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Our last look at "Iron."

2/9/2020

The last knockout of Mike Tyson's 20 year career. (Feb. 22, 2003)

By early 2003 I was done with Mike Tyson. Or at least I thought I was. It was obvious that the showdown with Lennox Lewis should have been his retirement fight. At the time I was a junior in high school, but a huge boxing fan. I had lost faith in Tyson after the beatdown he took from Lewis, but one punch would later restore it. No one knew at the time that on February 22, 2003, Mike Tyson would knock out his last opponent, and it would only take 49 seconds.

Let's rewind back to February 2003. When I heard that Tyson was fighting Clifford Etienne, I felt that Clifford would murder him. Yeah, Clifford was a bum I'd never heard of previously. But Tyson looked so bad against Lewis that I'd pick almost anyone to beat him by this point.

For the Tyson v. Lewis fight, I threw a big fight party. For the Tyson v. Clifford Etienne fight, the party this time was just me, my dad, and a beer. (His beer)

I remember Mystikal performed the entrance music for Mike. He did the song, Danger!! (Been So Long) I still remember that album. That song might have been his last big hit. Tyson came out to Ambition Az A Ridah, one of the best 2Pac songs of all time. It was always nice to see Tyson honor his slain friend that way.

Now for the fight. (If you can call it that).

Clifford initially was able to dodge Tyson's left hooks and uppercuts by bobbing and weaving in a crouch.

The fight was explosive as both men charged right into each other like rhinos. Clifford tossed a jab first. Tyson was headhunting, slinging hooks to the head after jabbing his way inside. Clifford was ducking low, bobbing and weaving under Mike’s vicious hooks. A young Tyson would have taken advantage of Clifford’s openings with an uppercut. By the time Tyson launched one, Clifford’s head was out of position.

Clifford grabbed onto Tyson and both guys went tumbling to the ground. Remember. We’re only 13 seconds into the fight here. This was happening fast.

Once the ref waved both men back into action, Tyson charged in with a wild left hook but Clifford ducked and went back to bobbing and weaving. Tyson, to his credit, threw to the body and even threw another uppercut to the crouching Etienne, but couldn’t land because Clifford kept moving his head and smothering the former heavyweight champion. Both men got entangled and were (again) separated by the referee.

Iron Mike Tyson smashed poor Clifford with his right hand, resulting in the last knockout of his career.

Tyson was famous for his combinations during his youth, and what followed next is a reason why.

Clifford managed to dodge another Tyson left hook, but was surprised when Tyson smashed him with a right hook on the chin. Down he went. This was a flash of the 19 year-old Tyson; the kid who threw “punches in bunches.” If one punch failed to land, there would always be a follow-up or two that would inevitably catch you flush.

Cliff fell under his own leg, which looked even more painful than the punch. Once on the ground, he removed his mouthpiece and got comfortable laying on the canvas as the referee counted him out.

I was shocked and started rejoicing. Iron Mike was back!!! This was the Mike Tyson I remembered from my childhood. Maybe Lennox Lewis was just too big and too good for Tyson? Maybe Lewis would retire? Maybe Tyson now had a good chance to win the title again? All these thoughts and possibilities flashed through my mind. I suddenly had hope for Tyson. Right in front of my eyes, the former "Kid Dynamite" had knocked out Clifford Etienne in 49 seconds. I was caught up in the moment.

Then my dad brought me back to reality. “He (Clifford) probably took a dive.”

Damn.

I hadn't thought of that. And during the replays you see how smoothly Cliff removed his mouthpiece and made no effort to get up. He was considered a nobody, likely hired to help Tyson get some of his hard-hitting reputation back. I realized my dad was probably right.

The post-fight interview went much longer than the fight itself. Tyson said he broke his back while riding a motorcycle. And he also talked about his new tattoo on his face. Even though he wasn't saying crazy things about kissing Razor Ruddock's big lips or eating Lennox Lewis' children, this interview was still quite bizarre.

Like my dad said, the knockout could be suspect. Considering the way Clifford was content to lay there during the ten-count, and the way he was so quick to embrace and whisper to Tyson when it was over....makes you scratch your head a bit.

Another thing. Tyson is the most explosive in the first few rounds. Why the hell did Clifford come right at Tyson at the start of the fight? That's suicide. A stupid strategy. By this point, Tyson had been defeated four times by three men, and they each finished him using similar tactics. Surely Clifford knew better.

Clifford was also noticeably taller than Mike. Why did he come right at Tyson and fight by ducking into his reach? That's another questionable strategy. If you come right at Tyson and duck into his range, it's only a matter of time before you get blasted out. Clifford should have used his height to his advantage. There is no way someone tall like Muhammad Ali would charge at Tyson and foolishly fight him this way.

But to be fair, Clifford did seem a bit dazed after the knockout. Today I feel the same as I did that night as a teenager - the punch was legit, but Clifford was content to lay there and get his money. He knew he had no chance. He and Tyson put on a nice little 49-second show, and they both got paid. That isn't fair to the people spending money on this farce. But that's the fight game.

Honestly, Tyson was long over by this point. You could argue that his decline began with Cus D'Amato died. Tyson began to ignore his skills after firing Kevin Rooney, often looking for quick knockouts with his right hand. Then came the prison sentence, a year suspension after biting Holyfield, and here we were after the Lewis loss.

Tyson only fought two more times, losing to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. Both fights took place when I was in college. I predicted Tyson would destroy the huge, lumbering McBride, but instead he quit in the sixth round and retired. He was actually winning the fight, en route to a split decision victory.

The last time Tyson's arm would be raised in victory.

Fighters like Joe Louis, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali just didn’t have it anymore when they retired. They were mere shadows of themselves. The 37 year-old Joe Louis that was knocked out by Rocky Marciano was still fundamentally sound. His jab still had some bite to it, and his left hook was still mean. In his fights with Ezzard Charles and Marciano, we saw flashes of the prime Brown Bomber, as he tried to unleash the devastating combinations or “Joe Louis Specials” that he once routinely destroyed guys with. He was arguably the best finisher of all time. Fast forward to October 1951; age had robbed him of those graceful reflexes. He was too old to fight off a younger, stronger heavyweight like Marciano.

Ali had deteriorated to an even worse state by the time he fought Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbrick in his last fights. His arch nemesis Joe Frazier didn’t do much better in his final fight either. Against Jumbo Cummings, Frazier did his best and fought to win. He fought with his usual aggression and tried to kill the guy. The crowd gasped each time Frazier slung his fierce left hook, but the smoke was gone.

In their last fights, Ali, Frazier and Louis fought to win, but their declining skills prevented it. Tyson, on the other hand, maintained the fast hands and brutal power of his youth, but mentally caved in. He said himself after the McBride fight, “I don’t have the fighting guts no more. I haven’t loved this since 1990.” It showed.

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What If? Floyd Patterson v. Ken Norton

1/1/2020

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Put yourself in this situation. You’re a heavyweight boxer waiting for the bell to ring. Your opponent across the ring looks like a smooth-faced 17 year-old kid. He resembles a shy high school student. His trainer Cus D’Amato whispers words of encouragement in his young fighter’s ear.

The bell rings and your 5'11,189-pound opponent comes at you crouching and weaving with his hands up protecting his face as if he's playing a game of peek-a-boo. Once he's almost in range, you throw a jab but suddenly you see a bright light and the floor feels as if it rose and caught up with you. You lay on the ground in a daze. You never saw that left hook coming. It was impossibly fast and landed right on your chin with an explosive effect. Congratulations. You just went a few seconds with Floyd Patterson.

Let's try a different opponent. He has a physique men to this day are jealous of. He stands at 6'3, 220 pounds. The bell rings. You two circle each other a bit. He inches toward you, dragging his right foot.

You throw a few jabs but he blocks them using a weird armadillo defense. You try another jab but before your lands, he's countered you with his own jab right to your face! You're surprised, but you try to jab again and he stuns you with another counter jab square on the nose. You finally say, “The hell with it,” and prepare to throw a mean hook, but he blasts you in the body with a body shot. As you grimace, he hits you in the jaw with a thunderous right hand. As you stagger backward and get caught by the ropes, you feel your jaw is really loose. It's broken. Congratulations. You just went one minute with Ken “The Jawbreaker” Norton.

Both Norton and Patterson were vulnerable to the heavy-handed sluggers, but they were great counter-punchers and often gave their opponents a lot of trouble. Floyd was a crouching swarmer who could also dart in and out, picking his spots. His hand speed is among the fastest of all the heavyweight champions, including Muhammad Ali. He wasn't the hardest puncher, but the speed of his punches put a lot of guys on the canvas. After all, it's the punches you don't see that knock you dead. Your brain has no time to brace for them.

Ken Norton was difficult to fight because of his scientific approach and countering abilities. If Ken saw your chest flex, he'd know a punch was coming and beat you to it. That's how observant he was. Like Jack Johnson, Ken's whole strategy revolved around countering your mistakes.

Floyd Patterson retired in 1972, around the same time that Ken Norton was beginning to make a presence in boxing. In fact, Norton fought Ali just a year after Patterson did.

But what would have happened if these two fought each other? If there was a time machine and we could put the 1956 Floyd Patterson in the ring with the 1973 Ken Norton, who wins and how?

At 21 years old, Floyd Patterson became the youngest lineal heavyweight champion of all time.

Cus D'Amato. When you hear that name, what’s the first thing that immediately springs to your mind? For most people, it’s Mike Tyson, whom Cus mentored and trained into becoming one of the most ferocious heavyweight champions of all time. But Cus did the same to a young Floyd Patterson decades earlier.

What's amazing about Patterson is that his looks and demeanor will fool you. He was lean and youthful looking, but possessed a resonant baritone voice you probably wouldn't expect from him. Also due to his small size and speedy style, you probably wouldn't expect an explosive punch from him. This couldn't be further from the truth. Floyd could really pop, but I'll get to that later.

Floyd was one of the first boxers to use Cus D'Amato's infamous peek-a-boo fighting style. With this style, you hold your gloves in front of your face as a defense as you come forward, bobbing and weaving. But the style runs a lot deeper than that. There are angles, footwork, and a set of combinations involved. For this style, Cus also had a number system. Each punch represented a number. His pupils would memorize each number, and string them together in different sequences and combinations, and the result would be pure dynamite.

It is a general fact that the most important punch in boxing is the jab. It can be defensive or offensive. Some guys use it as a range finder to gauge distance.
Most fights begin with two guys feeling each other out with jabs before taking huge risks.

However, this wasn’t always the case when you’re fighting Floyd Patterson. Sometimes, he would charge right out at the opening bell and spring off the mat with his signature “Gazelle Punch” and smash his foe with a fierce left hook. No warning. No setup. Just a brilliant, poetic and explosive left hook.

But Floyd did utilize the jab well. He sometimes would jab, then turn it into a left hook all in one motion. This was a brilliant knockout set-up utilized by Joe Louis that other heavyweight champions would use later on, including Patterson and Smokin’ Joe Frazier. For Patterson, most jabs were a way to help him get inside or a setup for a power punch.

When it comes to hand speed among the heavyweight champions, there are five names always mentioned - Muhammad Ali, Floyd Patterson, Joe Louis, Jack Johnson and Mike Tyson. You could make a case that any of them had the fastest hand speed in heavyweight boxing history.

I can only go by what my eyes tell me. Muhammad Ali had the quickest jab, with Joe Louis being a few hairs behind. Jack Johnson had the quickest defensive hands, often parrying his opponent’s attacks with cat-like reflexes. Lous and Tyson threw the fastest combinations. But it was Floyd Patterson who threw the fastest hooks.

One of the fastest punches I've ever seen on film was Floyd's one-punch knockout of Henry Cooper. It came from out of absolutely nowhere, and there was no chance that poor Cooper saw it coming.

Floyd obviously couldn't bang like George Foreman or even Joe Frazier. But as Cus D’Amato used to tell both Patterson and Tyson, “Speed kills.” The punches you don't see are the ones that knock you dead. Your brain doesn't have a chance to prepare for it. With Floyd's hands being so fast and his punching accuracy being so precise, he knocked a lot of people out.

We know Cus used to specialize in throwing punches with “Bad Intentions.” Floyd lacked the killer instinct of Mike Tyson, but like Tyson, he aimed to punch right through you.

His most devastating punch, however, was when he sprung off the mat and smashed Ingemar Johanson with a beautiful left hook. Ingemar went down and out. His left foot was quivering as he lay there unconscious. Anyone that doubts Floyd's power should watch that knockout.

Later in his career, Floyd knocked out Charley Green with a brutal left hook to the body. As Charley slumped to the canvas, Floyd tried to help him up. He definitely lived up to his moniker, “The Gentleman Of Boxing.”

Floyd was most famous for his Gazelle Punch. As the name implies, he would spring high into the air with the grace of gazelle and land his dynamite on his opponent’s chin. Years later, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, Tommy Morrison and David Tua would sometimes emulate this punch, but no one did it better than Patterson.

Ken "The Jawbreaker" Norton

Ken Norton fought during the greatest era of heavyweight boxing..the 1970s. This was the era of animals such as George Foreman, Earnie Shavers and Ron Lyle. Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali were past their peak years, but still winning most of their fights, and did so in impressive fashion. Larry Holmes emerged as a top contender towards the end of the decade and ruled well into the ‘80s, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

What’s important is that among all of this great talent, Norton sometimes held his own, proving that he belongs among this special group of heavyweight champions.

Ken started out modestly, as a sparring partner for Joe Frazier. Marvis Frazier told me that Norton once dropped Joe in a sparring session, and that their gym wars were competitive. I had assumed that Joe would beat the crap out of Norton based on their styles (and Norton's chin) but based on Marvis’ testimony, Norton did well, which shows me that Norton was even better than I’d given him credit for. Not many guys could hang in there with a young Joe Frazier.

Larry Holmes told me that Joe cracked one of his ribs, and that his sparring wars with Frazier were among the most brutal sparring sessions of his career. Listen to our interview.

While Floyd rushed at you bobbing and weaving in a crouch, Norton patiently jabbed and waited for mistakes. When he saw the openings, that’s when he attacked most aggressively. He was also difficult to hit at times due to his awkward armadillo defense taught to him by Eddie Futch. But a flaw in this defense is that it always leaves you open somewhere.

The most brilliant display of Norton’s career was the way he beat Muhammad Ali during their first fight in 1973. Eddie Futch told Norton, “When Ali jabs, you jab with him.” Everytime Ken saw Ali’s chest flex before he threw a jab, Ken through his jab too, countering Ali and breaking his rhythm. Most of the time, his jabs landed right down the pipe. This scored plenty of points for Norton, and kept Ali from finding his rhythm almost all night.

