WLAD RETIRES

[Tony1244]

From Wikipedia:

"Muhammad Ali and James Brown acknowledged that their own approach to flamboyant self-promotion was influenced by [Gorgeous] George. A 19-year-old Ali met a 46-year-old George at a Las Vegas radio station. During George's radio interview, the wrestler's promo caught the attention of the future heavyweight champion. If George lost to Classy Freddie Blassie, George exclaimed, "I'll crawl across the ring and cut my hair off! But that's not gonna happen because I'm the greatest wrestler in the world!" Ali, who later echoed that very promo when taunting opponent Sonny Liston, recalled, "I saw 15,000 people comin' to see this man get beat. And his talking did it. I said, 'This is a gooood idea!'" In the locker room afterward, the seasoned wrestler gave the future legend some invaluable advice: "A lot of people will pay to see someone shut your mouth. So keep on bragging, keep on sassing and always be outrageous."

None of which addresses the fact that you claim "Ali was . . . not a great boxer," Moron Laureate.

Wow, this argument isn't even as elevated as stupid, the brain synapses are clearly not connecting. So, if you have brilliant PR, you can't box?

[Kalan]

Wladimir Klitschko isn't that rich. His net worth is about 90 million dollars.. I can see a large part of that going to his "wife" whenever she files to separate their relationship. Or did they marry? I'm not sure. Wladimir was a great fighter, but if he were an American or Brit he would have done far better.

You can have the greatest boxing skills and punching power and also be great at showmanship and public relations... Why not??? Anthony Joshua is proving this... George Foreman worked very hard at building a "humble good guy" image during his 2nd career. It paid off big time and Joshua took notice...

Gorgeous George was right.. A "bad boy" image works fabulously well.. People line up to see the bad boy mouthy braggart get his ass kicked to the moon.. A bad boy image might work better in the short run -- but a positive image is actually much better for you financially in the long run.. If Foreman worked hard on his boxing skills earlier and built his positive good guy image in his 20's he'd probably be the richest boxer ever by now.. Joshua's ambition is to be a boxing's first Billionaire who actually makes a billion dollars during his Boxing career.. If he continues having the same kind of success he's had so far I can see that happening.

[squiggy]

Yeah, 90 million dollars is nothing. I won't even eat at a restaurant where a dinner costs less than that. I probably have 90 million in change under my couch cushions right now.

[Tanzio]

Wladimir Klitschko isn't that rich. His net worth is about 90 million dollars.. I can see a large part of that going to his "wife" whenever she files to separate their relationship. Or did they marry? I'm not sure. Wladimir was a great fighter, but if he were an American or Brit he would have done far better.

You can have the greatest boxing skills and punching power and also be great at showmanship and public relations... Why not??? Anthony Joshua is proving this... George Foreman worked very hard at building a "humble good guy" image during his 2nd career. It paid off big time and Joshua took notice...

Gorgeous George was right.. A "bad boy" image works fabulously well.. People line up to see the bad boy mouthy braggart get his ass kicked to the moon.. A bad boy image might work better in the short run -- but a positive image is actually much better for you financially in the long run.. If Foreman worked hard on his boxing skills earlier and built his positive good guy image in his 20's he'd probably be the richest boxer ever by now.. Joshua's ambition is to be a boxing's first Billionaire who actually makes a billion dollars during his Boxing career.. If he continues having the same kind of success he's had so far I can see that happening.

In AJ's case I think the "bad boy" will come later.

[Ilya Muromets]

Wladimir Klitschko isn't that rich. His net worth is about 90 million dollars.. I can see a large part of that going to his "wife" whenever she files to separate their relationship. Or did they marry? I'm not sure. Wladimir was a great fighter, but if he were an American or Brit he would have done far better.

You can have the greatest boxing skills and punching power and also be great at showmanship and public relations... Why not??? Anthony Joshua is proving this... George Foreman worked very hard at building a "humble good guy" image during his 2nd career. It paid off big time and Joshua took notice...

Gorgeous George was right...

90 million isn't bad. I light my cigars with 100 dollar bills. That would last me 900,000 times, according to the little calculator here.

Gorgeous George and his flamboyant gay act was one of the main influences in the early days of television. By the way, he wasn't even gay.

Wlad's marriage seemed very peculiar to me from the beginning, but then it's none of my business.

Yep Foreman turned his whole persona around, and maybe Joshua - a former common criminal - is doing that too.

As for the bunch above - OK we don't agree about some things. Probably we don't agree about anything at all. That's nice. Plenty of people here agree with you. I think you should talk to them instead of me. I'm still working on my nice guy baby face act but I've still got a long way to go.


