Floyd Mayweather JR & Muhammad Ali: The Common Factor – Both are Scum -- Ringside Report

By Siri Karri, Ringside Report

Chances are that if you know anything about anything of current day boxing, you’ve heard of the Klitschko brothers. Granted they aren’t mentioned in the same breath as Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather, but you’ve at least heard of them. They’re kind of like Kevin Bacon; you don’t have to see any of his movies but as soon as someone mentions him you go, “Hey, I’ve heard that name before!”.

For those who don’t know, Vitali Klitschko is a 6 foot 7, 42-2 heavyweight whose only losses came via shoulder injury against famed boxers Chris Byrd and cut against Lennox Lewis. His younger brother Wladimir is a 6 foot 5, 53-3 heavyweight and between them both, they hold the WBC, IBF, IBO, and WBO belts. They are the best boxers that barely anyone’s heard of.

And it’s not their fault.

In any combat sport, the heavyweight division is often considered the most prestigious. The men who compete in it have won the genetic lottery, towering over the mere mortals in the audience as their blows pack spine-tingling power. It’s no surprise that fighters who’ve truly united the boxing world are most often found at heavyweight: Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, etc. So it’s no surprise that when the heavyweight division is filled with so few noteworthy names, the Klitschko dominance flies under the radar. But that’s not the real problem.

The real problem is the fans. Specifically it seems . . . American fans.

Now I’ll admit right now that I prefer MMA to Boxing, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a boxing fan. I am just as enthusiastic about fights like Marquez vs. Diaz as I am Griffin vs. Bonnar. Being the cynical teenager I am however, I am willing to point out the flaws in everything and today it’s boxing fans’ turn to put their heads on the chopping block.

I want you to think of some of the most famous, notable, biggest draw fighters. I’m not talking about just famous, I’m talking about people that catapulted boxing to the forefront of the sporting world on their shoulders alone.

Floyd Mayweather? Roy Jones Jr.? Hell let’s take it back a little further: Muhammad Ali? These are all men who not only captivated the boxing scene on their shoulders, but probably defined their respective weight division(s) through their ability. You know what else they have in common?

They were all A-holes. That’s right A-holes. Dick pistons. Men whose behavior resemble more that of a 10 year old trying to act cool for his brother’s friends than professional athletes.

Maybe it’s because I’m foreign born, but I never understood why Muhammad Ali is worshipped the way he is. He was unbearably arrogant, and he treated rival Joe Frazier like crap. Seriously, when Ali’s boxing license was revoked Frazier helped him out financially . . . and then Ali turned around and used racial slurs to hype up their third meeting in Manila. There are SO many talented, championship boxers . . . and this is the one who becomes a cultural icon?

No other sport has this problem.

Basketball? Isaiah Thomas and Michael Jordan may have made war on the basketball court, but they never engaged in the immature verbal battles on the level that boxers do. Whenever Isaiah did lash out, it was HIS popularity that suffered while Jordan’s soared. Tennis? Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are the most polite men in the sporting world period . . . and they are also the two most revered tennis players as of this writing. Baseball? Roger Clemens may have been good, but his arrogance definitely didn’t help the Yankees gain any new fans.

But Siri! None of those are combat sports, which has an entirely different subculture surrounding it . . . bleated the sheep. Alright, let Siri provide you with an example from MMA, boxing’s chief competition.
On April 10, 2010, Anderson Silva (arguably the best fighter in the world) defended his title against lankly contender Damien Maia. Clearly dominating the fight, Anderson Silva began showboating and dancing around his hurt opponent instead of finishing him off. Do you want to know what happened? Anderson Silva was REVILED, his fan-base turning away in disgust. Look at fighters like Roy Jones Jr. who showboated in the ring, seeking to express their ego’s much in the manner of a chimpanzee attempting to attract a mate. These fighters became loved for their antics instead of blasted for their immaturity.
Look at the Klitschko brothers. It’s not like they’re boring.

Both are granite chinned punchers who have a host of finishes under their belt. They are imposing physical specimens who have redefined the heavyweight jab as a legitimate threat. By professional athletic standards they are some of the most educated, well spoken, and humble men in the world. I mean, seriously . . . they both have PhDs.

So why in god’s name has it taken a loud mouthed wannabe like David Haye to draw true attention to a Klitschko fight? I’m not angry that this fight is getting hyped; it’s going to be one of the best big man fights in recent memory and I’m happy it’s beginning to get the attention it deserves. But why must they rely on this annoying gum-flapping to generate so much interest for their fights when both brothers shining beacons of what a professional athlete should be?

No seriously, I’m not going to answer this question; I can’t even comprehend the logic behind it.
Is it because they fight out of the Ukraine and are stationed in Germany? I understand that Call of Duty games seem to give the uneducated crowd massive erections with their fictional invasion plot involving Axis and Cold War powers, but I was hoping that brain dead idiots would have enough IQ to realize that while it would be nice to have a hometown heavyweight . . . great foreign fighters should not wane their interest in boxing.

Is it because they’re too damn nice? Has unwarranted and unbridled smack talk (a.k.a. Muhammad Ali) somehow become what America desires in its boxers? So . . . if the Klitschko brothers were uneducated, unrefined and arrogant they would still generate more interest as long as they kept their gums flapping? Yeah sure they could do that . . . as they sip their beer, hit on their relatives and pronounce the name of this country as “Murca”.

This is a time when boxing fans need to be united; our sport (that’s right I’m a fan too) is splintering. We have so many organizations that if you put them all together it would look like alphabet soup. It’s becoming more and more apparent that steroids are common in the sport, and organizers are unwilling to enforce stricter measures lest they lose big fights. Mixed martial arts is quickly siphoning off the younger generation of fans with marketing, variety and good business strategy. And with all of this . . . American fans are simply turning away from two of the best heavyweight boxers on the planet?

Wow guys. Just wow.

Source: ringsidereport.com

When Manny Pacquiao speaks, a nation listens -- Telegraph

By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk

Pacquiao is the only boxer in the 150-year history of boxing to hold world titles in eight weight divisions. His contests are watched at home with a level of idolatry bordering obsession by 70 per cent of the 100 million Filipino population.

However, Pacquiao insists that “the biggest fight in my life is how to end poverty in my country.” He means business, too. The little man from South East Asia, standing 5ft 6ins in his cotton socks, and who weighs 10st 7lb, has risen from pauper to a prince of pugilism. Not since Muhammad Ali has one boxer had such a galvanising social impact worldwide.

He was elected to Congress as a politician in 2010 and, in this week, has made his first serious challenge to the reigning president over condom use.

There are two major issues in The Philippines. Interference from the Catholic church and corruption. A political mire straddles both fields.

Pacquiao’s rise into politics was phenomenal, on a wave of local word of mouth support. He ousted a family dynasty which had ruled politically in Sarangani for three generations, and won a landslide victory. His has become a great orator in his native dialect, and in tagalog.

It is enshrined in law that armed national military guards protect Pacquiao’s residence 24/7 in General Santos City, such is his standing nationally. He carried the flag for his country at the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Games in Beijing; he head is etched onto postage stamp; and his title as ‘The National Fist’ has been accepted into the vernacular.

The only comparison I can come up with of equal status in the UK would be, say, a figure who incorporates the sporting popularity of David Beckham, the quasi-feverish adoration of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, combined with the rock star status of a modern music icon who is afforded leeway and a degree of freedom.

His vices are a penchant for gambling at baccarat, and gambling at cock-fighting.

Perhaps in some crass way, encouraging a generation to go and have tribes of children could create a ‘Pacquiao generation’, which, in a couple of decades, would vote in the glorious new leader. There are those who believe Pacquiao is a nailed-down future President of that country within a decade. There is definitely the sense with some Filipinos that Pacquiao would have made the perfect revolutionary grass-roots leader in another age.

Granville Ampong, a respected Filipino writer on politics and history, based in Los Angeles, told me last year that Pacquiao for many, embodies the spirit of the ‘Maharlikan’, the original tribe which occupied the islands in the south china seas before the invasions of the Spanish, and Americans.

Ampong said: “The early life of Manny Pacquiao serves as a paradigm shift to show people what life can really be like. Manny launched himself in US as part of The American Dream, but seen in the context of The Philippines, he has become an icon for Filipinos, not just for their future dreams, but for future generations to look up to. Manny bridges the generations.”

There is the suggestion that each time Manny fights, he has a soothing affect on the ills of the nation. Muslim insurgents lay down their arms against the national army in a truce when he fights. Yet he also represents the strength of the Catholic faith.