Norton couldn’t jab like Louis or Holmes, but his jab was a straight, almost precise one. Ali, known as one of the most effective jabbers in boxing, was finally getting a taste of his own medicine.

But the icing on the cake was when Norton broke Ali’s jaw. There’s so many conflicting reports on what round Ali’s jaw was broken in. I won’t even venture a guess, but we do know for a fact that when the fight with Norton was over, Ali had a broken jaw and the second loss of his career

Ken was able to consistently out-jab Muhammad Ali in all three of their epic battles.

Ken was, in some ways, a throwback to the classic Jack Johnson counter-punching style, although Ken took new approaches to it. To be more accurate, I would say that Norton combined the strength of Jack Johnson with the counter-punch and armadillo defense of Archie Moore (who originated the defense).

But unlike many counter-punchers, Ken could brawl well when he had to. In his battle with Larry Holmes on June 9, 1978, Ken and Larry took each other to the brink. It was exhausting to even watch them. In the end, Larry won the encounter by a point, but it’s a bout that could have just as easily went the other way. Because of this, you could argue that a younger version of Ken would have won it.

Chins

Both Patterson and Norton were vulnerable to the heavy-handed sluggers. Floyd was damn near killed by Sonny Liston on two occasions. Norton was easily destroyed by Foreman and Shavers. But throughout their careers, Patterson was down more times than Norton was. I don’t see Norton getting floored seven times in one fight by someone like Ingemar Johanson. That’s one of several reasons I feel that Norton had a better chin than Patterson.

Floyd still had lightning fast hands when he fought Muhammad Ali in 1965, but the former heavyweight champion was outmatched.

The Power Of The Punch

As I mentioned before, Floyd had the speed to surprise his opponents. He also had fierce accuracy. It was rare that he missed his target. A punch that you don't see coming that lands square on the button is more than capable of knocking you unconscious. Floyd's blows had an explosive impact, but he didn't have the natural, raw power that Norton had.

Norton was a more natural slugger than Patterson. But he obviously wasn't on the level of a Liston, Foreman, etc. If I had to rate his power from a 1-10 with 10 being the highest, he'd probably get a 7 and a half. Ken knocked out a lot of people, but the guys with concrete chins like Holmes and Ali always withstood his punch.

Ken Norton smashing Muhammad Ali in the body with one of his crushing left hooks.

Heart

Ken Norton was a tough guy, both mentally and physically. I just can’t say the same about Patterson, though. Under the advice of Cus D’Amato, Patterson shamelessly ducked the menacing Sonny Liston for five years. During both of his championship reigns, Floyd also stayed away from Eddie Machen, Zorra Folley and Cleveland Williams, all of whom were deserving of cracks at the championship.

Instead, Patterson took easy title defenses against guys like Tom McNeely and Hurricane Jackson. Ingemar Johansson was supposed to be another “tomato can” for Patterson to make easy work of, but obviously it didn’t work out this way.

Let me rewind a bit. Cus D'Amato and Floyd Patterson waited for Rocky Marciano to retire before moving Floyd up to heavyweight and challenge for the heavyweight title. Cus wanted to protect his young fighter at all costs. When Marciano hung up the gloves, the only man standing in Floyd's way of the title was the old Mongoose Archie Moore. As predicted, this was an easy fight for Floyd to win. Knockout in round 5.

Floyd Patterson awaiting his death...

Now let's fast forward back to 1962. It wasn’t until President John F. Kennedy expressed his wishes to see a Patterson-Liston fight that Floyd finally gave into peer pressure and offered Liston the title opportunity that he deserved for years.

Floyd was paralyzed with fear during both encounters with Sonny Liston. While Patterson doesn’t have the chin to ever survive Liston, he never gave himself a fair chance either. If you watch closely, Floyd was making Liston miss a lot of punches. His bobbing and weaving made him a hard target for Liston to initially hit. Instead of countering all of those missed punches the way Frazier or Tyson would have, Floyd just dodged the punches and waited to be hit. It didn’t take long.

What I’m saying is that if Floyd had thrown counter blows to the body and the chin, he could have given Sonny to think about, or at least made a better fight out of it. Floyd was so embarrassed that he wore disguises in public after the fight. He once said in an elevator that someone casually said, “Hi, Mr. Patterson” while Floyd was decked out in a disguise. Funny.

Given his reputation for getting knocked out by huge punchers, Ken Norton likely would have gone down against Liston too, but he would have been a tougher cookie for Liston to crumble than Patterson was. Muhammad Ali nick-named Patterson “the rabbit” for good reason.

Ken Norton was also able to out-jab Larry Holmes. Larry told me during our interview that it was the toughest fight of his career.

LEGACY

Floyd Patterson accomplished two feats that still stand today. He was the first heavyweight champion to regain the title after losing it. This is something that Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis failed to do.

Floyd is also the youngest heavyweight champion in history, a record I doubt will ever be broken. I realize that Mike Tyson (20) is the youngest title holder, but Floyd was the youngest lineal heavyweight champion at 21.

Tyson was a few days shy of turning 22 when he knocked out Michael Spinks to win the lineal championship and officially become the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Technically Tyson is the youngest champion, but due to the fact that the lineal championship is the most important title of all, Floyd still has some right to this record.

Ken Norton held the WBC Championship once and soundly defeated Muhammad Ali. He also came within a hair of beating Larry Holmes in one of the closest fights ever. Other than those feats, he didn’t accomplish much.

This is tricky because it depends on how you rank your fighters.

From a head to head perspective, Norton matches up better with the modern heavyweights. At 5'11 and 189 pounds, Floyd Patterson would be a cruiserweight today. A match against someone the size of Lennox Lewis would be a disaster for him.

A 6'3, 220 pound hard-punching counterpuncher like Ken Norton would have picked up more titles if he fought during the 1990s. If he were fighting today, he would most likely fall victim to Deontay Wilder's right hand and get counted out. But he'd still be a top contender. Norton's skill may get him past sloppy fighters like Andy Ruiz (though Ruiz has a puncher's chance). Still, you could argue that he would give Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury good fights before they knock him out.

Patterson accomplished more than Norton, and at a real young age, so I have no choice but to rate him higher than Norton. But again, it depends on your ranking criteria.

Ken Norton played a molested slave in 1975 film, "Mandingo."

Backlash From The Black Community

The black community was temporarily harsh on both of these men. In these blogs I rarely talk about things that happened outside the ring, but since both of these guys had trouble with the African American public at certain times, I feel the need to address it.

Norton was criticized by playing a slave in the 1975 movie, Mandingo. Years earlier, former light heavyweight champion Archie Moore faced similar criticism for playing Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. But during Archie’s time, there were not many roles for African Americans that were not slaves, butlers, or dancing bug-eyed fools. Because of that, I don’t have a huge issue with Archie playing a slave. It was likely the only movie role he could get at that time in U.S. history.

By the 1970s, on the other hand, things had lightened up. For example, Duane Jones had already played the lead character in 1968’s Night Of The Living Dead. Ken Norton didn’t have to play a slave. He had more options. Because of this he was slammed by the black press.

Floyd Patterson was famously (and repeatedly) called an Uncle Tom by Muhammad Ali and other Civil Rights leaders. Here’s the thing. Guys like Joe Louis and Joe Frazier, for example, were not great speakers like an MLK, Muhammad Ali or Malcolm X. It just wasn’t their gift. The same is true of Floyd Patterson. But unlike Patterson, Louis and Frazier did what they could behind the scenes to make change for African Americans.

Joe Louis refused to entertain only white troops during WW2, and desegregated the United States Army as a result. Joe also desegregated the PGA golf program during the 1950s after his final retirement. Similarly, Joe Frazier stayed out of the spotlight with his good deeds also, most notably going to then-President Nixon to persuade him to give Muhammad Ali his boxing license back.

Louis and Frazier were not public civil rights activists, but they discreetly made change. Just because they were quiet about it didn’t make them “Uncle Toms” no matter what Ali said. That was wrong of him, especially publicly slamming Frazier, who went out of his way to give Ali a shot at his championship.

Ken Norton about to get some of that white chocolate....

That brings me to Floyd Patterson, who not only didn’t do anything to bring about change for his people, but openly sucked up to the white man. Floyd publicly said that Muhammad Ali was “not an American.” What the hell, dude? And he also refused to call him “Muhammad Ali,” instead referring to him as Cassius Clay. Some fellow boxers (both white and black) such as Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano, initially didn't agree with Ali's new name and other political statements, especially refusing the induction into the Army. But once they got to know him, they understood. Louis confirmed this in his autobiography, and Peter Marciano mentioned this in his interview on the Marciano v. Ali Computer Fight documentary.

But even Marciano and Louis didn't publicly slam Ali the way that Patterson did, and for Patterson to say these things about another black man (especially one fighting for Civil Rights) was a blatant sell-out move in my opinion.

Floyd was commonly referred to as “the good Negro,” especially in his fights against the “thug” Sonny Liston and the “militant black Muslim” Muhammad Ali. In fact, many former heavyweight champions like Rocky Marciano, Jim Braddock, Ezzard Charles, Jersey Joe Walcott and Ingemar Johanson picked Patterson to beat Liston, but they were thinking with their hearts. I honestly think their prediction was a pick against Liston rather than a pick for Floyd. As former heavyweight champions, they had to know Patterson would lose, especially Ingemar, who basically made a habit of dropping Patterson. If he could hurt Patterson, surely Sonny Liston would.

There’s more I could get into here...a lot more. But I prefer to talk about boxing rather than politics. Let's move on to the final segment.

Muhammad Ali: "I smell an Uncle Tooooooom!!!

FIGHT NIGHT

Here we go. The fun part. The most similar fighter to Ken Norton that Floyd Patterson fought was Ingemar Johansson, going 2-1 against him during a great trilogy.

During their first battle, Floyd had issues getting inside because of Ingemar's consistent jab. The jab was not landing so much, but it kept Floyd from getting set to attack. By the third round, Ingemar began to surprise Floyd with a thunderous right hand after a preceding left hook. Patterson went down 7 times from there.

Floyd got his revenge by knocking out Ingemar in their next two fights. He occasionally got hurt and knocked down in these fights, but he fought more aggressively, not allowing Ingemar to control the action with his jab.

Now, I said earlier that Ingemar was similar to Norton. This isn’t too accurate of a statement, but Ingemar was the closest thing to a Norton-esque fighter that he fought.

Norton was better than Ingemar. He was noticeably much bigger at 6’3, 220 pounds. He hit harder than Ingemar. He fought with an awkward defense, and could knock you out with either hand. In short, he was a much better fighter than Ingemar Johansson, who was the best fighter Floyd fought during his best years. (Aside from Sonny Liston and an aging Archie Moore).

Now, the closest fighter to Floyd Patterson that Norton fought was Jimmy Young. (Jimmy wasn't really anything like Patterson, but he was the closest fighter I could compare Patterson to). Norton won a close and controversial split decision. Most observers, including referee Carlos Padilla, felt that Young should have won the fight.

The fight was back and forth. Young fought aggressively at times, and defensively at others. Jimmy was a small man that could be hard to catch. He was also much more durable than Patterson could ever be. Young not only withstood blows from Norton, but from a prime George Foreman as well.

To be fair, by 1977 George was still haunted by the ghost of Muhammad Ali in Zaire. He was afraid of losing stamina and was hesitant to “pull the trigger.” But still, Young got hit throughout the fight and survived Foreman’s blows. Patterson would never pull that off, regardless of Foreman’s mental state.

Jimmy Young beat George Foreman so bad that George saw Jesus after the fight. True story.

Knowing Floyd, he might get intimidated by Norton’s physique alone. Norton wasn’t Sonny Liston, but he looked imposing, as his nickname “Black Hercules” suggested. Floyd had a lot of speed, but I think the beginning of the end would happen the moment Norton lands his first big punch. It could be a hard left to the body, or a brutal jaw-breaking right hand.

Like Ingemar, Norton had the jab to keep Floyd from finding his rhythm. Norton’s jab was a straight punch and more of a clever counter attack than Liston’s long, slow jab, which Floyd dodged well but failed to counter.

I could never imagine Ken being afraid of Floyd, but I could see it being vice versa. Also, I believe Ken had the chin to withstand Floyd’s dynamite blows, but Floyd would probably get hurt bad by Ken’s attacks. With Ken's armadillo defense and counter-jab, it would be hard for Patterson to move in without getting cracked. Norton would see the gazelle punch coming and counter effectively.

Again, Norton waited for your chest to flex, so I don't see Floyd's speed being a factor because Norton would always know when a punch was coming.

It’s just not a good match-up for Patterson. The smaller Patterson would get knocked off his feet multiple times and wish he’d have stayed a light heavyweight. After the fight, he would cry more than my grandma did when Marvin Gaye died. OK, I'm exaggerating. But seriously. My final prediction would be a referee stoppage after Floyd has repeatedly hit the deck, too dazed to continue.

Ken Norton wins by technical knockout in round 3.

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A.J. Dugger Reviews Moving Violation (The Jackson 5)

12/22/2019

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Moving Violation was the Jackson 5's final album at Motown Records. This album is special for several reasons – it was Jermaine's last album with the group until the Victory album 9 years later, you hear Michael's voice in the final stages of changing, and lastly, the music is quite good! Since the J5 were leaving Motown on a bad note, Motown refused to promote this album, which is a shame because the tracks here are almost consistently good. All I Do Is Think Of You was featured on this album. If it had been promoted better, the quiet storm ballad could have been a hit. But more on that later.

The album picks up where Dancin Machine left off but boldly continues that in that musical direction. While Get It Together and Dancin Machine took tentative steps toward dance music while retaining the J5 bubblegum sound, Moving Violation is unapologetic as it ventures deep into funk and dance grooves, finally abandoning the group’s bubblegum sound.

This might have been a risky move at the time but I feel it was necessary. The group’s young fans were growing up right along with them. They couldn’t sing ABC and I Want You Back forever. I mean literally. Michael couldn’t. With his voice maturing, the music had to follow suit.

On a similar note, you hear the change in Michael's voice begin on Get It Together and Dancin' Machine, but there were still hints of “baby Michael,” though the high notes were becoming reduced as he lost his range.

By the time this album was recorded, there was no more “baby” in Michael's voice, and it only makes sense that there shouldn't be any more “baby” in the music either.

Ease On Down The Road

The most interesting thing about the album is witnessing puberty’s effect on Michael’s voice. This album is a clear preview of what his voice would sound like as an adult.

Many male child singers suddenly sound different when their voices drop. Tevin Campbell, Jason Weaver, Taylor Hanson (Remember Hanson?) Frankie Lymon, etc. All of their singing careers basically came to a stop when they lost their boyish range. A boy's voice breaks and cracks as it changes, giving way to a whole new range. They basically have to learn how to sing all over again.

