NFL Lockout Enables Football Players to Have Terrible Boxing Matches
by Scott Christ on May 23, 2011 1:58 PM EDT
in Boxing Commentary & Opinion
Email
PrintFirst off, here are, uh, some "highlights" of Minnesota Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards in his pro boxing (kind of) debut last Friday night.
Yeah. As you can see, he truly is like a mix of Ali, Tyson and Mayweather, just like his trainer says.
Here's what really bothers me about this crap. People say it's good because more people are paying attention to boxing when these things come up. No they aren't. They're paying more attention to the word "boxing," maybe, but not the actual sport. Ray Edwards is irrelevant in boxing. Tom Zbikowski is irrelevant in boxing (though again, Edwards makes Zbikowski look like Manny Pacquiao).
But none of the couple hundred people who attended this non-televised exhibition in Hinckley, Minnesota, or the few that will see this amazing footage, are going to go, "Holy cow, that looks awesome. I want to see more of this 'boxing' that I think Mo-hammed Ali used to do in that movie." People know what boxing is, and Ray Edwards and Tom Zbikowski are not the vehicle to lead them to the Gatti-Ward trilogy. And anyway, most of these lookie-loos would probably only care about the heavyweight division, which sucks and is 94% unwatchable even for serious boxing fans.
I don't want to really have the discussion. I've had it plenty. You can disagree with me. But this is just a rare situation where my mind's not changing. I don't think the other viewpoint has any basis in reality. That's just me. I could be wrong, but I'm quite certain I am not. And it's nothing to do with being an elitist, either. I want everyone to watch boxing. I want the TV ratings to be better than they are. I wish it was not a niche sport (which it is). I just don't think Ray Edwards is going to create new boxing fans by awkwardly pawing at a physically overmatched fellow non-boxer. And just to continue hammering this into the ground, we're also talking about Ray Edwards and Tom Zbikowski here, not major name, star football players.
So with the NFL lockout in effect, and the chance of a canceled or at least partially canceled NFL season coming, who would I pay attention to if they decided to follow Edwards' lead and take up boxing? (Tom Zbikowski actually boxed as an amateur. Not the greatest amateur competition, but he did really box. He does have an idea what he's doing. As harsh as I may have seemed in the past about Zbikowski, Edwards bugs me about 38584% more.)
Also keep in mind I don't think any of these guys can box. I'm just bored, to be honest.
1. Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers
Polamalu rules. He's aggressive, he hits like hell, and he chases dudes down constantly. Plus he's Samoan, and those dudes can fight, in my experience.
2. Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants
Jacobs already manages junior welterweight contender Kendall Holt, so why not? I always did wonder about Jacobs, who is 6'4" and a solid 260 pounds, in a boxing sense, because people like to do that whole, "Today's best heavyweights play football and basketball," and while I guess maybe I agree to a point, there's that whole issue of how well they get punched in the face.
3. Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens
Mostly I'd like to see someone punch Ray Lewis in the face. Legally. It's not going to be me, so it should be a pro boxer. Lewis recently said crime rates will go up if the NFL season is canceled. I was personally intrigued to find that there's a choice between watching football and robbing old ladies or the like.
4. Donovan McNabb, Washington Redskins
Well he's gotten pretty bad at football, so maybe he should cash out with a grudge match against Bernard Hopkins. McNabb should be allowed to wear his helmet.
5. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
I imagine Newton would pull a Juergen Braehmer on every scheduled fight with some fake injury. He might be the fakest person I've ever seen, and he's another guy I'd just like to see get whomped on the head. Just once, that's all. I don't want him to be beaten badly or anything.
Actually, I'm lying. I would rather see boxers box, and football players play football. I'm not jonesing to see Chad Dawson suit up at WR for the Lions, either.
21 comments
|
1 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
There is one ex-football player I'd like to see box...
As a member of the Raider Nation I’d LOVE to see Jamarcus Russell take on Cris Arreola. I’d pay whatever the asking amount was for ringside seats to that.
heavyweight pawing
i cant stand all that pawing
what ever happened to shooting that jab like larry holmes… if you’ve got the talent of mayweather ali and tyson all rolled into one, you should be able to shoot a decent jab
Edward's chin
left hanging out to dry there. I thought he was looking at something on the ceiling he had it raised that high.
Apparently he a mix of Ali, Tyson and Mayweather though, according to his trainer.
Shite.
Well, you can’t please everyone.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on May 23, 2011 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Football players should stick to football. Period.
I’m not sure if anyone’s familiar with TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) season 10 in particular, they had a bunch of washed up football players on the show, and most of them were terrible, and the one’s that were ’’alright’’ were either too old to have a legit shot in MMA or couldn’t take a hit.
The obvious exception would be Herschel Walker, but lets face it, he was fighting cans. You could also bring Brock Lesnar in on this, but he wasn’t really a football player, was he?
These type of things are done to garner interest from a wider audience, but it usually backfires when people actually realise how terrible football players fight.
The dividends, if there are any
will be yielded much later. Its a common theory that the state of boxing, specifically American heavyweight boxing is leeched by the pro football system. If up and coming athletes come to see boxing as good cross training and a back up plan perhaps we can break the monopoly. Its not uncommon that some of the best college athletes play basketball, baseball, and football growing up. If boxing was added to the mix, the kids that get a taste for it might prove to be stars.
When they start offering scholarships for boxing
then we might see a shift, but I don’t see that happening.
I agree scholarships
would go a long way. But, kids like to play for the love of the game as well, when they have exposure and access.
I agree 100%
If you are a fantastic athlete born in America and are 160 lbs, then you have a reasonable chance of ending up as a boxer.
If you are a fantastic athlete born in America and are 240 lbs, then you are almost certainly going to play Football or Basketball. It is just the economics of those sports compared to boxing.
That's
kind of how I feel. These guys are ridiculous, but it does strike me as can’t-win-for-losing syndrome-for years everyone moaned that football had gutted the H-weight div., but when they come bumbling back, they get kind of sent home. They do look hopeless, but your point about high school access seems sound to me. I think even if people are just using the word “boxing” more often, and nothing more, we’ve been in a time when you never, ever heard the word boxing used by anybody mainstream at all, at least around here (w. mass.us). Where there’s superficial awareness, there’s the possibility for more serious interest, seems to me.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Strikeout above accidental--first line stet.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Rec'd the article for the list SC.
Although I switch NO. 5 with No. 1, Newton just makes me mad.
Also if anyone feels the need to watch the beatuiful technique, and footwork of Edwards, here’s a link to shaky cam footage of the fight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKZlpL7bN24
Apparently “some” boxing circles were clamoring for Edwards to fight Kimbo Slice, but Edwards says he needs to settle things with Matt Mitrone first.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/27152/ray-edwards-kimbo-slice-not-likely
....
Apparently "some" boxing circles were clamoring for Edwards to fight Kimbo Slice
Also as I was typing this, I couldn’t laughing.
Ive been watching various weekday espn shows today
To see what they had to say about Bhop, only to see that ray edwards was the big boxing story of the weekend. Nearly threw up
I hate the Texans
by battle axe of doom on May 23, 2011 5:09 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I've paid virtually no attention to these things,
but I’ve naively assumed that these feckless stabs at boxing have simply been recreational larks by aggressive big guys who want to try something else while they aren’t being paid to run around in spandex. I’ve also assumed that virtually all the attention has come from NFL fans who just like to follow what these guys are doing.
But as I said, I’ve paid no attention: I haven’t taken this remotely seriously, and I don’t follow football.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Bad Left Hook
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
