May or Paq?

[Buckrub]

Which?

[Chicken Dinner]

I'm rooting for Manny. But, I don't follow it closely enough to be truly informed.

[HideHunter]

Guess I'll bet May.. I quit following really closely a few years ago when the judging got so bad..

[Buckrub]

Yeah I get that.

Hard to argue with undefeated.

[quercus alba]

in 40+ fights Mayweather has gotten hit and he's still undefeated. Manny has good power but is not a true one punch knockout artist like Tyson or Shavers. I think Mayweather decisions him bad as I hate it. This should have been done 5 years ago. I wish they could knock each other out

[Thumper]

Ha! Can you stand another Thumper "I once met so-and-so" story? :D

I've never been a boxing fan, but had a pretty close buddy (Mexican dude from El Paso, Texas) who NEVER missed a fight. Even when pay-per-view first started up in the mid-70's, he was the first to sign up for a big fight. So, I'd many times help him drink his beer (Dos Equis) while watching a fight at his place. I learned who the players were through him.

Anyway, in 1976, I was delivering a car my dad and I had built, to the Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas. I finished up with the paperwork, etc, then went to the casino to grab a bite to eat before catching a ride to the airport to fly back to L.A. I sat down and ordered a sandwich of some sort and happened to glance over at the guy sitting next to me. It was George Foreman! It's hard to believe (seeing him nowadays), but back then, he was considered a bit of an a-hole. The press didn't like him as he wouldn't talk with them (he actually avoided them) and he always had a "scowl" on his face. He was not known as a friendly guy at all.

It was a total surprise to me as to how friendly he was. I mean, we sat there and chatted the whole time we were eating lunch (we were sitting at a bar of some sort, on stools). He had a fight coming up against Ron Lyle at Caesars Palace, and that's why he was staying there. I can't even remember what all we talked about, but he was as friendly and out-going as they come. He even bought my sandwich for me as during our conversation, we somehow discussed our birthdays. As it turned out, we BOTH had just recently celebrated a birthday and his was something like a week before mine (but he was like 2-3 years older). He even picked up my tab and said, "Happy Birthday"! I believe this was actually about a week after my birthday and maybe two weeks after his (?).

Anyway, what shocked me was what a nice guy he was since he had such a bad reputation with the press. I remember not too long after that, he had a near death experience of some sort, became a "born again Christian", gave up boxing and became a minister. The friendly, smiling George Foreman you see peddling grills on TV is the same kind of guy I met back in the "a-hole" days of '76. I guess the "attitude" was all show and nothing more than "boxing hype".

[Captain]

Small world, My Father and Mother know George Foreman pretty well. He raises Tennessee Walking Horses (or use to?) and they had a business relationship with him.
Dad asked him once who was his toughest opponent and George told him his first wife's lawyer...
I never met him but they talk like he is a very nice guy.

[Thumper]

That's cool Cappy! It's not like I really "knew" him, but I'd have to lie to come up with anything negative to say about him.

I do remember one thing that really surprised me though ... he was a TALL dude. Man-o-man, I was 6'2" but I had to look up at him. Add his weight and he was one BIG mf'er! I couldn't imagine having him pounding on me!

[Thumper]

Well, for shits & grins, I just Googled him. Yep, he has a ranch in Texas with some high dollar horses. Seems he's a bigtime animal lover and has a ton of other animals on the ranch as well. I didn't know that. Well, it's not like I've followed his life or anything, but it's interesting.

Btw, he is 6'4" tall, so I guess that's why I remember having to look up at him! ;)

His birth date is Jan. 10, 1949
Mine is Jan. 18, 1952
and the Foreman/Lyle fight was on Jan. 24, 1976 at Caesar's Palace.

My ol' memory ain't so bad afterall! ;)

[Buckrub]

Well, for shits & grins, I just Googled him. Yep, he has a ranch in Texas with some high dollar horses. Seems he's a bigtime animal lover and has a ton of other animals on the ranch as well. I didn't know that. Well, it's not like I've followed his life or anything, but it's interesting.

Btw, he is 6'4" tall, so I guess that's why I remember having to look up at him! ;)

His birth date is Jan. 10, 1949
Mine is Jan. 18, 1952
and the Foreman/Lyle fight was on Jan. 24, 1976 at Caesar's Palace.

My ol' memory ain't so bad afterall! ;)

That was highly impressive! The part about remembering your birthday. Good job.

On January 24, 1976, I was at army reserve. It wasn't impressive.

[Niner]

Well, IIRC on those particular dates I would have been counting down the days until the day for my Delayed Enlistment for the Navy came up.

[Thumper]

My ETS was actually November of 1975. I was "up north" until Vietnam fell (we just passed the anniversary BTW, April 30, 1975). After we pulled out of 'Nam, I went to Southern Thailand to help out with the aftermath (refugees, etc) and got caught up in the mess at Koh Tang (Cambodia) ... which, what most don't realize, was actually the last battle of the Vietnam War (May 1975) and I was at the port to help out with the Mayaguez after it was released. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayaguez_incident

I helped burn bodies from "Operation Baby Lift" in August '75 and my job was basically done. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Babylift

After that (late August '75), I was headed home when some General in Guam pulled me off the plane, re-briefed me, handed me a .45 to strap on my waist, gave me a locked briefcase and sent me on a C141 to Hawaii and was ordered to hand the briefcase over to another General. To this day, I have no clue whatsoever what was in that briefcase.

I then went to Oakland Ca. and since I only had 3 months left in the military, they asked if I wanted an early out. I was home in L.A. as a civilian the next day! :D

[Buckrub]

All the while, I'm sitting around in the Reserves basically doing nothing.

[DeputyDog]

In the Spring of '75 I was finishing kindergarten.

[Thumper]

Bite me youngin'! ;)

[BarryBobPosthole]

Boxing is 100% rigged. I wouldn't cross the street to piss on 'em if they were on fire.

BKB

[DeputyDog]

I used to love watching boxing, especially the middle-weights in the '80's. Hit-man Hearns, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran. Those dudes had some hellacious fights. Kinda like the heavyweights in the '70's with Frazier, Foreman, and Ali.

[Buckrub]

Boxing is 100% rigged. I wouldn't cross the street to piss on 'em if they were on fire.

BKB

If you are right, then there is a 110% chance this fight will end in a draw.

[No-till Boss]

Boxing is a antiquated sport and should be put to death. No one wants to see that sissy shit when you have real fighting . Take the gloves off and bare-knuckles ! Man up !

[Buckrub]

That's funny. Grown civilized men use their fists. Sissies and women kick, claw, bite and all that crap.

[Thumper]

Why not bring back duels? REALLY prove who's got the bigger balls! ;)

[No-till Boss]

Decisions are so manly. said no-one ! Hey brother what's your punch count ? LOL