To The Ends of the Earth
Posted: 26 Nov 2021, 07:15
There are some rivalries or grudges that kind of defy all conventional logic in boxing. The hatred, jealousy, and ego is such that no amount of time passing by seems to let up.
When Ali announced he was unretiring in 1980, Frazier followed suit facing Jumbo Cummings. He desperately wanted Ali again for a fourth match. The loss in Manila was too much for Smokin' Joe.
Whenever George Foreman remotely hints at having one more fight, Larry Holmes stands up and reminds him that he's ready and waiting, that he hasn't forgotten how they nearly fought in 1999.
Whenever Chris Eubank is in the same room with Steve Collins or Nigel Benn, the old feelings resurface and he wants to go to war again. The same tension can be felt whenever Collins is in the same room with Roy Jones.
There are tons of examples of this--- but maybe the only example I can think of where two men made good on seeing it through regardless of the passage of time has got to be Azumah Nelson and Jeff Fenech.
Though it was never said so I tend to believe that the movie GRUDGE MATCH starring Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro had to have been based loosely on Nelson and Fenech.
They fought each other in 1991 and 1992, but the rubber match did not happen until 2008. Fenech was 44 years old and Nelson was 49 years old.
Can anyone else think of famous grudges or rivalries in boxing where the combatants either hated each other for years or managed to fight each other after several years?
When Ali announced he was unretiring in 1980, Frazier followed suit facing Jumbo Cummings. He desperately wanted Ali again for a fourth match. The loss in Manila was too much for Smokin' Joe.
Whenever George Foreman remotely hints at having one more fight, Larry Holmes stands up and reminds him that he's ready and waiting, that he hasn't forgotten how they nearly fought in 1999.
Whenever Chris Eubank is in the same room with Steve Collins or Nigel Benn, the old feelings resurface and he wants to go to war again. The same tension can be felt whenever Collins is in the same room with Roy Jones.
There are tons of examples of this--- but maybe the only example I can think of where two men made good on seeing it through regardless of the passage of time has got to be Azumah Nelson and Jeff Fenech.
Though it was never said so I tend to believe that the movie GRUDGE MATCH starring Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro had to have been based loosely on Nelson and Fenech.
They fought each other in 1991 and 1992, but the rubber match did not happen until 2008. Fenech was 44 years old and Nelson was 49 years old.
Can anyone else think of famous grudges or rivalries in boxing where the combatants either hated each other for years or managed to fight each other after several years?