Michael’s voice changed like anyone else’s, but Motown handled the situation scientifically.

To ease the transition, the Motown producers had MJ sing at the top of his range as his voice was breaking. This is why you hear his voice gradually slide from his child voice to a more mature one over the course of three albums, rather than all of a sudden sounding like a different person.

If you watch the group’s live performances from this time period, you’ll see that the musicians dropped the key of the trademark J5 hits. Michael was also creative about losing his range. Rather than even risk the high notes, Michael would growl, hiccup, shout, squeal and do other antics. As an adult, he put these vocal ticks on his solo albums.

Aside from a few growls on Honey Love, there's none of that on this album. Even the falsetto cry Michael introduced us to on the Off The Wall album hadn’t been developed yet. This was Michael singing naturally; raw and from the soul.

Even though the “little Michael” high notes were now a thing of the past, I think it was clear here that Michael was still very much a great singer, and his voice change didn’t automatically doom the group.

Jermaine was already gone by the time this album was released. This is one of the group's first performances without him. Listen also to how Michael adapts to his changing voice. You can tell Off The Wall and Thriller were around the corner.

The Music

All I Do Is Think Of You is the most popular track on this album, likely renewed by Troop covering the song in 1989. The song is the Jackson 5’s first attempt at a quiet storm ballad, and Michael’s soaring man-child tenor is amazing.

Even though the Jacksons reportedly were not happy with the material presented here, you can't tell at all by the way Michael sung it. This album features some of his best and overlooked vocal performances to date.

There are only two ballads on this album (the previously mentioned All I Do, and Forever Came Today). The album's focus obviously was on rhythm and grooves. Among the uptempo cuts, the highlights for me are the title track, You Were Made (Especially For Me) Honey Love, Body Language, and Breezy. Most of these songs were made for the club or the radio.

The funk on this album is what set the stage for future Jacksons releases, particularly Destiny and Michael’s Off The Wall.

Even though Michael and his brothers were not allowed to write and produce their own material here, the music on Moving Violation foreshadows many upcoming moments in Michael's career. In just a few years he would play the Scarecrow in The Wiz and perform songs like You Can't Win and Ease On Down The Road. The two songs have a similar pop/funk sound like the tracks on this album. Then came Destiny, which set the stage for Off The Wall, and the rest is easy. But the genesis of all of that great work came from this album.

Due to it’s bold new sound and consistency with the songs, this is, in my opinion, the Jackson 5’s best album.

The music on Moving Violation foreshadowed the songs on The Jacksons' Destiny album a few years later. By then, the brothers were writing and producing their own music.

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What If? David Tua Versus Primo Carnera

12/20/2019

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Imagine the year is 1933 and you're a top-ranked heavyweight contender stepping into the ring with the heavyweight champion. As the announcer pumps up the crowd during the introductions, the heavyweight champion glares at you from across the ring. He is a huge man, standing at a tall 6'6 and ½ inches and a massive 250 pounds. His name is Primo Carnera, (88-14, 71 Knockouts) and he just recently killed a man named Ernie Schaaf in a previous fight. You're about to face one of the strongest men alive on the planet, even capable of murder in the ring.

Let's fast forward to the year 2000. You're a boxer and the only man standing between you and a potential crack at the heavyweight championship is a strong, stocky powerhouse of a heavyweight named David Tua. (52-5-2, 43 Knockouts)

Tua may be on the small side standing at 5'10 and wearing a "Kid N' Play" haircut, but it doesn't matter. You've seen what his devastating left hook can do. He basically hits you with the entire island of Samoa. Tua has his Polynesian dancers drumming and dancing as he makes his way to the ring. As he climbs through the ropes, he shoots you the meanest look you've ever seen in your life. He has knocked out his last ten opponents in a devastating fashion and looks to add you to his list. You visibly shudder at the thought.

David Tua is arguably the greatest heavyweight never to win the title. But he was blessed with pure dynamite in his fists and had one of the best chins of all time. His left hook was pure blunt force trauma.

Primo Carnera was also a warrior gifted with almost supernatural physical strength. He is one of the biggest heavyweight champions to ever fight in the ring. What would happen if these two mammoths clashed in the center of the ring? Who controls the action? Who goes down? Who has the better legacy? Let's discuss.

Standing at 6'6 and 250 pounds, the massive Primo Carnera would hold a significant size advantage over "The Throwin' Samoan."

The Ambling Alp

Known as the Ambling Alp (What kind of name is that?!?!) Primo was the biggest heavyweight champion in history until the arrival of the 7-foot tall Nikolai Valuev. Carnera was incredibly strong, even working as a strongman and professional wrestler at one point.

Primo naturally had an intimating presence because of his size, but his scary reputation increased when he fatally knocked out Ernie Schaaf in February 1933. In the 13th round, a jab from the giant sent Schaaf sprawling to the canvas, and he never entirely woke up. He briefly awoke paralyzed in the hospital, but lapsed back into a coma and passed away 4 days later. Here is a clip of the knockout.

Primo knocked out Jack Sharkey to win the heavyweight championship in 1933. In the 6th round, a vicious uppercut literally knocked Sharkey off his feet and took his title. What's ironic is that Sharkey had easily boxed his way to a decision over Primo in their previous encounter, but he was obviously intimated by Primo's “murderous” reputation in their title fight. The man was terrified.

Primo was not heavyweight champion for long. He was absolutely destroyed by Max Baer a year later, hitting the canvas 11 times. The referee mercifully stopped the massacre in the 11th round.

The following year, Primo was again humiliated...this time by a young up and coming Joe Louis. The Brown Bomber unloaded his dynamite and put Carnera on the floor three times. By the 6th round, it was over. This fight was the first major milestone in Louis' career. When he showed that he could knock out the massive Primo Carnera, people knew he had a future. Here is what Louis had to say about fighting Primo, brilliantly walking us through the fight.

Louis said here that “Carnera was nothing.” It's interesting that Louis was able to literally pick up the giant and not vice versa. This was an easy fight for Louis, and he makes it sound as if Primo wasn't as talented as people thought, which I'll get to in a second.

There are many rumors that Primo was controlled by the mob. I don't know the details of this, but if true, Louis' statements ring even more true. Primo was huge, but couldn't fight. His size and mob connections are what led to his success. But that's all a matter of opinion.

The Tuaman

That 19-second demolition you just witnessed is the entire David Tua-John Ruiz fight. Many of Tua's early fights went like this, and he was referred to by many as "The Samoan Mike Tyson." Like his hero Mike Tyson, David Tua often ended fights early in an explosive fashion.

After turning pro in 1992, David gained a reputation for being one of boxing's most feared sluggers. His trainers were Lou Duva, Ronnie Shields and Kevin Barry. Duva was friends with Rocky Marciano and said during one of Tua's post-fight interviews that he gave his pupil a “Rocky Marciano style.” That may have been Duva's intent, but in my opinion David combined Tyson's aggressive approach with Joe Frazier's explosive left hook and stamina. Throw in a granite chin, and the result is David Tua.

David had a reputation for destroying guys within the first round, but he was also dangerous because he could go the distance no problem. There were many fights where David was behind on the scorecards but his bomb of a left hook bailed him out at the last second. Well, I guess you could compare him to Marciano in that regard. Marciano and Tua both had fights where their one-punch power saved the day at the last second.

Tua also had a chin of absolute granite. He was rarely hurt or staggered. Those huge tree trunk legs kept him sturdy.

Tua's first loss came to Ike Ibeabuchi in one of the best fights of all time. The battle was close. I had it 6-4-2 for Ike Ibeabuchi. Tua had issues adjusting to Ike's jab during the first four rounds, and Ike fought like hell to survive the last round, outpointing Tua. If not for his late start, Tua would have won.

Despite losing, this was Tua's best performance. He threw devastating combinations of hooks and uppercuts, he threw dozens of punches to the head and body almost consistently. Both guys wanted the win badly, and wound up having the highest number of punches thrown in a heavyweight fight.

After his undefeated streak was broken by Ibeabuchi, Tua seemingly lost his spirit. His weight began to balloon the next year in a fight with Hasim Rahman. Tua began to get bigger and bigger with each fight, and now fought a bit more lazy, often looking to end things with his thunderous left hook. The combinations, the uppercuts, and the thudding body blows were suddenly gone. It was now all about the left hook. This lack of strategy and motivation gradually ruined David's career.

David Tua narrowly missing a massive left hook on Lennox Lewis in 2000.

A Clash Of Styles

Primo fought as an upright, outside boxer. He used his long 85-inch reach and jab to fight from the distance.

Tua, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. He charged right at you and launched his thudding hooks and uppercuts in close range.

If we go by what Louis said, Primo had a “pretty decent jab” and pushed with his right. What we know is that when sluggers slipped under his guard and landed on Primo's chin, he went down in a heap.

Max Baer and Joe Louis are the hardest punchers Primo fought, and they both shattered him easily once they landed their first significant punch. Louis wisely concentrated on a body attack during the early rounds to "soften" Primo up. Once Primo was visibly getting fatigued and began to drop his guard to protect his ribs, that's when Louis got aggressive and went for the kill.

But Max Baer? He was a wild swinging madman. No finesse, no grace, no setup, just wild crazy random swings. If he could connect on Baer, I'm almost sure anyone could.

The difference between their victories against Primo is that Louis started setting Primo up as early as the first round, so it took less knockdowns to finish him later. Primo was broken down and ready to go by round 6. Baer hurt Primo earlier, but because he didn't "weaken" him the way Louis did, it took him a lot longer for Baer to finish the giant. (11 rounds).

Joe Louis struck Carnera so hard that blood squirted from his mouth and he went crashing to the floor.

Fighting big men wasn't necessarily a problem for Tua, but his kryptonite was a good jab, regardless of his opponent's size. Tua never learned how to sufficiently block or slip them. Hasim Rahman was far from a spectacular heavyweight, but because he had a decent jab, Tua had trouble adjusting to him in two fights.

Tua's defense was so bad that he made Hasim Rahman almost look as good as Joe Louis. Similarly, Chris Bryd had a field day humiliating Tua for 12 rounds. Bryd's awkward, pawing jab and slick mobility kept Tua befuddled and allowed Bryd to stay out of danger. Tua never learned how to sufficiently cut the ring either. If he had, then he would have mowed down Rahman and Bryd and pulverized them. But he had no idea how to close the gap if his opponent kept their jab in his face.

Tua might attack aggressively like a Frazier or Marciano, but he had no idea how to trap and corner guys the way they did.

During their heavyweight championship fight in November 2000, Lennox Lewis basically treated Tua like a sparring partner in one of his easiest title defenses.

But Primo Carnera was even bigger than Lennox Lewis, and we saw what happened when Tua fought Lewis. Does this mean Carnera would automatically beat Tua? Not necessarily.

Tua had knocked out guys as big as Lewis before, but none of them had Lewis' defense and skill. It was difficult getting around Lewis' reach, especially with him constantly shooting that jab.

Lewis also had his right hand prepared to surprise Tua with a straight right or uppercut. Once Tua felt the uppercut during the early rounds, he stopped attacking as much, knowing that this was the punch that awaited him if he got too close.

Tua also had a rib injury that was aggravated early in the fight when Lewis struck him with a body shot. Whether it was the uppercut or the body punch to the rib (or both) Tua mentally submitted and followed Lewis around for the remainder of the fight in a trance, hoping to smash him with an explosive left hook that never connected. He had no plan B.

During the last 2 seconds of the fight, David desperately threw a left hook so wide that he threw himself into the ring post.

Lewis and his trainer Emanuel Steward had Tua all figured out long before the fight. In addition to keeping Tua at bay with his telephone pole jab, Lewis held his right hand near his jaw, protecting it from Tua's only threatening punch – the left hook.

Despite being bigger than Lewis, Primo didn't jab nearly as much, nor was his right hand as vicious. I also don't think he'd employ any set strategy to keep Tua off of him. Because Primo lacked proper defense, it's more than possible that Tua would sneak through and blast his jaw the way Louis and Baer did.

Then again, Tua could be a lazy fighter at times. There were many fights he had against big guys with minimal talent similar to Carnera – David Izon, Oleg Maskaev, and Danell Nicholson immediately spring to mind. These guys were far from great fighters but they were having a fun time dismantling Tua until he suddenly landed that big left hook that put them to sleep.

Primo was so big that it was difficult for his opponents to get under his reach and attack him.

Legacy

Another reason why these two probably don't get the recognition they deserve is because their biggest victories in the ring are somewhat tainted. Primo's biggest win was over the much smaller and absolutely terrified Jack Sharkey.

As for David Tua, he knocked out four former heavyweight champions – Hasim Rahman, Michael Moorer, Oleg Maskaev, and John Ruiz. Ruiz was destroyed in 19 seconds and Moorer was blasted out in 30 seconds. But at the time Tua knocked out these men, none of them were the heavyweight champion.

Tua's biggest loss was to a peak Lennox Lewis, and his second biggest loss was to a young Chris Bryd.

Carnera's biggest losses were to Max Baer and Joe Louis. Primo's losses can be forgiven. Baer was one of the most dangerous punchers of all time. Joe Louis is arguably the greatest heavyweight champion of all time, so there isn't any shame in getting knocked out by those men.

Early on, Chris Byrd looked TERRIFIED of David Tua. But he soon realized he had nothing to worry about.

Lennox Lewis was too good for Tua, but Tua could have given himself a chance if he'd thrown more punches. In Lewis' next fight, Hasim Rahman destroyed him with one punch and took his championships. Tua is a much harder puncher than Rahman. The difference between the two is that Rahman actually threw punches in his title fight with Lewis, and Tua didn't.

Tua lost his fight against Bryd for similar reasons. He spent the whole fight looking to smash the elusive Bryd with his fierce left hook. Bryd has a great chin and could roll well with a punch if he saw it coming. Tua landed plenty of body punches throughout the fight, but by the time Bryd started to slow down because of it, it was round 11 and the fight was nearly over.

Lennox Lewis said it best. “It takes a whole arsenal to beat Lennox Lewis, not just a left hook and a haircut.” A cocky statement, but true.

If I had to rank Carnera and Tua, I'd rank Carnera ahead. For starters, Primo actually won the heavyweight title, something Tua never did. Even sadder for Tua is that there were four heavyweight titles during his era and he never picked up a single one, while many lesser fighters did.

Secondly, Primo's biggest losses were understandable. Tua, on the other hand, fell in love with his power and had no strategy against Lewis and Bryd aside from smashing them with a huge left hook to the chin.

Sugar Ray Robinson hanging out with Primo Carnera and Joe Louis.

