I'm really not very good at my job, but we'll get to that in a moment. This weekend I'm supposed to work the Mike Tyson vs some big Irish dude fight at the MCI Center and to be honest with you, feel really dump compared to my colleagues who came down from Connecticut.

So I understand that Tyson is supposed to win and out of the girl boxers Ali is picked to win, but how exactly does someone "pick" that since they don't really have stats other than their records? I'd kinda like to see em both lose since Tyson is kinda a joke and the challenger Erin is a knock out and seemed very friendly today when we were working with her -- but thats my sports analysis for ya.

The one thing I'm really confused in, yet was too ashamed to ask, how do the divisions work? There isn't an organization like the NHL or NFL to set the schedule, who decides that Tyson fights whomever and how do they go up in ranking. I doubt there are playoffs, so is it kinda king of the hill style: you are the best until someone defeats you?

I wish we'd go back to covering Basketball or hell, politics. I feel so out of my league :(

While I can understand why any sort of masculine activity would completely befuddle you,


stats other than their records

What does any other sports person have for stats? If they're known to beat the hell out of people, chances are they will beat the hell out of the next one in the ring with them. Outside of that you generally look at their composure and attitude as a fighter. Tyson for instance is fucking crazy and you could not pay me enough to get in the ring with him.

There are at least four seperate boxing authorities. They could each have their own #1 boxer.

http://www.fightnews.com/rankings2.htm

In the first part of the 20th century, the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) became the centre for professional boxing. It was generally accepted that the "world champions" were those listed by the Police Gazette (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Gazette). After 1920 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920), the National Boxing Association (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Boxing_Association) (N.B.A.)began to sanction "title-fights". Also, during that time, the "Ring Magazine" was founded and it listed the Champions. The N.B.A. was renamed in 1962 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962) and became the World Boxing Association (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Boxing_Association) (W.B.A.). The following year, a rival body, the World Boxing Council (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Boxing_Council) (W.B.C.), was formed. In 1983 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983), another world body, the International Boxing Federation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Boxing_Federation) (I.B.F.) was formed. By the end of the 20th century, a boxer had to be recognized by the three separate bodies to be the "Undisputed Champion" of the World. "The Ring" also continued listing the World Champion of each weight division, and its rankings continue being of the most appreciated by fans.

As best I can tell, OPINION is the primary ranking criteria for every organization except the IBF, which most people consider "authority." The IBF/IBO uses a computer based system on opponent's fought, and their opponent's oppoents, etc. [Much like the system used by FIDE for chess, etc...]

Edit-like follow-up.

Pardon me. The IBF also uses "best guess by guys in a locked room" to determine their rankings. The IBO, a seperate body, uses a computerized system. A few fighters have fought for IBO titles recently (Lennox Lewis/Roy Jones Jr.) giving them some credibility.

who decides that Tyson fights whomever

Their boxing promoters have everything to do with this decision. As far as ranking, there's about 10 differant governing bodies each with a couple differant titles i.e. WBF World Champion, IBF World Champion, Joeschmoe league intercontinental champ, etc. Many people will tell you there's rhyme and reason to how they rank fighters, outside of the top couple, i'd venture to say its more by pay offs and name recognition factors.

As to why Mike Tyson is favored to win? Well he's Mike Tyson, a big named fighter fighting a relative no name. Of course he lost his last fight to a no name.

As far as female boxing, I have no idea about it other than Laila Ali has beaten everyone she's fought, pretty handily. She beat the snot out of Christie Martin who was then the best female fighter in the world.

put a couple names in a hat and go for which ever you pull out :)

"What does any other sports person have for stats? If they're known to beat the hell out of people, chances are they will beat the hell out of the next one in the ring with them. Outside of that you generally look at their composure and attitude as a fighter. Tyson for instance is fucking crazy and you could not pay me enough to get in the ring with him."

Well for one, the guy Tyson is fighting is practically twice his size and can bench press a little more than Tyson actually weighs. Tyson on the other hand, hasn't fought in over a year and is getting pretty old. Frankly, Tyson isn't even known to lately "beat the hell" out of his opponents since ... he doesn't fight much.

In a game like Basketball or Baseball or Football or Hockey or (enter sport here), you look at how well a defense or offense is playing a particular season and compare that to the team they are matched up against. Normally their seasons are more than 1 outting every year, and they have a history of how they are playing. Using your analogy, the Yankees are clearly gonna win the World Series since they won it a few years ago. But thats just not even logical.

As for masculine activities, I for one would appreciate a lot less in the masculine department at work. Would be nice to work with a woman now and again but ESPN generally hires all male crews.

Palimax I appreciate the info. Boxing just seems so different from the other sports I normally cover (DC hasn't had a fight in quite a few years I hear). I'll clearly be out of my league next to the staff guys, but maybe I can at least understand what the hell they are saying to a point as the week goes by.

Well for one, the guy Tyson is fighting is practically twice his size and can bench press a little more than Tyson actually weighs.

I don't actually follow boxing myself, but on a random tangent, are you sure thats all he can bench? Benching your own weight is a respectable goal for the average weight lifter, but if he's twice Tyson's size and can only lift Tyson's weight... he shouldn't be anywhere near a ring (http://postfiking.com/?go=ring&url1=http%3A%2F%2Fforums.ayonae.ro%2Fnewreply.php) .

Why the hell would ESPN hire such a clueless person? /shrug

I don't actually follow boxing myself, but on a random tangent, are you sure thats all he can bench? Benching your own weight is a respectable goal for the average weight lifter, but if he's twice Tyson's size and can only lift Tyson's weight... he shouldn't be anywhere near a ring (http://postfiking.com/?go=ring&url1=http%3A%2F%2Fforums.ayonae.ro%2Fnewreply.php) .To add to this, you "bench" your own weight every time you are standing up... It's a minimum to a weight lifter to be able to bench his own weight, imho (and in my former karateka opinion).

To add to this, you "bench" your own weight every time you are standing up... It's a minimum to a weight lifter to be able to bench his own weight, imho (and in my former karateka opinion).
You guys in Europe stand up by doing a pushup first or something?

Hmm I may have mixed benching and "pressing"? (sitting 45 degrees and pushing weight with your legs)

And now you mention "push up", I'm guessing benching is being on a bench on your back and pushing weight with your arms? (now I type it...)

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/inmag63abig.jpg
Bench Press.

Professional Boxing is no longer a sport. Thank the likes of Don King and Bob Arum (sp).

Fandros

Who cares how much he can bench? How hard you can punch someone has more to do with the strength of your legs and abdomen than it does the strength of your arms and chest.

I wish we'd go back to covering Basketball or hell, politics

ESPN covers politics now?

You don't squat your own weight every time you stand, since often like 2/3 of your weight is in your legs, which are doing the lifting. In that example, you'd be squatting the weight of your chest, arms, and head.

Kelraz: Do you know anything about baseball? Think of boxing evaluations like 2 people watching a baseball game, or scouts evaluating high school baseball players. There's not stats. It's about who seems to punch the hardest, who is fastest, etc.