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Ward vs Gatti
doubledragon
Posts: 23,201 ✭✭✭✭✭
in Sports Talk
Classic battle, here's the highlights if you got eight minutes to spare, I remember watching this fight and being in awe of these two guys that night, neither man willing to surrender.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2XgZjz6btCc3
Comments
Epic battles
Yes indeed, tough as nails Irish Micky Ward, from Lowell Massachusetts, I love watching his left hook to the liver, a thing of beauty.
Epic fights. I spent my first seven years in Lowell, and still have family there and in the surrounding area.
Not familiar with either one. I used to be a big boxing fan, but that interest has waned dramatically over the years for a number of reasons. I can't even name the heavyweight champ right now.
The best fight I ever saw live, it was on TV, was the George Foreman - Ron Lyle fight. Just brutal...edge of your seat brutal.
Best fight moment ever, that i saw live, on TV - When Buster Douglas put the hammer to Mike Tyson who was quite loathed at the time. Douglas if I'm not mistaken was around a 40-1 dog, which in boxing is basically a sure thing loss with no chance, but not this time.
A lot of people don't follow boxing these days, which is understandable, all of the familiar faces are gone from the sport, and unlike the four major sports, you don't get a guaranteed season every year where you can just turn on the TV and watch a game. I do have a fascination with the sport, it's my favorite, and I like to post videos from time to time of great fights, although I don't expect many replies. 😂😂
I think what started the demise was the too many boxing associations with the different champs. It sort of got watered down to the point of disinterest from much of the public.
Perhaps the popularity of MMA is responsible as well.
Yeah, I hear you, there's two heavyweight champions right now and they won't even fight eachother to unify the titles and crown an undisputed king, it's ridiculous. I much prefer watching old youtube videos of fights from the past to get my fix, and of course collecting boxing cards and photos, I'm a boxing junkie, I'm on ebay all day everyday Steve, and I love it!
Boxing cards are cool. I think vintage cards are cool of almost any genre. I'm not at all into Pokémon cards, but I respect the collection interest of those who are.
But those old vintage cards, if I'm searching say T206 or using some key words which could lead to a large lot that I can flip, and the algorithm points me to a lot of old vintage cards of could be anything. Sometimes if I like them and the lot price is cheap, say under 50 bucks, I'll buy them for the yell of it. Just to collect, not to flip. I've never been disappointed with any purchase.
I love collecting, and I love boxing, two of my true passions, I collect rare boxing stuff, cards and type 1 original photos mostly, there's no feeling better than hunting for rare boxing treasures on ebay and other various places, I feel like Indiana Jones looking for archaeological artifacts, and throw in my favorite sport for good measure and it's just a blast!
There's nothing like a good fight, two guys taking eachother to the edge of the abyss, for anyone interested, Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera highlights, this one left me speechless, fight of the decade.
I know that feeling.
Continued good luck with that. 😊
I do a lot of insurance work. Car went through a garage of a condo. Doing demo work to prepare for framing. Owner of the unit seems to be a paranoid lady. She had a rather large African American sitting in the garage watching everyone work. I introduced myself and my crew. I said I'm Ralph. He shook my hand, said his name was James. A week or two later we went back to install the CMU. (fancy name for concrete block) No one was there. My foreman put his hand on the doorknob to the unit, twisted it to confirm it was locked. It wasn't. He pulled it shut but an alarm went off. I figured the lady would call a neighbor who could tell her what was happening. I sent my crew off as we were finished for the day. I stayed on the jobsite in case police were coming to check out the alarm. About a half hour later here comes an Uber. Driver gets out. Trying hard to get out of the rear seat is James. Seemed to be a struggle for him. Uber driver took his picture, I figured some kind of time stamp to show when he arrived. I explained what happened and assured him no one entered the unit. When the door handle turned the door simply moved enough to set off the alarm. He called the lady who was most unhappy. She had him go in to be sure all was ok. Kind of made me wonder what in the world she had in there, and why in the world was the door unlocked. About a half hour later he came out and told the lady all was ok. He went on his way and I went on my way. I texted my guys and said if he came after me he could not catch me, I'm mid 70s and I couldn't catch Tim Conway. I also told them if he caught me there would not be much he could do to me. Came to find out James was James "Buster" Douglas.
http://www.unisquare.com/store/brick/
Ralph
BTW I believe he was 90 to one underdog against Tyson.
http://www.unisquare.com/store/brick/
Ralph
great story!
I misread the title and thought that for some reason we were going back to the 1982-83 Twins and comparing Gary Ward and Gary Gaetti.
Seems like Douglas was either a friend of the lady, possibly a boyfriend of the lady. In any event, an interesting story to meet a celebrity in that way.
Nice to see at least at that time, that Douglas appeared to be mentally okay. As we all know, too many fighters end up punch drunk and broke. Shafted by those such as Don King, and corrupt business managers who drain them dry.