“Other than inspiration, he has great spirituality. You can see men, women, children, beggars with tears in their eyes because they can see an icon they have been dreaming of for so long. The Philippines has lost the essence of being a true Maharlikan nation. Long before the Spanish conquered the island [and renamed it after the Spanish royal Felipe] the Maharlikans were a great nation. The spirit of the Maharlikan was imbued with a sense of royalty, and one of divinity.

"Manny has that parallel in his life. He is a genuine real national hero.”

Pacquiao has already involved himself politically, for example, in US-Filipino relations. US President Barack Obama watched Pacquiao’s latest fight in Las Vegas two weeks ago, after the world’s leading boxer and his wife Jinkee had a pow-wow in the White House with the leading man. Pacquiao called it “one of the highlights” of his life, but he also used the visit to press home a point about US-Filipino import/export relations in the textile industry. And it worked, with the law having changed with benefit to both countries. It is said that it has made an impact on 400,000 Filipinos involved in that country’s textile industry. Pacquiao’s generosity knows no bounds.

Huge queues form outside his house for handouts when he returns from his multi-million dollar earning contests in the United States. “There is a welfare state in the Philippines,” explained Bob Arum, the veteran boxing promoter who oversees the fighter’s career, and who once promoted Muhammad Ali. “It’s called Manny Pacquiao.”

When Pacquiao speaks, a nation listens.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Manny Pacquiao Vs Floyd Mayweather JR: The Psychology of Boxing -- Ringside Report

By Manoj Bhat, Ringside Report

It is a common trap that most of us as fans of any sport fall into – comparing the present generation with the greats of the past. It is a compelling thought for everyone following a sports personality to believe that his idol is perhaps the best ever. In many ways, this is a fact because the comparison is a myth. Imagine a young Mike Tyson standing in front of Muhammad Ali in the prime; Sugar Ray Robinson facing off with Manny Pacquiao or Rocky Marciano standing with a Roy Jones in the ring. These would be fights that could give goose bumps to the best of the experts and most would be inclined to believe that Ali, Sugar or Rocky would prevail but that’s just the reflection of the fear of ghosts that lay deep in the human psyche.

The fact is that the sport of boxing has evolved over the years. It is practically impossible for any good ranking boxer today to fight an incredible 136 professional fights over a period of just over 11 years (Oct 1940 – 1952) like Sugar did. This averages to nearly 12 fights every year or to say the least a fight a month. Would it be possible today is a big question. The sweet science has become more professional and naturally a lot of preparation goes into every bout a boxer puts his head in for. Despite all these ifs and buts, one thing is sure to define each individual as a boxer and a celebrity and that is equally measured by the Vietkong outbursts of Ali, Ear bite of Tyson, Sugar’s loss to Maxim in the 103°F heat in 1952 or the Referee allowing Rocky to fight on with a broken nose and so on.

Manny Pacquiao to say the least stands out in the attitude inside or outside the ring. Of all the legends of this brutal sport, have we ever seen a boxer literally beg the referee to stop the fight when he is winning and the opponent is clearly beaten? Our generation has been previledged to see such a cultured gesture shown by Manny to Margarito. Juan Manuel Marquez may claim he won the fights with Manny twice – but a close look at Manny’s psyche will tell you that he lifted the foot off the pedal soon after Marquez was knocked down twice. This is not to underestimate Juan Manuel’s fighting ability but only an effort to see the human being in a fighter who has lived his childhood in inhumane conditions. Ali’s “BOMAYE” theme in the Rumble in the Jungle shows that he was in for the kill even though he used his intellect to wade off his involvement the “Vietkong” war. He never showed this human aspect in his greatness in the ring.

Yours truly has a few friends in Manila where Manny worked for the safety of the common man during treacherous floods at a time when he should have been preparing for his fight. He worked day in and day out to manage the supplies, medicines and support the flood victims going nights without sleep and pushing his contingent of friends to the brink of collapse. Compare this to Ali taking a stand of not fighting along his countrymen. He literally ran away from the war that his country fought and where his countrymen were dying whereas Manny fought a war to safeguard his countrymen that was not his in the first place. Such compassion is unseen in the artists of sweet science. This trait would be only attributed to Manny Pacquiao in the History of the sport that can boast the world record of having been represented by the maximum number of Ex Criminals or Future Criminals.

What separates Manny from any other boxer ever to have dorned a pair of gloves as a professional is the unbelievable disdain for the dreadful possibility of getting hurt or knocked out. The manner in which he comes out at the bell at starts whipping up a creamy 100+ punches per round gives an intelligent opponent enough openings to get at him. But Manny is an entertainer to say the least. For him the fight is still the same event as it was when he as a teenager used to fight for bits in the filthy neighbourhoods of Manilas ghetos where a boxer can become popular even for the style in which he gets knocked out. For him the crowns may be important but it still comes a distant second compared to the need of entertaining the crowd that pays to come and see him fight.

You will never see Manny fight 8 boring rounds on the ropes like Ali did against Foreman when the world bit their fingers sure that their hero would be destroyed. Skeptics will always say that Foreman was bigger than Ali but pound for pound Margarito v/s Manny was a greater mismatch. Even Miguel Cotto was bigger on a ratio basis when he stepped into the ring. It is useless to argue with such conservatives who have decided to shut facts out of the logic fraternity just because they have decided to treat Ali as the best ever. However it is pragmatic to see the facts and accept the evolution of human beings as a normal process which automatically gets reflected in the sports we play. It would be the same mindset to say that Jesse Owens in 1936 who ran 100 yards (91mts) in 9.4 secs is still a better Athlete than Usain Bolt running 100 mts in 9.58 secs. It just does not make any sense. The sport evolves and every era has its best athletes. It is just logical to say that today Manny is the best and perhaps the best ever till date.

The only person who could have put these speculations to rest is Floyd Mayweather. Floyd too is a great – perhaps greater than Ali in avoiding the fight that involves the pride of his nation. Today America’s Boxing legacy is on the line and a small Filipino man from the labyrinths of Manilas underbelly has dared to snatch it from under the American noses. This would be the only time when Floyd would get a chance to stand up for the aspirations of his countrymen and take on a challenge that could make them proud to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” again during the fights and take American Boxing back to the glory of its past. It is only a matter of time that like the millions of Jobs that are now outsourced to the poorer neighbourhoods of Asian countries, boxing too will become the game played by other nations and for Americans to watch on PPV TV.

Floyd however has unknowingly hit the axe on his own feet. The fact that he is insisting for Drug tests shows that he is convinced just as millions of Manny fans that Manny Pacquiao is really special. He is 100% sure that Manny Pacquiao could not give such perfomances if he was not onto drugs. This only helps him in defeating his own psychology. As more bouts Manny fights and no drugs come up in his system, Floyd will have to put his foot in his mouth or perhaps even cover his face with the same. It is evident that Floyd has lost this fight even without a punch having been thrown. So the big question is – should he take this challenge? I feel that he should.

Fighters greatness is not decided by their unbeaten record but by the wars they have fought. Floyd has this chance to fight a life defining war and he has practically nothing to loose. If its his legacy he is worried about, it would be more tarnished if he ended his career without a fight with Manny Pacquiao. Does he have a chance to win? Well if Juan Manuel Marquez could do a good job against Manny, why not Floyd? He is intelligent and can find a way out to unscramble the Manny matrix. If he does it in the first few rounds then the fight is his but if he cannot do it the first time, I am sure that a rematch would be a certain Floyd Mayweather victory.

The only question is whether Floyd Mayweather, JR., will ever take the first fight at all? Will the Senior Mayweather take this opportunity or think that with time Manny will slow down and their fighter will become faster despite being 2 years older than Manny? Till the time they decide to stop getting involved in unwanted things, Floyd is only committing a psychological suicide for his boxing career and legacy whereas Manny on the other hand is reinforcing his confidence and legacy by fighting whoever comes his way and taking time out to sing, dance, to help his countrymen and meet the presidents of other nations.

Source: ringsidereport.com

ESPN's OTL: The Fight of the Century

Boxing News World

ESPN’s Outside the Lines 3 p.m. ET Today: The Fight of the Century

Forty years ago today, Muhammad Ali squared off against Joe Frazier in a battle of unbeatens vying for the title of heavyweight champion. Today, in a special presentation, Outside the Lines talks live to Joe Frazier, Ferdie Pacheco, boxing historian Bert Sugar, and New York Times columnist Dave Anderson as they remember what it was like to be part of the Fight of the Century.

