Greatness defined by boxing historians
Kimo Morrison - 12/13/2004
After watching what soon became another mystifying victory by our latest self appointed king of the heavy weights, reference was made to a quote made decades ago towards Vitali’s awkward style being ugly but ruggedly effective deeming him the “toughest S.O.B. on the planet”. With this being said, in all fairness John Ruiz is just as ugly effective with Byrd pulling up the rear gaining momentum with his last bout showing improvement and risking more to please us the fans who show displeasure in the lot when asked of quality heavy weight fighters today.
Fans of yesteryear were happy just to see who lasted the final bell, not caring how the job was finished as long as it was done when the day ended. Can we get back to the raw sensation of the fight without losing our desire for artistic beauty in the ring? We have come full circle once again in an ongoing cycle. Greatness should be measured by one thing only…VICTORY!
Being one who likes fights with depth, variety, and constant change in tactic I understand the cry for more diversity in a lack luster division. Being a fighter though makes me remember that it is in the end all about survival. If a man is not born gifted with a pair of Everlast coming out of the whom but fights with heart leaving every bit of himself even risking his life for our entertainment he should be remembered as great for being that in his particular era. The never-ending arguments by those who analyze this fighter vs. this one is time consuming and stupid. Boxing has become more adept through the years because we have become more educated as fighters though as with anything skill can put limits education cannot exceed. Watching the movie Rocky though laughable is a perfect example. It shows today’s grace and skill vs. yesterday’s iron grit and durability. A classic tale of mythical match ups put forth by boxing scribes daily. Funny enough we call for re-entry of greatness to a dying class but often ridicule the greats for knowing how great they are before we can properly tear them down. Only realizing years later how much each meant to the sport in whole.
If fighters always got better with every generation then soon we would require super hero type quality in order to be considered with those who blazed and ever growing trail. Greatness can only be defined by those of us who document the fights and fighters of our era. History doesn’t just happen, it is recorded by acknowledgement of it. For those that were fortunate enough to witness Sugar Ray Robinson or Muhammad Ali create their own history, remember them for their greatness in a time past. Write the history books for the next generation to know who stood above the rest, a great fighter of this time.
We need to stop measuring what we don’t have and hold the bar set by this era for it to be raised by those in the future. It is only then we can appreciate greatness for what it is. The toughest S.O.B. on the planet today. “There can only be one”
The “Unprofessional Guy”
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