Speed

As far as mobility goes, Primo moved a bit better than Jess Willard, but he was no gazelle. Still, Carnera wasn't necessarily slow, but you could see most of his punches coming. You could say maybe he was average at best.

Tua's hand speed wasn't on the Tyson or Ali level, but when he's in range that left hook could certainly catch you by surprise. Ask Darroll Wilson about that. He and Tua were scuffling up close, and Wilson all of a sudden went down. Tua had snuck a left hook to his chin. 1st round knockout.

People used to compare Tua's left hook to Joe Frazier's, but Joe's was clearly better. Joe could launch that punch from any angle, and you often couldn't see it coming.

Joe would “double” his hook, throwing one left hook to the body and then another one to the head. BANG! BANG! It was this combination that sent Muhammad Ali staggering into the ropes during round 11 of the fight of the century in 1971.

Sometimes Frazier threw the left hook after a jab in one motion, and sometimes he threw the left hook after a right hand set-up.

Tua was more predictable, often leaning a bit to his left just before launching the punch. Generally, you could see his hook coming if he were more than a foot and half away. But up close? You'd never see it coming.... and wake up in the locker room.

An older David Tua smashes an opponent with his left hook. Like George Foreman, Tua's power never faded.

The Fight

Here's what you've been waiting for. One guy (Tua) had awesome power, a concrete chin and no problem going the distance. The other (Carnera) was one of the biggest men to ever lace up the gloves and even killed a man in the ring. How does the fight go?

Well, it depends on Tua. The 1994-97 version of David Tua would attempt to smash Carnera immediately. It took Louis and Baer a few knockdowns to keep the giant down for good, but they succeeded. They also connected their blows rather easily.

If Louis said he had issues getting under Primo's guard during the first few rounds, so would Tua, who lacked Louis' defense and was even shorter. Louis broke Primo down with his jab and counters to the body, waiting for the perfect time to strike. That moment finally arrived in round 6.

The '90s version of Tua still had issues adjusting to jabs, but because Primo didn't throw that many and Tua kept attacking, he'd land that big left hook midway through the fight after struggling a few rounds to close the gap. A surprised and outgunned Carnera would be repeatedly put on the canvas.

If it's the overweight David Tua that lost to Lennox Lewis, Carnera may stay in the game a bit longer, but it'd be the same result – Carnera tries to survive, but the referee stops the fight after the big man takes one left hook too many.

David Tua Wins By Sensational Knockout in Round 5.

Agree? Disagree? Duke it out in the comments!

This would be the outcome of the fight. David Tua wins by 5th Round Knockout.

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What If? Sonny Liston versus Evander Holyfield

12/16/2019

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The most infamous photo of Sonny Liston (50-4, 39 KOs) is the one where he's laying flat on his back under a confident Muhammad Ali in 1965. Similarly, the most historic picture of Evander Holyfield (44-10-2, 29 KOs) is the photo of Mike Tyson making a bloody snack of his chocolate bunny ears.

As a result, history has unfairly overlooked how both men were among the best heavyweight champions of all time. First there was the burly, menacing Sonny Liston who wrote the book on how to terrify opponents before even getting into the ring. Years later, Evander Holyfield came along and clashed with many ring giants during his roller-coaster ride of a career. He used brilliant strategies and the Power of Jesus to win his battles.

There is a short list of heavyweights in history that would survive the power of Charles "Sonny" Liston. But is Evander Holyfield on that list? Is he the “real deal?” Let's discuss.

Sonny Liston's long 84-inch reach made it hard for opponents to avoid his punches.

The Big Bear

Sonny got by using pure power and intimidation. His scary glare terrified opponents, and was a major influence on George Foreman and Mike Tyson who came after him.

Interestingly, Sonny had the same strategy for most of his fights. If you watch many of his knockouts, it was his long bulldozing jab that often got guys in trouble first. Sonny had arguably the hardest jab in heavyweight history. After smashing you with his jab, Sonny would club you death with his left hook or uppercut. Or both. Either way, fight over.

Sonny might look like some crude monster, but he was technically smart. He realized the importance of the left jab. He used it to set up many of his spectacular finishes. That huge jab was capable of a knockout all by itself. Most observers feel that Larry Holmes had the best heavyweight jab. I don't disagree, but you could certainly argue that Sonny also had the best jab, just in a different way. Because of his long reach and Sonny's fearless lunging, it was a hard punch to avoid. And if he landed flush, it would be the beginning of the end.

It's amazing how short people's memories are. Sonny looked to be indestructible. Unbeatable. Invincible. Even while heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson was blatantly ducking Liston, everyone knew Sonny was the best heavyweight around.

But, while Mike Tyson retained his scary mystique after his shock loss to Buster Douglas, Sonny's fearsome reputation suffered after the Ali losses. People don't remember that Sonny won all but one of his fights following the Ali rivalry. It's a shame that he wasn't given a title shot against Joe Frazier during the late 1960's.

The Real Deal

As you can see above, Evander came to fight! He wasn't the hardest puncher, but he made up for it with mental toughness and buckets of heart.

Compared to Sonny Liston, Evander Holyfield was more well-round heavyweight. “The Real Deal” got by using his ring smarts and courage. Evander could fight by slugging, boxing or countering. Sometimes he did all of them within one fight. Evander was a hard fighter to train for because you could never predict how he would fight on any given night.

George Foreman is one of the few heavyweights to fight both Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield. According to Big George, there are a few similarities. One of them is that both recovered really fast when hurt. George said there were times when he had both men shook, but just that fast they were hitting him back.

George also said that their punching power was similar but Evander hurt more and this makes sense. Ali threw blows from a distance and danced away from you as he punched. Evander would come forward, dip for leverage and throw hooks and uppercuts while in close. Hooks and uppercuts are the knockout punches.

I'll go in detail on this later, but one of the reasons why Evander defeated Mike Tyson is simple... he outfought him. There was a brief moment in the first round of their 1996 fight when Evander surprised Tyson by landing a string of three consecutive hard left hooks to the body and head. BANG! BANG! BANG! Tyson stopped right in his tracks and sneered as if to say, “So this is what fighting this bastard is gonna be like?!”

Watch the interaction below...

Evander's strongest asset was probably his mental toughness. Like Ali, Frazier, Johnson and Marciano before him, Evander didn't believe he could lose. His faith in The Lord and courage held him together.

Rocky Marciano is often cited as the best-conditioned heavyweight champion of all time. He trained twice as hard as his opponents, which gave him an edge over them on fight night. By round 10, his opponents were often tired, but Marciano was only getting stronger.

The late trainer Lou Duva was great friends with Marciano, and when asked by Bert Sugar and ESPN's Brian Kenny if he knew anybody that trained as hard as Rocky, Lou quickly replied, “Holyfield. Evander worked and worked and worked and worked.” Duva trained Holyfield during his early years as a heavyweight.

Before we move on, let's take a look at Evander's cruiserweight career. In my opinion and the opinion of many other sports writers, Evander was the best cruiserweight of all time. His battles with Michael Dokes and Dwight Muhammad Qwai are exhausting, brilliant wars that you need to watch if you haven't seen them.

Evander cleaned out the entire cruiserweight division and became the undisputed crusierweight champion. Bored and undefeated, he moved up to the heavyweight ranks to challenge for the undisputed heavyweight championship, eventually winning it from Buster Douglas in 1990.

Sonny Liston crushing Floyd Patterson with an uppercut in 1962. It took less than a round for Sonny to win the title from Patterson.

Toughness

Evander would fight to the death if he had to. There was no quit in him, which is one of the reasons why he didn't retire until he was 51. The man loved to fight. Joe Frazier said in his autobiography that Evander was his favorite heavyweight of the modern era because he loved to break down much bigger men and had a natural love for fighting.

I can't say the same about Liston. He never came from behind to win a fight he was losing. He quit on his stool against Ali, and decided to lay there and get counted out in his rematch against The Greatest.

In his next to last fight, Sonny was suddenly knocked out by Leotis Martin. Because it's Liston, I question if it's a legit knockout or not. The punch definitely hurt him, but could he have got up? Maybe.

Then again, Liston was famously controlled by the mob. Maybe he was told to take dives against Ali and Martin? Whether he was legitimately knocked out by those guys or was instructed to lose by the mob, either way is bad for his legacy.

Evander initially went berserk when Tyson bit him, but watch his reaction once he regained his composure. He didn't resort to cheating or quitting. Despite the pain, he continued to fight Tyson during that wild third round.

How would Sonny Liston react if Mike Tyson bit him? Given his reactions to losing the first fight to Ali (quitting) and the rematch (again quitting) I think a terrified Sonny would want nothing more to do with Tyson.

"The Brown Bomber" Joe Louis holds the heavy bag for Sonny Liston.

Fighting Dirty

Both men had reputations for occasionally being dirty fighters, so it would not surprise me if anyone was blinded or headbutted in this fight.

Muhammad Ali was famously blinded during the 5th round against Liston in 1964. Now, being in the ring with Sonny is a scary enough thought, but to fight him without vision? Muhammad Ali was some man. He deserves all-time great status for this action alone.

You could argue that Ali being blinded was an innocent mistake. However, two previous fighters who were also fighting well against Sonny Liston (Zora Folley and Eddie Machen) both complained about something getting in their eyes. Unlike Ali, they couldn't turn things around and wound up losing.

Is it a coincidence that every guy who was on the verge of upsetting Liston suddenly got blinded during the fight? I seriously doubt it.

Evander had reputations for headbutting his opponents. In this writer's opinion, not all of them were on purpose.

If you closely watch “The Bite Fight” with Tyson, you'll see that Evander dips for leverage before unloading his punches. From his crouch, he'd spring upward and throw his blows with full force. Tyson fought like a bull, always charging forward. The result was a clashing of heads.

But this wasn't always the case. In their first fight in 1999, Holyfield deliberately charged into Lennox Lewis with his head. He also tackled him to the ground at one point.

On commentary, George Foreman called him out for these dirty tactics. Larry Merchant defended Holyfield's blatant cheating by saying, “He's a rough fighter because it's a rough game.”

Foreman's reply? “You'd never see Joe Louis resorting to all of this.”

Larry Merchant's comment was just another example of Holyfield unfairly getting away with these shenanigans because people liked him. I don't like that. Just because he is a Bible-toting man healed by the Power of Jesus doesn't mean we should ignore his wrongdoings.

Evander's 1997 rematch against Michael Moorer was the best performance of his career in my opinion.

Styles Make Fights

Stylistically, Evander should give a brawler like Liston some problems, though this doesn't automatically mean he'll win.

Evander fought like a modern Ezzard Charles – a clever counter-puncher who could go toe to toe when necessary. Evander often knocked guys down by striking when they were off balance as they missed a punch. He could pull this off with either hand.

This tactic is exactly how he won his first heavyweight championship from Buster Douglas. He used another counter-punch to floor Mike Tyson in their first battle. Tyson lunged in and was caught square with a left hook to the chin.

Sonny Liston often left himself open to counter attacks by lunging in with his fierce jab and left hook. The infamous "Phantom Punch" is a pure example of this, as Ali caught Sonny when he was off balance leaping in.

Holyfield should be favored on paper due to their distinctive styles, but Holyfield's biggest strength was also his biggest flaw - his heart. What happens if Sonny hits Evander after the bell? Evander would surely want payback and duke it out with the "big bear" in the next round and put himself in peril.

Holyfield has a granite chin. He withstood absolute bombs from Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe, Bert Cooper, Ray Mercer and others. With the exception of Bowe, none of these men knocked him out, and the Bowe loss had more to due with Holyfield being sick and weak due to Hepatitis A. You could argue that Evander was at his best against the sluggers.

But in a fierce shoot-out war, Liston would inevitably win. He was just too powerful.

Could Evander get around that heavy Sonny Liston jab? I would say yes. Holyfield didn't have the gazelle speed of Muhammad Ali, but his mobility was enough to keep him out of danger. Lennox Lewis had a long 84-inch reach and telephone pole jab just like Liston. In their rematch, Holyfield neutralized his jab by jabbing him in the body. Lewis didn't like that and opted to slug it out. I'm sure Liston would do the same, so the Liston jab wouldn't be a factor for long.

What about Sonny's left hook? During clinches, Holyfield leaned his head on Tyson's left shoulder to avoid his uppercut while at the same time smothering his left arm, restricting Tyson from utilizing his left hook. Holyfield also did this against Mercer, and no doubt he'd do it successfully against Liston too.

Legacies

Evander was a four-time heavyweight champion, but he never dominated the way a heavyweight champion is expected to. Coming after the five-year reign of Tyson dominance, Evander wasn't really taken serious as heavyweight champion. He was fighting for respect.

Later in his career, Evander won the WBA title in a fight with John Ruiz, becoming the first man to win the heavyweight championship four times.

Sonny Liston only held the heavyweight championship from 1962 to 1964, but everyone knows he should have been given a crack at the title much sooner. Despite Floyd Patterson clutching the belt and blatantly ducking Liston for five years, Sonny Liston was dominating the heavyweight scene.

If you're comparing legacies between Holyfield and Liston, Liston looks better as far as win-loss ratios go. He adjusted to his declining skills much better than Holyfield did, evidenced by him winning 15 out of 16 out his fights after being embarrassed by Muhammad Ali. Not only that, but he won 12 by knockout. Aging or not, he was still a legitimate threat to anyone that fought him. That power was still there.

Evander picked up more championship wins and fought much better competition than Liston overall. He got some huge wins, but fought way too long and picked up some unnecessary losses that hurt his record.

Evander twice beat Tyson, who was the monster of his era. Sonny, however, lost twice to Ali, who was the biggest name he shared the ring with. Sonny was more consistent overall, but Evander was an overachiever with much more championship success, both at heavyweight and crusierweight.

It's really apples and oranges to compare. It depends on how you evaluate greatness.

But if I had to rank them I'd rank Sonny above Evander but not by much. Head to head Sonny had more success and lost fights less often than Holyfield did. Liston only lost four times. Marty Marshall broke Liston's jaw, a fight that Sonny understandably lost. Sonny's last loss was to Leotis Martin as an old fighter. Sonny's only huge losses were to Ali. I can forgive that.

The Fight

Before I start, remember that Evander is famous for standing up to bullies. He thrived on standing up to bigger men and surprising them. Sonny is just that kind of bully. There would be no fear from Holyfield.

Ring The Bell!!!!!

Ultimately, it depends on which Evander we put in the ring with Liston. The 1990 version of Evander that swiftly defeated Buster Douglas would get blown away by a peak Sonny Liston. At 28 years old and 208 pounds, Evander was too small. He had great experience as a cruiserweight, but Dokes and Qwai are like puppies compared to Liston. Besides, if Evander was hurt so bad by Bert Cooper, I'm sure Sonny would have damn near killed him.

