Gary Mason - was he actually any good?

Chopping Right · Post by **Chopping Right** » 21 May 2005, 17:24

I really can't remember. I remember he came onto the British scene after Bruno had moved on from domestic encounters, and it was Lennox Lewis' arrival that saw his departure.

Why did he only have two fairly pointless fights in the States after losing his unbeaten record to Lennox?

Why did he never fight for anything more than the British title?

Would be have beaten Horace Notice if Horace hadn't been forced to retire and vacate the GB title?

Syntax Error · Post by **Syntax Error** » 22 May 2005, 03:20

Gary wasn't a bad fighter.

He was unfortunate to be around at the same time as Lewis. His fight with Lewis was quite competitive & Mason showed a lot of heart.

He had to retire due to a detached Retina, which first surfaced in the loss to Lewis.

Chopping Right · Post by **Chopping Right** » 22 May 2005, 05:06

Syntax Error wrote:His fight with Lewis was quite competitive & Mason showed a lot of heart.

I do remember that fight, I thought it was pretty one sided but I could be wrong. I've always thought Mason was reluctant to give Lennox much credit for anything when Gary was in the Sky studio for a Lewis fight, seemed a bit bitter to me.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 22 May 2005, 06:37

The comparison's with Bruno were made at the time, and they were just. I would say Bruno was a little better but it would have been a good fight.

If you rated Bruno, then you should rate Mason in a similar way.

Personally, I think a proposed Mason vs Tyson bout would have been similar to Tyson vs Bruno (pretty emphatic).

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 22 May 2005, 07:09

Chopping Right wrote: Why did he only have two fairly pointless fights in the States after losing his unbeaten record to Lennox?

He got a detached retina which meant he would have stuggled to get licenced by the BBBofC. But I understand that he eye problems started before the Lewis fight. I think it was revealed years later that Mason during his fight against Mark Wills or maybe Everett Martin he was complaining of double vision.

So big Gary went to the USA but after two fights he admited to himself "It just isn't there anymore". I have his fight with KP Porter (who actually holds a win over the shell of Leon Spinks!!) and Mason looked ok considering he was coming off a layoff.

Before George Foreman challenged Evander Holyfield there was serious talk of a Foreman vs Mason fight. I think Mason would have given George all the trouble he could handle. Mason had poor footwork, slow hands, at best average stamina, but was very strong, good power and an underatted defence and chin. He also had bags of heart which he showed against Lennox Lewis.

Strange thing is Frank Bruno, Gary Mason and Horice Notice were all from the same camp and all retired with detached or torn retinas.

Chopping Right · Post by **Chopping Right** » 22 May 2005, 07:56

How good could Horace Notice have been?

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 22 May 2005, 08:00

Chopping Right wrote:How good could Horace Notice have been?

Only saw him fight a few times, some say he was very talented and could have gone all the way. Others say he was too small for todays Heavyweights.

Old bones Ian · Post by **Old bones Ian** » 22 May 2005, 15:31

Chopping Right wrote:How good could Horace Notice have been?

Horace had good skills and average power, nice boxer to watch. He could have been Europeon champion given the chance, his lack of size would have hampered him on the world stage.

Today he would probaly have been a cruiser, his weight when he turned pro was around the 200lb mark. And he would have been a champ at cruiserweight. In his eighth fight he defeated future cruiser champ Anaclet Wamba, who was undefeated in 13 fights at the time. Wamba would go on to win the WBC title and make 8 defenses.

states · Post by **states** » 22 May 2005, 19:24

Can anyone remember Mason appearing on channel 4's 'Gamesmaster' (alongside Barry McGuigan, I think), playing some game where you had to punch the crap out of a bag, in order to damage planets in the onscreen game? Or is that just me?

I do know that Gary tried Rugby League after he stopped boxing, although the I don't think he did much. Didn't he become a fitness coach after that?

deadpan · Post by **deadpan** » 23 May 2005, 04:26

He lost a load of moolah in two hopelessly doomed business ventures.

1. A shop called 'Punch & Jewellery'. No, really.

2. Investing in arm wrestling as an emergent TV spectacle.

Er....

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 23 May 2005, 05:17

Slapsie Maxie · Post by **Slapsie Maxie** » 23 May 2005, 06:00

Nah, he really wasn't any good. Definingly lumbering, decent power but slow and prone to disappear in the middle of a fight

His record is filled with no names and past it names, with one or two exceptions and my mind is filled with those dull fights with him plodding forward against AN OTHER until he finally tagged them.

I watched the Tyson Vs Holyfield I fight again recently, it was a recording of the ppv show they did the morning after and GM was the colour man. He was not bad. Does anyone know why he did not get used for long in that role? A case of old fighters being forgotten quickly?

