Boxing
Re: Boxing
ONS - The best boxing film, in my opinion, was 'Champion' with Kirk Douglas. I wish I had a photo of my Mum with Ali, that's mega.
I once played against Don Revie.
Re: Boxing
He wasn't well in that time, it was obvious, but the photo does indeed have two beautiful people in it My Mum always said that he still had the skill of 'communication' with his eyes and that he enjoyed the occasion, there must have been hundreds there to get his autographed book.johnh wrote:ONS - The best boxing film, in my opinion, was 'Champion' with Kirk Douglas. I wish I had a photo of my Mum with Ali, that's mega.
Best boxing flick? Hmm, that one's great John (Tony Curtis in it too?), but I always loved Someone Up There Likes Me, and Raging Bull though that's more a biopic than boxing story, about Jake Lamotta I think?.
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Re: Boxing
"Somebody up there likes me" is one of Paul Newmans best pics, plays Rocky Graziano.
Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
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Re: Boxing
The Harder They Fall was a gripping film about corruption in boxing, starring Humphrey Bogart as a sports writer.
He died about a year later, I think.
He died about a year later, I think.
Re: Boxing
I was a schoolboy boxer & my for my first fight I got a bye through to the Leeds final, I was against a guy called Wagstaffe, he went on to be the third best welterweight in the country, he absolutely battered me but I managed to last the three one & a half minute rounds, remarkably I was unmarked apart from scratches on my arms from his gloves, when I came out of the ring my trainer praised the way I'd defended myself & I suppose the lack of bruises proved his point.
The following year I won the Leeds final & came up against Wagstaffe in the Yorkshire semis, amazingly I beat him quite easily (unanimous decision) I went on to win the Yorkshire final & copied this feat for the following two years.
I was then chosen to represent Yorkshire boxing in the England selection tournament in Plymouth, I fought a kid called Mark Winter who never landed a blow on me & again I won by a unanimous decision.
I returned to Leeds awaiting my England call up to tour the boxing clubs of New York but the call never came so I asked my trainer what was going on, he made a phone call & discovered that Mark winter had been selected, he also discovered that two of Marks relatives were on the Selection comittee, I decided then that the three nights a week dedicated training followed by gym work in my breaks at School were not worth it so I gave it up.
THEN....I joined the RN & during one of the PT classes we were paired up against each other size for size however because I had answered truthfully when the instructor asked "Anybody boxed before?" I was paired with a tough looking guy called Maurice Perkins who was about three inches taller than me, we had a decent fight & again I was unmarked & he had a bloodied nose, I was reluctantly persuaded to box for the RN but only had three fights before I decided my heart was not going to be in it ever again, I didn't join up to box.
Funny thing is that even when I was enjoying boxing I wasn't really interested in watching, I didn't particularly like Ali, Not sure why maybe it's because I always wanted the underdog to win.
The following year I won the Leeds final & came up against Wagstaffe in the Yorkshire semis, amazingly I beat him quite easily (unanimous decision) I went on to win the Yorkshire final & copied this feat for the following two years.
I was then chosen to represent Yorkshire boxing in the England selection tournament in Plymouth, I fought a kid called Mark Winter who never landed a blow on me & again I won by a unanimous decision.
I returned to Leeds awaiting my England call up to tour the boxing clubs of New York but the call never came so I asked my trainer what was going on, he made a phone call & discovered that Mark winter had been selected, he also discovered that two of Marks relatives were on the Selection comittee, I decided then that the three nights a week dedicated training followed by gym work in my breaks at School were not worth it so I gave it up.
THEN....I joined the RN & during one of the PT classes we were paired up against each other size for size however because I had answered truthfully when the instructor asked "Anybody boxed before?" I was paired with a tough looking guy called Maurice Perkins who was about three inches taller than me, we had a decent fight & again I was unmarked & he had a bloodied nose, I was reluctantly persuaded to box for the RN but only had three fights before I decided my heart was not going to be in it ever again, I didn't join up to box.
Funny thing is that even when I was enjoying boxing I wasn't really interested in watching, I didn't particularly like Ali, Not sure why maybe it's because I always wanted the underdog to win.
Re: Boxing
Always enjoy reading your stories though Spidey, even if you didn't enjoy watching
Lousy break that, and whatever happened to the Winters? Nepotism stinks, whatever line of work it's in!
Lousy break that, and whatever happened to the Winters? Nepotism stinks, whatever line of work it's in!