But what about the older Evander from 1997? To me, this was the best Holyfield. He had bulked up tremendously, gained much more experience by this time, and could find a way to beat almost anybody. His best performance as a heavyweight in my opinion was his 1997 WBA/IBF Heavyweight Championship fight with Michael Moorer.

Evander never looked better on that night. He never punched harder and maintained his punch accuracy. He floored Moorer 5 times, and outsmarted him consistently once he figured out Moorer's fight patterns.

Even more impressive is that this was a clean win. No headbutts, no football tackles, nothing illegal. On that night, Evander combined the ring smarts of Ali and the vicious attack of Jack Dempsey. Perfect.

Now this version of Evander would give Sonny a fight!!

Liston would make himself vulnerable by lunging with that long powerful left hook of his, leaving himself open to counter-punches, which is what Holyfield excelled at. It would be the phantom punch scenario all over again.

Sonny may temporarily hurt Evander a time or two, but Evander had the chin to recover fast and the wits to fight back or clinch to survive. Knowing that the left hook, jab and right uppercut were his most powerful blows, Evander would neutralize them using angles and clinches just as he did against Tyson.

I see Evander discouraging Liston throughout the fight with his mobility and combinations of hooks and uppercuts to the body and head. Evander also had much better stamina than Liston, hurting the Big Bear's chances if the fight went the distance. Sonny didn't necessarily fade during the later rounds, but he gradually became less effective the longer the fight went.

Eventually a frustrated Liston gets dropped by a perfectly timed counter-punch, and refuses to get up.

Evander Holyfield Wins By 9th Round TKO

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The Past or The Future? Discussing Mike Tyson and Deontay Wilder

12/2/2019

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“I am the hardest hitting puncher in boxing history, period.”

-Deontay Wilder. (WBC Heavyweight Champion, November 2019)

Easy there, fella. I really wish there was a George Chuvalo around right now to test Wilder's theory. I like Wilder, but all of this talk about his power is too premature.

Look, Wilder can punch. But he's not on the Foreman level. Did any of you see that punching bag in Zaire when Foreman pounded it? I've never seen any heavyweight punch like that. That's power on a whole 'nother level. Don't compare Wilder's power to Foreman. Don't even compare it to Earnie Shavers.

If I had to compare Wilder's power to anybody, it'd be someone like Razor Ruddick or Max Baer. I'm not even convinced that Wilder punches as hard as someone like Tommy Morrison or David Tua. Wilder is a giant heavyweight who has great accuracy. He has an easier time getting his punch to the target than the shorter men who have to swarm their way inside. Wilder can catch you coming in. This, and a lack of great competition, is how his impressive knockout percentage culminated.

George Foreman recently stated that Joe Louis, Mike Tyson and Joe Frazier hit harder than Wilder. While all three of those men are among the all-time great sluggers, I disagree that Louis and Frazier hit harder than Wilder. I'll get to Tyson in a minute.

Another thing that keeps coming up is this annoying question.

"Would Deontay beat Mike Tyson?"

Here's the thing. Tyson struggled with big men. Yes, he generally beat them. But when a big guy decided to clinch, run or fight as a counter-puncher, Tyson just couldn't get the knockout.

James Tillis, Bonecrusher Smith, Tony Tucker and Mitch Green used these tactics to frustrate Mike. They were in survival mode and lost the fights, but they showed how to neutralize Mike's power if you're a big man.

At 6'7, Deontay is far bigger than those guys and has an 84-inch reach. He could easily use those long arms to wrap Tyson up in clinches and frustrate him.

But at the same time, Deontay has never fought anyone like Iron Mike. What would happen when Mike inevitably slips inside of Wilder's reach and smashes him on the chin with a fierce left hook?

We'll never know, but Wilder has never dealt with that kind of speed and power before. Because of that, I think Tyson would brutalize him. My prediction would be a Tyson knockout in two rounds. I'm talking 1988 Tyson here.

This isn't bias; it's basically more of a pick against Wilder than a pick for Tyson. We just don't know enough about Wilder to assess him yet, which is why I don't understand why people are jumping on his bandwagon so soon.

All I know about Wilder is that he can punch like hell with his right hand, but hasn't fought anyone on the all-time great level or with an all-time great chin to confirm how legit he really is.

Speaking of Tyson, people are asking if Wilder punches harder than Tyson.

With the right hand, possibly. Overall, no. Tyson could crack with both hands. But his signature punches were his left hook and uppercut. Wilder is possibly a harder right hand puncher than Tyson, but Tyson has more devastating punches in his arsenal than Wilder, who relies on his right hand for his knockouts.

Wilder told TMZ Sports the other day to "let the past go." In a way, I think he is right. For now, let's hold off on comparing him to past heavyweight champions. Right now his future looks bright, but it's still a mystery.

When Muhammad Ali was in his prime years (1964-67) people were not considering him an all-time great yet, often ranking Marciano, Louis, Johnson and Dempsey ahead of him. Likewise, Marciano was not viewed as one of the best during the years he fought. It wasn't until well after his retirement that his ranking skyrocketed. Take a look back at what the Ring Magazine rankings were during those times and read what sports writers were saying.

It can go the other way too, as people thought Riddick Bowe was on his way to being the next "big thing," but we saw how that turned out. The lesson is to sit back and watch these guys fight and see what happens. You never know who will be the real thing and who will be a disappointment.

People have been asking my opinion on these topics, so I decided to share.

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Does Doug Funnie Suffer From A Mental Illness?

11/30/2019

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Disclaimer: This is all my opinion.

Sometimes it takes one to know one. I used to think that Doug's anxieties and problems were typical of a boy his age. But as an adult, I see so easily now that things run a lot deeper than that. Myself being a victim of manic depression and mild anxiety, I see that Doug suffers from many of the same symptoms but worse. Far worse, actually. I don't let my anxieties run my life. In fact, you wouldn't even know I had manic depression if I hadn't just told you. But Doug, however, almost had a nervous breakdown in each episode, often making a mountain out of a molehill.

Doug is also eager to please others, often looking for their approval and acceptance. I am still this way to a moderate degree, but it was worse when I was little. But even then, I didn't let it control my actions, and I didn't go out of my way for closure. But that's what Doug does each time. He feels that his very existence depends on the acceptance of others.

If Doug gets the vibe that you don't like him or are upset with him, he will get anxious about it and then go out of his way to change your mind about him. People's perceptions of you shouldn't matter that much.

As an adult, is Doug going to feel threatened by everyone who gives him a mean look, or doesn't behave the way he expects them to? And will he not be able to function until he gets closure from them? Because that's exactly how he is right now.

When Doug thought his substitute teacher didn't like him, he tried like hell to get on her good side.

Relationship With Roger

Doug has an unhealthy mind, unhealthy enough to where his bully Roger Klotz is a real, real antagonist. Doug hates Roger to the point where he is the villain in most of his fantasy segments and comic books. Doug is one of Roger's favorite victims, sure. But that is because Roger can see how much his antics bother Doug. After all, bullies like reactions.

But Roger respects Doug as a friend – he trusted Doug to look after his cat Stinky when he left town, he “tattled” to Mr. Bone when Doug was about to get his ass whooped by Percy Femur, and the two had several heart to heart conversations, the most memorable one being in the graduation episode when both were afraid of their uncertain futures. He even threw Doug a surprise party once. Roger does not hate Doug. In fact, occasionally his actions have shown that he actually cares for Doug. I think he just gets a kick out of messing with him for his own amusement.

Remember also that Roger has his OWN personal problems, stemming from being abandoned by his father and living in a trailer with his mom. Roger is an unhappy and lonely individual, and entertains himself by bullying his peers.

There were numerous hints that Patti had a crush on Doug, but his anxiety made him oblivious to this fact.

Relationship With Patti

Doug, on the other hand, takes Roger's antics personally. Doug is an 11 year-old kid. Roger pulls humiliating pranks, but causes no real harm or threatens Doug's life in any way. Doug can barely handle Roger, which leads me to believe that real life will really kick his ass later.

How will Doug react if a boss fires him from a job? How will he react if a girl he likes rejects him? Will he imagine these people as evil super-villains out to get him? Will he get anxiety around them and have night terrors and horrible daydreams about them? He probably will!! And this will affect him in every possible aspect of his life.

Roger is not the only person taking center stage in Doug's mind. Doug is in love with Mayonnaise. Patti Mayonnaise. Doug goes overboard trying to impress her and this sometimes backfires. What Doug doesn't realize is that Patti likes him just as much. Look at the picture above. Patti has hearts floating around and is giving him true eyes of wonderment. This is not part of Doug's fantasy sequences. This was an actual real life scene, just after Doug psyched out Roger. (Doug To The Rescue, Season 1 episode 7B)

Unfortunately, Doug is not an observant and self-confident individual, so this information misses him completely.

In different episodes, Patti asks Doug out on a date, reveals that she likes him “best of all” out of all of her friends, defends him from Roger, and is his biggest supporter and admirer. Doug unfortunately is too self-observed with getting HER approval, so he's oblivious to Patti's obvious affection. Sighs. If Doug could overcome his self-doubts and anxieties, all he'd have to do is tell Patti how he feels, and Patti would happily be with him and they'd both be happy.

I get the feeling that in a few years when puberty kicks in and Patti drops hints to Doug about exploring their relationship sexually, her hints will go completely over his head and Patti will wind up being with someone else, then Doug will get jealous of that guy. Patti will get fed up with Doug's insecurities, and Doug will doubt himself even more, which will hurt his future romantic relationships. This is a theory and opinion, yes. But I just don't see it going any other way.

Doug's date with Patti was awkward. You'd expect him to "man up" and make a move.

Doug's Manic Creativity

Manic Depression means you have cycles of mania, which is when your confidence and creativity soars like an eagle, but you also have cycles when you're super unhappy without reason. Have you noticed that Doug is generally either really creative and energetic OR really frustrated? He's either one or the other. That's how manic depression works. You're either on top of the world, or feel crushed by the world. There's not a real in-between, and the people who suffer from it are generally highly creative when they're feeling manic.

Sweaty, STANKY Anxiety

Doug's insecurity is noticeably higher than most. When Skeeter's two year-old brother Dale calls Doug “big nose,” Doug gets butthurt about it and is severely hurt by the words of a TWO YEAR-OLD. He let an infant's words control how he felt about himself. For the rest of the episode, Doug was sensitive about his nose, all because a baby told him it was big.

Doug often imagines the absolute worst-case scenario in almost every situation. On his way to the Honker-Burger in the first episode, he suddenly imagines not fitting in and the entire city (including the mayor) calling him a loser. Why the hell would he feel this would happen? It doesn't make any sense, but that's how people with anxiety and/or depression typically think.

Doug also assumed that Judy's performance at his school would be horrible and humiliating, but his peers absolutely loved it. Again, predicting the worst.

This can make for a humorous cartoon at times though, like when he broke Mr. Dink's grill and imagined him turning into a nasty werewolf. But unfortunately this is a sign of true anxiety.

Like other people suffering from anxiety, Doug is a "mind reader." He assumes that people people may not like him or something he's done, even if there's no evidence of this.

An example of this is in the episode when Doug was caught drawing a (terrible) portrait of his teacher, Ms. Wingo. Doug assumed she'd despise him for it, but she loved it and added it to her book of pictures drawn by past students.

Unhealthy Escapes From Reality

Doug does not appear depressed, but he often escapes from the real world, which is what depressed people do.

While he feels that he doesn't quite belong in the real world, Doug often imagines that he is a super-hero in his fantasies. In this world, he does nothing but good and comes to everyone's rescue. He is needed and admired. He is special and charismatic. He gets the approval he so desperately craves in real life. And, the horrible villains in his fantasies are the very same people who cause him minor problems in real life.

When he wants to feel suave and charming, he channels Smash Adams (Secret Agent). If he wants to feel brave, he becomes

Everyone needs to escape to get away from your worries and woes. Everyone escapes in their own way, but the way things are so heightened in Doug's fantasies is not normal in my opinion. In reality, Roger Klotz is a lonely teenager who bullies his friends to feel self-worth. He is not out to kill Doug or destroy him. But in Doug's imagination that's what Roger is often portrayed as.

Writing in his journal helps Doug re-evaluate his problems. By the end of each episode he realizes that things weren't so bad after all.

What Doug Does Right

I know most of what I've said has been negative so far, but I'm merely stating how Doug's mental problems affect his life and relationships overall. But there are some things that Doug does right.

For starters, he keeps a journal. That's something else I have in common with Doug. Journal-writing keeps your writing skills sharp, and helps you to honestly evaluate everything going on around you.

Doug is also vocal about his problems. Instead of bottling things up like a future serial killer, he doesn't mind venting. Generally, he confides in his father, The Dinks, his best friend Skeeter and sometimes Patti. Occasionally, he'll even go to his flamboyant sister Judy for advice. When his journal went missing, he opened up to Ms. Wingo, who understood his plight, but informed him that a lot of great authors had their journals published to give insight into their genius. This was great advice that Doug briefly considered.

Talking out your problems is healthy and helps you to process things. You'll often discover that sometimes things may not be as bad as you think.

Doug is not a bad person and has a moral code, like the time he returned the money that he found. He often finds the courage to do the right thing when he messes up, like returning the stolen comic book he bought, not cheating to sell Mr. Swirley's chocolate, trying to retrieve Patti's "wacky whizzer," and confessing to breaking Mr. Dink's grill. All of these were things he was not forced or required to do, but he has a great conscience and felt a breather after confessing.

He goes out of his way to help others. such as acting as “Hamburger Boy” for Mr. Dink. He even felt bad about knocking out fellow student Larry. Most boys his age would feel great after knocking someone out, but not Doug. He didn't like to fight.

If Doug did not let his anxieties get in the way, he would be Patti's boyfriend. He would be more popular. He would not be targeted by Roger or even faculty bullies like Mr. Bone so much, if at all. Overall, he would get more respect from people.

I look at Doug now and realize that if I gave in to the negative thoughts plaguing my mind, I could have been just as vulnerable and unhappy, and my life would be totally different right now.

For me, it comes down to this.

If I didn't expect people to like me, they wouldn't. When I write an article, I expect people to enjoy it. And they do. I expect people to read this blog, and sure enough, you're reading it right now.

Doug (and other sufferers of anxiety) always predict the opposite, expecting things to fail. They often speak these failures into existence or avoid taking risks altogether and wind up with regrets. We never got to see Doug grow up, but I can't help but feel afraid for his future if he didn't get help.

