Location, Location, Location

[Bodyshot3]

Apologies for the pun-driven title of this thread.....based on a very stale UK television show.

But I have always been interested by perhaps one of the less discussed dynamics in boxing which is where a big fight is held; not just the venue but also the city, culture and the country.

So many stories I have read by fighters mention that if they liked the place, the people and settled-in nicely the days before a fight they felt able to deliver and often overcame some huge odds.

Conversely, things often turned unexpectedly bad when a favoured man hated the city, could not make a connection with the fans and just felt distracted, unsettled and homesick.

It is a case of fighters not being machines and sometimes being very heavily influenced by the days leading into a bout and therefore not giving off their best.

Three fights I can think off is Jeff Lacey (massively favoured to beat Calzaghe) almost shrinking in front of the cameras in the very foreign experience of rainy Manchester, Ali embracing the chaos of Zaire and Foreman heading in completely the opposite direction and Tyson apparently loathing Tokyo and rarely leaving his hotel suite whilst Douglas was working like a trojan and making friends.

How a fighter settles into a city/country - whether the underdog or favourite - does seem to be a factor.

[chrisjs1985]

I was at the Calzaghe-Lacy fight. Not a rainy weekend (it usually is in Manchester) but it was a snowy one. I was in the Trafford Centre the Friday evening and actually saw Lacy and I'm no body language expert but he appeared to me to look a little off. I didn't give him a chance when the fight was made anyway (I felt he was dramatically overrated and Calzaghe vastly underrated) but I feel Lacy believed the hype and press and then he arrived in a foreign country and combined with the fact he was fighting an unbeaten champion I think he was beaten mentally before he entered the ring. There seemed to be a shift from when the fight was signed and they mocked Calzaghe to fight week.

[prewarboxing]

Apologies for the pun-driven title of this thread.....based on a very stale UK television show.

But I have always been interested by perhaps one of the less discussed dynamics in boxing which is where a big fight is held; not just the venue but also the city, culture and the country.

So many stories I have read by fighters mention that if they liked the place, the people and settled-in nicely the days before a fight they felt able to deliver and often overcame some huge odds.

Conversely, things often turned unexpectedly bad when a favoured man hated the city, could not make a connection with the fans and just felt distracted, unsettled and homesick.

It is a case of fighters not being machines and sometimes being very heavily influenced by the days leading into a bout and therefore not giving off their best.

Three fights I can think off is Jeff Lacey (massively favoured to beat Calzaghe) almost shrinking in front of the cameras in the very foreign experience of rainy Manchester, Ali embracing the chaos of Zaire and Foreman heading in completely the opposite direction and Tyson apparently loathing Tokyo and rarely leaving his hotel suite whilst Douglas was working like a trojan and making friends.

How a fighter settles into a city/country - whether the underdog or favourite - does seem to be a factor.

You can make just as many claims for it going the other way. John H Stracey for example

Miles Templeton

[sweetsci]

Ali vs. Foreman certainly comes to mind.
(edit - oops, already cited in the original post.)

[scartissue]

Apologies for the pun-driven title of this thread.....based on a very stale UK television show.

But I have always been interested by perhaps one of the less discussed dynamics in boxing which is where a big fight is held; not just the venue but also the city, culture and the country.

So many stories I have read by fighters mention that if they liked the place, the people and settled-in nicely the days before a fight they felt able to deliver and often overcame some huge odds.

Conversely, things often turned unexpectedly bad when a favoured man hated the city, could not make a connection with the fans and just felt distracted, unsettled and homesick.

It is a case of fighters not being machines and sometimes being very heavily influenced by the days leading into a bout and therefore not giving off their best.

Three fights I can think off is Jeff Lacey (massively favoured to beat Calzaghe) almost shrinking in front of the cameras in the very foreign experience of rainy Manchester, Ali embracing the chaos of Zaire and Foreman heading in completely the opposite direction and Tyson apparently loathing Tokyo and rarely leaving his hotel suite whilst Douglas was working like a trojan and making friends.

How a fighter settles into a city/country - whether the underdog or favourite - does seem to be a factor.

You can make just as many claims for it going the other way. John H Stracey for example

Miles Templeton

Ken Buchanan being another.

[scartissue]

Apologies for the pun-driven title of this thread.....based on a very stale UK television show.

But I have always been interested by perhaps one of the less discussed dynamics in boxing which is where a big fight is held; not just the venue but also the city, culture and the country.

So many stories I have read by fighters mention that if they liked the place, the people and settled-in nicely the days before a fight they felt able to deliver and often overcame some huge odds.

Conversely, things often turned unexpectedly bad when a favoured man hated the city, could not make a connection with the fans and just felt distracted, unsettled and homesick.

It is a case of fighters not being machines and sometimes being very heavily influenced by the days leading into a bout and therefore not giving off their best.

