Boxing Sparring Stories and rumors

[patscorpio]

James Toney-Danny Green





Same thing with Terry Norris. He suffered some brutal knockouts (Julian Jackson), but due to his shaky chin, didn’t suffer the prolonged beatings in fights that are usually most dangerous. But he and his brother Orlin were known for hard sparring.

Terry also had almost 300 amateur fights which surely didn’t help. I’m sure the long amateur career of Donald Curry played a big part in his bad condition now.

Terry used to be a pretty articulate guy, but is difficult to understand nowadays. His wife also said it’s scary to sleep next to him because he will throw punches in his sleep.

Yeah I always said Terry Norris fell apart at the most inopportune time...about to cash in with an Oscar or Tito superfight and gets stopped by an average Keith Mullings and loses his belt

 

[Alpha Dog]

Filip Hrgovic had crazy internet stories when he was coming up, similar to Spence. The Wilder sparring is famous and is out there, he also recently claimed he smoked DuBois and forced him to postpone a fight and he was rumored to have dropped Haye and then cut him forcing him to postpone the Fury fight.

Out of the same camp there was a Haye-Wilder story which got heavy run because Wilder was an Olympian and the whole US v UK thing. Wilder’s style isn’t conducive for sparring so lots of guys are rumored to have pushed him.

The Broner-Spence story was confirmed by both:

 

[Erratic415]

Yeah I always said Terry Norris fell apart at the most inopportune time...about to cash in with an Oscar or Tito superfight and gets stopped by an average Keith Mullings and loses his belt

Norris declined pretty rapidly. So did Pernell Whitaker after 95’, although he managed to put up a great performance against a prime Oscar.

Norris would have lost in ugly fashion in 98’ to either Tito or Oscar, but at least would have gotten a bit payday assuming he actually gets the money (Don King & Norris’s manager were found liable of stealing millions from Terry).

There was also discussions of a fight with Chavez around 93-94. I think Chavez was just too small, so Norris wins if he isn’t too weight drained or doesn’t get himself DQ’d.

 

[Erratic415]

Sugar Ray Leonard prepared for the Marvin Hagler fight by having simulated bouts.

Brown: Mike Trainer decided that after not fighting since 1984, Ray needed to have a couple fights before Hagler. So we did simulated fights. We brought in guys from around the country that were in the top 20, and Ray had four fights. He was 4-0 with two knockouts. The other guys had headgear on with small gloves, and Ray had no headgear with bigger gloves because he wanted to get used to getting hit. They were 10-round fights, and the guys got paid good money. No outsiders came in, the gym was closed down completely, nobody knew what was going on.

In the days leading up to the fight, Ray also got hurt in sparring by Quincy Taylor. Taylor later held a world title for a short period in the 90s.

Nack: Ray was going to lose this fight until about six weeks before the fight. Even his handlers were demoralized. It was like he wasn’t taking it seriously. He was getting in the ring with a murderer, in the boxing sense: a hard-hitting middleweight legend. And even though he might not be the same Hagler he was five years before, he still punched tremendously hard. And Ray was just saying, “It’ll be OK, it’ll be OK.” Well, it wasn’t going to be OK. Mike Trainer kept saying to him, “Ray, you’ve got to suck it up and train like you’ve never trained in your life.” Some people don’t know this, but Angie Dundee was never there for Ray’s whole training camp. Angie usually came in two to three weeks before a fight. But Mike called him six weeks before and said, “Angie, you’ve got to come now. Please come now, the kid needs help. He’s taking things too easy.” And Angie came in. Every day, they plotted strategy and tactics. Every day, they sat and talked about what he’d have to do to win. They put him in the ring with bangers, hard-hitting guys. Some of the rounds he fought in sparring were seven minutes! That’s a long time to have your hands up in front of your face. But that’s what Ray started doing.

Brown: I brought in Quincy Taylor to be a sparring partner. He was 3-0 at the time, a young hotshot. I thought he would be good because he fought from both sides, like Hagler. And he could punch.

Leonard: The fight was getting close, and I’d gotten so strong that I was breaking these sparring partners down. I was feeling so strong; I was going to fight Hagler toe-to-toe. I was sharp. And then, five days before the fight I was sparring Quincy Taylor, and I fell asleep for just a second and he hit me with a shot.

Brown: Quincy landed a punch that rocked his kinfolks. Ray was out on his feet. They were over near the corner where I was standing when Quincy hit him, and Quincy kind of realized he hurt him, and I said, “Go to the body! Go to the body!” Ray laid on the ropes like Ali and wiggled, but he was hurt. I think Janks Morton was the person who hollered, “Time!” There was still another minute to go, but if Janks let it go any further, the fight might have gotten canceled. Ray might have gotten knocked out if Quincy landed one more big shot.

Leonard: Quincy Taylor hit me so hard. I was out. Quincy realized that I was hurt, [so] he kind of pitty-patted with me. I’ve never seen the expressions of my entire camp change as fast as they did. The place got like a funeral, and the ride home was even worse. They were all like, Oh shyt. Ray’s going to get knocked out.