Contact:
ESPN Communications

(860) 766-2234
dan.quinn@espn.com

Manny Pacquiao to be Profiled Sunday on 60 Minutes -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

Manny Pacquiao has been a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live three times, been the subject of large, covers or front pages features in Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and ESPN's Body Issue -- the latter along with athletes such as Dwight Howard and Serena Williams.

Pacquiao also has been named among Time Magazine's Top 25 People Who Mattered in 2009, being listed alphabetically directly behind the United States' first African American president, Barack Obama.

The 31-year-old Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 knockouts) has earned seven titles in as many different weight divisions, the current WBO welterweight (147 pounds) crown, been named Fighter Of The Year in 2008, 2009, and, for 2010, as well as Fighter Of The Decade, and been voted in as a congressman for the Sarangani Province in his native Philippines in May.

But on Sunday, Pacquiao will be featured on 60 Minutes, where he told reporter, Bob Simon, that his primary concern is politics.

"I already achieved my goals in boxing, my dreams in boxing," said Pacquiao. "What I want to achieve more is in public service. I want to be a champion there."

This news comes on the eve of perhaps the most difficult fight of Pacquiao's career.

For on Nov. 13, Pacquiao will make his second appearance at the Dallas Cowboys' Stadium, where he will pursue an eighth crown against 32-year-old former world champion, Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) in an HBO pay per view televised, Top Rank Promotions clash for the WBC's junior middleweight (154 pounds) belt.

Last Friday, Oct. 29, Pacquiao broke training to fly to Las Vegas, where he campaigned at a rally for democratic senator Harry Reid, who was voted in for another term.

But the political distractions in general, and that trip, in particular, concern Pacquiao's Four-Time Trainer of The Year, Freddie Roach.

"I'm worried about it. Yes, I'm walking around at two in the morning," said Roach, who believes that Pacquiao has not been 100 percent as focused as he has been for past fights. "Something is not right, and we are not preparing the way we should for this fight."

Against Margarito, who stands 5-foot-11 to his nearly 5-7, Pacquiao will be after his 13th straight victory, and his ninth knockout during that run.

Pacquiao's last loss was in March of 2005 to Mexico's Erik Morales, whom he has since twice beaten by knockout.

Could Pacquiao lose for the first time in more than five years to Margarito?

"If he keeps on the road he's going," said Roach, "yes."

Asked by Simon if he believes that he is the best fighter in the world, pound-for-pound, and, perhaps, the best ever,

Pacquiao answered to the affirmative.

"Of course, it is me," said Pacquiao.

Top Rank Promotions' CEO, Bob Arum, agrees, adding that Pacquiao may be better even than Muhammad Ali, for whom he promoted 26 fights.

"Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter that I have ever seen," said Arum, whose nearly 43 years in the sport include having promoted Ali, every fight of Marvelous Marvin Hagler's career, substantial portions of those of Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., and also, the comeback of George Foreman.

Is Pacquiao better than Ali?

"Yes he is, because Ali was essentially a one-handed fighter," said Arum. "Manny Pacquiao really shocks these fighters because he hits equally hard from the left side and the right side."

Pacquiao will also be featured in a segment on our new Web show, "60 Minutes Overtime."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

George Foreman: “Pacquiao doesn’t need Mayweather in his life” -- Eastside Boxing

By Geoffrey Ciani, Eastside Boxing

This week’s 86th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with former two time heavyweight champion of the world ‘Big’ George Foreman who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003. Foreman became the oldest heavyweight champion in history when he defeated Michael Moorer by knockout at the age of 45 in November 1994, a full twenty years after he had last held the title. Foreman currently acts in the capacity of manager and trainer for his son, George Foreman III (9-0, 8 KOs) who is better known as ‘Monk’. Here is a complete transcript of that interview.

JENNA J: Alright guys, it’s time for our second guest of this week’s show. He is a former two time heavyweight champion and is also a member of The Boxing Hall of Fame. We Have ‘Big’ George Foreman on with us now. How you doing today, George?

GEORGE FOREMAN: I’m living the good life in Houston. It’s pretty hot. How is everything?

JENNA: Everything is great, George. We are happy to be talking to a legend of the sport like yourself, but before we discuss your career in the ring, let’s talk a little bit about what you’re doing now and that’s being the trainer and manager of your son, George Foreman III. How did you feel about your son wanting to get into the sport of boxing?

FOREMAN: It’s quite interesting because I have five sons and the most docile of them all is George Foreman III. We call him the ‘Monk’. Monk’s not been much of an athlete nor did he have any aggressive side, so when he decided to go into boxing it shocked all of us. My wife only agreed that he could if I made certain that I kept him protected by being his trainer and manager.

JENNA: I’ve heard some rumors that when he first started out, he was training himself basically for the first year with tips from you and then one day you decided to get in the ring with him, and spar, and see what he was made of. Is that true?

FOREMAN: Yeah, I found out of course when he was attending college in California. Periodically he stopped by the gyms and tried boxing out on his own and here in Houston, of course, I thought he was concentrating thoroughly on his college because he got a college education at Rice University. I come to find out he’s sneaking in to the gym and trying all the time. But he hadn’t had a boxing match before I started trying to help him, he had only sparred.

JENNA: How do you feel when you watch your son getting into the ring for a fight?

FOREMAN: It’s not an easy thing because at first, even me, I didn’t even like to come out. I’d prepare him for the boxing match, get him in good shape, and I hired two other guys to work in the corner. I wouldn’t even come out until the fight was over. That’s how it bugged me, but now I’m getting braver to the point where at least I can come out and watch.

JENNA: Now your son’s doing this with no amateur experience. You had a short amateur career yourself, but a successful one. How important do you think amateur experiences are for a fighter just to make that transition to the professionals?

FOREMAN: I think if it’s available it would be a great thing, but if it’s not, you just really can’t look back. Probably one of the greatest boxers of all time never had one amateur fight, like Jack Dempsey. And I myself only had twenty-five, and of those twenty-five, strangely enough most of those were the year of the Olympics—qualifying through the Golden Gloves, the Nationals, the AAU, the Olympic Trials, and the Olympics. So amateur experience is a wonderful thing but if you don’t, you just can’t even look back because professional boxing is altogether different, anyway.

JENNA: Let’s talk a little bit about your career. How was it that you got into the sport of boxing?

FOREMAN: I just went down to the gym to lose some weight, actually. Then I got into a lot of trouble in the Job Corps Center and they seemed to think that if I was interested they would allow me to stay in the Job Corps Center. It would get me out of trouble. I figured I was going to be a good street fighter after a year of my amateur boxing, going back to Houston, Texas and beat everybody up. Little did I know it would lead me into Gold Medal matches and I would pick up skills on the left jab, the right hand, and all those things where I even lost my desire to even be a street fighter.

JENNA: Now winning the Gold and becoming the best American upcoming heavyweight, what was that feeling like when you won the Gold?

FOREMAN: Oh winning that Gold Medal, I tell you, just to be on the Olympic Team was really wonderful to me. I had a lot of friends who had served in the Armed Forces. They’d come home with their uniforms and they were so proud, and everybody was proud of them. I didn’t get a chance to serve. By 19 years old, I was on the Olympic Team and I had those colors, the tracksuits, the dress-up suits, everything. I told my mom how proud I was to have some uniforms, even if I didn’t win a boxing match. So to win one match after another and then be in a position to win a Gold Medal—wow! That blew me away. Winning that Gold Medal at the end, I wanted the whole world to know where I was from, so I picked up a small American flag and paraded around the ring to make sure they knew. This was my chance to represent my country. That was greater to me then even winning the boxing matches.

JENNA: Now after that you decided to turn professional. What was it like and what were your expectations when you decided to become a professional boxer?

FOREMAN: Expectations. I wanted to go on and work for the Job Corps Center and finish my college education and all of that, but everyone said I can make a lot of money and become champion and finally someone confessed that I could make a million. Ha! So I expected going into boxing that I would make these hundred thousand dollars and eventually make a million. That was my expectation, but I found out along the way that I could punch, really punch. One knockout after another and before long, surprisingly, in three and a half years I was the number one contender in the world. It surprised me.

JENNA: Well George, we’re also joined by my co-host Geoff Ciani. Geoff.

GEOFFREY CIANI: Hi George, it’s a pleasure to have you on the show.

FOREMAN: Thank you, Geoff.

CIANI: George, when you did fight for the heavyweight championship against Joe Frazier, you went into that fight as a three-to-one underdog. Did the perception that Joe was going to beat you, did that give you any extra motivation going into that fight?

