Still dangerous.

[1jkw]

I always liked boxing and was lucky enough to meet many world champions, Carmen Basillio, met him in his older years, when he shook your hand you thought he was much younger and bigger than the man in front of you. I got to talk to Larry Holmes one on one for about 15 minutes, he seemed like a really down to earth nice guy, I met him a few more times through the years and he even remembered me.  I met and talked with Tim Witherspoon,  I spent many coffee breaks and lunches talking to him as we were doing a job in the resort where he was training.  Security at the resort didn't want us bothering him, he cleared that up and even got me in to watch him spar.  He was a real funny guy and would always talk to me, if  I didn't seem him he would he would yell out to me, he even brought one of his sparring partners who was a former Denver Broncos player to meet me.  I met and talked to Oliver McCall many times as well he was there at the same time Witherspoon was, he was a quiet nice guy who pretty much only talked boxing. You may remember he had a mental breakdown during a fight. It was a real shame, he trained very hard and seemed like nice guy.   I saw George Foreman at another Pocono resort we were working at, we got to walk through a line to see him, he still had his sparring gear on, didn't get to talk just walk by and nod and say hi.  He is one big dude I will tell you, you don't realize how big he is until you are a few feet away.  You would hurt yourself just hitting him let alone him hitting you.

[Jimmy Snacks]

2 minutes ago, 1jkw said:

I always liked boxing and was lucky enough to meet many world champions, Carmen Basillio, met him in his older years, when he shook your hand you thought he was much younger and bigger than the man in front of you. I got to talk to Larry Holmes one on one for about 15 minutes, he seemed like a really down to earth nice guy, I met him a few more times through the years and he even remembered me.  I met and talked with Tim Witherspoon,  I spent many coffee breaks and lunches talking to him as we were doing a job in the resort where he was training.  Security at the resort didn't want us bothering him, he cleared that up and even got me in to watch him spar.  He was a real funny guy and would always talk to me, if  I didn't seem him he would he would yell out to me, he even brought one of his sparring partners who was a former Denver Broncos player to meet me.  I met and talked to Oliver McCall many times as well he was there at the same time Witherspoon was, he was a quiet nice guy who pretty much only talked boxing. You may remember he had a mental breakdown during a fight. It was a real shame, he trained very hard and seemed like nice guy.   I saw George Foreman at another Pocono resort we were working at, we got to walk through a line to see him, he still had his sparring gear on, didn't get to talk just walk by and nod and say hi.  He is one big dude I will tell you, you don't realize how big he is until you are a few feet away.  You would hurt yourself just hitting him let alone him hitting you.

Damn...that is really cool! 

[spin_dry]

6 hours ago, Anler said:

Greatest heavyweight boxer of all time

He was good. Although at his level there’s about 5 heavyweights in the history of boxing that would’ve traded wins when all were in their prime. He’s one of them. IMO it’s impossible to pick a best. Tyson was an early bloomer. Even if he had the life skills to survive, I doubt he could’ve been a contender past 26 or 27. His cardio sucked and as he approached 30 it would only get worse. 

[spin_dry]

13 minutes ago, 1jkw said:

I always liked boxing and was lucky enough to meet many world champions, Carmen Basillio, met him in his older years, when he shook your hand you thought he was much younger and bigger than the man in front of you. I got to talk to Larry Holmes one on one for about 15 minutes, he seemed like a really down to earth nice guy, I met him a few more times through the years and he even remembered me.  I met and talked with Tim Witherspoon,  I spent many coffee breaks and lunches talking to him as we were doing a job in the resort where he was training.  Security at the resort didn't want us bothering him, he cleared that up and even got me in to watch him spar.  He was a real funny guy and would always talk to me, if  I didn't seem him he would he would yell out to me, he even brought one of his sparring partners who was a former Denver Broncos player to meet me.  I met and talked to Oliver McCall many times as well he was there at the same time Witherspoon was, he was a quiet nice guy who pretty much only talked boxing. You may remember he had a mental breakdown during a fight. It was a real shame, he trained very hard and seemed like nice guy.   I saw George Foreman at another Pocono resort we were working at, we got to walk through a line to see him, he still had his sparring gear on, didn't get to talk just walk by and nod and say hi.  He is one big dude I will tell you, you don't realize how big he is until you are a few feet away.  You would hurt yourself just hitting him let alone him hitting you.

Lucky. 

[1jkw]

Just now, Jimmy Snacks said:

Damn...that is really cool! 

Right place at the right time I guess.  I would never post our actual  conversations,  Larry and I talked about boxing some other fighters and the money in the game.  Tim and I talked about anything and everything, and he was funny as hell. When I think back, it's hard to imagine that a guy like him and I would get along so well being from totally different world.

[1jkw]

1 minute ago, spin_dry said:

Lucky. 

Yes! And while I realized at the time it was pretty cool, I have a much greater appreciation now.

