OK, I am watching Ballroom Boxing, a local event in Suburban Maryland outside of Washington, DC.
The match is Henry "Sweet Poo" Buchanen vs. Brian "The Assassin" Norman.
The fight is actually pretty decent. Norman is a smart fighter, technical fighter, but Buchanen just has those intangible skills that successful fighters have.
Norman wins the 1st two rounds of the 6-round match. He even rocked Buchanen 1/2 way through round 2, and methodically continues working the body.
But right at the end of round 2, Buchanen lights Norman up with a wicked combo, stunning and cutting him.
Norman starts round 3 playing it safe, still pressing his attack but being a little more cautious due to already being hurt. Buchanen takes his queue and opens up on Norman, getting a TKO after a really mad flurry that Norman was unable to respond to.
During the interview after the fight, they were asking Buchanen of his assessment of Norman's skills. He said that Norman was really good, but that he lacked one thing....
Jesus!
LOFL! Boxers are some fucking funny muthafuckas!!!!!
I agree that Jesus Gabriel Chavez has a good left hook. Underrated fighter.
Enough about Holyfield. There's hypocrites of every religious background, and hypocrites of no religious background, too.
I agree that the "God wanted me to win" talk can be kind of unsettling.
Reminds me of a old story:
A boxer crosses himself in the corner before a fight.
A guy in crowd asks the guy next to him (a Catholic priest): "Is that going to help him, Father?"
The priest responds: "Not if he doesn't know how to fight!"
And he's right. Just because I'm a practicing Catholic doesn't make me a better fighter than anyone, but if I want to make the sign of the cross and say a prayer to do my best I think that should be respected, too.
I think if you look at warriors throughout history and you'll find that they tend to be a spiritual, or at least superstitious bunch. Boxers aren't really any different.