FOREMAN: Just getting in the ring with Joe Frazier was extra motivation because I had seen Joe Frazier. I had been matched thirty-seven times previously, and my manager would always tell me the other guy had a weak jaw, he didn’t have this, and we’d concentrate. But fighting Joe Frazier was the first time in the dressing room that he didn’t even tell me anything because we both knew not to go there. This guy had no holes in his armor. This was a great fighter. It was the first time I had gotten into the ring where I was really afraid. I was afraid. I’ll tell you, you corner a cat and that’s when you can get hurt, and I was the cat that night.

CIANI: What was going through your mind when it was over after two rounds and you won the heavyweight title?

FOREMAN: After you win the title, the first thing that comes to your mind is ‘unbelievable’. Then your name, just like a cash register, starts going—Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, George Foreman. Your name fits right in there and you can feel it. In a split second, the heavyweight champion of the world, it was the most dynamite season for a long time. Plus, I was going to get that million dollars.

CIANI: Now after that, one of the title defenses you had was against Norton and you stopped him in two rounds as well. Did you think, going into that one that it was going to be a tougher fight?

FOREMAN: I expected the Norton fight to probably be the toughest fight I had ever had in my career because he was a big man just like me. He was all really loaded with muscles. He had a record filled with lots of knockouts. As a matter of fact, he had gone two fights with Muhammad Ali and they both looked like he won to me, although he won the first one and lost the other by decision. I really thought this was going to be it for me. I trained harder for the Norton fight than I had ever trained in my life.

CIANI: Now speaking of Ali, George, when we had Angelo Dundee on our show he was talking about your fight with Ali and Angelo said, ‘People try to say that I designed the rope-a-dope, but I thought Muhammad was a dope to be on the ropes’, and I’m wondering, looking back on that fight and the story surrounding the ropes in that fight, what are your thoughts on that whole thing looking back on it now?

FOREMAN: Looking back on it, I had this real thing about cutting the ring off. You get into the ring with me and you try to move, you’re always going to find yourself in the corner. After a couple of rounds with Muhammad Ali, he would hit and then there was nowhere to run. I’d corner him and then just start throwing lots of punches. So the rope-a-dope really was not a design. It was just something he had to do, and because he had this tremendous experience. I remember, it must have been the third round, I put everything I had on him and he knew he was supposed to have been gone. When the bell rang, he looked up at me as if to say, ‘I made it!’ and I looked at him equally and said, ‘How did he make it?’ From that point on, the fight started to turn. He realized that he could survive my heavy punches. There were hard shots to come after that, but he had this funny confidence that he could make it, but that strategy was not a design. It just evolved.

CIANI: Now was there anything about Muhammad Ali that surprised you, that you weren’t expecting going into the fight, that he brought to the table when you were in the ring with him?

FOREMAN: Brave! I’ve never gone in the ring with anyone that courageous. I hit him one time in the side and it hurt so bad, he looked at me as if to say, ‘I’m not going to take that off of you’. He started to charge and then he said, ‘No, I can’t fight with this guy’ and he backed up into the ropes. Most guys, afterwards, I would hit them and they’d say to themselves, ‘I’m knocked out!’ I hit him, he didn’t say it. He didn’t say anything. He just said, ‘Look, I’m going to get beat up’. I have never seen a human being that brave, never before nor after.

CIANI: Were you at all disappointed that you never wound up getting a rematch with Ali, and if you did get to go back in the ring with him in the years following your fight with him, do you think you could have reversed the outcome of your first fight?

FOREMAN: I tried desperately to get that boxing match, and for good reasons, he wouldn’t allow me to have it. You’ve heard the expression, ‘One’s scared and the other’s glad of it’. I mean, I beat this guy up until about the sixth or seventh round, and I hit him with a good shot and he whispered into my ear, ‘Is that all you got George?’ I knew the punch hurt him, but the point of it is who wanted to get in the ring with someone like that again. Not me, and he got hit so hard he didn’t want it either. It wasn’t like I was praying, please let me have him again. If I had fought him again with the same type of vengeance I had to get even, the results would have pretty much been the same. He had my number, that’s all there is to it.

JENNA: Now George, after the Ali fight you took some time off and when you returned you took on Ron Lyle in a fight that wound up being the 1976 Ring Magazine Fight of the Year. Looking back at it, how tough of a fight was that for you?

FOREMAN: Now Ron Lyle no doubt was the toughest fight I had in my life. He wasn’t the toughest man, but for the first time I was beaten up and I just decided, look I’m just going to have to die in this ring. I’m just not going to quit. I’m going to keep getting up and with Ron Lyle, he beat me up so bad that I think eventually he fainted and I won the boxing match.

JENNA: Was that the most you were ever hurt in your career?

FOREMAN: Yeah, I wasn’t hurt in the Muhammad Ali fight. They counted me out because I jumped up at the eight-count, and they counted ten. So I wasn’t hurt in that fight. I was actually honestly knocked down, but the Ron Lyle fight, I was hurt. I was hit so hard, you didn’t feel anything. You just find yourself on the canvas and this was the test of my life because I couldn’t come back with any excuses like with the Muhammad Ali fight. I had excuses, you know. But this time the whole world saw. No excuse, George. I had to keep getting up. That was as close to what I found endurance, stamina, all of it bottled up. I had it that night. Without it, I wouldn’t have even walked out of that ring alive with Ron Lyle.

JENNA: Now after that fight you won five straight and then you fought Jimmy Young, and most people concede that if you had beat Jimmy young you would have gotten your shot at Ali. Can you tell us what it was like going into that fight in Puerto Rico?

FOREMAN: Well the Jimmy Young fight was going to be a twelve round fight. I was going to make certain, first of all, that I had gone twelve rounds and that I was going to get a decision and show the world that I had the stamina. They said that I couldn’t go seven rounds. I was going to show that, beat Jimmy Young, and then demand a fight with Muhammad Ali because he had previously had a match with Ali and it was a controversial decision where a lot of people thought Young had won that fight. One of the organizations said if after this fight, Muhammad would not make the match, they would strip him and give it to the winner of the Young fight. So this was going to be a prize that night. I went into that fight basically expecting to get an easy win. Little did I know that that would be the fight that would lead to my ten year absence from boxing.

JENNA: Now can you tell us maybe a little bit about that? A lot of fans have heard went on and maybe they want to hear it from your own mouth, what went on in the locker room after you lost that bout?

FOREMAN: Well after, I waited around for the decision in the boxing match of which I really still think I won that boxing match on points. But I didn’t win. So I was so hot. The air conditioners had gone out in San Juan, Puerto Rico that night. It was the hottest place I’d ever felt in my life. I went back to my dressing room to cool off like you normally do and it was so hot you just couldn’t sit down. I was walking and I started thinking, ‘Who cares about this boxing match? You’re still George Foreman. You got money. You could go home and you could go to your ranch and you could retire if you want to. You don’t need boxing. You could retire and die’. From that point on, every word in the conversation led that I was going to die, and I knew I was about to die in a dirty, smelly dressing room that didn’t even have air conditioning. I fought for my life in that dressing room and I heard a voice within me ask, ‘You believe in God, why are you scared to die?’ And I was really afraid.

I was scared and I tried to fight for my life. I didn’t want to tell anyone in the dressing room what was going on because they would have thought maybe he was disappointed that he lost the boxing match. Eventually I tried to make a deal because I knew there was a God. I said, ‘I’m still George Foreman. I can still box and give me money to charity and for cancer’ and the voice answered me within, ‘I don’t want your money, I want you’. Well in a split second, my legs gave out on me and I tried to scream to everyone in the room, ‘Hey ya’ll’. Before I could say another word, I was in this deep dark place over my head, under my feet, nothing, and there was a horrible smell that goes along with death and I knew it was the end of me in a big dump yard. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to my mother or my children and I was scared. I looked around and I got mad and said, ‘I don’t care if this is death, I still believe there’s a God’. I just didn’t believe in religion. Then when I said that I believed in God, like a big hand reached in and pulled me out of just hopelessness and I was alive in the dressing room again.

