While watching the Mayweather-Hatton fight recently it was fun to watch once again the constellation of famous folks that congregate to a bigh fight. Unlike any other event a big boxing match can still create an unparalleled level of excitement in the world of the rich and famous. It started most notably in the Roaring 20's with the reign of Jack Dempsey, when Hollywood caught the bug. Through the decades the fascination grew and in 1971 we saw perhaps the greatest show of glam, glitz and glamour at a fight when Frazier and Ali met in "The Fight of the Century".
The allure remains with the added factor that now many of those stars also partake of the sport or at least its training methods. Many current actors have used boxing training as a way of getting ready for a role and some like Robert DeNiro, Denzel Washington and Daniel Day Lewis have undergone tremendously rigorous training to portray boxers on the big screen.
The point of this all is just to illustrate that throughtout the years, despite the many cries for the abolition of the sport or the pundits who wish to continue to segregate the sport by constantly ascribing the "niche" designation, boxing is still one of the most unifying and egalitarian of all sports. If any sport should be considered niche it should be golf which throuhgout its history has been the almost exclusive domain of the white upper class males, with the still fairly common exclusionary practices of its "country clubs" tacitly approved by society.
To show boxings allure through the years I have compiled a small list of notables who have taken to the sport.
- Jennifer Lopez-actress, singer
- LL Cool J-rapper, actor
- Gerald Ford-37th President, one time Yale boxing coach
- Teddy Roosevelt-President
- Ashley Judd-actress
- James Caan-actor
- James Brown-Godfather of Soul
- Miles Davis-Jazz great
- Neil Young-music legend
- Kris Kristofferson-actor, singer, Rhodes scholar
- Norman Mailer-author
- Marvin Harrison-wide receiver-Colts
- Brady Quinn-quarterback-Browns
- Will Smith-rapper, actor
- Justin Timberlake-singer, actor
Folks, the list could go on and on. Bottom line is that this is not just a sport for the cauliflower eared, flat nosed set. Even the beautiful people get into it.
1 comment:
Ernie - Love reading the blog! You are doing a great job with it! Keep up the good work. Hmm, boxing and LL Cool J--should've known it was this fantastic sport that helps him stay in such awesome shape!
Post a Comment