Datsue wrote:To somewhat lighten the mood, yesterday lunchtime I watched two blokes who combined weigh less than any of last night's Prizefighter entrants in an absolute war, & I loved it. Best fight I've seen in ages. Prizefighter was funny (though I loathe the format/idea of it), just to see useless supersize heavyweights gas out after thirty seconds -- so admittedly I probably only enjoyed seeing my prejudices confirmed there. I'm sure Johnson getting beaten had something to do with my enjoyment as well.
I am also a heartless cynic, & have never been blind to boxing's bollocks, which is basically the same as it's ever been (only probably now more so). My old man & his older brothers used to go on about how my uncle's promoter (he was a pro back in fifties) used to rip him off, fvck about with matchmaking, put him into fights at short notice & generally shenanigate (?) the fvck around. He wasn't paid the money he was owed, he had dodgy decisions go against him, got overlooked for title shots, opponents were changed at short notice, he had too many fights, too many tough fights, has ended up with the ol' P-D. Some days, he doesn't recognise me. Some days, he doesn't recognise his wife. Others, he talks to me like nothing's changed.
I'm not going to stop watching it. I don't think I could. I've had years where I've become somewhat more distant but just lately I'm more fired up than ever. But maybe I just grew up knowing it's a terrible, beautiful thing, maybe my relation to it was more visceral, so none of the bollocks really surprises me; maybe I never had any innocence to lose. The only thing I ever enjoyed was seeing what happened between the ropes; all the rest of it seemed unreal, staged, unnecessary.
The only reality is a punch to the face.
I'm sorry others are turning away from it, or that there is a perception that others are, but my habit's my habit & I'm certainly not going to mourn for the loss of others. I don't talk about my enthusiasms to most people, 'cos I can see their eyes glaze over & see them shuffle away, check their watches, pretend they have something else to do. That's okay. My pleasure is furtive. It is secretive. It is my own. That's okay. Most people don't care about things. I do, sad & pathetic as that makes me.
It is like doing drugs. You keep the company of those who otherwise you would not keep. You exercise your need amongst those whom you have little in common. You don't speak of it out in the open, but occasionally you see the light behind someone's eyes & you just know.
I bumped into a kiddie down the pub the night of the England game (no, I didn't watch it, I was press-ganged). Mate of a mate. Never met him. Fight fan, it turned out. Sat there & talked boxing, Jhonny Gonzalez & Lee Haskins, Michael Watson & Mike McCallum, until everyone else had gone & the barmaid kicked us out. There's always going to be lunatics like me & my new mate. We'll find each other. We can smell our own.
We can't let it go & we don't really care if no-one else watches, or cares. The lights will go out, eventually. On everything. But it won't be until I'm buried, I'm sure.
Your post is one of the reasons why i won't stop reading on these pages. Quite beautiful in it's own way and i can totally understand what you and feel the same way. I don't think you can ever leave boxing totally behind and i won't cut my nose off to spite my face. As Big Mark has said, i will be more selective in the fights that i watch and will be more distant from the sport. As an example, a yera ago, i would have started a thread on Ryan Rhodes after his fight last week, but i didn't bother, i didn't even watch the fight, though i knew what happenned. Maybe it's age and the older you get the more complete circles you have witnessed, the less likely you are to put up with the nonsense, where as younger guys with less stress in their lives haven't reached that stage where enough is enough with regards to boxing's politricks, as Lennox would say. I think i will still keep an eye on things for fights like Froch vs Bute and your story about meeting that guy and talking boxing till someone chucked you out of the boozer. It's for moments like that and fights like Froch - Bute, that makes you love boxing.