Bobby “Boogaloo” Watts comes from a different era, at a time when more often than not, the warriors accepted challenges and took all newcomers. It was the seventies and if you wanted to be someone in the medium weight department, you proved your value by coming to Philadelphia to make a battle.

“Boogaloo” broke the gloves when the city of brotherly love was buzzing with a high -caliber talent at the age of 160, warriors like Willie “The Worm” Monroe, Eugene “Cyclone” Hart, Stanley “Kitten” Hayward and “Bad” Bennie Benni. All the best 160 pounds in Philly were perilous fighters who could not wait for the possibility of matching; Avoiding a tough match was not considered because it was a badge of honor to be crowned “the best in Philadelphia.” These people had pride.

In two years, Watts mixed him with the best, including “Cyclone” Hart, “The Worm” Monroe and Pride of Broctonon, Massachusetts and Future of all time, wonderful, wonderful Marvin Hagler. “Boogaloo” recognizes the competition among fighters from Philadelphia. “We were friends, but all the average weight in Philadelphia was running in the same circles. You wanted to be the best, so you knew that you would finally have to fight.”

And the place where all these wonderful battles took place was the Philadelphia spectrum. The clerical arena, now a memory, as it was demolished in 2010, was home to so many excellent fights, including one of the biggest wins of Boogaloo, the first round of “Cyclone” Hart.

Coach and manager Augie Scimeca remembers a mercifully duel. “Bobby threw a” cyclone “out of the ring. He knew that Hart had a good left hook, so he had to go there and jump on him quickly. This right hand of Bobby has, if he hits you, you go to sleep. “

“Boogaloo” recalls this in this way: “I was inflated and furious all over the world. When this Bell sounded, I knew it would be me or you

Then “Boogaloo” was Willie “The Worm” Monroe, best known for his boxing skills and high, assessed body structure. Watts knew that Monroe could not dictate the pace, and both men landed during the first four rounds. “Worm” accelerated at a fifth rate and followed “Boogaloo”, but Watts was not stunned. Then he came to the second half of the match, taking over full control in the eighth round after hurting the “worm” with a cruel left hook. In gentle nervousness, Watts received a well -deserved win of ten rounds.

“Willie was a very good warrior,” recalls Bobby. “I had to be careful with him. But I was much faster than he, and I rented a high warrior for training. He stunned me with a few gigantic shots, but he beat him with counterattack and speed.”

The third and last duel of this trilogy spectrum in the fight against the future of Hall of Famer and all time, the great, wonderful Marvin Hagler. “Boogaloo” took part in the competition at 26-3-1, and Hagler has a 25-0-1 record. Watts, who was a classic boxer/puncher, used the fighting style in attracting an opponent and counteracting, and this approach was effective against the future master, and Bobby landed left hooks on the head and right hands to the body. Hagler fought Kucak, chasing Watts with his well -known Southpaw attitude.

It was a fun and weighty ten round of battles, and both men distinguished their punishment. Hagler took most of the early rounds, but starting from the fifth, Watts raised the pace. The second half of the match brought many warm stock exchanges, and the final result was the controversial victory of Watts. Promoter Russell Peltz, who was responsible for issuing so many successful shows of the spectrum in the seventies, is thinking about the result:

“There is no doubt that it was a bad decision. The president’s spectrum fell and talked to me and said” how can they do it? ” One of the headlines the next day was “Welcome to Philadelphia, Marvin Hagler!” I apologized myself, the Hagler promoter, after the fight it was six to four or seven.

“Boogaloo” after victory over the Hagler: “I parched with weighty south to prepare me. I pushed Marvin and held him, and then leave to keep him outside. When he tried to go inside, I tied him. In the last two rounds I knew that I could box to win, and I knew that I could not allow him to get closer to my left and right hand.

“Marvin looked very good in battle,” continues Watts. “He was very aggressive and busy. And he was so powerful. He knew what he wanted to do in the ring. And I knew during the fight that he had a brilliant future.”