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A.J. Dugger Reviews Bloodsport (1988)

11/27/2019

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My grandmother (Madea) recently passed away at 92. She impacted me in a lot of ways. For example, she LOVED karate flicks. Absolutely loved them. Just imagine an older black lady rooting and hollering at the TV screen while watching guys beat and kick the snot out of each other. Shows like Renegade, Highlander, Rin Tin Tin K-9 Cop, Knight Rider, etc, were all favorites of hers, and I immediately got hooked as well.

One of the movies she introduced me to was Bloodsport. Right then and there at 4 years old, it became one of my favorite films of all time, definitely within my top five. There will be spoilers here, but the plot is relatively simple.

Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a United States Army Captain who sneaks to Hong Kong to fight in the Kumite, a secret underground fighting tournament. Naturally Frank does well, picking up win after win. But several problems plague him throughout the film. For starters, the goofy team of Helmer and Rawlins (Norman Burton and Forest Whitaker) are chasing Frank in an attempt to arrest him and bring him back to America. There's also the love interest – a blond newspaper reporter named Janice Kent (Leah Ayres) attempting to write an article about the Kumite and bang our hero.

Last, but not least, there is the brutal undefeated Kumite Champion, Chong Li (played by the fierce Bolo Yeung) who has a reputation for literally killing men when he fights them. When Chong Li hospitalizes Frank's best friend and fellow Kumite participant Ray Jackson (Donald Gibb) and steals his damn bandanna, Frank sets out to get revenge for his friend and win the Kumite tournament by kicking Chong Li's evil, muscled ass. But can he?

The movie begins with different fighters from all over the world training for the Kumite. Each of these men have their own unique style and that's part of what makes this movie so special. There's a strong sumo wrestler Pumola (David Ho), a deadly kickboxer named Paco (YES!!! The real fighter Paco!! Yes!!) a black monkey-style fighter (Richardo Morra) and others. Before we get on with this thing, how offensive is it to have the African guy fight like a damn monkey? Of ALL fighting styles out there? As a black man, I'm sure you understand why I find this crap offensive. Moving on, though.

Turns out that when he was a bad, stupid kid, Frank Dux and his equally stupid buddies break into Senzo Tenaka's house to steal a sword. When they hear Senzo coming, the other guys abandon Frank, while Frank (who is stupid, but polite) is caught by Senzo as he places the sword back into its proper place. I swear, Frank is the most delicate, polite burglar I've ever seen. He really cares about his victims. If only the thugs here in Memphis had the same manners. But anyway.

Senzo (who is also a sensei, fulfilling the old wise Asian man trope) slices the visor off of Frank's baseball cap. Frank doesn't flinch, which causes Senzo to remark, “You have fighting spirit.”

Senzo's son Shingo at one point makes a racist comment to Frank calling him “Round Eye.” Jesus, this movie is racist and I didn't quite catch this until now. Years later, Shingo dies as a young adult, so Senzo passes on all of his Tanaka teachings to the determined Frank Dux. Sensei Senzo's methods are no joke. Here are a few.

He kicks Frank repeatedly in the body, which toughens Frank's mid-section.

He reaches his hand into water and grabs a fish, which improves hand speed.

He teaches Frank how to fight blindfolded. In fact, Frank becomes so good at it that he prepares dinner and blocks an attack from Senzo, all while wearing a blind fold at the dinner table.

But it doesn't stop there.

Senzo beats the boy with a stick as he mediates, and Frank doesn't feel a thing. He also stretches Frank's body using ropes, and Frank passes this test, too. Senzo is creating a monster.

Remember that ALL of these techniques will be used later in the film during Frank's Kumite battles.

Anyway, all of this was presented as a flashback. In the present, Frank visits his old sensei as he lays dying. Senzo states the obvious. “When you fight, my spirit fights with you.”

In Hong Kong, Frank meets Ray Jackson, who is undoubtedly the heart of the movie. He's big and loud, but funny. He's the big enthusiastic best friend you've never had. He's a big burly bear of a man with the heart and soul of a stand-up comedian.

After Frank kicks Ray's ass in an arcade fighting game, Ray reveals that he is fighting in the Kumite. When Frank reveals to Ray that he is also fighting in the tournament, Ray sizes him up and says this.

“Aren't you a little young for full contact?”

Frank's reply. “Aren't you a little old for video games?”

Meanwhile, we meet the two idiot buffoons, Helmer and Rawlins, two FBI agents assigned to capture Frank and return him to the United States. What's funny is that these two don't try to be bumbling idiots, but it just works out for them this way, as Frank easily outsmarts them throughout the film. In fact, you could make a case that they're even dumber than Harry and Marv from the Home Alone films.

Frank and Ray meet Mr. Lin, their scrawny but lovable Hong Kong and Kumite guide. If Ray is the enthusiastic silly best friend that you never had, then Lin is the scrawny motivator that you need to keep you going.

The first thing Lin says when he meets Ray is, “Ray Jackson? You look like a Jackson!!”

Ummm...Ray looks nothing like Michael, Tito or Jermaine. Or even Jesse.

I guess all Americans with the last name Jackson look alike? Boy, I tell ya. These lines. I can't even get mad at that one.

To prove their worth, Ray and Frank both break boards to impress the Black Dragon Boys and officially get entered into the tournament. I'm not kidding. The Black Dragon Boys is the official name for the Kumite judges. Oh boy. Funny.

Frank is impressive while breaking bricks using the death touch. The judges honor Frank's invitation, to which Ray remarks, “No shit you honor his invitation!!”

Lin yells out, “Son of a bitch!” Man, I wish I had best friends like these guys. Frank has it made.

Unimpressed, however, is the Kumite Champion Chong Li. Ugly but fierce, he looks at Frank and says, “Very good, but brick not hit back.” He then gives Frank the “I'm going to kill you” glare, a look we will see quite often in this movie. To further intimidate, he does the Jason Voorhees idle breaths. So now we know for sure that Chong Li is a truly frightening individual on the Jason Voorhees level. Fun.

We next cut to my favorite pair of buffoons, Helmer and Rawlins. No one they attempt to interview wants to talk to them or provide information on Frank or the Kumite. No one! I can't say I blame them. They don't come across as guys that you could take seriously.

At the hotel, reporter Janice Kent is desperate for a Kumite story, but not desperate enough to sleep with an unruly participant named Hossein who wants to exchange sex for an interview. Hell, let's just call it rape. He wants to rape her, no matter how nicely he tries to word it.

Just then, Frank and Ray arrive. Frank uses his quickness of hand to snatch a coin out of the thug's hand before he even realized it. (Remember the fish trick from earlier in the movie? I told you we'd see these techniques later). Hossein agrees to leave her alone, and Frank and Janice predictably fall for each other. Janice could have been attracted to Frank's good looks or his thick accent, or maybe it was because he was one of the few Americans around. Or perhaps she'd prefer to sleep with him for an interview. Take your pick.

Regardless, Frank doesn't really give her any information or even tells her why he wants to fight. Playing hard to get will only make her want to get into his pants even more, and I think he realizes that. Smooth operator.

Anyway, we're finally at the first night of the Kumite. Our scrawny motivator Lin breaks down the rules and three ways to win – Knock your opponent out, make your opponent submit by saying “matte,” or “throw the fucker right off the runway.” Those were his exact words. “Throw the fucker right off the runway.” You can't help but love this guy.

Ray Jackson fights in one of the openers, quickly brutalizing his opponent with one solid smash. Just after the knockout, he bravely (and foolishly) taunts Chong Li by pointing at him and declaring, “I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, MAN! YEAH, YOOOU, MAN!!!”

Chong Li responds by looking like a lost squirrel. (see GIF below)

After recovering from his paranoid squirrel phase, Li smirks and then gives Ray that evil look he previously gave Frank. Told you we'd see it again. Get used to it.

As they mop up his opponent's blood, Ray then shares his enthusiasm with Frank. “Look at him, buddy! Yeah!” Gotta love the "bromance" between these two.

Next, we get an evil synthesizer chord, signaling that Chong Li will fight next. The crowd immediately starts chanting his name, and Lin and Ray appropriately educate Frank on the champion's history.

“That's Chong Li, the current champ,” said Ray.

Then Lin chimed in. “He's never been defeated. He holds all the records, including the fastest KO. He killed a guy during the last Kumite.”

Ray added to the somber story. “Yeah, he kicked the poor bastard right in the throat. Guy died right there on the platform. Chong Li stood there and watched him die.”

So now we know that Chong Li is a mix of Jason Voorhees, a lost squirrel, and Max Baer, a heavyweight champion during the 1930s who killed men in the ring.

Chong Li made his way to platform and we hear that dreaded synthesizer note again. I guess it's his unofficial theme music, although it's limited to one note. Maybe it's all they could afford. I assume the producers ran out of money at this point.

Chong Li plays with his opponent and feints as if he's going to kill him by gripping his neck, but instead knocks him out. The whole thing takes 14 seconds, and could have been quicker if Chong Li didn't pose so often for the crowd. With this victory, Chong Li sets a new record, breaking his old one.

Finally, we get to see Duke fight. He gets to clash with Hossein. Frank drops the attempted rapist within seconds, to which his cheerleader Frank jumps up and almost pisses himself. “WOW!!! That's the fast (knockout) I ever saw!!!”

Chong Li sits and looks pissed as his brand new record has been smashed already. It took Frank 12 seconds to get the win. New world record, less than four minutes after Chong Li just set his previous one. This is already getting personal.

Ray jumps up again, more excited than anyone else in the damn arena. “HIS FIRST FIGHT IN THE KUMITE AND HE BROKE THE FUCKING WORLD RECORD!!”

He then playfully shoves another on-looker and points at Frank. “That's my buddy!”

Chong Li just sits there looking mad. He now realizes that Mr. Frank Dux is a legitimate threat to him.

Time for a fight montage with kick-ass 80's synth pop music featuring a poor man's Bruce Springsteen on vocals. (No disrespect to Stan Bush, who performed these songs. He gave it his best shot). But again, the producers likely ran out of money and since they couldn't afford the real Springsteen, they hired Stan Bush. Hey, do what you gotta do.

The fighting is awesome enough on its own, but the music enhances things so much more.

Helmer and Rawlins track down Frank at his hotel. They subdue Ray with a stun gun and unsuccessfully chase Frank around Hong Kong. Cue the '80s pop music and we have another fun montage. Gotta love it. Frank outwits and taunts his foes at every turn, and the scene ends with our bumbling buffoons falling into the river and Frank escaping. Seriously, there are much better agents the government could have sent to chase Frank.

That evening, Frank eats dinner with Janice who quickly confirms what we already knew. She outright begs the man not just for an interview, but to sneak her in to the Kumite. Then she adds, “I'd really like to get to know you (in bed).” OK, I added the “in bed” part, but let's be real. That's what she meant. Then she says, “After all, we have all night.” She's obsessed with banging this man.

Well she got her wish, and the two wake up together the next morning. I would assume that Frank should abstain from sex while fighting in this tournament, but what do I know?

Before the fights begin at the Kumite that night, a bystander awkwardly approaches Frank and utters my favorite line in the movie. “Good. You're good fighter. You...good.....good.” Frank apparently feels just as awkward as I did watching it. He then spots his girlfriend Janice, who snuck into the Kumite with the awkward loser guy.

One can't help but notice that the cheery pop music during the fight scenes often gets darker when the “bad guys” like Paco, Chong Li and Pumola fight, but brightens right back up when guys like Frank and Ray do battle.

Chong Li is fascinated with Frank. He never says anything, but he often nods in approval as Frank fights. One scene that had me crying and hollering like a little bitch when I was a kid was when Chong Li broke another fighter's knee cap. To this day I either skip that part or look away, but I don't cry anymore about it anymore. I'm a man now.

Janice pulled out a (huge) tape recorder and spoke verbal notes to herself. As a reporter myself, I find this funny. My voice recorder is digital and tiny, but back in those days journalists had to carry around these big, bulky cassette recorders. How the hell did she hide that thing? It was about as big as her purse!

OK, time to see how well you pay attention. Remember Pumola, the sumo fighter? He has a fight with Richardo Morra, the monkey-boy. Ugh. Anyway, eventually Richardo's guile and speed are overpowered by Pumola's gorilla strength and Pumola brutally breaks his back in a bearhug. It's so scary that Janice grabs her throat in horror and Frank looks at Ray with a real look of concern.

One note about Chong Li. Before he finishes most guys, he'll close his eyes and do this “Hallelujah Jesus!” wave at the crowd, as if he's feeling the Holy Spirit before crushing his opponent. This, and his wild facial expressions, are my favorite things about Chong Li. He's the villain, but a part of me always roots for him.

Next up, Frank gets to fight Pumola. He even takes off his kool-aid red jacket for this one, realizing it would be no easy task.

Frank's kicks and attacks have no effect on this monster, and he is eventually overpowered by his strength and pulled into his bearhug finisher. Frank uses his hard head to headbutt Pumola and escape. Thinking fast, Frank hits him with the dreaded “Death touch” that he used on the bricks much earlier, and then does a split and uppercuts the big sumo square in the nuts.

It was over, and Chong Li looked horrified. His anxiety increased when the crowd started chanting “DUX! DUX! DUX!” Now the champ was losing his fans to this American upstart.

Chong Li got to take out his frustrations on Frank's best buddy, Ray.

Before the fight, Frank tries to warn him. “Go for the gut. He's soft there. Chong Li's weak in the gut. That's how Parades surprised him...go for the stomach and stay away from his right leg.”

If only Ray had listened. But then again, if he had, we wouldn't have the major plot twists coming up.

Ray actually took Frank's advice about avoiding Chong Li's right leg, blocking a kick and overpowering him and dropping him with a hard blow to the head. But instead of making sure the champion was knocked out, Ray started boasting prematurely like a dumbass.

The music turns sinister as Chong Li recovers and uses his vaunted right leg to kick the shit out of Ray and then stomp his head, knocking him cold. The champion then steals his bandanna.

Note: Frank yelling “STOPPPPPPPP!” during this assault is one of the funniest moments in the movie.

Janice and Frank argue at the hospital while visiting the injured Ray, and Lin comes out of nowhere to literally grab and shake Frank while giving one of his motivational speeches.

Cue the music video for On my Own, one of the highlights of the movie. This is the song on my i-pod that throws people off. Friends have been like, “AJ, you really listen to this?” Hell yeah! Cheesy '80s rock music rules! It's also cool to remember how many singers back then did their damnest to sound like The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. The whole scene I just described is in the clip below.

Our favorite goons Rawlins and Helmer try one last time to capture Frank. But at last they give in and watch the last round of the Kumite with Janice.

By this point, only the best fighters are left. Frank is summoned first, and his first fight is against the super-talented (but dirty) kick-boxer Paco of all people. Frank can't catch a break, can he? Chong Li winks at Frank, which almost makes me suspect that he had something to do with setting this up.