Evidently, they picked me up off the floor and I laid on the table, and as I lay there my doctor’s standing behind me. I told him, ‘Doctor, move your hands, the thorns on his head are making him bleed’ and I saw it, no one else did, blood coming down my forehead. I looked on my hand and I started screaming and I saw blood and I said, ‘Jesus Christ is coming alive in me!’ Well, you know what they did. They strapped me down and took me to intensive care, but I’ve been telling that story now for over thirty-three years how I had no idea that religion exists. I stopped boxing. For ten years, I couldn’t even make a fist. I just went to the dressing room and I hit the bag and it was just a big piece of leather when beforehand it had been Frazier and Ali I’d hit imagining they were on that bag, but this time there was nothing. For ten years I just started preaching. I was ordained an evangelist a year after the Jimmy Young fight and I traveled all over the world telling the story I just told you. I just didn’t believe religion existed. I thought it was for people who were depressed, and I had money and I didn’t need I thought, and that’s what happened in the Jimmy Young fight.

JENNA: Let’s talk a little bit about your retirement. You weren’t officially retired, but you never did fight again for ten years. What was it like in those experiences there preaching and telling people your story?

FOREMAN: It was great, because I always say there’s two doors to the world. There’s a front door, you come in as a wealthy famous athlete, and there’s a backdoor where you’re just on a street corner preaching. I shaved my coveted moustache off. I took all my hair off my head so I’d be on the corner and no one would recognize me. I had gone up to 315 pounds and it was a lot of fun, because I thought you had to be rich and famous to make it in this life. People would stop me if I was getting a battery charger, get me a charger, I’d try to pay them and they’d say, ‘Get out of here big’un’. They’d let me get in line to have an extra big piece of meat at the butcher store. Sometimes even the airline stewardesses would allow me to come up front to a bigger seat. They said, ‘We can’t get you in the booth, big guy, but that seat is too small in coach’. I found out it’s a great world. You don’t have to be famous. For ten years I truly enjoyed myself. I could go into the store, no one would recognize me, and I could buy those detergents that didn’t have any names on them. Nobody cared. I’d shop and started learning how to change my oil, do my own dishes. It became a great world. It was a lot more fun than being some spoiled athlete and having everyone do everything for you.

JENNA: Now one of the most amazing things about your career was the comeback and your decision behind it and it’s something that’s really been unmatched when it comes to boxing. I wanted to ask you a little bit about how you came to that decision to come back to boxing and what were your expectations when you first got back in the gym?

FOREMAN: Well when you take off of boxing, I was a pretty wealthy athlete but I didn’t know how people took advantage of athletes. I’d look in and accountants had found ways of sneaking money out of my bank accounts. I’ve looked and had people who had told me, ‘George, invest in this’ in oil wells and gas wells that didn’t exist. I used to hear about athletes going broke, but I never thought it would happen to me. After about eight years, I looked up and I was broke. I had a portfolio that was pretty much empty and the only thing I knew how to do was box. So I tried to support my youth center to work a place for kids to hang out. The only alternative, I was speaking at a church one night and they asked for an offering for my youth center. They said, ‘Help George with those kids’ and it was so embarrassing. Everybody was looking at me. Here I was, I had been a wealthy athlete and they’re asking people who didn’t have anything for money.

I said, ‘You know what? I’m not going to have to ask anyone for anything. I’m going to be heavyweight champion of the world again. That’s how I’ll support my youth center!’ I was 315 pounds making a decision after almost ten years to get back into the ring. My trunks, nothing fit me, and I said I was going to be heavyweight champion of the world again. I didn’t say I was going to come back and fight for the money. That’s where integrity started to fit in. I was going to be champ of the world. I started off campaigning, one fight after another. The most I was being offered was $2,500, sometimes $5,000. I even got a purse up to $12,500. That’s when I knew I was on the comeback then.

JENNA: Now when you first came back, most people were not taking you too seriously. How did you deal with that?

FOREMAN: Because of my age, when I told everyone I was coming back into boxing at my weight, they laughed at me. ‘He’s too fat, he’s too old’. I’d hear those things, but every time I looked into the mirror I’d just say to myself, ‘Look, people are saying those things about you, but hey, it doesn’t matter if they’re true or not because is sending you $1. You got to look out for your family.Yyou got to support the youth center’. I traveled all over the country and I’d get into the ring and I was so big, so big, but I kept working out and I kept training. I listened to the jokes about me. As a matter of fact, I started to laugh with them. People didn’t notice that I wasn’t mad. I was laughing because I had ten years of telling people who lost loved ones, have faith. You can do anything. All things are possible. For the first time I had really used the product that I had been selling—have faith. I did. I had more than enough faith to do anything.

CIANI: Changing things up here for a little bit, you were always one of my personal favorite commentators when you did the broadcasting over at HBO. I was wondering (A) if you missed commentating at all, and (B) what were some of your favorite experiences when you did work as a commentator?

FOREMAN: I realized I was at HBO at a very important time in the careers that were broadcast at HBO as well, because I had seen the development of Pernell Whitaker. He was a southpaw, but one of the best boxers of all times and he’ll only be recognized as the years go by. I had seen some of the great fighters. Even Mike Tyson, I did the commentating for one of his boxing matches. I saw the development of Lennox Lewis. All of these guys get better and better, so the experiences were one after another. I did like it because I was on television sharing my view on what I felt people were watching and it gave me a good experience. But one fight after another, they got better and better. James Toney when he developed was a beautiful thing. I saw Roy Jones Junior develop. So the experiences are just too many to really comment on which ones were best. Thirteen years I did it, only intending to do it three years. I ended up doing it thirteen years.

CIANI: Do you miss it at all?

FOREMAN: No, not at all. With HBO, they were such a kind group of people. They’d fly you first class to every venue, and of course you had the best hotels, and you even have a nice lunch before the boxing matches. It was a first class treatment. I miss that sometimes, because I go home and my wife says, ‘Fix your own food, what do you think?’ But other than, I miss being treated like a star. They treated me like a star, but that’s about it. I had so many kids. One child of mine, his team had gone undefeated in Boston not losing one football game. He was in this private school and I didn’t see one game because I couldn’t put it off because HBO would have me for these different weekend days and I couldn’t make commitments. One day I looked up and I said, ‘You know, those kids don’t really want a lot of money. They don’t care about things, but they sure would like to see you standing up in the stands’. So I had to leave to give my kids some time.

CIANI: George, I’m curious, do you currently still follow the heavyweight landscape today and if so, what do you think about the heavyweight division today and some of the top guys out there like the Klitschko brother?

FOREMAN: For the first time, and I hate to use the word, but disappointed I am. The heavyweight division is just about dissolved. There’s not much to offer and I’m hoping my son coming back, George III, will start provoking other athletes to say, ‘I can beat that guy, I can beat that guy’ and the United States might have some good boxers. I’m not happy at all with the heavyweight division. I don’t like the champions, I don’t like their styles, and I don’t even like the contenders who challenge them. Nothing is going on in the heavyweight division. All the life is in the lighter weight divisions. This Pacquiao is the star of the day. Pacquiao is the best fighter out there.

CIANI: Now in addition to Pacquiao, who are some of the other guys out there right now that you do enjoy watching in some of the lighter divisions?

FOREMAN: I like Mayweather as well, Floyd Mayweather, but that’s about the size of it. There are so many others who are equally as good out there but the cream of the crop is that Pacquiao. I just love him. He works out, he trains, and he doesn’t say a whole lot so after his fighting career is over he’ll be known for what he accomplished and not what he said.

CIANI: Now George, you mentioned Pacquiao and Mayweather there. The fight that every boxing fan wanted to see was a mega bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather and now, unfortunately it doesn’t look as if we’re going to get that fight this year. I’m wondering, (A) do you think we’ll ever get that fight and (B) how do you see it playing out if that fight does get made?

FOREMAN: Well it’s one of those fights that I hope never happens because Pacquiao doesn’t need Mayweather in his life. It’ll be one of those life changing experiences for Pacquiao, especially. For instance, I didn’t have to fight Muhammad Ali. I really didn’t have to take that fight. I took the fight and it turned into more than just a boxing match. It became a political statement, one way and the other, and today we’re great friends but if I had to do it over again, because of all the other sprinkling on the pies, I never would have taken part in such a fight. I think Pacquiao had a nice name. Mayweather started to slander him, say things like he was taking drugs. When you start running into people like that, it’s best that you stay away from them. It’s not even necessary to even have them in your life. But if the fight does take place, I think that Pacquiao wins because he’s got the momentum, he has a real trainer, and he’s willing to take the fight. He’d probably beat Mayweather, probably. Not to say Mayweather isn’t a wonderful fighter. He is the best fighter I’ve ever seen in my life, but he can’t beat Pacquiao because there is something else going on in that fight business. Not the X’s and the O’s, but there’s something else.