Awesome story @Brick, Yes Buster Douglas was a huge underdog against Mike Tyson, no one gave him a chance, he was supposed to be a "tune up" for Mike Tyson before Tyson fought the number 1 contender at the time Evander Holyfield. The Buster Douglas that showed up in Tokyo Japan that night was anything but a tune up, he had lost his mother 20 days prior to the fight, and he went out there with a very heavy heart and I don't think Tyson knew what he was dealing with, a man who just lost his mother and was on a very different level emotionally. Tyson at the time was thought to be unstoppable and unbeatable, he was tearing everything in his path apart, and everyone thought Douglas was going to be just another victim, but Douglas came right out of the gate and took the fight to Tyson, punishing him with his jab and combinations, catching Tyson coming in, and slowly wearing Tyson down. Everyone thought it was just a matter of time before Tyson caught Douglas with a bomb and ruined Douglas's great effort, and in round 8 Tyson did just that, he caught Douglas with an uppercut and put him down hard, but Douglas picked himself up off the canvas and survived it. Most guys would have felt deflated and defeated and given up after being leveled by Tyson like that, but Douglas knew he had to answer back after being flattened by Tyson. Everyone thought Tyson would come out of the gate in round 9 and finish the job, and Tyson came out and went after Douglas, but Douglas wasn't having it, he wasn't about to let Tyson steal his moment of destiny, and shockingly Douglas proceeded to take the fight to Tyson and batter him. In round 10 Douglas landed a booming uppercut on Tyson and followed it up with a vicious right, left, right combination and Tyson was done. Douglas wasn't the best fighter of his era, he could be lazy and unmotivated at times, but on that night in Tokyo, he was something else. It is one of the greatest performances I've ever seen in a boxing ring period, going in there against the most feared fighter in the history of the sport, seizing the moment, and stepping into immortality. No doubt Douglas's mother passing away had a lot to do with what happened in Tokyo that night and I'm positive she was watching down on her son as he pulled off the greatest upset in the history of the sport.
May have been at some bookies. Likely a lot of bridge jumpers unloaded on Tyson to win an "easy" few percent on their money on a "sure thing." Bookies always try to even out the action, so they can make a profit no matter who wins. Those bookies who took big action on Mike, were hoping to get some "suckers" to bet on Buster at irresistible odds.
Well the Buster money turned out not to be a sucker bet, didn't it? 💲💲💲💲💲
By the way, @galaxy27 gifted me with this autographed Buster Douglas glove a few years back, thank you again buddy, I cherish this item and will take it to the grave with me.
Wow, what a tremendous nice gift from Galaxy! 👍
BTW - I could sure use an autographed glove from Babe Ruth if anybody's got one laying around. 😊
I forgot about Buster's mom. I agree, that had to be some great emotional motivation for Buster to win one for his mom in heaven.
But you're exactly right, Douglas came out with a planned fight strategy of attacking Tyson and bullying him. Rather than the other way around as Tyson did in basically all of his previous fights. The strategy worked like a charm.
Although frankly, i'd have to believe that Tyson didn't train properly for this fight, physically and mentally. Thinking he couldn't lose even if he wasn't in the best of shape. Wouldn't surprise me if Mike spent the night before, having fun with a party of Geisha girls.
Tyson was definately not in the right frame of mind, I think the announcers even said he looked "bored" pre-fight, I think he thought it was just another day at the office. But by then, things were falling apart for Tyson, the partying, the legal problems, it was the beginning of the end.
Ya gotta like the way Mike has turned his life around. He's got a nice family, he's got that hobby with the pigeons, and he's been on various shows even making fun of his former life.
It was the Charlie Sheen roast where Amy Schumer savagely roasted Mike some years back, long after Mike had retired. Mike was part of the dais of roasters. But Mike took it for the good fun that roasts are, and laughed about the jokes right along with everyone else.
Mike did unretire for that one fight recently whose opponent name i forget. But i don't think it was a sanctioned fight. I thought that was a bad idea. Not sure if Mike plans on doing it again or not? I didn't pay much attention to the story, and didn't watch it.
No doubt about it, he's matured over the years, which is good to see, and you're correct, he did unretire to fight Roy Jones Jr, another legend in the sport, in an exhibition fight, which was basically just two guys who missed being in the ring so much that they had to have a taste of their past glory. I personally think they should just hang it up for good, no sense in suffering anymore damage to their health, Evander Holyfield came out of retirement a while back for the same reasons, he missed the sport, and Holyfield took a rather ugly beating, it was sad to watch, the sport takes a lot out of you.
that glove very much belonged in your possession
love & peace baby!
These guys need to know and understand that there's a big difference between a 20 or 30 year old getting hit on the head, versus a 50 or 60 year old. A younger body simply because of youth, can absorb punishment much better than an older body.
