Professor Chuck Marbry
PROFESSOR MARBRY ON THE SUBJECT OF BOXING & MMA
Charlotte, NC– The blahs that have taken over the sport of professional boxing have taken its toll on the writing about the sport as well; it seems much of the discussion around boxing sites and blogs the past several years has been either how boxing is dying and how MMA is kicking its tail, or imaginative “who the greatest pound-for-pound of all time” is, or, “could this guy from this era beat this guy from this era.” This always seems to happen when there is a lack of real competition in the ring.
BOXING’S UPS & DOWNS ALL ABOUT HAVING RIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP
However, this is nothing new. Jack Johnson was so dominant that any real competition was soon hard to come by. Joe Louis had his “Bum of the month” club. The point is, boxing, like most sports is cyclical. Boxing in some form has been around almost forever. The first evidence of the sport is found in Mesopotamia in stone carvings from around 500-600 BC. And since that time , there has hardly been a time that men (and sometimes women) have not raised gloved or ungloved fists to one another. And it’s not likely that boxing will die tomorrow. But it is cyclical. It simply has it’s up and downs.
Professor Chuck Marbry
AND THEN THERE WAS THE “GREAT WHITE NOT”
While Jess Willard made some happy with his “win” over an aged Jack Johnson, Willard did not turn out to be the exciting “Great White Hope” that so many Whites had longed for. Big Jess was huge, slow, and had no personality to speak of. In short, Jess Willard was not the champion America wanted, and it would be another four years before the “white hope” of the country’s fantasy would come to the fore, realized in the form of Jack Dempsey. So boxing had a lull, and the cry was “Save us Jack Dempsey!”
DEMPSEY & THE FIRST MILLION DOLLAR GATE!
Then Dempsey became champion and all was well in fistiania. After Dempsey’s reign, boxing went through a series of heavyweight champions that didn’t exactly capture the American imagination; Gene Tunney was methodical, Max Schmeling had the misfortune of being born in the wrong country in the wrong time. Jack Sharkey, Primo Carnera, neither could sell out an arena if their life depended on it. And boxing was slumping again.
JETHRO BODINE OF BEVERLY HILLBILLIES FAME WAS MAX BAER’S SON!
Max Baer could fight and had more charisma than he knew what to do with. And so, with Max Baer and the riches to rags to riches story of James J. Braddock caught Americas attention like probably nothing before, at a time in the nations history when so many people needed some kind of hope to cling to. Boxing was on the upswing.
BRADDOCK NEVER DID NOTHING BUT “PLAY” FIGHTS
Braddock pulled off the upset of a lifetime, won the heavyweight championship, but only fought exhibitions for two years. Boxing was slumping again. But another fistic savior was on the horizon, so the cry became “Save us Joe Louis!”
ALONG CAME A BLACK MAN THAT DIDN’T ACT BLACK AT ALL!
Joe Louis was packaged as everything Jack Johnson was not, plus Joe Louis packed dynamite in both hands, and could box circles around anybody. So when Louis won the heavyweight championship, boxing was back. However, as in the case when you have one so dominant, Louis soon ran out of contenders, which brought about the “Bum Of the Month Club.” Boxing began to slide again. But on the horizon out of Brockton, Massachusetts, loomed another savior, Rocky Marciano.
THE CLAY-ALI ERA HAD A GREAT CAST OF HEAVYWEIGHTS
Then came Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, and to a lesser extent Ken Norton. It was “Fistic Heaven” in the heavyweight division for a glorious while. Then boxing had a long dry stretch, until out of Catskills by way of Brooklyn, New York came Mike Tyson. Boom! Boxing was back.
NAYSAYERS SAY THERE WAS NEVER BEFORE A CHALLENGER LIKE MMA
Cycles. Boxing has and will continue to have it’s ups and downs. And it is in a down cycle now. But boxing ain’t been KO’d yet. Not by MMA. Not by greedy, seedy promoters, not by lousy fighters. And out there, somewhere, is someone that will, once again, capture our attention, and bring life back to the sport.
Professor Chuck Marbry