Fights I would love to see

I just finished watching Skip Bayless on ESPN, and of course watching him made me angry.This post is a manifestation  of my anger.

5. First fight I would love to see is Bear vs Shark

Both of these animals dominate their prospective territories. The Shark rules the ocean, the Bear rules the forest. The best place for these two animals to have this epic showdown would be in outer space

Outcome: Who cares? Its a bear vs a shark in outer space I would be f'ing awesome.

4.Pete Rose vs Thurman Munson

I never saw Pete Rose or Thurman Munson play, but the highlight of Pete Rose destroying Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game and ending his career ,made me wish that there was a catcher out there that Rose should fight. Munson should be that man to fight for the honor of all catchers out there. Outcome: Munson just overpowers Rose, but Rose secretly wagers a million on himself losing hence why Munson just destroys him.

3. Mike Tyson vs Lyle Alzado

Two men on two different types of crazy. Alzado fueled by Roids, Tyson fueled by his personal demons. Whatever venue hold this match would just explode. Outcome: This match would most likely end both Tyson and Alzado killing each other.

2. Bruce Lee vs .Royce Gracie

Bruce Lee beat Chuck Norris who is the modern day version of bad ass, Royce Gracie beat everybody and everything in every weight class when the UFC first started out. He may have not put it on the map but he gave it a face. When I saw him beat boxers, 400lb guys, and basically everything they threw at him I often wondered how bad Bruce Lee would have beaten him. Bruce Lee is legendary and basically "Unreal Bro". Without Bruce Lee there would be no Royce Gracie, Jackie Chan, or any other Martial Artist you enjoy watching. Outcome Bruce Lee distracts Royce with his yells and just plainly knocks him out.

1. Skip Bayless vs Stephen A. Smith in a steel cage.

First of all I feel like these two have already fought , at some point off camera these guys must have tried to kill each other.

Skip Bayless is paid to make me and everybody else angry, he is a paid to hate, could be the worst kind of hater since he most likely doesn't believe half of the things that come out of his mouth. Stephen on the other hand must be paid by the volume of his voice, I never seen a person scream or raise his voice for no reason like he does. Unfortunately the type of spin that these two provide is entertaining hence why they are paid and on tv, but please ESPN when you are done using these clowns nothing would make me happier then seeing these two try to kill each other in a steel cage Outcome: Skip Bayless most likely has no heart, Stephan probably has too much of it. Stephen dominates Bayless in what would be the most entertaining fight that I would love to see.

These are the fights I would pay and love to see, got a better match up? Please let me know with your comments

Floyd Mayweather Jr: Still a Dick

The entire nation is buzzing about the wacky fight on Saturday. Unfortunately, none of us saw it. I was playing ping pong in Carroll Gardens with Bottle, Hater J was sleeping and everyone else was either at a bachelor party or just didn't care. Whoops. Anyway, we still have some opinions on Money Mayweather.

Floyd's the boxer everyone loves to hate. He's best buds with 50 cent, and he's definitely picked up a thing or two from Curtis about being a very obnoxious, very rich asshole. Even before Saturday's sucker punches and old man threatening, Floyd was not the most likable person. He may sport an undefeated resume and title belts galore but is he the best pound for pound fighter alive? Of course, there's one fight that every one (and I mean everyone) wants to see and would probably be the most watched pay per view event of all time. And since a young Tyson vs. young Ali is probably not going to happen any time soon, we'll settle for Mayweather Pacquiao. Will this ever happen?

PTU Boxing expert and resident Puerto Rican Hater J's thoughts:

He'll fight Pacquio. Mayweather will fight when the Pac Man finishes a big fight, is slower, older, and declining from his current prime condition. Floyd will also have a one year self imposed layoff ensuring he's fresh for the fight. When the fight happens, he will jab for 12 rounds, get into another fight with Larry Merchant, mentioning "no one respects him although he proved he's the best, yet again".

His whole career has been like that.

