it has definitely been a pleasure watching "too sharp" fight. i have followed his career since the amatuers.. but the "promoter hat" he is trying to wear is going to be his most difficult opponent, especially in this area. why that is, i don't know.
Once again - outstanding job, Gary. I wish Mark the best, and am glad to hear that he is indeed thinking and planning for life outside the ring. Whether that happens now, or a few years from now, it will eventually happen. Sadly, some pro athletes don't wan't to really fully acknowledge this fact. Anyways, first off...I stated before that I would personally prefer to see Johnson retire, but think it's possible he may still have something left. I stated that I didn't think he should fight above 118.lbs if so, but he knows his body better than I do.
As for the promoting - obviously you folks have some "issues" over there, and are far more familiar with what's going on there than a West Coast guy such as myself is, but I think PART of the problem may be a bit bigger than just the Beltway area. Even though Boxing continues to often put up big numbers on PPV/SHO/HBO, the overall state and health of Boxing in America...Is not all that good right now.
(Anyways, perhaps more on that later. Keep up the good work.)
Same here in The Northwest and Central Cali area, Gary. Unless ODLH is fighting, or Tyson "does something", you'll barely hear a peep or read jacksquat. It wasn't like that in the 70's, 80's, and even to some extent the 90's, though. We used to at least have decent coverage and news of the sport. I'm afraid Boxing - in large part due to itself - has become a 'fringe sport' of sorts.
It'll never be on the level of a Baseball, Basketball, Football again...But I do believe that this can be rectified to some extent. As cynical as I can be at times, I suppose I can also be a bit of an 'optimistic fool' as well...(LOL)
P.S- I try and keep a close beat on all the areas Gary,(I even tried Iceland and Finland!) but have kind of taken a bit of an added interest in the Beltway area due to some of it's unique characteristics (and characters!) and your outstanding coverage and blog.
it has definitely been a pleasure watching "too sharp" fight. i have followed his career since the amatuers.. but the "promoter hat" he is trying to wear is going to be his most difficult opponent, especially in this area. why that is, i don't know.
ReplyDeleteOnce again - outstanding job, Gary. I wish Mark the best, and am glad to hear that he is indeed thinking and planning for life outside the ring. Whether that happens now, or a few years from now, it will eventually happen. Sadly, some pro athletes don't wan't to really fully acknowledge this fact. Anyways, first off...I stated before that I would personally prefer to see Johnson retire, but think it's possible he may still have something left. I stated that I didn't think he should fight above 118.lbs if so, but he knows his body better than I do.
ReplyDeleteAs for the promoting - obviously you folks have some "issues" over there, and are far more familiar with what's going on there than a West Coast guy such as myself is, but I think PART of the problem may be a bit bigger than just the Beltway area. Even though Boxing continues to often put up big numbers on PPV/SHO/HBO, the overall state and health of Boxing in America...Is not all that good right now.
(Anyways, perhaps more on that later. Keep up the good work.)
Quick question Gary...
ReplyDeleteHow often do you read about Boxing in your local Sports page these days, or hear about it on the local Sports Talk Radio station?
(Some areas are better than others, and I'm genuinely curious.)
In this area, pro boxing is not talked about much at all.
ReplyDeleteThe newspapers may do a couple of stories here and there. Our two sports talk stations don't talk about it at all.
That is the main reason for this blog in the first place; to inform people that live in this area about how good the boxing scene is.
As always, though, we welcome everybody!
Mark I wish you well and hope you can get it done. We need boxing in DC bad Mark please work hard on it
ReplyDeleteMark did you hear somebody aske about you an Vinson.Some body get in touch with Mark and see how he feel about this.
ReplyDeleteSame here in The Northwest and Central Cali area, Gary. Unless ODLH is fighting, or Tyson "does something", you'll barely hear a peep or read jacksquat. It wasn't like that in the 70's, 80's, and even to some extent the 90's, though. We used to at least have decent coverage and news of the sport. I'm afraid Boxing - in large part due to itself - has become a 'fringe sport' of sorts.
ReplyDeleteIt'll never be on the level of a Baseball, Basketball, Football again...But I do believe that this can be rectified to some extent. As cynical as I can be at times, I suppose I can also be a bit of an 'optimistic fool' as well...(LOL)
P.S- I try and keep a close beat on all the areas Gary,(I even tried Iceland and Finland!) but have kind of taken a bit of an added interest in the Beltway area due to some of it's unique characteristics (and characters!) and your outstanding coverage and blog.