JENNA: Now George, throughout your comeback, the fight that most people talked about is a fight with ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson who was the champ at that time. Did you ever have any serious negotiations to get that fight and did you ever think that you would, and if you did, how do you think you would have done against him?

FOREMAN: There were a couple of times, serious negotiations were going on with the Mike Tyson fight. Mike Tyson just didn’t want to fight me. Not to say he couldn’t have beaten me. I mean, this guy could punch. The bigger they are the harder they’d fall as far as Mike Tyson was concerned. I guess that I have a feeling, his first original trainer and manager Cus D’Amato must have told him about George Foreman’s punching power as though I would never comeback. So sometimes when you come back and a guy remembers those stories, he says to himself, ‘Look, leave that guy alone’. But I don’t think I would have been that much problems to him. I had a good left jab and I’d always do better when guys come to me, but Tyson was pretty smart with his footwork and hand speed. That would have been a tough fight for me.

JENNA: Well in your comeback, you did go 24-0 and then you finally got a chance at the heavyweight title. It was something that you were planning for throughout your whole comeback. You got a go against Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield who was 25-0 at the time. What were your expectations going into that fight and what did you think about the fight itself?

FOREMAN: Oh, Holyfield was a splendid fighter, very elusive, and he had been well trained. He was a good boxer, pure boxer. A few times I’d hit him and I thought, ‘Boy, I got him now’ and he’d maneuver out of there with his heart, get in position, and even throw punches back. He was not a heavy puncher at all, but he had endurance. I expected to win that boxing match, but I played around with too much publicity, and within 24 hours doing the interviews, and all the things a boxer shouldn’t do. So when the fight started, I was concentrating on putting on a show more than winning that boxing match, but Evander Holyfield had a lot to do with that. This guy was an extremely good, elusive boxer. I had gone twelve rounds with him. I remember in about the eleventh round he started holding on, and the referee told him, ‘Break! Break! Break!’ He would not let go. The statement was made, evidence unleashed, that the age 40 and 50 is not a death sentence for athletes, and that did more for sports than my victory would have if I had knocked him out in one or two rounds. That statement, that age has got nothing to do with it, was good for sports.

JENNA: Now speaking of age having nothing to do with it, after the fight you won three more and then you lost to Tommy Morrison. Then you took a good long period out of the ring. You took about a year and a half off and somehow you got a bout with Michael Moorer who had defeated Evander Holyfield to take the linear title and two of the belts. How did you feel about going into that bout facing a 35-0 Michael Moorer.

FOREMAN: That was a good experience for me because after the Morrison boxing match, actually I had gone into television. I was given a television series where I started doing television. I thought I was going to be an actor, but it was too much work. I realized that acting is more work than boxing. The only luxury in that sport is a king sized bed in the afternoon, in acting. So I came back afterwards and I started negotiating for a title shot. Michael Moorer, of course, had taken the title from Holyfield, and there it is. It just fell right in my lap. Michael Moorer would get a big purse and he thought he would fight the easiest fight of his career with old George Foreman. I already knew that I could punch, and someone had convinced him that he was a better puncher than me. For some reason, the fight took place and he didn’t run. He did not run.

JENNA: What was it like when you got in there? You were getting outboxed primarily for most of the fight and then in the tenth round, you set him up with that beautiful shot. What were you thinking then?

FOREMAN: Well, I had always thought that in the boxing match that if knocked him down in the first round, he would run, run, run, run and I would never catch him. That’s what had happened with Tommy Morrison. He literally had run from me in the boxing match and they gave him a decision. So I know if a gets in his mind he’s going to run from me there’s nothing I can do, but if I can get someone to come to me and Michael Moorer, of course, I jabbed him, hit him in the side in a few earlier rounds. His manager was telling him, ‘Get him! Get him!’ and there he was. I figured I threw the right hand lead, hook, hook, and rather than jump out of the way he would duck the punches. I said, ‘This is amazing! A bird nest on the ground’. I was able to steam in with a one-two combination, left-right, and knock him down. I hit him first up high, and I decided to lower my right hand a little bit. I hit him again with the second right hand and there he was on the canvas. A lot of people said it was a lucky shot, but I had been like that since I was seventeen years old always hitting guys with a shot like that. That’s what I had done all my life.

JENNA: Now you won the title back after twenty years. What was that feeling like, just to finally accomplish something that you had lost to Ali, and you were wearing the trunks that you wore when you fought Ali in that fight. What was it like to regain it after that long a time?

FOREMAN: Yeah, you think about twenty years, a whole twenty year time span passed. I told people that wasn’t the George Foreman in Africa. I could have been champion of the world, I had all these excuses, and people laughed at me. Twenty years later I’m in the ring given a chance and there’s redemption, and from that point on, even for myself on a personal basis I could sit back with some kind of contentment to say, ‘I told you’. But it was back to preaching and being a father again. No big deal. You have one moment in life where you can say, ‘I did it, thank God for it’ and the next day is about getting to the church, and preaching, and doing your work.

JENNA: When you did win it back you were recognized as the champion, and something that’s always been curious for boxing fans is why did you decide to drop the WBA belt and not face Tony Tucker at the time?

FOREMAN: You know, I worked hard, campaigned hard. I had to fight lawsuits to even make certain that after Michael Moorer signed the fight that he would finish the boxing match with me. I did it, took care of that, then after that I forgot about the politics that goes on. You have to pay this guy to do this, you got to ask this guy to do this, I said ‘I don’t need that in my life anymore. I’ve gotten the title. You could have your title back, you could have your title back’ because I had gotten it and I just gave it back to them. That’s not what I wanted to be. Some young kid going around paying sanctioning fees for the rest of my life, I didn’t want to do that.

JENNA: Well you amazed a lot of people towards the end of your career because the last fight you had, you fought a young kid by the name of Shannon Briggs. He was 29-1, he was 25 years old. Yourself, you were a couple of months shy of being 49. To most people’s eyes, you beat him handily in there and they kind of robbed you of the decision. It’s one of the most controversial fights people still talk about in heavyweight history now. How do you feel about that bout and your decision to retire after it?

FOREMAN: It’s funny because I get into a boxing ring and every time, every round I’d try to knock guys out. If a guy would escape me for twelve rounds, he deserved it in the first place. I never went out to win a decision, never, and some guys go out and figure they’re going to go twelve rounds with George and that’s their victory. But I would always pursue a knockout. That’s all I was after. If I go twelve rounds and they gave it to the other guy, I never complained because that’s not what I was trying to do, get a decision. I was trying to knock them out. So I’m comfortable with that. I didn’t get the victory, but I went home. They asked me after the fight, they said, ‘George, you were robbed!’ I said where I came from in Houston, Texas, you don’t scream you were robbed when you still got $4 or $5 in your pocket. Boxing was about, and I’ll never forget, getting that the title was the part to prove my integrity, but I really came back for the million dollars and I ended up with a million and won more $100,000 and I don’t have anything now because I got ten kids. They have gone to college. You think you’re rich? You educate ten kids. Man, that’s a parking meter. You look up and they’ll say, ‘Look Dad, I got a degree!’ and you look and say, ‘I got a barrel wrapped around me and all my clothes are gone’.

JENNA: As they say, it takes just one fight to pay for all their degrees. Did you ever think about coming back at any point after that Briggs fight?

FOREMAN: Yeah, I was going to make a comeback at the age of 55. I was going to stay out and come back at 55. I was in good shape and my wife convinced me that I would have to live in that mobile home outside if I ever go back into boxing. I showed her that I could do it and she said, ‘George isn’t that the way you want to leave the sport? Feeling like you could still do it?’ and I had never considered that. I told, ‘I could do it!’ and she said ‘That’s the way you should want to leave’ and I never came back. I just forgot it because to wake up every morning feeling like you can still do it is it a thrill, but to have someone beat your brains out and you figure I could never do it. I don’t think I ever wanted to wake up like that.

JENNA: So after Shannon Briggs won the heavyweight title in 2007, you never said, ‘Hey, I got the better of him ten years ago, maybe I should give it another shot’?

FOREMAN: You know, I never paid much attention to them. Like I said, for a long time I haven’t been interested in the heavyweight division because the guys don’t seem to be that dedicated. I’m still hungry for a nice American heavyweight champion and if he does come back and I get an exciting one from America, I’m just going to buy ringside seats and popcorn and enjoy myself. That’s what I’m interested in now. Not coming back, but having popcorn and hotdogs and enjoying myself.

