Fans Have Driven Skill from the Ring
Posted: 09 Mar 2003, 12:42
The fans are to blame for the condition of boxing today.
Every time a man tries to box, the fans razz him out of the ring. If he feints, counters, dances away or shows any sign whatsoever of scientific ability, he draws down a chorus of boos.
Today's the day of punch or be punched - and make up your mind in a hurry which it's going to be. Don't punch, punch, punch with care, like Mark Twain's conductor - just punch. If you try to counter-punch, you're a bum. No, just punch and then punch some more. And be sure to punch hard enough to make the bimbos in the top row back hear the concussion.
The old fighters in all divisions were potentially no better than ours of today could be if the fans would let 'em alone.
You might as well give a couple of punks a pair of hammers and tell them to start swinging at each other - there's just that much science in boxing today. I blame it all on the intolerance of the fans. -- Billy Papke (former champion, age 42), April 11, 1929 SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER newspaper.
Every time a man tries to box, the fans razz him out of the ring. If he feints, counters, dances away or shows any sign whatsoever of scientific ability, he draws down a chorus of boos.
Today's the day of punch or be punched - and make up your mind in a hurry which it's going to be. Don't punch, punch, punch with care, like Mark Twain's conductor - just punch. If you try to counter-punch, you're a bum. No, just punch and then punch some more. And be sure to punch hard enough to make the bimbos in the top row back hear the concussion.
The old fighters in all divisions were potentially no better than ours of today could be if the fans would let 'em alone.
You might as well give a couple of punks a pair of hammers and tell them to start swinging at each other - there's just that much science in boxing today. I blame it all on the intolerance of the fans. -- Billy Papke (former champion, age 42), April 11, 1929 SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER newspaper.