Gorgeous X2X

[Tony1244]

Wladimir Klitschko isn't that rich. His net worth is about 90 million dollars.. I can see a large part of that going to his "wife" whenever she files to separate their relationship. Or did they marry? I'm not sure. Wladimir was a great fighter, but if he were an American or Brit he would have done far better.

You can have the greatest boxing skills and punching power and also be great at showmanship and public relations... Why not??? Anthony Joshua is proving this... George Foreman worked very hard at building a "humble good guy" image during his 2nd career. It paid off big time and Joshua took notice...

Gorgeous George was right...

90 million isn't bad. I light my cigars with 100 dollar bills. That would last me 900,000 times, according to the little calculator here.

Gorgeous George and his flamboyant gay act was one of the main influences in the early days of television. By the way, he wasn't even gay.

Wlad's marriage seemed very peculiar to me from the beginning, but then it's none of my business.

Yep Foreman turned his whole persona around, and maybe Joshua - a former common criminal - is doing that too

As for the bunch above - OK we don't agree about some things. Probably we don't agree about anything at all. That's nice. Plenty of people here agree with you. I think you should talk to them instead of me. I'm still working on my nice guy baby face act but I've still got a long way to go. .>>x2x


Your lines on G. George and George F. are right on the mark. Regarding Wlad's marriage, go on...

I like playing the Abbott role and there are a few who play Costello here.

Its not whether we agree or disagree but you were judging Ali's boxing ability by his persona. My very polite Sunday best is that just doesn't make sense.

If you'd like to compare them as boxers, a young Ali would never have quit in a fight because his hand hurt. A young Ali would never have lost to Brewster, Puritty, and Corrie Saanders, much less being stopped by them. That takes nothing away from the K brothers who were top champions in and out of the ring.

[crusader]

A bum would have folded when Joshua went down, he was shipping big shots in those rounds too, he may never go onto heavyweight greatness but he certainly isn't a bum, no way a completely second rate fighter makes it through what he did to find the win.

Exactly. Aj was hurt and exhausted and hung tough until his head cleared. Most fighters would either have been knocked cold or stayed down after that huge shot from wlad.

He's clearly proven he belongs at this level. I'm not really sure where the hatred is coming from. Few fighters do what he's done at this stage.

The hatred probably comes from the hype. It happens to a lot of boxers who reach a high level....suddenly there are lot more people talking about them in a negative light and hoping for a loss. AJ has been hyped from the start, but he's really exploded as of late.

[Ilya Muromets]

Wladimir Klitschko isn't that rich. His net worth is about 90 million dollars.. I can see a large part of that going to his "wife" whenever she files to separate their relationship. Or did they marry? I'm not sure. Wladimir was a great fighter, but if he were an American or Brit he would have done far better.

You can have the greatest boxing skills and punching power and also be great at showmanship and public relations... Why not??? Anthony Joshua is proving this... George Foreman worked very hard at building a "humble good guy" image during his 2nd career. It paid off big time and Joshua took notice...

Gorgeous George was right...

90 million isn't bad. I light my cigars with 100 dollar bills. That would last me 900,000 times, according to the little calculator here.

Gorgeous George and his flamboyant gay act was one of the main influences in the early days of television. By the way, he wasn't even gay.

Wlad's marriage seemed very peculiar to me from the beginning, but then it's none of my business.

Yep Foreman turned his whole persona around, and maybe Joshua - a former common criminal - is doing that too

As for the bunch above - OK we don't agree about some things. Probably we don't agree about anything at all. That's nice. Plenty of people here agree with you. I think you should talk to them instead of me. I'm still working on my nice guy baby face act but I've still got a long way to go. .>>x2x


Your lines on G. George and George F. are right on the mark. Regarding Wlad's marriage, go on...

I like playing the Abbott role and there are a few who play Costello here.

Its not whether we agree or disagree but you were judging Ali's boxing ability by his persona. My very polite Sunday best is that just doesn't make sense.

If you'd like to compare them as boxers, a young Ali would never have quit in a fight because his hand hurt. A young Ali would never have lost to Brewster, Puritty, and Corrie Saanders, much less being stopped by them. That takes nothing away from the K brothers who were top champions in and out of the ring.

" but you were judging Ali's boxing ability by his persona. My very polite Sunday best is that just doesn't make sense. "


No actually I wasn't but rather I was giving the devil his due. He did the comedy act well. His boxing ability is another thing entirely and I don't feel like drawing down the hysterical wrath of the entire politically correct contingent here by going into it in detail at the moment. Perhaps when I am feeling more pugnacious later on. Meanwhile I will just let my earlier comment stand, the Klitchkos were THE best heavyweights ever - Vitali 1, Wlad 2.