JENNA: There was another guy out there that wanted you. He wanted a piece of you bad, and that was Larry Holmes. In 1999 there was a fight that almost came together. They called it ‘The Birthday Bash’. Were you at all disappointed that you never got to go in the ring with Larry?

FOREMAN: Yeah, Larry was a good fighter and I think that would have been a good showcase of talent for Larry Holmes and me. It never happened, and because it never happened, every year he’d go all over the country saying he wanted to fight me. I tell my friends, ‘Every year, Larry Holmes escapes from his nursing home and challenges me, and I have to come out of my nursing home and tell him no’.

JENNA: Well George, I have just two more questions for you and I wanted to ask one more about your son. How far do you think he can go in his journey here? He’s 27 years old, he’s 9-0. Where do you see him going?

FOREMAN: Well he’s going to take his time, and I’ve convinced him, I don’t care how old you are you can’t rush it. He’s getting stronger, he’s maturing later, he’s even starting to get a chest and his muscles are getting tough. Take your time. Next year, we’ll start making our appearances on television and people will get a chance to see for themselves, the best left jab in the heavyweight division. He’ll put his combinations together, and I do believe he’ll reach and grab himself a heavyweight title before it’s over. He can do it, but he’s 27. I told him just take your time. How many guys get a great education from a Rice University? You just can’t do it overnight. If any of my kids want to be boxers, they must get a college education first so it will take them a little longer.

JENNA: Now if you had any advice for an upcoming fighter that wanted to make it big in the sport, what would you give him?

FOREMAN: Start small, learn the business, and it doesn’t matter how big you get, enjoy the publicity because it doesn’t matter how good you are. If people don’t know about you it doesn’t mean much.

JENNA: Alright, and finally, for all the boxing fans out there, your fans, and the listeners of On the Ropes Boxing Radio, is there anything you want to say to them?

FOREMAN: Go out and find George Foreman’s Knockout Cleaning Solutions. It’s an earth-friendly solution. I got it. You clean your house. It doesn’t hurt your children. I’m trying to make myself, you want to something in life that your proud of, not just make money, but it’s good and friendly for the earth—The George Foreman Knockout Cleaning Solutions. Go find it!

JENNA: Always a salesman, George. It was an absolute pleasure having a chance to talk to you because when I started the show, the one guy that I wanted to speak with was you, and so you made my dream come true here today and I just want to thank you again for your time. I wish you all the best with you and your son’s future.

FOREMAN: Thank you so very much.

CIANI: Thank you, George. It was a great pleasure to talk to you.

FOREMAN: Thank you. Bye bye.

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Manny Pacquiao transcending boxing like Muhammad Ali says Bob Arum -- Telegraph

By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk

Promoter Bob Arum believes that since Manny Pacquiao was elected as Congressman to Sarangani Province on May 10, the world champion boxer “can transform the Filipino nation, rid the country of corruption and be seen as a true leader.”

“We all know this century is going to be Asia’s century, with China, India and Malaysia on the rise, and they can go with that wave. This is an adventure far more important than landing with left and right hands in a ring,” promoter Arum told The Telegraph.

“I’m at an age that I probably won’t see this come to fruition, but I hope I do. I really see this kid who lived on the streets, who didn’t even graduate from high school, and whose learning came recently, becoming the instrument of change in his country.”

Arum told me he felt mesmerised by Pacquiao when he visited him during his election campaign. “I found out things there I couldn’t even believe, saw Manny speaking in different dialects, and although I could not understand what he was saying in his rallies, I could tell from the cadence just how he whipped up the crowd and that he is a fantastic orator. Not just good – fantastic.”

“In another era he could have been a leader. Had he come earlier he would have probably been the resistance leader against invading nations. People don’t really see that in the US in his boxing career because he’s not really confident speaking English.”

Surely it will be a shock to the system, fighting and learning to work in Congress ? “Sure. It occured to me that how will be be able to find the time, but a fighter has tremendous downtime. Manny fights twice a year, trains for a couple of months, and in between times he can study the legislation.”

“That would be much more productive and much more therapeutic… I was in the Philippines – I’m not allowed to speak at rallies as a foreigner, but he was talking to me about his boxing career and he said that as long as he could he would fight on in the ring. It would bring more notoriety to him in the province. It is going to cost millions of dollars, and not only can his purses help but he can use his boxing as a pulpit to raise substantial funds to the province…”

“He is up there with Muhammad Ali. Here was Ali, a brilliant talent considered by so many to be a blowhard. People would not listen to him in the beginning about all the historic influence on race relations on progress made in this country, but look how he changed peoples’ views on the Vietnam War. Without Ali there would not be a President Obama. Ali, in his way, had resonated far, far beyond his exploits in the ring. That is what Manny is about to achieve.”

Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Manny Pacquiao Could Fight in Mexico or Middle East -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

Over Bob Arum's nearly 44 years in boxing, the 78-year-old Harvard graduate has promoted 26 fights involving Muhammad Ali, helped to orchestrate the the comeback of George Foreman, handled every fight of Marvelous Marvin Hagler's career, and substantial portions of those of Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

So when the Top Rank Promotions' CEO says that he could sell 31-year-old, seven-division Manny Pacquiao to fans virtually anywhere in the world, fans of the Pac-Man might want to start packing their bags.

"Until he was long-retired, Muhammad Ali was never the universally admired figure in this country and around the world like Manny Pacquiao, who is someone different," Arum has said of Pacquiao, who defended his WBO welterweight (147 pounds) crown in March before a record crowd at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium, and earned a congressional seat in his native Philippines in May.

"With Manny Pacquiao's cross-over appeal, he has become an international superstar. Anybody who is aware of Manny Pacqiao loves him, admires him, and there are no haters," said Arum. "There is no right or left when it comes to Manny Pacquiao. That's made him a more universally revered figure than Muhammad Ali."

So much so that Arum is considering Pacquiao's next fight -- likely on Nov. 13 -- for Monterrey, Mex., or an unidentified country in the Middle East against Antonio Margarito or Miguel Cotto if a mega bout with Mayweather does not materialize.

"I don't want to start naming the country until we're further along. But it's a Middle Eastern country, and it's not going to be in Dubai. We have a real, live offer from [the country] for them to take a fight with Pacquiao," Arum said "It's fair to say that the other place is Monterrey. That is other live offer on the table."

A winner of 12 straight fights, including eight by knockout, Pacquiao would sell in the Middle East, said Arum.

"There's a tremendous appeal for Manny Pacquiao in the Middle East. All of his fights are shown throughout the Middle East. And there's large numbers of Filipinos who work in the Middle East," said Arum. "All of his fights are shown all over in those countries. Manny's very, very popular and famous over there."

Arum and adviser Michael Koncz said that the 31-year-old Pacquiao (51-3-2, 39 knockouts) has agreed in principle to put his crown on the line against the 33-year-old Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs), whom he has given until mid-July -- or this coming weekend -- to sign the contract for their November bout.

Margarito still is not licensed to fight in America, this after his boxing license was revoked by the California State Athletic Commission following an illegal hand-wrapping scandal in January 2009.

On Friday, Margarito, whose suspension officially ended on Feb. 11, unsuccessfully applied for a license in Nevada, whose state athletic commission ruled that he must re-apply in California and have his case re-tried there before attempting to fight in Las Vegas.

Margarito has filed a lawsuit against the CSAC, whose move is being honored, nationwide, by most state athletic commissions, effectively banning Margarito from fighting in America.

Margarito is coming off of May's 10-round, unanimous decision over Roberto Garcia in a junior middleweight clash that was fought in Mexico, which licensed him for the bout.

"We expect that, once the fight was definite with Pacquiao and Margarito -- if that's what we're going to do -- is we would go back to the Nevada to see if he can get a license," said Arum, "because all that they did was to table their decision."

Still, Koncz told FanHouse recently that Pacquiao would consider fighting Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs), the WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champ, or ex-world titlist Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) outside of the United States if a mega bout can't be made with Mayweather likely in Las Vegas.

"Miguel is interested in a rematch with Manny," Koncz said of Cotto, whom Pacquiao dethroned as WBO welterweight champ by 12th-round knockout in November.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Manny Pacquiao finally stopped - but he's fine -- Examiner

By Matt Stolow, Examiner.com

Many are just waking up to hear or read that Congressman-elect and Pound for Pound No.1 boxer Manny Pacquio visited a Manila hospital suffering from a stomach ailment from generalized fatigue, better known as acid reflux.

I'm hearing an overnight stay or maybe one additional day merely as a precaution according to Pacquiao's Chief of Staff Jayke Joson.

