler, Ken Norton, Marco Antonio Barerra, Erik Morales, Jake LaMotta (Rally bad shape), Dicky and Mickey Ward and Arron Pryor Jr. Great day to see some great fighters! P.S. I bake for a hobby and make a really good mango cheesecake. Bert's going to hook me up with a Bernard Hopkins connect so that I can get him a cheesecake, his favorite dessert.
Interesting you bring that up. Tyson said he doesn't know much about boxing history anymore. In a recent interview, he said he's forgotten much of it. He also took his old world title belts and literally threw them on a table and called them "Garbage!" :dunno: By the looks of it, Tyson wishes he had grown up to be a normal person who could live a normal life. He has so much distaste for the man he used to be along with the destructive lifestyle he used to lead. People call him great and want to take his picture and get his autograph and he's like "Why the f*ck you wanna take a picture with me?"
Here's link of him throwing his belts. I'll find the other link if possible too. http://www.fightbeat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40541
May I add how terrible Michael Carbajal looked! He must be living a hard drinking life. His knuckles are gnarly and looks like he has rheumatoid arthritis! Bert said he had been drinking since he stepped off of the plane. He told Bert while we were having lunch at Graziano's, with extremely slurred speech, "I don't like the lies you write about me, but I still like you!". It must have been a long simmering grudge because no one has written about Carbajal in years!
There's a DEGREE of Sadness to the AFTERLIVES of Most Former Athletes...None SADDER than Former Prizefighters... REED:hammert:
Yeah. There were a number of guys out there who had the suit for the occasion, only to head back to their tattered lives after the ceremony. As you can imagine, a lot of those same guys live for this moment every year. Iran Barkley was one of those cases. In fact, the Hall told Iran that he could not give any autographs on the grounds. I heard someone talking about how the mayor of Syracuse wanted to make sure that they had all the tax money due them, coming to them. Aaron Pryor was another cool dude. I reminded him of how I saw him in Dallas when I was a little 139 pound light welter back in '95 at the PAL Nationals. Of course, he remembered the venue, but did not remember me!.... I'm 204 pounds now; not exactly light welter... Oh yeah! I was a nobody and didn't turn pro after the amateurs! He also told me that his son is ranked #10 now. If his son did not look like him, I'd be calling Maury if I were Aaron. The kid is like 6'3"....WTF!! Bert said Hearns is getting in next year. I'll be back.