I love watching Chong Li's reactions to Frank's fights. At first he was leaning in smiling when Paco had the edge, but slowly sat back and looked sad as Frank began to dominate. Frank wisely attacked Paco's legs and then knocks him out with his signature twirling kick. Rawlins and Helmer are amazed and look at each other as if to say, “Well, damn. This dude can fight!” Janice has replaced Ray as Frank's constant cheerleader, and Chong Li rolled his eyes in disgust.

To send a message of intimidation to Frank, Chong Li kills his next opponent, which worries the shit out of Janice. He then points directly at Frank and says the famous line, “YOU..ARE...NEX!!!” Brilliant. Chong Li doesn't speak much, but the three lines he has in this movie are among the most memorable.

The next fight is the one that was inevitable...Frank Dux versus Chong Li.

Lin states the obvious to Frank. “You can make history here today.”

A lot was definitely on the line here. Frank came along from out of nowhere and broke Chong Li's record, and took his once loyal fans from him too. Frank had also defeated both Paco and Pumola, the two most dangerous fighters in the tournament aside from himself and Chong Li.

Chong Li had never lost and was the champion. Meanwhile, Frank wanted to be the first American to win the Kumite and avenge what happened to Ray Jackson. The pressure was on both guys.

Just before the fight, Chong Li confirmed what I'd been suspecting – he didn't think he could beat Frank Dux. You could get a sense of this throughout the tournament by watching his reactions to Frank's wins, especially against Paco and Pumola. My confirmation that Li lacked the confidence to beat Dux was when his handler secretly placed a pill into his waistband. Uh-oh. He also wore Ray's bandanna around his knee and gave Dux a warm smile just before they stepped on the platform.

“Break my record...now I break you...like I break your friend.” Those were Li's words to Dux just before they squared off. This was beyond personal.

When the fight began, Dux got the best of Li right away. Li responded initially by trying to use the referee as a shield and getting his ass kicked while waiting for a counter attack.

He eventually counters one of Dux's attacks and stuns him, gaining control of the fight. Meanwhile, the bipolar crowd doesn't know who the hell to cheer for, constantly alternating between chanting the names of both fighters at the drop of a hat.

The fight was back and forth for a few minutes, as the producers didn't want the audience to see right away who was better. Eventually, though, Dux begins to hurt Li by repeatedly attacking him in the stomach (remember his “soft gut” comments to Ray Jackson earlier?) and then kicks him to the ground.

With defeat looming, Li crushes the pill and tosses it into Dux's eyes and blinds him. As a boxing fan, this reminds me a lot of Sonny Liston blinding Muhammad Ali in their first fight back in 1964.

Li has the advantage, but doesn't know that Dux has experience fighting while blinded. (Remember the blindfold lessons from earlier in the movie?) Frank makes a comeback, hurting Li with a hard kick to the gut and flooring him with a series of twirl kicks. Li eventually yells “Matte!” and suffers the first loss of his career. Frank Dux is now the Kumite Champion, and Janice damn near has an orgasm as this happens.

Helmer and Rawlins, who spent the whole movie trying to ruin Dux's fun, are now major supporters.

Frank is awarded a sword for winning the tournament. A sword? No money? All that blood, sweat and tears for a sword????? Anyway, Ray Jackson makes a speedy recovery and returns for the sequel. Dux returns to America with Helmer and Rawlins.

Anyway, I'll wrap things up here. This movie is awesome. It's cheesy, but very self-aware of this fact, and that makes it even more fun.

What separates it from the sequels and other martial arts films is that most of the fighters depicted here were real fighters, so the fights didn't look choreographed at all. Everything flowed perfectly. The music only makes things better. I was an '80s baby, so I have appreciation for films like this and the music that accompanied it. This is one of many films that remind me of Madea. Thank you for introducing me to so many movies.

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A.J. Dugger Reviews Ralph Tresvant (1990)

11/27/2019

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RALPH TRESVANT (1990)

DISCLAIMER: Before we even get into this, I have to state the obvious and get it out of the way. Ralph Tresvant had been listening to Michael Jackson. In fact, Ralph sounds like Michael Jackson if he were drugged on Ritalin or Nyquil. If Michael was half sleep and tried to sing, he would sound like Ralph Tresvant. So, if you don't like Michael Jackson's music, then you probably won't like this album, because Michael's influence is all over the place. Just giving you the heads up. But hey, I love Michael Jackson, so this makes the album even more of a fun ride.

By late 1990, the R&B world was awaiting the highly anticipated solo album from Ralph Tresvant, the cozy-voiced lead singer of New Edition. His bandmates Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill and Bel Biv DeVoe were topping the charts left and right with their individual projects.

Bobby Brown became the "Bad Boy of R&B," BBD grabbed a hold of the hip hop culture, and Johnny Gill followed in the footsteps of Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross with his soulful material.

Finally, it was time for "Mr. Sensitivity" to make his move.

Ralph officially established himself as the “Michael Jackson” or “Marvin Gaye” of New Edition with this album. He was the quiet, sweet one. The one with the soft tenor & falsetto voice that stole the ladies' hearts.

Unlike the other N.E. Members, Ralph didn't try many new things on his solo effort. Instead, he maintained the New Edition sound, just with more of an emphasis on romance and ballads. Ralph kept the N.E. spirit alive, even continuing to dress like a New Edition member, while his bandmates grew into other personas.

Well, now was the time. This was an album fans had been waiting to hear since the 1980s. How does the music hold up today?

TRACK BY TRACK

Ralph begins the album by taking an aggressive page out of BBD's hip hop playbook. The song Rated R sounds nothing like what you'd expect from Ralph. Instead of being greeted by Ralph's signature breathy vocals, he comes right out the gate rapping. He isn't bad. It's just....unexpected. And forced. There were no hints of this sound on any of the New Edition material.

Rated R is basically a preview of what his follow-up album would sound like. The song isn't bad, but BBD did this kind of music better, and it just didn't sound like a natural fit for Ralph.

Ralph finds his groove with Sensitivity, the album's biggest hit. If you like Sensitivity, then you'll like the rest of the album. It's this song that sets the tone for the songs that follow.

The dreamy song, which is a brilliant mix of ballad and dance music, was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. In my opinion, the song almost sounds like a lost Janet Jackson track, as Jam and Lewis established this kind of sound with Janet. This, coupled with Ralph's whispery Jackson-esque vocals, gives the song a "Miss Jackson" feel.

Having said that, Ralph doesn't try to impress with his vocals – it's all about riding the lush grooves of the track. The song accomplishes what it sets out to do.

She's My Love Thang maintains the momentum of Sensitivity but speeds things up a bit. Like the previous track, She's My Love Thang is an uptempo ballad with a dance beat. Ralph brought his A-game when he performed this track on Soul Train back in the day.

I could never get into Stone Cold Gentleman. It's the only track I skip.

Do What I Gotta Do is our first real ballad. It's not a bad song, and as far as instrumentation goes, Jam and Lewis were arguably at their best. But given Ralph's smooth and inoffensive falsetto, the song comes across almost bubblegum. If Johnny Gill had sang this song with him, it would have lit fire to the track and almost been something of a sequel to Can You Stand The Rain.
A more mature voice like Johnny's would have made this song sound more adult.

You can tell Ralph is trying to emulate his heroes Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye, but they would have brought the track to life. Ralph tries, but doesn't have the strength in his voice to do so. This song would have worked better as a New Edition song.

NOTE: I realize that Ralph's breathy voice is not technically a falsetto, but he sings in that range so much that you might as well call it that.

Love Hurts was co-written by Babyface with Daryl Simmons and Kayo, but he let his partners produce this one on their own. It's a good song, but it would have been much better if Babyface had been behind the boards himself. Again, Ralph croons sweetly to the material given to him.

Girl I Can't Control It sounds like an early Jodeci song. There's a reason for that – Ralph wrote the song with the raspy-voiced K-Ci Hailey, one of Jodeci's lead singers. Ralph could never growl like K-Ci, but he sings with more authority and confidence on this one. There's no doubt that K-Ci directed Ralph on how to sing these lines.

"I shall call him....mini-me."

Love Takes Time – Sounds like a less catchy sequel to Girl I Can't Control It. It's far from a horrible song, but it's definitely filler.

Public Figure – This is basically a melodic hip hop track. Like the previous songs, it's OK to listen to. But Ralph's material was better on the front-end of the album. Ralph, like Johnny, sometimes sounds out of his element on the uptempo stuff.

Last Night.-- Finally, another ballad! The opening to this one will grab you immediately. It's comprised of synthesized strings and bass, a drum programmed beat, and electric guitar. Ralph's vocals fit this song to a tee. This one was written and produced by Timmy Gatling and Alton "Wokie" Stewart. They did a good job of impersonating Jam and Lewis.

I Love You (Just For You) – This is the highlight of the album for me. Ralph will never be Michael Jackson. But on this one, it's almost as if Michael sang it through Ralph's voice. There's a real confidence to his vocal on this one. He never sounded this self-assured with New Edition. He's not simply riding the lyrics like he does on most songs here; you can feel what Ralph is singing. And what's cool about it is that he doesn't shout or do anything out of his comfort zone. He proves you can have a small voice and still be soulful. The confidence and grace of this track will prompt you to listen more than once, and it's too bad it wasn't released as a single. I think this one would have done better than Do What I Gotta Do.

Alright Now – Just when you think things can't get any better, you're proven wrong. Now, Michael Jackson actually did have a hand in this one. He co-wrote the song with John Barnes in 1984, but passed on it and eventually gave it to Ralph. I asked Mr. Barnes about the song on Facebook and he replied with this.

“He (Michael) was on a different path at that time. He heard me playing the music and decided to write something for it. He was okay with Ralph doing it. I would have enjoyed him doing it.” -John Barnes

Ralph also said on Twitter that Michael left some of his background vocals on the track. I posted a screenshot of this above. But man, I love the electric bass on this track and the layered background vocals.

NOTE: Given the great material here, you can't help but wonder why Ralph didn't blow up as a solo star. Instead, Bobby Brown became the "breakout" member of New Edition, although each member had moderate success outside the group. Ralph's music was never bad. My only guess is that he lacked the natural charisma of other lead singers who transitioned into great solo careers like Sisqo, Justin Timberlake, Omarion, etc. What do you think? Leave a comment below.

So that's the album. It's the least confident of the other New Edition solo albums from that time period, but Ralph stuck to the sound he was familiar with and good at. You can tell he was cautious with this project. He wanted to take his time and give it his best shot. A listen to the grooves here show that his efforts paid off.

I'll leave you with an unreleased Ralph Tresvant song recorded around this time. It's a real banger and worthy of being a moderate hit, but doesn't quite fit with flow of the other tracks on the album.

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What If? Jack Dempsey v. Rocky Marciano

11/19/2019

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Elvis Presley was the King of Rock And Roll during the 1950s, but the king of the boxing ring was a young, hard-punching kid from Brockton, Massachusetts named Rocky Marciano. (49-0, 43 Knockouts) Bobbing and weaving, Rocky routinely knocked out opponent after opponent. Eventually he won the heavyweight championship in 1952 and retired as the only undefeated heavyweight champion in boxing history in April 1956.

But Rocky's particular style and signature aggression reminded many boxing fans of an echo of the past – the Manassa Mauler Jack Dempsey. (60-7-8, 50 Knockouts) Jack Dempsey was boxing's first celebrity. During his prime, his popularity escalated to the point where it rivaled Babe Ruth and Charlie Chaplin. Dempsey was also the primary inspiration for Mike Tyson, who borrowed many of Dempsey's signature moves in the ring.

Dempsey and Marciano fought during different eras, but it's rare that one is discussed without the other eventually being mentioned. How similar and dissimilar were they? Who would have won if these two legends clashed in the middle of the ring? Let's discuss...

A very familiar ending for Jack Dempsey fights.

The Original Mauler

I shudder to think what boxing would be like today if Jack Dempsey never existed. Obviously, there were always boxing fans. Jim Jeffries was a popular athlete and Jack Johnson was a notorious one. But Jack Dempsey changed boxing forever when he smashed the jaw of Jess Willard with that dynamite left hook on July 4, 1919. Dempsey was so popular that he drew boxing's first million dollar gate. Because of his savage aggression and knockout records, he attracted people who were not boxing fans. Before the arrival of Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey was the most popular boxer of all time.

It was Dempsey who wrote the textbook for Tyson, Marciano and Frazier. Each of these men channeled Dempsey's bobbing and weaving and powerful hooks and uppercuts. Dempsey's dynamite hook to the body is still imitated to this day.

Dempsey's explosive left hook was a huge inspiration for Joe Frazier and others.

Jack Dempsey

A Clash Of Styles

Dempsey and Marciano often drew comparisons to each other. In fact, when Marciano first appeared on the scene, some writers labeled him “another Dempsey.” On the surface it's easy to see why people said that, but when you examine the two guys, you'll see a lot of differences in their styles.

As you can see in the picture, Dempsey often threw straight punches. This worked well for him because it didn't leave him as open as a haymaker would, and it helped his punches to land right down the pipe. Dempsey was crude, but his punches were not half as wild or wide as Marciano's. Like Frazier, Dempsey didn't generally throw the wild haymakers until he was finishing someone off.

Marciano was totally different in this regard. He threw each punch as if it was a baseball. He threw every punch as hard as he could, and he often put all of his weight behind it. The problem with this is that if he missed, he was off balance and vulnerable to counter attacks.

This is precisely how Archie Moore was able to drop him. In the second round of that fight, Rocky was swooping in with a lunging punch and Moore clocked him when he was off balance diving in. Observe.

But here's the thing – Rocky threw these looping blows but he threw them from all directions. From his crouch, he could punch upward from down below, or he may throw a wild shot from elsewhere. He just kept attacking and there was no way to see where each punch was coming from, giving you no chance to protect yourself sufficiently.

Moore had early success against Rocky but as the rounds progressed, Rocky beat the man and beat the man and beat the man until he wilted.

Rocky fought like a propeller that kept moving right in on you. He once said that he fought as if there's a fire right behind him and the guy in front of him is constantly in his way.

Dempsey was more like Mike Tyson in the sense that he attacked in spurts. Dempsey would attack his way inside, but once there he didn't punch as much, leaving him open to be clinched or giving his opponent time to counter or run away. But you gotta watch out for that left hook, which was the punch that got most guys in trouble. See below.

Jack Dempsey mauls Gene Tunney

I realize that Dempsey was past his best during their fights, but I believe that Gene Tunney had the style to always befuddle him. (No, I'm not saying this means he would automatically beat Dempsey; I'm just saying Dempsey would always have problems mowing him down).

