British Boxing Clichés

[banjo]

"At the end of the day"

"You know what I mean"

"That's boxing"

[Tom Moore]

"We don't know how the judges are seeing this"

"He's game"

"He came to fight" (recipients of this line are usually unconscious when it is delivered)

"In the best shape of his life" or "Best ever training camp".

[magwitch]

I would have liked Jim Watt’s great line from Benn-Watson to catch on when Watson hit him and Benn turned away. “THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT PUNCH!”

Watt was on that in an instant with conviction, whereas some may have dithered. There would be no shortage of opportunities for it.....

Or, depending on your tone, it could also be used sarcastically when someone gets clocked.....for instance: Khan - Prescott, or Abraham - Taylor....“well there was nothing wrong with that punch!”, meaning an incapacitating blow delivered at the opportune moment.

Speaking of clichés....does anyone actually use teak tough anymore, without being ironic?

How about this one.... “the former school truant”

[littlepug]

And how many have " turned their life around " after " going through troubled times " before finally " facing their demons"

[davie]

Not British but I remember squirming in my chair, listening to the nauseating stream of platitudes that the American commentators threw at Kelly "the great white hope" Pavlik.
You'd have thought his upbringing was the toughest any human being had ever endured and Youngstown was the roughest, most deprived ghetto they'd ever seen. His blue collar back ground was harped on about endlessly as they tried to build the working class hero image.
How many black fighter come up from the wrong side of the tracks and see hardship in the states and hardly hear a mention of it?

[crusader]

Loads of black fighters have their 'tough' backgrounds discussed....it's a bit odd to me, because coming from a rough background is still made into a storyline, even though possibly the majority of top American boxers have that type of upbringing. It's very boring and overplayed to me....

[davie]

Loads of black fighters have their 'tough' backgrounds discussed....

I know they do, but it was not played on to the extent Kelly Pavliks was. I remember watching a good few of his fights and the build up always had extensive coverage about his background, his hometown and the hardships he endured like there was something special about him coming from this hard working blue collar background.

it's a bit odd to me, because coming from a rough background is still made into a storyline, even though possibly the majority of top American boxers have that type of upbringing. It's very boring and overplayed to me....

And it was exactly because of these reasons you listed above that I found that frustrating, There are very few fighters, from any race or ethnic background, who grow up in a position of privilege or wealth. Most come from a difficult upbringing and poverty.

What I didn't see was even-handedness, between black fighter and white fighters (Pavlik basically) when it came to playing up the working class hero/he came up the hard way angle.

[PredatorHayds]

Adam Smith once a show says how fantastic it was to see Naz again. I presume it's irony.

Said it again Saturday.

[Autobarn]

Apologies if they've already been said:

Mitchell would've beaten Linares without the injury / swelling.

Brook would've beaten Golovkin if Golovkin hadn't smashed his orbital bone, eye socket, whatever.

[Counter-puncher]

Adam Smith once a show says how fantastic it was to see Naz again. I presume it's irony.

Said it again Saturday.

[keirw]

Don't forget the sub par north American opponents that come over, the commentators like to stress they are not journeymen, but "club fighters".
And they always try to justify their Rugby score of a record with the old chestnut "its a really tough school over there"

[CharlesListon]

What about if a boxer had a qualification?

Like a maths degree for example? Would that get mentioned much?

Or if they used to do another sport. How would the fact they traded in a pair of football boots fot boxing gloves be described? and how often?

Or if they have a white collar job? Would commentary teams like to get their teeth into that?

[bripez]

What about if a boxer had a qualification?

Like a maths degree for example? Would that get mentioned much?

Or if they used to do another sport. How would the fact they traded in a pair of football boots fot boxing gloves be described? and how often?

Or if they have a white collar job? Would commentary teams like to get their teeth into that?

Yeah, there have been a couple over the years (like Nicky Piper and Terry Marsh) who once had a game of chess at school and the commentators go on about it all the time like they were potential grand masters.

Just like football commentators go on about Michael Owen, Roy Kean and Wayne Rooney as if they coulda been contenders....

[Bodyshot3]

What about if a boxer had a qualification?

Like a maths degree for example? Would that get mentioned much?

Or if they used to do another sport. How would the fact they traded in a pair of football boots fot boxing gloves be described? and how often?

Or if they have a white collar job? Would commentary teams like to get their teeth into that?

Yup, gets used a great deal

Nicky Piper was apparently a borderline genius on a par with Einstein ...and I feel that I've done half of Nathan Cleverly's maths degree as well.
The media and promoters love 'a hook' and we get it recycled in spades.

"He's found God" and now "fights for the Lord" is another good one.

Foreman milked it to death, Ward's in church when he's not in court and Fury is apparently born again.

[davie]

Fury is apparently born again.

Odd, such epiphanies are usually linked to psychedelic hallucinogens as opposed to stimulants.

[Counter-puncher]

Fury is apparently born again.

Odd, such epiphanies are usually linked to psychedelic hallucinogens as opposed to stimulants.

Very good

[Bodyshot3]

Odd, such epiphanies are usually linked to psychedelic hallucinogens as opposed to stimulants

The Lord does truly move in mysterious ways

[dookus]

There are those who would say it's not a real world title, but...

[TheGoods]

'A real tearaway in his youth'.

'Shell of a fighter'.

[Eddy]

Loads of black fighters have their 'tough' backgrounds discussed....it's a bit odd to me, because coming from a rough background is still made into a storyline, even though possibly the majority of top American boxers have that type of upbringing. It's very boring and overplayed to me....

So true that.

It's been done to death.

Boxing is a tough man's sport. Most fighters have grown up in poverty or are working class.