Does anyone know what he is up to now? I may not have thought he was much cop in the ring, but a decent guy out of it by the sounds of it

Slapsie

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 23 May 2005, 10:18

Slapsie Maxie wrote:Nah, he really wasn't any good. Definingly lumbering, decent power but slow and prone to disappear in the middle of a fight

His record is filled with no names and past it names, with one or two exceptions and my mind is filled with those dull fights with him plodding forward against AN OTHER until he finally tagged them.

I watched the Tyson Vs Holyfield I fight again recently, it was a recording of the ppv show they did the morning after and GM was the colour man. He was not bad. Does anyone know why he did not get used for long in that role? A case of old fighters being forgotten quickly?

Does anyone know what he is up to now? I may not have thought he was much cop in the ring, but a decent guy out of it by the sounds of it

Slapsie

Mason got relieved of his duties after swearing on on a another PPV I do believe.

Speaking of Heavyweight analysers' I haven't seen big Derek Williams on the screen for a while. I was just starting to like him on the camera when he has gone.

J · Post by J » 23 May 2005, 10:20

think he thorwing his energies ionto promoting Stu.

saw him ringside at equinox a few weeks back, he is feckin huge but seems a gentle giant

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 23 May 2005, 10:25

I'll never forget both me and my father think that Tyson's ex sparring partner (who Tyson had said was brilliant) Terry Armstrong was going to destroy Mason.

The pictures of him in the paper around that time must have been a few years old because the first time I saw him was when he was making his enterance. He looked like a fat, stoned, junkie with no ambition.

I would have but the Armstrong vs Mason fight amongst the "fights I thought was fixed" thread, but I have since seen his record on Boxrec and it is clear that Tyson was smoking something when he said Armstrong was a tremendous Heavyweight.

EddieShredder · Post by **EddieShredder** » 23 May 2005, 10:37

J wrote:think he thorwing his energies ionto promoting Stu.

saw him ringside at equinox a few weeks back, he is feckin huge but seems a gentle giant

At the moment he works just round the corner from me (EC2) at a company called CitySprint

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 23 May 2005, 11:57

Slapsie Maxie wrote:I watched the Tyson Vs Holyfield I fight again recently, it was a recording of the ppv show they did the morning after and GM was the colour man. He was not bad. Does anyone know why he did not get used for long in that role? A case of old fighters being forgotten quickly?

I believe Gary Mason used the F word on live TV.

Shame, I always thought he was a good pundit, apart from his Scott Welch obsession.

Chopping Right · Post by **Chopping Right** » 23 May 2005, 13:03

KOJOE90 wrote:...apart from his Scott Welch obsession.

Let's hear about it then man

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 23 May 2005, 13:06

KOJOE90 wrote: Shame, I always thought he was a good pundit, apart from his Scott Welch obsession.

Oh yes, I remember that. He tipped him to beat Henry Akinwande. He was absolutely dumfounded at his performance.

Even after that though on the Night of the Champions PPV, he went on about Scott.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 23 May 2005, 13:10

Chopping Right wrote:
KOJOE90 wrote:...apart from his Scott Welch obsession.
Let's hear about it then man

For years Gary Mason was absolutley convinced that Scott Welch was the next Heavyweight Champion of the World. He was always singing his praises etc.

Mason was a very good pundit with some interesting insights to the game but he was way out on this one.

Chopping Right · Post by **Chopping Right** » 23 May 2005, 13:17

He never had much good to say about Lennox Lewis though which I always thought was sour grapes. Old Allegedly never had much positive stuff to say about Lennox either, which was also a bit poor.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 23 May 2005, 13:25

Chopping Right wrote:He never had much good to say about Lennox Lewis though which I always thought was sour grapes. Old Allegedly never had much positive stuff to say about Lennox either, which was also a bit poor.

I always thought it was constructive criticism about Lennox (I'm talking about Mason here), I think he respected him and did wish him the best and gave praise where it was due. However, he heaped criticsm when I thought it was due also.

Although, his implication that Lewis was lucky to get away with the draw in the first Holyfield match was OTT. Although, he was correct in saying (which no-else mentioned) that Lewis did nearly throw away the fight with his negative attitude in some of the rounds.

Chopping Right · Post by **Chopping Right** » 23 May 2005, 14:27

stujones wrote:Although, he was correct in saying (which no-else mentioned) that Lewis did nearly throw away the fight with his negative attitude in some of the rounds.

I agree with that. I remember the first thing that was said amongst the guys I was watching that fight with was "Lennox has only himself to blame". He could have KO'ed Holyfield that night, instead we got a witch-hunt followed by a forgettable rematch that Lewis arguably lost.

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 23 May 2005, 15:10

Balls to all you Mason haters. Gary was decent.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 23 May 2005, 15:13

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:Balls to all you Mason haters. Gary was decent.

He would have beaten McDermott, Krence, Gammer, thats for sure.

Gary Mason - was he actually any good?

Gary Mason - was he actually any good?

Re: Gary Mason - was he actually any good?