Somehow you can make a case for Manny doing to himself what his last 12 opponents have failed to do to him.

The stress from the recent campaign would not allow him to keep regular hours or eat meals regularly. Pacquiao previously suffered from this back in 2006.

Wife Jinkee accompanied him to the hospital.

Pacquiao is expected to travel to New York City and on June 4th receive his third Boxing Writer's Association of America newly renamed "Sugar Ray Robinson Fighter of the Year Award"

This third award ties him with Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield for the most awards.

But Pacquiao is also to receive the "Fighter of the Decade" award.

I seriously doubt and I hesitate to even bring up that this would effect any negotiations for a future fight or any other activity.

Source: examiner.com

Floyd Mayweather Jr. crowns himself the greatest boxer ever -- Las Vegas Sun

By Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun

Floyd Mayweather, Jr., controversially declared himself a better fighter than Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson in the latest episode of HBO's 24/7 Mayweather vs. Mosley.

Mayweather didn't back off those comments during a Thursday teleconference to preview his May 1 fight against Shane Mosley at the MGM Garden Arena.

In fact, Mayweather (40-0, 25 KO) elaborated and said a victory against Mosley would further prove his point.

"Things change, it's out with the old and in with the new," Mayweather said. "Muhammad Ali was one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best."

Asked where he would put Mosley (46-5, 39 KO) on his all-time list, Mayweather said he wasn't sure Mosley should be ranked.

"I don't know how Mosley can call himself great or say he's a future Hall of Famer because we don't know how long this guy was taking enhancement drugs," Mayweather said.

Mosley's name was prominent in the 2003 BALCO investigation, which also included notable athletes such as Barry Bonds, and it was revealed he had taken illegal performance enhancers before a fight against Oscar De La Hoya.

Although Mayweather said beating Mosley would build on his legacy, he didn't have any compliments for his opponent.

"He's a fighter that always worries about landing one big shot and worries about who is strong," Mayweather said. "I worry about being smart and winning."

The conversation naturally drifted toward Manny Pacquiao, whom Mayweather was originally slated to fight in March before the two sides couldn't agree on drug testing procedures.

Mayweather had no slot for where Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KO) ranked in the all-time great list, but assured it was nowhere close to him.

"We know he's been knocked out twice and he's been out-boxed by Erik Morales," Mayweather said. "But they still give him boxer of the decade. That's something I don't understand."

"All I'll say is this: If you're a clean athlete, take the test. Show the world."

Mayweather harped on the idea that Pacquiao gets more credit than him despite his undefeated record.

Mayweather said he heard detractors after every one of his victories and already planned on it happening again after the Mosley fight.

"When I go out and beat Shane Mosley, they will say he's over the hill," Mayweather said. "There's always an excuse."

Although the bout is between two of the biggest names in boxing, a title will not be on the line. Mosley's WBA welterweight championship belt is safe even if he loses.

Mayweather said this did not bother him and that he no longer cared about titles.

"At this level, for Floyd, it's not about belts," said Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's promoter. "It's about fighting for his legacy and it's about money."

As far as Mayweather is concerned, however, his legacy should already be intact.

"I got respect for Sugar Ray Robinson. I got respect for Muhammad Ali," Mayweather said. "But I'm a man just like them and put on my pants just like they put on their pants. But what makes them any better than me?"

Source: lasvegassun.com

24/7 Needs to Button Mayweather's Foul Mouth -- Eastside Boxing

By Paul Strauss, Eastside Boxing

Once again the Mayweather trio of father, son and recently indicted uncle proved they have no class. If a person walked by the tv set when the 2nd Episode of 24/7 was playing, it's likely the reaction would be something like, "What the heck is on now!" because all they would have heard was, "F-this and F-that" being spewed out of the set. Once you realized what was on, your shock would quickly turn to disgust, knowing that the three stooges had been reincarnated into foul mouthed reality characters who were no longer funny. Unfortunately HBO is gave them a stage upon which to act up..

It's a good bet none of the three has ever heard of an adjective or adverb other than the four letter kind. These ignoramouses have young children around them too, and you wonder to what they are being subjected. During interview aspects of the show, it also became evident that neither Floyd, Jr. or Roger had the ability to answer simple questions. They repeatedly go off on tangents that either make no sense, or are poor attempts at pushing their own ridiculous agenda.

Floyd, Jr. left no doubt that he should be wearing a floppy cloth hat with jiggle bells on it, because he sure was acting the fool when he had the audacity to claim he is better than Muhammed Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson! I swear he spouted donkey ears at that moment! His claim wasn't worthy of discussion. Floyd, Jr. also went into his tiresome act about money, and thought it clever to nickname the children after money. What ingenuity! The age old adage about money not bringing class is true, unless you mean first class idiot!

What the Mayweathers try to do is not unlike trying to house a swine in the best pen, and even dress it in finery. The truth is the little stinker will still emit an offensive odor and sooner or later show it's true colors by billowing forth into unrestrained pleasure and ignorant delight as it wallows in the dirt and mud. But, to the little contemptible creature, the whole repulsive experience seems luxuriating!

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Hall of Fame referee Arthur Mercante dead at 90 -- The Associated Press

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Hall of Fame boxing referee Arthur Mercante, the third man in the ring for the first Ali-Frazier fight and more than a hundred other world title bouts, has died. He was 90.

Mercante died Saturday at his home in Westbury, said Edward Brophy, executive director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota.

Flags at the Hall of Fame were flying at half-staff Saturday, and 10-bell salutes were planned before Andre Berto's welterweight title fight against Carlos Quintana in Sunrise, Fla., and a Top Rank-promoted card in Las Vegas.

Mercante refereed 145 world title fights during his career, the most famous on March 8, 1971, when Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali in "The Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: google.com

The Greatest -- The Ledger

By Rick Brown, THE LEDGER

Muhammad Ali called himself "The Greatest."

A panel of four boxing experts assembled by The Ledger disagrees.

Sure, Ali was great. So were Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano. And Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao have joined the conversation in recent years.

They had all the tools; they had longevity.

But when asked to put all the tools together and identify the ultimate boxer, The Ledger's panel - including Showtime boxing analyst Al Bernstein, boxing historian Bert Sugar, boxing publicist Bill Caplan and Winter Haven trainer Tony Morgan - was unanimous.

Sugar Ray Robinson.

"He did more things well than any boxer in history," Bernstein said. "He was fast, powerful, clever and courageous. He had a great jab, great hook, good right hand and threw great combinations. He was also a good, but not perfect defensive fighter."

Robinson was so good, he knocked a guy out while moving backward.

Robinson was an international star as he was just as popular in France, where he lived for a while. In the United States, Robinson was honored with a postal stamp in 1996.

Born May 3, 1921, in Ailey Ga., as Walker Smith Jr., his family moved to New York when he was a teenager. It was in Harlem that he was introduced to boxing.

At 14, Smith wanted to enter a tournament but was told he needed to have an Amateur Athletic Union boxing card. He couldn't do that until he was 16, so he borrowed a friend's card. That friend was Ray Robinson.

As he progressed in the gym, his future coach, George Gainford, said the young boxer's style and fluid motions were "sweet like sugar." Thus, Sugar Ray Robinson was born.


Others would use the nickname "sugar," but Robinson owned it. After knocking out a boxer named Sugar George Costner in 1951, Robinson stood over the fallen fighter and asked, "Who's the real Sugar?"

His amateur record was a perfect 85-0 with 69 knockouts. He won the Golden Gloves featherweight championship in 1939 and the lightweight title in 1940 before turning pro.

For more than two decades, Robinson was the class of the welterweight and middleweight divisions. He had a 91-fight win streak. In his first 131 fights, he had one loss and two draws.

"He was flawless," said Sugar, the historian. "In his only loss to Jake LaMotta, he reversed that three weeks later. He was an unbelievable fighter."

Robinson captured the welterweight title in 1946 and held it until 1951. Later in 1951, he won the middleweight title. He retired in 1952 but came back and won the middleweight title again in 1955. He was the first boxer to win a divisional world championship five times.

In all, Robinson fought for 26 years and finished his career 175-19-6 with two no-decisions. The word "pound-for-pound" fighter was created because of him.

Since his death in 1989, Robinson was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1997, Ring magazine named him the best pound-for-pound boxer in history, while in 1999, the Associated Press named him the greatest welterweight and middleweight boxer of the century.

And what do those other great fighters think of all that?

Ali, Louis and Sugar Ray Leonard called Robinson their idol.

Leonard was quoted as saying, "Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest."

Source: theledger.com