If you’re like us you’ve been scouring your www.direct.tv satellite channels recently for more MMA action. Here are a few of the players we’ve got our eyes on and that we think you should be watching, too.
Rashad Evans – Standing at only 5′ 11″ Rashad is a force to be reckoned with. He’s got a punch that packs a wallop and with eyes like steel his opponents never know what’s coming.
Forrest Griffin – You might know him from being (more…)
Lennox Lewis truly was a fantastic heavyweight boxing champion and his legacy in the sport will always reflect his greatness. A question will arise regarding his impact: was he the greatest heavyweight champion of modern boxing? That is not an easy question to answer as Lennox Lewis does get a lot of competition from other major champions such as Tyson and Holyfield.
Lennox Lewis does hold the distinction of being one of the few men to remain a credible claimaint to being an (more…)
Mike Tyson will most likely always be known as one of the greatest boxers who have ever lived. He began his fight in 1986 and quickly rose to fame. Throughout his career, he has had a total of 58 fights. Of those 58 fights, he has won 50 of them. Six of those fights were won by a knockout. Tyson experienced a decline in the 1990s. He experienced a failed marriage and was also convicted of rape in 1992. He returned to the ring in 1995, but he experienced even more problems.
In 1997, he (more…)
One of the most controversial figures in sports throughout the twentieth century, Muhammad Ali was the perfect balance of sublime showmanship and technical expertise. A heavyweight of exceptional hand speed and footwork,
Ali’s ability to move around the ring while inflicting continuous punishment with lightning quick jabs was the hallmark of a career that spanned two decades, and saw him claim the Heavyweight Crown three times.
In his prime Ali didn’t even bother to block punches! His movement was such that an opponent missed by millimeters (more…)
The current world boxing champions in the World Boxing Association (WBA) are:
Heavyweight champion David Haye from the UK has held his title since November of 2009.
Guillermo Jones of Panama holds the Cruiserweight title. He last defended his title in October of 2010.
Light heavyweight Beibut Shemeno remains at the top of his weight class after a recent title defending match in January of this year.
Fighter Dimitri Sartiso has been the WBA super middleweight champion since November 2009.
Gennady Glovkin holds the middleweight championship title.
The 154lb super welterweight Austin Trout of the United States recently captured (more…)
John Shotto Douglas, the Ninth Marquis of Queensbury sponsored John Graham Chambers, of the British Amateur Athletic Club, to write twelve rules regarding boxing.
Published in 1867, they superseded the earlier London Prize Ring rules written in 1838 and revised in 1853. If the Queensbury Rules don’t cover a certain question, the Prize Ring Rules are to be used.
The first rule states that the boxing ring will be of approximately 24 feet. The second forbids “wrestling or hugging”. The eleventh rule forbids shoes or boots with springs. The rest of the rules cover the fighting (more…)
10.Roy Jones Jr.
Roy Jones Jr. was a true natural athlete, built for the sport of boxing. His rare combination of speed, and power led him to one of the most dominant championship reigns in boxing history. When Jones was at his peak he had no equal.
9.Roberto Duran
The man with the hands of stone battled through 119 professional fights, winning 103 of them, and knocking out 70 of the men who faced him. He became the second boxer in history to fight in fight different decades, and held world titles in four weight classes.
8.”Sugar” (more…)
If you’re a boxing fan (or just a sports fan in general) you’ll probably really enjoy ESPN Films 30 for 30 documentary series in which thirty films from some of the most renowned filmmakers and storytellers cover some of the most compelling issues, trends, athletes, rivalries and more between the years 1979 and 2009.We know you’re probably a boxing fan since you’re reading this, so you’re going to really enjoy the segment titled “Muhammad and Larry” which chronicles the infamous rivalry of and the human element between the two. Directed by Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan, ESPN writes that the film documents the “mild-mannered and undervalued champion Holmes as he confidently prepared to put an end to the career of a man for whom he had an abiding and deep affection” as well as the “raw moments after Ali’s humbling in this one-sided fight.”Check out ESPN’s schedule for this film as well as the other 29 with titles such as:
If you’re like a lot of boxing fans, you also appreciate the nuances of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and periodically check out matches since they often contain boxing nuances and strategies.But unlike boxing, MMA has its own set of rules that govern victory in the octagon (the “ring” for those boxing fans who haven’t fully embraced the differences between the two disciplines).Sure, there’s the knockout which is called as soon as a contender becomes unconscious due to strikes. Since MMA allows ground fighting, fights are stopped to prevent further injury to unconscious fighters and this is known as a Technical Knockout (TKO).Also within this category (TKO) is referee stoppage when a fighter becomes dominant to the point where the opponent is unable to intelligently defend himself from attacks or when a fighter appears to have developed significant injuries in the referee’s view, such as a broken bone, that would prevent competitive fighting to continue.But in addition to these “knock outs” that are very akin to boxing, there is a way to achieve victory that is pure MMA and that is the submission or “tap out.” This usually occurs when one fighter (more…)
Sure, there are some great new movies out there about boxing like this year’s The Fighter starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, but if you’re into old school you may want to tap into a source like Netflix and consider a few of the following titles to get you through the next few months of winter without missing a single punch.