REMEMBERING ‘THE PRESIDENT’
THE 21st Century Giants feature that ranked the best 25 heavyweights of the century (BN, November 12) was a great read but it made me think of a heavyweight whose career stopped before the year 2000 but who beat two of the boxers (Chris Byrd and David Tua) on your list, Ike “The President” Ibeabuchi was a force to be reckoned with and one of boxing’s greatest ‘what could’ve beens’ and it does make you wonder where he may have been placed on that list if he hadn’t been jailed in 2000. Leighton J. Rees
CRAWFORD THE GREAT
TERENCE CRAWFORD not only showed why he is widely considered the poundfor-pound number one in the present day with his most recent victory, but also showed why he can be spoken of as one of the most successful switch-hitting champions in history. We saw Kell Brook, a fine swtch-hitter himself, starting well in the fight then Crawford switching to lefty which nulified Brook’s success before Kell was clinically stopped on his feet. Crawford deserves his recognition and we the fans now deserve to see him against the very top elite fighters in and around his weight to cement his place in history. Paul Thorpe
THE DECLINE IN BOXING
Having carried out research over the years for a variety of boxing biographies I’m acutely aware of just how far the sport has declined in popularity. In the 1950s into the 60s it was arguably second only to football as the most talked about sport among the general public. There are so many reasons for this and Matt Christie’s editorial (BN, October 29) covered most. However, I’d offer another explanation to add to the mix. When I was growing up almost every town had an amateur boxing club. Practically every boy I knew passed through the doors of the gym. Trainers even today will agree that only around 10 per cent of youngsters stick with it. But even the 90 per cent who leave after a few weeks retain an interest.
Playing football in the street has also practically gone but the alternative of all-weather pitches have appeared everywhere with coaches and small local boys teams proliferating. The same hasn’t happened with boxing.
To ask the government to invest in a similar way would be a lost cause because not enough people in power support our sport, or so it seems.
The only solution I can offer is to encourage non-contact, or light contact, boxing in schools in the hope that the benefits spread quickly thereby establishing a base upon which to build.
Jim Kirkwood