I would glue myself to the TV back in the heyday of Muhammad Ali, Smokin' Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston and the others. I was watching ESPN Classics yesterday, and got reminded of one reason Muhammed Ali was so sucessful. Sure enough he could float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, but he could also hang on behind the other guy's head when he got pinned and the refs never did anything but swatt (ineffectively) at his hand every once in a while. Ali's style was to dance and jab, and then suddenly turn on the heat and land a flurry of really good stuff, then revert to dancing and jabbing.
Much is said about home cooking in football, but I never heard anything said about boxing. I guess strictly speaking it wasn't "home" in the sense it was his home town, but for some reason the refs never gave him a serious warning, much less take away a point. Whenever Frazier (or others) would finally get past the jab and start doing serious damage Ali would grab the neck and hold on until he could slip away. I watched almost a full fight the other night and was amazed at what he got away with every fight. When the refs let one guy get away with stuff like that, you are almost the loser before the fight ever starts.
Much is said about home cooking in football, but I never heard anything said about boxing. I guess strictly speaking it wasn't "home" in the sense it was his home town, but for some reason the refs never gave him a serious warning, much less take away a point. Whenever Frazier (or others) would finally get past the jab and start doing serious damage Ali would grab the neck and hold on until he could slip away. I watched almost a full fight the other night and was amazed at what he got away with every fight. When the refs let one guy get away with stuff like that, you are almost the loser before the fight ever starts.