German boxing legend Max Schmeling dies, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4-1470513,00.html My Father, introduced me to this sport and i have been a great admirer of past champions. Schmeling, beating Joe Louis, was an insermountable task....
Yep, sorry to hear that. The '30s produced some great champions such as Schmeling....in the days before umpteen weight classes & an alphabet soup mess of sanctioning bodies, leading to 3-4 "world champs" in each weight class. Though the press in the day tried to play up the racial implications, both Schmeling & Louis fought, and held the title, with great dignity. Even in the grainy old black 'n' white newsreel footage, you can see they were tough sons-o'-guns.
I've heard alot about him!! My dad used to box, taught by his uncle, then got my brothers and some of their friends in Golden Gloves, really young. Somewhere along the line, boxing became less of an art, more like - a bad mixture of comedy, brutality, with matches that would never have been made, just to make a TV special. I remember the Fight Nights on TV, course there was no close circuit then!! Ali did alot to bring it back, when the big $$$ saw the popularity of him, then the money coming in, the sportmanship of it all was all too much for those greedy &^%^&> whatevers. Too Bad, there are so many young kids that think boxing is knocking someone out in 3 seconds. Being a bully, getting your brains pushed to mush, well, when you come from no place, I guess, it seems worth it, even if you can't box a lick. It seems to be about just using up these kids, for entertainment, for dollars, like Kleenex, it's a shame, most of them shouldn't even be in a ring. It must disgust alot of people that know how much time, training, and just plain hard work it all takes. Well, everything seems to come and go in cycles, maybe the public will get tired of the "meanness" and look around for real talent? Don't know, so much has changed. I know so many young guys growing up that learned alot about discipline, fairness, working towards a goal, lots of attributes that are still needed to grow up and live in the world now, seems it is sorely needed. Especially the part of EARNING Respect, not just knocking someone around and thinking you ARE respected or even DESERVE Respect. Nuts!! Should call one of my brothers tonite, we can groan and moan about all this stuff, gee, the old days show up for everyone, huh? Who'd uh thunk it