Watts would never get a shot into the world championship title. Today, after winning with perilous hunters, such as Hart and Monroe, he would most likely receive a test of the championship, not to mention the triumph over Hagler. Is there no injury that he never received a crack at the bar?

“I am proud of what I did.

After the fight, Hagler “Boogaloo” defeated a series of mediocre pretenders before he abandoned the losses with David Love and Mustafa Hamsho. In 1980 he faced Hagler in a rematch, and Marvin stopped him in the second round. Later the same year, Hagler would defeat Alan Minter for the unquestionable world championship title.

After “Boogaloo” suspended gloves, he knew that he would stay in sport and did it by training other boxers. Among the WATTS fighters they cooperated with, former world champions Burter Draton, Calvin Grove and Charles Brewer.

“I liked to work with children”, reflects Watts. “I taught them what I would do and everyone I trained went to the top. I worked with the brewery since he was 14 years senior and took him to the title. Buster had a good, awkward style and could hit. I had experience to go and taught them everything I knew.”

Asked what it is like to have a boxing legend in Philadelphia as his trainer, Brewer is nothing but grateful. “Boogaloo was the figure of my father in boxing.

The legendary “Boogaloo” could have been the best of Philadelphia medium weight at that time and certainly in this two years in the mid -seventies. The fact that he had no chance to win a world title is unfortunate, if not unfair. But memories of what he was able to achieve in the spectrum in Philadelphia will not be forgotten soon.

Scimeca puts Watts’s career in the perspective: “I learned from him. He taught me; I did not teach him. He knew what to do in the ring. It is a pity that Bobby was not in Hall of Fame. We worked together and trusted ourselves and fun. I loved him.”

– Thad Moore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXWTBBJ_XRU

Tomorrow will mean the anniversary of the birth of the great Joe Louis and you do not have to recall earnest fans of the fight, why he will always be a legend of Pugism. He was the most dominant heavyweight champion in history, the youngest Zagłębica and Division Finnish, the undisputed king of great people for almost twelve years. Louis greater than life and admired by millions has become a beloved icon of America, and even now, more than four decades after his death, his heritage remains unreachable.

In her autobiography, I know why a bird in a cage is singingMaya Angelou recalls listening to one of Louis’ fights on the radio and how much he meant to black people in America when he triumphed in the ring. “Every day Joe Louis fought, it was” our day “, he states. Similarly, the author of Langston Hughes, poet Harlem Renaissance, wrote in his autobiography: “Every time Joe Louis won the fight in these years of depression, even before he became a champion, a thousand Black Americans with relief or WPA and the indigent, he penetrated the streets on the land of the march, joy and scream and crying because of one of the time of Joe.

As for his status among the great masters of all time, he never disappeared. All competent battle fans know that Joe Louis must be included in the three best heavyweight to ever go through the ropes, and many of them take place number one. A cursory look at his album easily explains why. Twenty -five consecutive defense of titles; Twelve plain years as a world champion; Only one defeat in its first sixty -two duels; Ten victories over the legal world champions.

In addition, there are opinions of experts and historians of the game, including those who saw him in action and know first -hand what a powerful warrior was. This collection of quotes from intelligence boxing, which clearly explains the incomparable status of Joe as one of the longest reigning and the most talented masters of all time.

“Joe Louis, who knocked out Max Schmeling in one round, Louis, who took over the title of Jimmy Braddock, Ludwik, who went to the line, taking them all, Ludwik, who did not avoid anyone, and was willing to meet everyone, was the greatest bulky all time. A blow – this man was uncommon among the bulky I saw.

“Joe could paralyze you … wherever he hit you, you would feel it. Just blocking these shots was like a car accident.” – Eddie Futch

“Although I saw Dempsey, Tunney and Max Baer in childhood action, my first connection with boxing as a profession began during the reign of Joe Louis. I saw movies with the championships, but I still vote for Louis as the best bulky master. As a fighting machine, he was not ridiculed.