Look at the notable wins:
Juan Manuel Marquez fought his entire career below 135 and fought Mayweather at 144. Mayweather showed up at 147 and Marquez much lighter and smaller.
Oscar DeLaHoya - Won a split decision against a guy who was 35 and beat Felix Sturm to get a belt (and liked to wear women's clothes).
Shane Mosley - Ducked him for about 4-5 years before taking the fight. I think Mosley was 40 years old.
Ricky Hatton - Bum (and Limey).
Carlos Baldomir - waited forever to fight him.
Zab Judah - Waited until Zab lost the belt to fight him.
Arturo Gatti - Called him a "paper champ" then after beating him a year or so later cried after win saying it proved what a great champion he was.


So there you have it. Floyd is a fairly technically skilled fighter with a smoking hot fiance, but has inflated his own flawless career through evasive duck and dodge moves that would be the envy of any boxer. Floyd, to quote yourself, "you ain't shit".

Was Tyson Really That Great?

Nostalgia has a way of coloring our opinions of people and events, be they historical figures or athletes who dominated our childhoods. Mike Tyson is an example of a public figure who, through time and hype, gradually become mythical and no one can really have a logical conversation about them. I wrote a while back about how Biggie wasn't really the greatest rapper of all time and you would have thought I had said Mother Teresa was a whore. I suppose a lot of Tyson fans have similar feelings about Iron Mike, and the argument for both of these childhood heroes is kind of similar as well.

Both were from Brooklyn and overcame physical traits that were unusual for their profession and would cause them to be picked on when they were younger (Biggie being fat, Tyson and his girlish voice), both achieved fame at a young age and were fairly dominant in their fields and both careers were cut short before they could totally realize their potentials leaving experts and fans to argue about them forever. The real huge difference here is that Biggie's career was cut short at 24 because of a senseless killing, and Tyson's boxing career never made it as far as it could because of his own doing. And there's always the argument that he wasn't that good to begin with and was the product of weak competition. But both benefit from nostalgia, Tyson even more so than Biggie (since BIG actually was great for a number of years).

With Tyson's recent induction into the Boxing Hall of Fame, there's been a lot of his old highlights shown all over the place, and no matter the competition, his knockouts are fun to watch. Tyson was so ferocious in his early years, knocking washed up or never was "tomato cans" (to use Hater J's favorite term), that it's easy to gloss over the fact that those guys were mostly bums that he was demolishing. One reason I'm glad that I was born in the 80s and not a decade earlier is I probably would have wasted a lot of time and money on 5 minute pay per view fights. Still, Mike was a phenomenon who tore into other fighters in a way that isn't seen too often, and he's probably the second most famous boxer in history. That's what makes it so hard to argue about him though, his public persona is so huge and he's become such a brand name (his Punch Out game is a classic for anyone born during the Reagan years) that arguing against him with a fan is pointless, despite the evidence.

When all is said and done, even if he never reached his full potential, or if you argue he wasn't that great to begin with and just dominated weak competition like the James Tilleses and Marvis Fraziers of the world, his impact can't be denied. Even now as he's basically a parody of himself, he's still an icon that inspires debate unlike any other boxer, as hard as Mayweather or some of the other new jacks might try to draw attention to themselves. He might not have been the greatest fighter who ever lived, but don't try telling a Tyson fan that.

Smokin' Joe, A Class Act

Muhammad Ali's greatness is something that people have written and spoken about for what seems forever, and rightfully so. He's arguably the greatest athlete of any modern sport. Like all great athletes, he needed his rivals to bring out the best in him and provide him with epic battles.

Watching the Knicks last night, I was reminded that today marks 40 years since the "Fight of the Century". 15 brutal rounds against two undefeated champs. People remember the fight for a multitude of reasons. I'd like to remember it for the example set by Smokin' Joe. Joe was the champ and wanted to legitimize his claim to the title. He could only do that by beating Ali. Rather than duck or hide, Frazier helped Ali stay afloat financially and did everything in his hands to make sure he got the fight.

Joe has gone on record as saying, "I didn't want the reputation of trying to duck or shun anybody." He certainly proved it by taking on the greatest fighter in the world and doing everything in his power to make sure the fight got off before a Supreme Court decision that would decide Ali's future. He proved it further by taking on an awesome George Foreman. After losing, he kept it real with saying, "I lost that fight fair and square...It ain't the first time I've been whooped."

Joe is an example of the chivalry that once existed in boxing and what a champ should be. Forty years ago today, he showed the world what a perfect left hook really looks like, and had his day as champ. Smokin' Joe, PTU salutes you.