Look at Bob Saget the comedian. He was around 65 years old. He falls in the bathroom, hits his head, and dies. A young person doing the exact same thing, probably would have just had a bump on his head and laughed about it.
But I guess some such as Tyson and Holyfield, lived like gladiators, and maybe they figure they'll die like gladiators. Perhaps that mind frame is what made them great fighters to begin with.
Sorry guys, I'm going to have to cut you off for a minute here, wow, holy crap, looked what just popped up on ebay, I've never seen one of these pop up on ebay before, the famous 1948 Leaf Rocky Graziano, the holy grail of boxing cards, I'm speechless. Asking price, $32,500. Wow, just wow!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/145300862995?_trkparms=amclksrc=ITM&aid=777008&algo=PERSONAL.TOPIC&ao=1&asc=20221115143302&meid=d7a1f26cb00c40c0951515eb61a51c3b&pid=101613&rk=1&rkt=1&mehot=none&itm=145300862995&pmt=0&noa=1&pg=4375194&algv=RecentlyViewedItemsV2Mobile&_trksid=p4375194.c101613.m4236&_trkparms=parentrq:9ede668518a0a5155fc13a91ffff7fc4|pageci:e32078cd-54af-11ee-8a9d-92f43603ae81|iid:1|vlpname:vlp_homepage
I just emailed the seller and told him whatever doubledragon offers ya, I'll go $100 higher.
You'd think for 32 dimes, the seller would clearly tell ya why it received an A grade?
Does look like the left edge and top right corner was tampered with.
In any event, a heckuva nice card.
Why not take a small fraction of the money that have underneath your mattress and buy it? 😉
LOL, I wish, it's a mythical card, much like the T206 Wagner. It appears that more and more people are watching the card, undoubtedly my rival boxing card collectors, I despise them, my sworn enemies for life, they want what's mine, bastards.
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Is the Afor authentic or altered. Either way, so they are trying to get that much for the worst version of the card? Wow.
I just saw where you setup a GoFundMe page to buy the Graziano card.
I sent $5. Sorry, that's all I can afford.
You're welcome.
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Please, DD, consider that fiver from me too. You're welcome.
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I'm sure you've seen this, DD, but thought it would fit well here. Ward vs Alfonso Sanchez. It's a short 5 minute video showing clips of the fight through it's seven rounds. First six rounds Ward doesn't do much, and the announcers are harping on the idea that the fight should be stopped because Ward almost doesn't seem to be throwing anything at times. Well, the fight is stopped. By Ward. In the 7th. Lol.
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I just did some reading. I understand the rarity. But what has been done to that card? Is it so rare that it just doesn't matter? Is that asking price in line with what it should be for that version of the card? I'm curious. 🤷
Thanks for your contributions guys, only $32,490 to go! 😂😂
@thisistheshow, Yes I've seen that Ward vs Sanchez fight, man that was one of the most beautiful body shots I've ever seen, I love it, I must have watched it a hundred times, it's just beautiful, a work of art.
It really doesn't matter that it looks trimmed, the 1948 Leaf Rocky Graziano is mythical. The story goes that in 1948 when the set was beibg made, Graziano was supposed to be a part of the set but Graziano had a beef about how much he wanted to be paid by Leaf to use his likeness on the card, so Graziano and Leaf couldn't reach an agreement and he was not to be included in the set. But the thing is, Leaf had already produced some cards of him and somehow they got out there, I'm not really sure how they got out there but they did.
And only a handful of the Leaf Graziano exists, I think PSA has graded 6 copies, I'm not sure about the other grading companies. Here is a nice copy of the card that went for $85,200 at Goldin auctions a while back.
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Actually, $32,495, as that fiver was from the both of us (I piggybacked).
You probably also just received this email from Ebay:
eBay
Because you viewed this item, here’s a special offer.
A few other interested buyers also received this offer – it won’t last long. Hurry and take advantage right away!
Offer: $29,999.00
Review offer
Discount
$2,501.00
Offer valid
48h
As a matter of fact I did, the offer is sitting on my ebay home page as we speak, ebay is very methodical about stuff like that, they want to make sure I see it every second of the day until it expires, try to lure me into buying it. I've also noticed that sometimes when I view an item but don't buy it, they'll put that item at the top of the page on the next search results, they want me to see it again, so maybe I'll have second thoughts and buy it, very diabolical, they want every nickel they can get out of me!
See, here it is on my home page, staring me right in the face!
Those little Ebay b@ds, there oughta be laws against this. 😆
It's obvious what the seller is trying to do. Hoping there's a boxing card fan whale out there in which money is no object.
Still a very nice card considering the rarity. But in reality compared to the 8.5, and this one is trimmed and who knows what else because the seller isn't saying anything about why it's an A, in my opinion it's worth considerably less than 30k.
How much less, i have no idea?