“Louis is the most complex blow I’ve ever seen.” – Max Schmeling

“Many experts consider Louis to be the greatest opponent among heavyweight. When the smallest opportunity appeared, it exploded his left. His offensive ability was probably uneven in the ring. He occurred with optimal performance, with a petite wasted movement. His style was a boxer with quick reflexes. His defense consisted of a giant.” -Traci Callis

“Louis is another Joe Gans, whom I consider to be the greatest warrior of all time … He can hit, he is quick and is not a hump in employment of Ring Craft. I am glad that I am still able to see enough to see the boy. It is a miracle of age.” -Sam Langford

“There has never been a better boxer than Joe Louis.” – George Foreman

“Too good to be real and absolutely … the most attractive fight machine I’ve ever seen.” – Ernest Hemingway

“He was probably the biggest boxer-pole of all time, certainly the best among heavyweight. His style was to put out subtle pressure on his opponents, cutting off the ring, forcing them back, and then preparing precise steps back Hands that literally landed with bone and laser. [He was] A real master of counteracting art. “-Monte Cox

“I used to tease him, reminding him that I was the greatest of all time. But Louis was the greatest heavyweight warrior in history.” – Muhammad Ali

“Joe Louis is a recognition for his breed – the human race.” – Jimmy Cannon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-4DMPM2LNS

The story of George Foreman is unusual, which requires reflection when the boxing world confronts yesterday’s unexpected announcement about the death of the two -time world champion at the Houston hospital in Houston, Houston, 76 years aged. Fans, bachelor and other boxers are today offered tributes and words of praise, as they should, for the great fjazd, which come from humble beginnings to climb polnie. Once, but twice and in two different generations. Suffice it to say that George Foreman’s career is unusual, if not wonderful, and his achievements can be said certainly, will never be reproduced.

George Edward Foreman was born in Texas in 1949 and grew up in the Houston community called “Nickel”. He was extremely sturdy and hurt as youthful people, but at the age of fifteen he was going to grave trouble, giving up school and devoting himself to lumps and minor crime. Fortunately, he realized that it was not a way to a good future, and the government’s work program allowed him to return to the right path and get a high school diploma. At the same time, his family moved to California and it was there that Foreman began to develop his natural sports talents. His main interest at the beginning was football, but soon he discovered that he had a gift to hit things with his fists. In 1968 he developed a 18-5 record in amateurs before competitions in American Olympic boxing tests. This year he won the gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City.

Incapable than the preproof amateur record required a certain spices and careful preparation when he joined the punch-for Pay ranks the following year, but until 1971 he was founded as the best contender to the heavyweight division with victories over Gregorio Pealta, George “Scrap Iron” Johnson, George Chuvalo and Boone Kirkman. Despite this, when he signed up to challenge Smokin ‘Joe Frazier for the title of World Champion, he most often considered him solid tender, lacking talent to overcome the intensive aggression of the phrazier and weakened left hook. But Foreman went to Kingston, Jamaica and broke three to one against him, smashing the phrase in the spectacular two round explosions, six times raising “Smokin ‘Joe”, when Howard Cosell was still shouting “Down Goes Frazier! Down Goes!”

There was more violent knockout, including the second round of Ken Norton’s detention, bringing twelve candidates for the early round. As a result, the former Master Muhammad Ali was a solid insignificant four-one, when he challenged Foreman in the historical “Rumble in the Jungle” in 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire. Some were impressed by the strength of Foreman’s impact and a series of incorrect knockout, which they were afraid of the safety of “the greatest”. But it was the turn to oppose the abrasive when he threw away and gushed the younger, stronger man to get the stunning eighth round of Nokaut.

This was Foreman’s position and the image that he stated that the loss for Ali was almost impossible to accept. He proposed a series of excuses, claiming that he was a victim of a swift count and, strangely that he was intoxicated before the fight. These dubious excitements meant that the defeated champion became a pathetic figure, and soon became nothing but a laugh, when he took five fighters on national television, one after the other, in the other, in Strange spectacle at the Leaf Gardens maple in Toronto.