"I like playing the Abbott role and there are a few who play Costello here. "

Good on you, mate. Good straight men are hard to come by. Lou Costello, by the way, was once a boxer.

[Tony1244]

Exactly. Aj was hurt and exhausted and hung tough until his head cleared. Most fighters would either have been knocked cold or stayed down after that huge shot from wlad.

He's clearly proven he belongs at this level. I'm not really sure where the hatred is coming from. Few fighters do what he's done at this stage.

The hatred probably comes from the hype. It happens to a lot of boxers who reach a high level....suddenly there are lot more people talking about them in a negative light and hoping for a loss. AJ has been hyped from the start, but he's really exploded as of late.

Very interesting point. Just not on boxing but in other walks of life. Chuck Wepner was a local hero in N. NJ. But when he got his shot against Ali, he became less popular. You first sentence: "The hatred probably comes from the hype." The attitude was I liked him when he was a journeyman-bartender, but who the hell is he to fight the great Ali? The cheers turned to jeers when he was announced at shows.

I'm not trying to make a political point here, but Sarah Palin was a very popular governor of Alaska. But she became a joke when she stepped up to the national spotlight.

[crusader]

Ya, and I think a lot of it is wanting to see the hype blow up in the face of the people creating the hype; you'll get people begging for the fighter to lose just so they can 'ha ha' at the hypers. It almost become a case of using other fans and the media to determine who you're for and who you're against. There are also cases where forum posters will think that some boxers are getting too hard of a time, and they'll consequently begin to cheer for that boxer. I think it's just another form of backlash against people on the other side...

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Spot on, I've recently become a fan of Wilder and Lomachenko 'hater' for exactly those reasons. Except for the throwing it in someone's face when they lose. I'm pretty good about moving on there. Considering I once published a blog predicting Allan Green to knock out Andre Ward, I let bad predictions go by.

[Blodhemn]

The hatred probably comes from the hype. It happens to a lot of boxers who reach a high level....suddenly there are lot more people talking about them in a negative light and hoping for a loss. AJ has been hyped from the start, but he's really exploded as of late.

Guilty of this against AJ solely for the fact that Fury got next to zero credit for dethroning Wlad, yet AJ got massive hype for simply being in the ring with him, not to even mention the post fight hype. The pre fight hype was so high you wouldn't even know that Wlad wasn't the champ and didn't lose to Fury one fight previously. Insane. Crap like that just justifies Fury's "Nobody wants to see a gypsy succeed." mindset.

[crusader]

Aside from the Wlad fight I haven't rooted against AJ (Wlad is my all-time favourite), but that is my perception of things too. Even among some very knowledgeable fans Fury's win is considered to count for pretty much nothing.

[MachoTime]

Spot on, I've recently become a fan of Wilder and Lomachenko 'hater' for exactly those reasons. Except for the throwing it in someone's face when they lose. I'm pretty good about moving on there. Considering I once published a blog predicting Allan Green to knock out Andre Ward, I let bad predictions go by.

You're blog no one reads it. Who are you kidding. You're on my bad side. You fu*ck with the people I like Im going to skull fu*k you.

[Kalan]

Wladimir Klitschko isn't that rich. His net worth is about 90 million dollars.. I can see a large part of that going to his "wife" whenever she files to separate their relationship. Or did they marry? I'm not sure. Wladimir was a great fighter, but if he were an American or Brit he would have done far better.

You can have the greatest boxing skills and punching power and also be great at showmanship and public relations... Why not??? Anthony Joshua is proving this... George Foreman worked very hard at building a "humble good guy" image during his 2nd career. It paid off big time and Joshua took notice...

Gorgeous George was right...

90 million isn't bad. I light my cigars with 100 dollar bills. That would last me 900,000 times, according to the little calculator here.

Gorgeous George and his flamboyant gay act was one of the main influences in the early days of television. By the way, he wasn't even gay.

Wlad's marriage seemed very peculiar to me from the beginning, but then it's none of my business.

Yep Foreman turned his whole persona around, and maybe Joshua - a former common criminal - is doing that too

As for the bunch above - OK we don't agree about some things. Probably we don't agree about anything at all. That's nice. Plenty of people here agree with you. I think you should talk to them instead of me. I'm still working on my nice guy baby face act but I've still got a long way to go. .>>x2x


Your lines on G. George and George F. are right on the mark. Regarding Wlad's marriage, go on...

I like playing the Abbott role and there are a few who play Costello here.

Its not whether we agree or disagree but you were judging Ali's boxing ability by his persona. My very polite Sunday best is that just doesn't make sense.