[Anler]

5 minutes ago, spin_dry said:

He was good. Although at his level there’s about 5 heavyweights in the history of boxing that would’ve traded wins when all were in their prime. He’s one of them. IMO it’s impossible to pick a best. Tyson was an early bloomer. Even if he had the life skills to survive, I doubt he could’ve been a contender past 26 or 27. His cardio sucked and as he approached 30 it would only get worse. 

He certainly succumbed to some demons and fame but yeah young Mike Tyson was as raw and talented as anyone ever. 

[spin_dry]

Just now, 1jkw said:

Yes! And while I realized at the time it was pretty cool, I have a much greater appreciation now.

I got to meet lurch and uncle fester when I was little. 

[spin_dry]

1 minute ago, Anler said:

He certainly succumbed to some demons and fame but yeah young Mike Tyson was as raw and talented as anyone ever. 

Mike had a tremendous work ethic. He’s also extremely bright. He studied films of boxers throughout history. He was relentless as a student of the sport. He simply doesn’t get enough credit for the effort and work that he put into his craft. Quite honestly, after Cus died he not only lost direction, but I think he was bored and frustrated. 

[Anler]

2 minutes ago, spin_dry said:

Mike had a tremendous work ethic. He’s also extremely bright. He studied films of boxers throughout history. He was relentless as a student of the sport. He simply doesn’t get enough credit for the effort and work that he put into his craft. Quite honestly, after Cus died he not only lost direction, but I think he was bored and frustrated. 

He has talked about that and yes I agree.

[1jkw]

2 minutes ago, spin_dry said:

I got to meet lurch and uncle fester when I was little. 

That's cool. My dad and my oldest brother called each other lurch;

I was at Mario Andretti's retreat, met his whole family Michael was probably 15 then, used to see Mario once in a while but not in years now. Met Bowser from Shanana.  Sat 3 feet away from Olivia Wilde and talked to her and the man and woman she was with for close to an hour.  Met the guy that played Munch on a cop show at the same place, never asked for pics. or autographs.

[Jimmy Snacks]

3 minutes ago, 1jkw said:

That's cool. My dad and my oldest brother called each other lurch;

I was at Mario Andretti's retreat, met his whole family Michael was probably 15 then, used to see Mario once in a while but not in years now. Met Bowser from Shanana.  Sat 3 feet away from Olivia Wilde and talked to her and the man and woman she was with for close to an hour.  Met the guy that played Munch on a cop show at the same place, never asked for pics. or autographs.

Ha...Richard Belzer.

[1jkw]

4 minutes ago, Jimmy Snacks said:

Ha...Richard Belzer.

My younger sister won a contest for a show called kids world and got to interview him in Scranton after a show, when she was done he came right over and shook my hand seemed like a nice guy.

[frenchy]

3 hours ago, spin_dry said:

He was good. Although at his level there’s about 5 heavyweights in the history of boxing that would’ve traded wins when all were in their prime. He’s one of them. IMO it’s impossible to pick a best. Tyson was an early bloomer. Even if he had the life skills to survive, I doubt he could’ve been a contender past 26 or 27. His cardio sucked and as he approached 30 it would only get worse. 

While Tyson was great at what he did, he didn't have all the tools necessary to be in the conversation as one of the best, most importantly the mental aspect.

[spin_dry]

11 minutes ago, frenchy said:

While Tyson was great at what he did, he didn't have all the tools necessary to be in the conversation as one of the best, most importantly the mental aspect.

He was good. His defense was exceptional. If you believe Tyson, he thought Ali would’ve chopped him up. He described Ali as pure evil in the ring. An instinct fighter. 

[1jkw]

16 minutes ago, spin_dry said:

He was good. His defense was exceptional. If you believe Tyson, he thought Ali would’ve chopped him up. He described Ali as pure evil in the ring. An instinct fighter. 

I remember Foreman saying he had just hit Ali with all he had, Ali pulled him in and said in his ear "is that all you got Georgie boy" and Foreman said  to himself something like yeah that's about it.

[frenchy]

25 minutes ago, spin_dry said:

He was good. His defense was exceptional. If you believe Tyson, he thought Ali would’ve chopped him up. He described Ali as pure evil in the ring. An instinct fighter. 

I think Lennox Lewis in his prime probably could have beaten Tyson at is absolute best.  He lost his shit when he couldn't scare people or knock them out early and as you said his cardio just wasn't there.

Edited July 6, 2019 by frenchy

[Jimmy Snacks]

4 minutes ago, 1jkw said:

I remember Foreman saying he had just hit Ali with all he had, Ali pulled him in and said in his ear "is that all you got Georgie boy" and Foreman said  to himself something like yeah that's about it.

I've heard Foreman tell that story...pretty damn funny. 

[1jkw]

Just now, Jimmy Snacks said:

I've heard Foreman tell that story...pretty damn funny. 

Yes he told with a smile on his face too.

The first Chiropractor I ever went to had worked on Ali, he said that Ali was a huge man that had natural muscle structure that all other boxers of his time had to lift weights to achieve.  He also said that Ali was as near perfect a specimen of a human that ever existed.