Foreman regrouped and stopped five wins in space, including a knockout over Ron Lyle and Frazier, before he went to San Juan in Puerto Rico to face his friend with the best contender Jimmy Adolescent. And here the story of George Foreman becomes even more unusual. Adolescent, a qualified and volatile pugilist, who is one of the best weighty weight of the seventies, surprised the whole performance when he put aside the foreman in the final round and won a unanimous decision. However, it was not the fight itself, but its consequences, which would have the greatest consequences. Foreman later claimed that he had experience in his wardrobe about a close death after a fight, during which he was confronted by God. Regardless of the nature of this revelation, it was significant enough to inspire Foreman to turn away from boxing, he became an ordained minister and founded a church in Houston, Texas.

Until then, Foreman’s position as a boxer would have to be considered worthy of a gallery of celebrities, but not at the same level as the great from the past. But then, in 1987, after a full decade from the ring, George Foreman announced to the world that he decided to raise gloves again. The message was welcomed with widespread contempt and disbelief. It was certainly a practical joke; The boxers do not return after ten years of retirement. But the photos soon appeared from the Foreman line in the ring against the journeyman named Steve Zouski, a massive master, protruding above the band of his trunks, and therefore began one of the greatest returns in the history of sport.

However, no one saw it at the beginning. Dr. Ferdie Paczeco, NBC boxing commentator, repeated at that time he thinks: “This is pathetic,” he said. “This should not be allowed. There is a surplus, inept. The whole thing is a false second career to build a gigantic fight with Mike Tyson.”

But, surprising, the foreman persevered, fought and won, while transforming his public image. The younger George Foreman was a grim, intimidating bang, but the fresh, older and smarter George Foreman was something completely different: a elated, smiling, self -proclaimed man who wanted to be a friend of everyone and sell them a grill. Until 1990, George achieved nineteen plain victories, all except one, but a point where the return of the former master became something other than curiosity and a joke when he entered the ring against the former best pretender Gerry Cooney. After blowing Cooney in the second round, Suddenly Foreman was no longer the ass of someone’s laughter, and even the most cynical fight fans had to take him seriously.

The following year, Foreman commanded a huge payment of twelve million dollars when he challenged Evander Holyfield for the title of world champion. Evander defeated George by a unanimous decision, but even in defeat Foreman lifted the expectations of everyone except his most die -hard fans, when he remained competitive during the battle, taking the best shots of Holyfield and responding to his own. Many assumed that this was the end of the unusual second chapter of the 42-year-old in boxing, but they were wrong: Brygton persevered, fighting, and at the same time becoming a popular commentator Ringside for HBO.

George Foreman will always be an inspiration for what happened next. After losing to Tommy “Duke” Morrison in 1993, everyone assumed that finally the unbelievable journey ended. In the end he was 44 years aged, and months of inactivity took place after the fourth failure of his career. But there, the foreman signed contracts and jokeing at a press conference, announcing the championship with Michael Moorerer. The man just didn’t give up. And the wonderful victory was his when in an unusual performance he put Moorer to the count in Las Vegas with one gigantic right hand.

It would be an ideal end for the amazing travel of Foreman if he retired then and there, but of course no one could resist the great payments that waited for him in recent matches with such as Crawford Grimsley and Lou Savarese. Strangely enough, at almost 49 years aged Foreman more than he was his own against Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs during his last career in 1997, the crowd ridiculed most of the decisions for Briggs. Finally, Foreman retired, leaving this sport richer in his extraordinary career and departing with the booking of 76 wins compared to only five paralysis, with amazing 68 wins.

In addition to sturdy recognition of one of the most arduous and most hazardous punchers in the whole history of boxing, George Foreman’s legacy is an amazing determination that proves the inspirational truth that it is never too overdue to change the direction of life and look for a second chance. Who could ever think that a teenage bandit can reverse his life and become a golden Olympic medalist and world champion? And after defeating Evander Holyfield and Tommy Morrison, who gave Foreman a grave chance to regain this championship? But, as Jim Lampley said, “It happened.” Like the amazing life of George Foreman. He will never be forgotten. –Neil crane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA4RM7VWC3A