Three fights I can think off is Jeff Lacey (massively favoured to beat Calzaghe) almost shrinking in front of the cameras in the very foreign experience of rainy Manchester, Ali embracing the chaos of Zaire and Foreman heading in completely the opposite direction and Tyson apparently loathing Tokyo and rarely leaving his hotel suite whilst Douglas was working like a trojan and making friends.

How a fighter settles into a city/country - whether the underdog or favourite - does seem to be a factor.

Perhaps Barry McGuigan against Stevie Cruz is the example your looking for.

[Bodyshot3]

Cheers fellas...……..much appreciated

I am glad someone else thought this about Lacey (thanks Chris) and saw him with their own eyes.

I watched everything going at the time and he arrived with a swagger but then seemed to visibly shrink with each passing day and Calzaghe writes about this in his book and said that he noticed the change.

Taking a slightly different tack, Lloyd Honeyghan supposedly blocked-out America and the weirdness of Atlantic City for his famous fight with Curry. The late Mickey Duff said he was a virtually a hermit, just training and eating/sleeping in his room.

I also wonder what the great travelling champions did whilst on the road....guys like Azumah Nelson, Brian Mitchell and Pedroza seemed to fight anywhere but at home and maybe had some tricks to back up their huge talent?

I remember Mitchell being very calm and composed when he touched down in London and equally so when he stepped into fight Tony Lopez in Sacramento.

[Onetimeonly]

Pedro's was a Panamanian with the wba belt, he was just fine.

[Nile4000]

Jim Watt was also comfortable in Glasgow against O'Grady and Davis jr.

[Bodyshot3]

A couple of other location fights to discuss.

"Hamed holidaying in Vegas"

Barrera might well have beaten Hamed anyway.....in fact I fancied the result.
But Hamed also got just about everything wrong for this massive fight at the MGM in Las Vegas and was well beaten.

He seems to have trained in Bing Crosby's old house (presumably very comfortable) and positively revelled in the whole Vegas hoopla rather than getting primed for Barrera.

Manny Steward (hired two weeks out) hit the alarm button but Hamed was too busy enjoying the Vegas limelight, keeping his entourage in check and doing a fight documentary that subsequently must have felt like an embarrassment.

I have seen snippets from that documentary and it is clear Naz let the bright lights and BS get to him.

"Robinson at Earls Court, London"

The great Sugar Ray took his show on the road in 1951 - winning all across Europe and by all accounts living a fantastic lifestyle and making a tidy fortune by beating all the continent's challengers - but at Earls Court the run came to an end for Robinson when Randy Turpin was roared on by a huge fight crowd and Sugar Ray's 'tour' was capsized.

Robinson deserves a lot of credit for hitting the road in 1951 and fighting all over Europe.....but perhaps he misjudged that Earls Court and Turpin was a step-up from Zurich. Antwerp and Liege?

[elmersalsa]

You have to be very prepared mentally and physically while fighting on the road. Especially, in someone else's backyard. The great Eusebio Pedroza did it better than anybody. Ten title defenses in opponents' turf. A world record. That's hard to do.

[Onetimeonly]

Not for him, he had the org behind him.

[elmersalsa]

Not for him, he had the org behind him.

With the organization with him or not, it is still a great accomplishment. No one has done it better.

[Onetimeonly]

Not for him, he had the org behind him.

With the organization with him or not, it is still a great accomplishment. No one has done it better.

[elmersalsa]

With the organization with him or not, it is still a great accomplishment. No one has done it better.

[Noxy]

Johnny Nelson was a great one for the road. Is that what ultimately made him a success? It was probably part of the reason at least.

[elmersalsa]

Brian Mitchell from South Africa was another great fighter on the road.

[Chuck1052]

Cheers fellas...……..much appreciated

I am glad someone else thought this about Lacey (thanks Chris) and saw him with their own eyes.

I watched everything going at the time and he arrived with a swagger but then seemed to visibly shrink with each passing day and Calzaghe writes about this in his book and said that he noticed the change.

Taking a slightly different tack, Lloyd Honeyghan supposedly blocked-out America and the weirdness of Atlantic City for his famous fight with Curry. The late Mickey Duff said he was a virtually a hermit, just training and eating/sleeping in his room.

I also wonder what the great travelling champions did whilst on the road....guys like Azumah Nelson, Brian Mitchell and Pedroza seemed to fight anywhere but at home and maybe had some tricks to back up their huge talent?

I remember Mitchell being very calm and composed when he touched down in London and equally so when he stepped into fight Tony Lopez in Sacramento.

I think that Jeff Lacy couldn't cope with Joe Calzaghe on his best day. Despite having plenty of heart, a impressive build and a fine left-hook, Lacy simply didn't have enough skills and was far to easy to hit.. In the bout with Calzaghe, Lacy was cruelly exposed and took an absolutely brutal beating while going the distance. I cannot understand why Lacy's corner didn't intervene and save their charge in a far earlier round.

- Chuck Johnston

[Noxy]

Brian Mitchell from South Africa was another great fighter on the road.

Yes, that’s right. He could put on a show anywhere. I remember he beat Lopez, I was impressed by that.