BoxRec

Around 10 pages devoted to Leavander Johnson over the last 2 weeks in Boxing News . Why ?
I follow boxing quite closely and I had heard of Johnson but I couldn't have told you where he came from , what weight he fought at ,any of his opponents ,or whether he won a recognised version of the world title . I suspect I'm not alone .
I'm sure most of us could name a hundred fighters more worthy of this length of coverage . Lionel Rose and Bennie Briscoe for example. Nearer home what about Pat Clinton ,or Johnny Owen . The list is endless . Why on earth did they pick Johnson ? I'm truly amazed .
I started reading the coverage last week and got half way down the first page before I got bored . You can imagine my frustration this week ,when we've got the Haye fight ,and I've to look at 6 ( six) pages of drivel about a guy whose not even well known in his home city !!
Any explanation from Boxing News ?

While I'm on a rant , is anybody else getting fed up listening to the Haye sycophants ( my wife knew the word , I had to look it up ) on Sky ?
They've done a good job building the fight up , but I wonder how they'll respond when the big steelhammer lands flush on Haye's chin and ends the fight between 5 and 8 rounds ? Jim Watt's the only man prepared to come out and mildly suggest that Klitschko has a chance . It is all very well supporting the local man , but these people are supposed to be professionals.

good story...

I found it an interesting story, for me i get a bit bored reading about some famous boxers. As quite often i know alot about them anyway.
Its not often that a boxer who is relevaty unknown in life and death is covered. I think it showed that Leavander Johnson was like 90% of other boxers, who just keep going in their careers with a self belief that 1 more fight can change things.

Show some respect dude.

I thought last weeks was an excellent piece, not read this weeks yet but looking forward to i, plus I think there is another article on it next week.
As people on here have said before boxing news has to move with the times & give us something a little different from what the internet tells us to keep selling issues.

it was a good, well written article but i was worried by the reason the officials said they built the statue, to show youngsters that they can acheive their dreams.
johnson got killed doing it, so what kind of message is that? sometimes i think we go a bit too far making fighters into something they are not.

Perhaps you should have watched some of
his fights before you make an ignorant comment like
this.
The guy was a warrior like all fighters who get
between the ropes, have some respect.

saad muhammad wrote:Perhaps you should have watched some of
his fights before you make an ignorant comment like
this.
The guy was a warrior like all fighters who get
between the ropes, have some respect.

i do have respect for them, but i also have kids and i wouldn't hold johnson's choices up as being something to follow because he was killed doing it.

all men fight for good in their lives, not just boxers...they dont have a monopoly on courage and it makes me uncomfortable to lionise them in this way to children.

Foxwoods , it wasn't aimed at you, but to the
original poster.!!

saad muhammad wrote:Foxwoods , it wasn't aimed at you, but to the
original poster.!!

fair enough. anyway like i said, i enjoyed the articles but that reason for the statue sounded strange. it's not as though you would take your kids to see it as an example of courage.

i love that line in a bronx tale: "you want to see a hero, go and see a guy who gets up every morning to work and support his family."

respect johnson as a boxer, sure, and i enjoyed his fights but it's wrong to load all the other sentimental BS on him just because he got killed

The editor was a friend of Johnson's.

Almost 6 years since that fateful night, Chavez has never been the same since then either.

Why not? I agree there are other candidates as it were, but thats no reason not to talk about Johnson. Once every couple of months they could do an extended article on those who have passed as a result of their fights... Paret, Owen, Duk Koo Kim, etc etc.

banjo wrote:Almost 6 years since that fateful night, Chavez has never been the same since then either.

I watched the fight live.

Foxwoods, i think you need to look at the choices some
of these kids have growing up in places like this, so to
some of them he is an inspiration, not all fighters die in the ring
and it's a better option to prison and drugs.!!

G0mez wrote:

banjo wrote:Almost 6 years since that fateful night, Chavez has never been the same since then either.

I watched the fight live.

Over in Vegas? Had Barrera and Mosley on the card too if I remember rightly.

Pat Clinton died???

saad muhammad wrote:Foxwoods, i think you need to look at the choices some
of these kids have growing up in places like this, so to
some of them he is an inspiration, not all fighters die in the ring
and it's a better option to prison and drugs.!!

yes, i get your point...the statue would make more sense to me though if he had made it out alive.

Dynamic Hispanic wrote:Show some respect dude.

yeah!

banjo wrote:

G0mez wrote:

banjo wrote:Almost 6 years since that fateful night, Chavez has never been the same since then either.

I watched the fight live.

Over in Vegas? Had Barrera and Mosley on the card too if I remember rightly.

No on the telly live

Yes, it had Barrera vs Robbie Peden I think, Mosely against a no-mark and Adbner Mares on it.

My point was that 10 pages over two weeks was too much on someone whose not well known even in his native city , not that Johnson wasn't a good fighter . There are far more worthy ex fighters in this country .
No Pat Clinton isn't dead ,that wasn't the point either , its just that he might well be more worthy to readers in this country than Johnson .
What's all this respect rubbish , I'm fed up listing to this nonsense . I 've seen all sorts enter a boxing ring from murderers ,rapists paedophiles, drug dealers and wife beaters . Am I supposed to forget all this and give them respect because they happen to be a boxer ? I DO have respect for boxers who are honest and decent individuals OUTSIDE the ring ,as well as INSIDE it ! So give the 'cliches ' a miss .

How is respect for a dead person, rubbish.
If you care to read about more fighters you claim
most people don't know about you won't so be ignorant.
I thought that most people who read boxing were hardcore fans
your'e obviously not one of those mate.!!

I knew someone would deliberately mis-interpret what I was saying . I wasn't talking about not respecting someone who died, I'm talking about not respecting some boxers who don't deserve it because of what they've done outside the ring . Try and keep up ,son .

dalcumly wrote:I knew someone would deliberately mis-interpret what I was saying . I wasn't talking about not respecting someone who died, I'm talking about not respecting some boxers who don't deserve it because of what they've done outside the ring . Try and keep up ,son .

i agree that a 2 weeks spread is maybe too much but totally disagree that the article wasn't of interest. i think that there was some bias from the editor as he was a mate of johnson otherwise it would have been covered in 1 article.

dalcumly wrote:I knew someone would deliberately mis-interpret what I was saying . I wasn't talking about not respecting someone who died, I'm talking about not respecting some boxers who don't deserve it because of what they've done outside the ring . Try and keep up ,son .

i agree that a 2 weeks spread is maybe too much but totally disagree that the article wasn't of interest. i think that there was some bias from the editor as he was a mate of johnson otherwise it would have been covered in 1 article.