If you'd like to compare them as boxers, a young Ali would never have quit in a fight because his hand hurt. A young Ali would never have lost to Brewster, Puritty, and Corrie Saanders, much less being stopped by them. That takes nothing away from the K brothers who were top champions in and out of the ring.

WTF ?!!? ... Ali had a fabulous persona -- the best ever personality. How does that reflect on his competence as a boxer??? Why would I judge skills by charisma???

Ali DID quit when he was hurt.. I agreed 100% with the stoppage---but so did Ali.. Ali was getting outclassed and battered non-stop by Larry Holmes.. A very good time to quit.. Wladimir was too old for Joshua, but he didn't quit.. Wladimir had a broken hand against Brewster and made BREWSTER quit.. Joshua has prime Holmes by 40 pounds -- with much more height, reach, strength, athleticism and raw speed.. 41-year-old Klitschko was in much better condition than the 38-year-old Ali.. Wlad fought a more competitive fight got knocked down 3 X and battered out in 11... Ali would have disappeared in 3.

A young Ali could have lost to a lot of fighters because he was easy to hit. He could have lost to Cooper if the left hook struck earlier in the round than the last few seconds. Could have lost to Doug Jones were the judging a little more accurate. He DID lose to 5'11" X 205, wide open Smokin' at 29 because he was so easy to hit with left hooks. Wladimir couldn't have lost to any of those little tykes... Wladimir fought more amateur fights.. more professional fights.. against bigger and better Heavyweights.. had a higher winning ratio.. a higher KO ratio.. was a harder puncher.. a better boxer with a better defense.. At his best he would have hooked Ali to death the way he did Ray Austin and undefeated Kubrat Pulev -- who were both vulnerable left hooks, just as Ali was -- so Wlad blasted them out cold with his ATG great left hook very quickly... Remember, Norton shattered Ali's jaw with a left hook and little Frazier landed a drumbeat of left hooks on Ali -- and Ali was decked 3 X by them. That's the go-to weapon against Ali.

Wladimir also had major flaws as Ali did -- but Wlad made coaching changes and corrected them... No matter how much Ali got hit he stayed with the same head coach who never boxed in his life -- and didn't know shat from sunshine when it came to stance, footwork, or defensive finesse... Dundee couldn't correct Ali's flaws. That's why Wladimir lasted much longer than Ali did.. Wlad had better coaching and got better and better -- fighting more fights against bigger, stronger Heavyweights, and taking far less punishment.. Ali was around for almost as long as Wladimir -- but got worse and worse as he aged.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Frazier would have battered Wlad.

[Kalan]

Right... LIke he battered the 6'3" X 217 George Foreman... Like only a blubbery basketball could.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

No, like he'd batter Wlad.

[MachoTime]

Frazier would have battered Wlad.

Another genius response. The Boxing Genius...Get over yourself.

[Ossyrules]

Kalan you're a slave to numbers, and hugely under estimate fighters of yesteryear. Nobody in today's boxing knows how to fight inside like the old guys could, and Frazier was one of the best ever. A supremely strong and resilient guy. Cut from a completely different cloth to today's guys.

There is no evidence Wlad could deal with a guy like Frazier. Saying foreman beat Frazier really is a poor arguement from you

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Kalan you're a slave to numbers, and hugely under estimate fighters of yesteryear. Nobody in today's boxing knows how to fight inside like the old guys could, and Frazier was one of the best ever. A supremely strong and resilient guy. Cut from a completely different cloth to today's guys.

There is no evidence Wlad could deal with a guy like Frazier. Saying foreman beat Frazier really is a poor arguement from you

[Bard of Boxrec]

Wlad's octopus routine wouldn't work against Smokin' Joe.

[MachoTime]

Kalan you're a slave to numbers, and hugely under estimate fighters of yesteryear. Nobody in today's boxing knows how to fight inside like the old guys could, and Frazier was one of the best ever. A supremely strong and resilient guy. Cut from a completely different cloth to today's guys.

There is no evidence Wlad could deal with a guy like Frazier. Saying foreman beat Frazier really is a poor arguement from you

What the fu*k would you know. Wlad would have slaughtered the little midget. Go Back to England.

[Ossyrules]

Kalan you're a slave to numbers, and hugely under estimate fighters of yesteryear. Nobody in today's boxing knows how to fight inside like the old guys could, and Frazier was one of the best ever. A supremely strong and resilient guy. Cut from a completely different cloth to today's guys.

There is no evidence Wlad could deal with a guy like Frazier. Saying foreman beat Frazier really is a poor arguement from you

What the fu*k would you know. Wlad would have slaughtered the little midget. Go Back to England.

Great response you clearly know your boxing

Facking melt

[Bard of Boxrec]

Lol