Styles Make Fights, Or Who's The Preacher and Who's The Bear.

In boxing there is an “old saying”. Styles make fights. Which is just another way of saying; nobody really knows who will win a boxing match. Who knew that Tyson would lose that night in Tokyo? These are just a few of my observations on the styles that made the outcomes of special fights memorable.

   Machismo, There are boxers that relish taking a fighters best punch in an effort to "taste the venom" How many times have we seen a guy get hit and smile as if to say "you didn't hurt me". Granted, some of those shots weren't intentionally taken but fighters routinely compare the power of one fighters’ punch against another. One of the best examples was a boxer named Braxton AKA Dwight Muhammad Qawi 189¾ 26-2-1. In his epic confrontation at Atlanta's' Omni in Atlanta against Evander Holyfield. Holyfield won a Brawl that took 15 rounds to reach a split decision. Qawi's style was simple. "Take one give one".  Unfortunately for Qawi, he took more than one. Though he kept his head inside Holyfields’ power shots all night long, by literally resting his head on Holyfields’ chest, he caught "punches in bunches" and the style that eventually prevailed was Holyfields'. This leads me to one of my first observations.

 A fighter may get a taste, but he should never make a meal of another legitimate prospects power shots. Ask Marvin Hagler. After Tommy Hearns landed his vaunted right-hand in their championship bout, Marvin wasted no time in getting Tommy out of there. Marvin displayed championship heart in his response to the explosion of Hearn’s right hand on his face. Rather than a strategic retreat, Marvin charged straight into the power of Tommys' cannons and ended the heavy-handed diet that Tommy wanted to serve-up. If Marvin hadn't ended the fight in quick order, he probably would have been unable to go the distance and his face, under Tommie’s barrage, would have become a bloody pulp. This leads to my next observation.  Anytime a fighter takes an opponent’s best shot, without apparent harm, it has the psychological effect of the "preacher and the bear”.

" In this story a preacher and a deacon were praying one day, along came a bear to scare them away. The deacon told the preacher to say a prayer. (In response, the preacher bowed his head) and said "Lord our prayer won't kill that bear we got to run for it." And so Tommy ran. He ran until Marvin caught him along the ropes and served up his own brand of "Asswhup" The analogy is simple. If you hit the bear with your most powerful weapon and the bear just gets mad....It’s time to run.

     The psychological impact occurs in both fighters. The "hunter",,in this case Tommy Hearns, becomes the prey immediately after his failed attempt at a knockout (Tommy seldom failed) In Tommys’ mind he is fully capable of knocking any man out and all at once "Surprise!!" For Marvin (the prey) becomes the enraged and bloody predator. We can almost see him grow in size as a sort of metamorphosis takes place and he turns into a monster right before our eyes and certainly in front of Tommys’. Even if the fight were to go into later rounds, we already know who the aggressor would be because Tommy knows he can't hurt Marvin with one shot and “big punchers” are seldom motivated to train for fifteen rounds. Which is my third observation and there is no greater example than Big George Foreman in his bout with Ali.  Using the ropes in what he termed his "Rope-a-Dope" Ali was able to make the most powerful puncher of the day doubt himself by apparently taking his best shots ( is that all you got George?) while remaining in a vertical position( and all the while discussing things with George) It is probably at this point that the "legend" of Ali caught up with Big George and it dawned on him that maybe he should have trained to go the distance just in case the REAL Ali came to  fight.

   And last but not least there is the boxing debut of  Ed(TOO TALL) Jones.( Former Dallas Cowboy) For some reason there will always be guys who think that "Big is Bad" and the only skill they need is to be bigger than the other guy. In a bout best forgotten (I can't remember the opponent) A towering Ed was left in a pile by a journeyman fighter. This led to this observation. You can play football but you can't play boxing!