How were people taken in by Tyson - Spinks ????

27 million for Mike and 13 million for Michael for a superfight in which I for one knew would be a walkover....

Fight brings back memories in alot of ways...Boxing was hot again....I had a dilemna where I was obsessed with a redhead who lived on another continent and not being sure if it was a fad or something more....and in many ways my life was reaching a crossroads at any early age...educationally and emotionally..

However one thing I was sure about was Spinks being flattened and I could never understand the hype and "SIZE" of the fight..

1. He was widely outpointed by an old and weary Holmes.......Gift decision in any language.
2. Everytime Holmes charged him in he desperately held on or hit the floor.
3. Everytime Holmes caught him clean his legs did a dance...Tyson was a much bigger hitter than Larry.
4. Michael's handspeed was much slower at Heavy and Tyson was much faster....
5. Spink's movement was restricted because of his damaged knee....

Never ever saw the remotest chance for Michael although I had Tyson in four........

Question is How were people taken in by Tyson-Spinks.....Did they all lose their marbles??

Without wishing to be a smartass, I saw it just as you did at the time, Truss. Spinks was a fabulous lightheavy, but a Tyson fight was a bridge too far.

The one that DID take me in was Holmes v Tyson. I was absolutely convinced that, over the hill or not, Larry had the savvy to frustrate and outscore Tyson. I boldly told everybody precisely that, and walked around about three feet tall after the fight.

A fine lesson in humility, if ever there was one.

I thought Tyson would win easily but I was about 10 at the time.

Picked Tyson early against Larry.......

However I actually picked Biggs to frustrate Tyson and win a decision...Lost a bet with my brother...

Think I was more like two feet tall....

You're not telling me that you are around 30 years old d4????

Had you down as 17 or something..

Truss, if he was 10 that'd make him 33 or so. Which is even more worrying.

Sadly i was only 6, so i didn't really have an opinion at the time. But with the cold hard facts it's hard to see how a naturaly LHW would've taken Tyson in his pomp, even if you do know the result.

Shame, as he was one of the great LHWs but everyone remembers him for getting sparked inside one against Iron Mike.

How? Hype...pure and simple.

This weekend's fight is yet another in a long line of massively over-hyped events. A fool and his money are soon parted and sometimes I think people actually WANT to be ripped off just so they can feel 'justified' in their indignation. Look at Haye/Audley...even Haye himself said it was going to be a massacre and people still bought it thinking Audley was going to make an effort. Those same people were on the message boards screaming, "Fix" within five seconds of it being called off by the ref. Err, you were warned!

That sad thing is that of the four fights featured on Saturday, the two that were most hyped (Pavlik and Manny) were the worst spectacles and the one that would have slipped under the radar had it not been on the undercard (Arce/Vazquez Jr) was an absolute corker.

What we need is a promotor who is as knowledgable about boxing as he is about selling. That way, we might one day get a great fight truly deserving of the hype but sadly these days we seem to get more duds that hits.

Don King could sell fridges to eskimos. Tyson was a huge draw. I believe people knew that Spinks had zero chance but the bought the fight to see how brutal the KO would be.

You not think Arum is very knowledgeable about Boxing....Top rank have promoted great fights over the years....

Fact is a good businessman looks for high reward at the lowest risk possible...

Arum is plenty knowledgeable..

Don't blame the Promoter blame the suckers that bought it..

We all knew the score with Shane.

Azania.......If i remember rightly some respected scribes at Ko and The ring got drawn in and thought Spinks could outbox Mike......

For some reason everybody seemed to lose perspective..

..and we've also had some real stinkers too...and to be honest, many of those were stinkers when they were originally mooted so why weren't they killed at the source? The problem for me is that we know promotors can make great match ups but still insist on putting together utter garbage.

If we were to poll boxing fans would they prefer A/ More fights on TV irrespective of their quality or B/ Less fights on TV but a guarantee that every single one would be a mini classic?

For some reason everybody seemed to lose perspective..

Yeah, they got caught up in the hype!

Big fights are aimed at the sports fan in general.....Boxing community means diddly squat.........

I'm as big a fight fan as anybody else but was greatly surprised at how sensible scribes gave Spinks a chance...

Tyson was box office no matter who he fought. And yes, Rink and KO both had it close in the build up. Leonard picked Spinks to win.

Two things.

1) It was or the unified HW crown. That alone is enough to sell.
2) It was Tyson.

Also people looked forward to a brutal KO and not a cagey fight as Tyson was never in a cagey fight. With Tyson, you knew what to expect. It was almost gladitorial and he drew on the neo primeval instincts that occupy the back of our minds.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Big fights are aimed at the sports fan in general.....Boxing community means diddly squat.........
I'm as big a fight fan as anybody else but was greatly surprised at how sensible scribes gave Spinks a chance...

Hence the reason most promotors are viewed with suspicion and treated with contempt.

Tubbs got 2 million dollars for Tyson...Spinks got 13 million.....

Didn't sell just because of Tyson or the undisputed thing..

It doesn't matter if Promoters are viewed with contempt..

Saw on another thread you stayed up to watch Mosley-Manny..

So I guess suckers like you are the reason Arum gets away with it.

Saw on another thread you stayed up to watch Mosley-Manny..

So I guess suckers like you are the reason Arum gets away with it.
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Didn't pay for it so I'm not sure it applies to me in that context...besides, there was enough on the undercard to pique my curiosity.

Wouldn't have paid for it if that's what you're angling at !

No I'm just saying that you bothered to stay up and watch a fight you've been slamming for weeks.....

When you should have been getting some beauty sleep or making love to your beautiful Wife...(You're newly married and not getting any younger)..

Well, I was up watching football then there was a film to watch and then before you know it, it's 2am. Pavlik's comeback and the always entertaining Jorge Arce made it worthwhile staying awake for the undercard and then at 5am, there didn't seem much point going to bed for the sake of another 45 mins. With my looks another hour's sleep isn't going to make that much difference...although I do thank you for your concern re my wife's needs...all taken care off (note to self: must thank whoever it is).