XI. BOXING IS NOT ABOUT FIGHTING

          Mike Tyson fought 13 times in his first year as a professional.  When asked, his trainer Cus D' Amato said he has to to keep him out of trouble. He became one of the most feared fighter in the heavyweight division until D' Amato died and he lost his sense of direction. He fought for 20 until he lost via TKO to Kevin McBride in 2005. Retired and a constant follower of Manny Pacquiao seeing himself in Manny's fighting style. And he gave this advice to Pacman :

          " I use to have an entourage of 30 people, now I'm just another face in the crowd. Cannot blame anyone for my miseries but I learned more from them than I did fighting. "

          Boxing is not about fighting -  its an art, a sweet science as defined by Bert Sugar. You cannot excel in the sports unless you are able to separate the man and the fighter in you.  Boxers like two gladiators stand against each other inside the ring trying to psyche each other out for they know that to win in the intimidation game is half a battle won. The sound of the first bell gives you a chance to size each other out, measure the distance and test the power of your opponent. From then on as you mix it up, all your training and conditioning will go to work and usually the one better gifts prevail. The heart and courage helps a lot but against an accomplished fighter, you need more than just hunger and desire to win.

          The movie  " A  Million Dollar Baby " is the best boxing movie I have seen for it shows what boxing is really all about.  Rocky series is still my favorite but Clint's direction of the movie and Morgan Freeman providing support to Hilary Swank more than make up for the message of the movie. Some of the best movie about boxing are :

          1.    Rocky  I to VI                 ( Sylvester Stallone )
          2.    The Cinderella Man        ( Russel Crowe )
          3.    The Power of One           ( Morgan Freeman )
          4.    The Champ                     (  Jon Voight )
          5.    The  Fighter                    (  Mark  Walhberg )
          6.    The  Raging Bull            (  Robert De Niro )
          7.    The Greatest                   (  Muhammad Ali )
          8.    Somebody Up There Likes Me  ( Paul Newman )
          9.    Requiem  for a Heavyweight     (  Anthony Quinn )
        10.    Creed                              (  Michael B. Jordan )
        11.    The  Hurricane               (   Denzel  Washington )
        12.    Tyson                             (   Michael Jae White )