Brown: The van ride back to the hotel, nobody said anything. Everybody was kind of like, If Quincy Taylor did this to Ray Leonard, what would Marvin Hagler do? I remember — it was almost midnight that night — Ray called me on the phone from his room. He said, “You know what? People think that I’m going to lose this fight. But Hagler can’t beat me. He can’t beat me.” He kept saying it over and over: “He can’t beat me. I’ve got a strategy for him.”

Leonard: It changed my strategy. In the first months of training, my whole game plan was box, box, box. That’s the logical thing to do against Hagler. But I kind of settled into being a middleweight. I was hitting guys to the body, hurting guys. I felt so strong. I became this beast who was going to beat Hagler up, open up the scar tissue over his eyes, cut him up. What a mistake that would have been. Thank god for Quincy Taylor. I should have paid him more. Best punch I ever took!

» Disputed: Hagler vs. Leonard

grantland.com

Best I Faced: Quincy Taylor - The Ring

Heavy-handed southpaw Quincy Taylor earned his stripes as the lead sparring partner for Sugar Ray Leonard ahead of the Marvin Hagler superfight in 1987. That experience served him well, and he went on to claim the WBC middleweight title in 1995. Taylor, who is the youngest of six children, was...

www.ringtv.com

 

[NormanConnors]

Bernard ‘Superbad’ Mays was known as one of the most talented boxers in the heyday of the Kronk Gym. Tommy Hearns and Manny Steward have talked about his talent and how good he was in sparring.

He was a major, major alcoholic though. He had a nice pro record against limited opposition, and had to retire in his mid 20s due to a seriously inflamed pancreas.

He drank himself to death in his early 30s.

Superbad

 

[NormanConnors]

Norris declined pretty rapidly. So did Pernell Whitaker after 95’, although he managed to put up a great performance against a prime Oscar.

Norris would have lost in ugly fashion in 98’ to either Tito or Oscar, but at least would have gotten a bit payday assuming he actually gets the money (Don King & Norris’s manager were found liable of stealing millions from Terry).

There was also discussions of a fight with Chavez around 93-94. I think Chavez was just too small, so Norris wins if he isn’t too weight drained or doesn’t get himself DQ’d.

Yeah his punch resistance was gone by then, prime Terry I'd give a good shot vs Tito, Tito could be caught early/cold and Terry was a great finisher. DLH might catch that L too, but I'd favor him against Tito to a higher degree.

 

[chunky_mcdaniels]

Edwin Valero beating up DLH in the lead up to Pacquiao fight

Valero went at 110% every session. The Japan influence, the Venezuelan poverty influence, the head injury influence, the fukk the American medical commission influence, the yayo influence.

 

[patscorpio]

Valero went at 110% every session. The Japan influence, the Venezuelan poverty influence, the head injury influence, the fukk the American medical commission influence, the yayo influence.

the worst thing...a fighter fighting with a head injury...he was a pure demon

 

[patscorpio]

Terry used to be a pretty articulate guy, but is difficult to understand nowadays. His wife also said it’s scary to sleep next to him because he will throw punches in his sleep.

the wild thing with terry is he got all the symptoms of parkinsons but last time i saw..he doesnt shake or have that wobble/gait when he walks..hes also like super ripped too

 

[RoidJonesJr]

Ivan Calderon toyed with DLH in the lead up to the Floyd fight.

 

[R.B.J1]

the wild thing with terry is he got all the symptoms of parkinsons but last time i saw..he doesnt shake or have that wobble/gait when he walks..hes also like super ripped too

Yeah, you can only tell he has pugilistic dementia when he attempts to speak.

 

[patscorpio]

Yeah, you can only tell he has pugilistic dementia when he attempts to speak.

i remember even after winning 3 million in a settlement from don king after he retired...he still tried to get his boxing license back which vegas commission said no no

but damn that slide he had so immediate

 

[patscorpio]

Norris declined pretty rapidly. So did Pernell Whitaker after 95’, although he managed to put up a great performance against a prime Oscar.

Norris would have lost in ugly fashion in 98’ to either Tito or Oscar, but at least would have gotten a bit payday assuming he actually gets the money (Don King & Norris’s manager were found liable of stealing millions from Terry).

There was also discussions of a fight with Chavez around 93-94. I think Chavez was just too small, so Norris wins if he isn’t too weight drained or doesn’t get himself DQ’d.

man it was sad watching him having to try come back from behind against dana rosenblatt because rosenblatt got tired from bouncing left hooks off his head

if chavez fought terry in 93 or 94...terry would have prolly gave him a beating...chavez sr started his decline in those years

 

[NormanConnors]

I remember reading something online way back telling a story of how G-Man and Hitman had an issue in the gym, and detailing how G-Man walked right through a Tommy right hand flush, no gloves. If I can find that article I'll post it, pretty sure it was Emmanuel Steward telling the story.

 

[patscorpio]

I remember reading something online way back telling a story of how G-Man and Hitman had an issue in the gym, and detailing how G-Man walked right through a Tommy right hand flush, no gloves. If I can find that article I'll post it, pretty sure it was Emmanuel Steward telling the story.

G-man was really a cruiser that boiled down..he was tough but it was trying to walk through Julian Jackson's shots caused the beginnings of what eventually happened to him