Gene wasn't awkward, slow moving and huge like the guys Dempsey developed a reputation for destroying. Those guys stood and fought Dempsey, and paid the price for it.

However, Gene was much smaller and more elusive, playing boxing as if it were a game of tag. He would pop Dempsey and get the hell out of range before Dempsey could retaliate. Tunney closed both of Dempsey's eyes in their first fight. After losing, Dempsey's handlers had to lead him across the ring to shake the new heavyweight champion's hand.

How would Rocky Marciano do in the same situation against Tunney? Well, the Tunney-Dempsey bouts were similar to Rocky's first battle with Jersey Joe Walcott. Yes, Rocky was behind on points at the time of the stoppage, but Rocky was always on the attack and cut the ring better than Dempsey. Walcott was a much better escape artist than Tunney, even utilizing a shuffle and sneaky sucker-punch to his arsenal. But in the 13th round, Marciano was able to corner Walcott and feint a jab.

Walcott raised his right hand to counter the “jab,” but Rocky blasted a surprised Walcott with his Suzy-Q right hook. Walcott slumped to the canvas unconscious, and we had a new heavyweight champion.

Raw Power

Both Marciano and Dempsey were relatively small heavyweights with a huge wallop in both hands. But the main difference between them power-wise is that Marciano's right hand was his sledgehammer, while Dempsey's fierce left hook generated some of his most famous knockouts.

Dempsey could punch alright, but I think it was the speed and ferocity of his attacks that made his blows so brutal. Jack would leap off the mat to land a punch. He also developed the “Dempsey Roll,” which was a string of vicious hooks in succession. Until the day he died, Jess Willard swore that Jack had a pipe hidden in his gloves. He just couldn't fathom that the much smaller man could pack such an unbelievable wallop.

There's also the story of the robbers that attempted to mug an elderly Dempsey, who proceeded to knock them both to the ground. The men said that it felt like he had rocks in his hands.

Marciano was not slow of hand, but Dempsey's hand speed was better, and overall his accuracy was better.

But Jack Dempsey himself stated that Rocky hit harder. This is what he had to say about The Rock's power in the 1953 fall edition of Fight Magazine...

“What everyone forgets is that Marciano can punch harder with a right hand than any modern-day heavyweight. In his first fight with Walcott, Rocky needed only one blow to win the title. The power in his right scrambled Jersey Joe's brains at Chicago.”

“I've scored my share of knockouts along the way, but more often than not my opponents got up after being knocked down and had to be knocked down repeatedly. The same is true of Joe Louis. But Marciano only needs one solid smash and it's over. That's why I say Rocky Marciano is the hardest-hitting heavyweight champion I have seen.”

What he said is very much true. Jack rarely knocked guys cold the way Rocky did. For example, Willard went down numerous times in that brutal first round but Jack could never finish him and exhausted himself trying. Compare this to Marciano's knockout victims. Walcott, Louis, Vingo, Matthews and many others were put to sleep. Others, like Archie Moore, were too beaten and battered to continue on.

Part of what made Rocky special was his freakish punching power. He was a small 184-pound man that punched with the strength of someone twice his size. Even Muhammad Ali famously said, “Man, he hit hard. My arms were sore from just joking with him.”

Rocky also knocked out a lot of guys with his left hook, especially early in his career. His knockout of Harry Matthews was a brilliant example. It was evident that trainer Charlie Goldman's teachings were starting to pay off. During the second round, Rocky absolutely destroyed Matthews with a Joe Frazier-esque double left hook.

Overall, Rocky was a better puncher than Dempsey. Rocky's knockout percentage was 88% while Dempsey's was 65.22%

HEART

Both guys had a lot of heart and toughness. Jack Dempsey was famously knocked out of the ring by Luis Firpo. The image was painted by George Bellows. The fight was an exciting one. There were 11 knockdowns in two rounds before Jack knocked him out. It's not often that a guy gets knocked out of the ring only to come back and knock out his opponent.

Oh my bad! That's the wrong picture.

Jack literally fought to eat during his hobo years. If he didn't win, he didn't eat. That would motivate anyone.

While Marciano never lost, Dempsey was only knocked out once during his 6 losses. No one knows the true story of what happened when Firemen Flynn knocked him out in 25 seconds. There were reports that Jack hadn't eaten in four days. Some, including Dempsey's wife, said that he threw the fight because he was offered more money to lose. Either way, Jack got his revenge by knocking out Flynn in the first round of their rematch.

Marciano was a clutch fighter. The closest he came to defeat was when Ezzard Charles split his nose. With blood constantly pouring, Rocky needed an emergency knockout. The ring doctor only gave Rocky one more round. Rocky responded by pummeling Ezzard to the canvas to maintain his championship and undefeated record.

Another scare Rocky had was against Walcott. As I explained earlier, Rocky managed to maneuver Walcott to the ropes and get his punch to the target. Rocky always found a way to win in urgent situations.

Opposition

Dempsey fought much bigger and heavier opposition than Rocky did overall. Dempsey destroyed the huge 6'6 Jess Willard. Prior to beating up Willard, Dempsey knocked out the 6'4 Carl Morris in one minute of the first round of their December 1918 battle. Likewise, it only took Dempsey 23 seconds to put away Fred Fulton that same year.

Dempsey was pretty good at knocking out much bigger men. His secret? His sparring partner was the talented 6'6 Big Bill Tate. Because he was African American, Bill unfortunately never got a crack at the heavyweight title. But from all accounts he deserved one. He was a damn good fighter from what I read and seen. Regardless, he helped shape the history of boxing by preparing Dempsey to clash with the then-heavyweight champion Jess Willard, who was the same size as Tate, but not as good of a fighter.

During his first round with Willard, Dempsey was more than prepared. At first he circled his prey, waiting for an opportunity. The moment Willard missed a loose jab, Dempsey exploded with his left hook, dropping Willard and allegedly breaking his jaw in 7 places.

During Marciano's reign, there were not many giants to fight. It'd be easy to assume that Rocky would be clueless on how to get inside and fight big men because he never had to when he was at the top level, but history proves he could handle big guys when he needed to.

For starters, Rocky damn near killed Carmine Vingo, who was a big Italian fighter standing at 6'4. Unfortunately there's a lack of footage of this fight available, but Rocky's sledgehammer right hand literally knocked Vingo into a coma.

When Rocky was a journeyman, there were other big men he knocked out, and according to the numbers, he often conquered them quickly in a vicious, Dempsey-esque manner.

Here's a short list of some of the men over 200 pounds that Rocky defeated.

Bill Hardeman (206 pounds) : KO 1
James Connoly (213 pounds) :TKO 1
Artie Donato (201 pounds) : KO 1
Elbridge Eatman (206 pounds) :TKO 3
Johnny Shkor (220 pounds) :TKO 6
Bill Wilson (229 pounds) :TKO 1
Keene Simmons (200 pounds) :TKO 8

Add to this Rocky's time filming the computer fight with Muhammad Ali. The two sparred for 75 one-minute rounds. Muhammad at the time was still in his prime. He had great mobility and flash lightning hand speed. On the other hand, Rocky was balding, overweight and hadn't fought in over 13 years. But yet, Ali said he could hardly land his jab on Rocky, and even demanded more money because Rocky injured his ribs with a body attack.

Rocky was able to cut off the ring and bring the fight to the great 6'3 Muhammad Ali, who had the speed of a graceful gazelle. Keep in mind also that Muhammad danced on his toes, which made him actually around 6'5 as he skipped around the ring. This didn't deter Rocky.

Would Jack Dempsey have the same success against Ali? I say no, because Dempsey wouldn't consistently overwhelm him with a high work-rate the way Rocky and Frazier did. Also, Dempsey wasn't so hot against “stick and move” guys in the Gene Tunney-Muhammad Ali tradition. But he did possess the one punch Ali was always most vulnerable to throughout his career – the left hook. But a Dempsey-Ali fight is a story for another blog.

LEGACY

Some say Marciano fought during a weak era. You could argue that, but he knocked out at least four hall of famers – Moore, Charles, Walcott and Louis.

Let's be real here. Ezzard Charles was only 33 and two years older than Rocky when they fought. (Rocky was 31). Jersey Joe Walcott reminds me of Lennox Lewis and the Klitschko brothers in the sense that he got better as he aged and put on his absolute best ring performance ever against Rocky until he got cracked in the 13th round.

Archie Moore was aging for sure, but the problem was that each time he fought a quality heavyweight, he was knocked out. In addition to Marciano, Moore was also KO'd by Floyd Patterson and a young Muhammad Ali. Moore recaptured the light heavyweight title not long after losing to Rocky. All of this confirms to me that Archie was still great, but was just out of his element against heavyweights.

Rocky smashes an aging Joe Louis with a brutal uppercut

Joe Louis was still fundamentally sound at the time he fought Rocky. With the exception of his loss to Ezzard Charles in 1950, Joe was winning his fights.

However, his victories often lacked the impressive knockout flash of his prime years. Joe was confident and had a great fight plan against Marciano, but his timing and reflexes were gone.

To hear Rocky tell it...

"What surprised me was that Joe didn't have much of a right. They told me he had lost some of his power, but I didn't expect nothing. That's what his right
hand was – nothing." -Rocky Marciano

This says a lot, because ring officials literally had to scrape Jimmy Braddock off the canvas after he got knocked out by Louis' right hand years earlier.

The best guys Dempsey fought were basically just more impressive from a size perspective. Jess Willard was aging, out of shape, and had been largely inactive since winning the title from Jack Johnson. Luis Firpo was a real warrior at times but far from all-time great material. Jack Sharkey was a capable heavyweight but, like many others, crumpled when he felt Dempsey's left hook.

Dempsey was not a great heavyweight champion in my opinion. Instead of defending the crown he once worked so hard for, he went to Hollywood and got a nose job. Since he used to be a hobo, he quickly took advantage of his rich new lifestyle. I wish he'd have been an active heavyweight champion.

Following orders from his management, Dempsey avoided facing black challengers. Because he refused to fight black athletes and was inactive for much of his championship reign, I don't think we ever got to see Jack Dempsey at his best. All we saw were brilliant flashes of potential in a number of fights.

Marciano was the exact opposite. He came into each fight in perfect condition. In fact, he trained twice as hard as his opponents, which gave him an edge in stamina. As his opponents got winded and tired later in the fight, Rocky was still fresh as ever.

Rocky never ducked anyone and fought everyone in front of him and won. That's what a heavyweight champion is supposed to do. Dempsey got caught up in Hollywood life after winning the title, but when Rocky held the strap, he wanted to prove that he was the absolute best fighter in the world.

Poor Lee Savold....

Marciano also never spoke on or endorsed the “great white hope” nonsense. His boxing role model growing up was Joe Louis, and he was also a fan of Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore. Eventually, he got to defeat each of his heroes in the ring.

Rocky also got really close to Muhammad Ali during the filming of the Computer Fight. His brother Peter Marciano revealed how the two shared a grapefruit and discussed how they could bring society together during a time of racial bigotry.

I respect Marciano as a man. I interviewed Marciano biographer John Cameron, who explained that Rocky didn't have a racist bone in his body. Aside from having a chief black sparring partner, Dempsey seemed to be a man of his time. (There are news accounts confirming Dempsey's racism, but I won't get into that discussion on here).

Because of his small size, clumsy movement and short reach, Rocky had no business boxing and much less being heavyweight champion. But he overcame these “handicaps” and not only won the heavyweight title, but he is to this day the only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated. This is why when people say that Rocky Marciano is the greatest heavyweight champion of all time, I never argue.

THE FIGHT

Finally! I know this is what you're here for. This is a hard one to call. To do a round-up...

Dempsey was a fast starter who ended fights early, while Rocky generally had to warm up into the fight and scored knockouts later.

Dempsey had faster hands than Rocky.

Rocky hit a little harder than Dempsey.

Rocky cut much easier than Dempsey.

Rocky was dropped two times in early rounds, the time of the fight when Dempsey is at his peak.

Hmmmmm..

When you look at that, you'd assume that Dempsey wins and probably by a quick blowout. But it's not that simple for me.

A relaxed Jack Dempsey...

Before I make my prediction, I must note that Rocky was actually 5'9 according to his biographer John Cameron, while Dempsey was around 6'1. Dempsey being taller is not an advantage. In fact, I bet it would work against him.

Also, I feel that Rocky was smarter than Dempsey. The way Rocky set up Walcott with that jab feint was a thing of beauty, as was his impressive double left hook knockout against Harry Matthews. Rocky always had tricks up his sleeve. Dempsey, however, came out with one plan - to destroy you and go home.

I see the fight going like this – Rocky is overwhelmed initially and hits the canvas. He gets up and smothers Jack by clinching, mauling and pounding away to his body on the inside. (This is how he responded after getting floored by Walcott)

Dempsey's style is based on him being the shorter man, but in this fight he'd be the taller man and would have to adjust to that. And I don't think he could.

Marciano was also a much busier inside-fighter than Dempsey. He would be in his element. It's Jack who would get uncomfortable and start backing away. Once Rocky gets inside and starts wearing on you, you're gonna go eventually.

Inevitably, perhaps sooner than later, Rocky would land a severe punch – the kind of punch that would take Dempsey by surprise and make him respect him. From that point on, Dempsey wouldn't be as aggressive and fight a bit more cautiously. That's when Rocky would step up his pace and land punch after punch, punch after punch, until eventually an exhausted and battered Dempsey loses by TKO late in the fight.

My official prediction? Rocky Marciano defeats Jack Dempsey in round 7 by Technical Knockout.

What's yours?

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Ken "The Jawbreaker" Norton

​Chins

​The Power Of The Punch

​Heart

​LEGACY

​Backlash From The Black Community

FIGHT NIGHT

Ease On Down The Road

The Music

The Ambling Alp

The Tuaman

A Clash Of Styles

Legacy

​Speed​

The Fight

​The Big Bear

The Real Deal

Toughness

​Fighting Dirty

​Styles Make Fights

Legacies​

The Fight

Relationship With Roger

​Relationship With Patti

​Doug's Manic Creativity

​Sweaty, STANKY Anxiety

​Unhealthy Escapes From Reality

​What Doug Does Right​

RALPH TRESVANT (1990)

TRACK BY TRACK

The Original Mauler

A Clash Of Styles

Raw Power

HEART

​Opposition

LEGACY

THE FIGHT

Author

Categories

Archives

Chins

The Power Of The Punch

Heart

LEGACY

Backlash From The Black Community

Speed

The Big Bear

Fighting Dirty

Styles Make Fights

Legacies

Relationship With Patti

Doug's Manic Creativity

Sweaty, STANKY Anxiety

Unhealthy Escapes From Reality

What Doug Does Right

Opposition