[bill1234]

Originally Posted by fsenties4

Foreman has made millions with his enterprises, I don't see why would he want to take the risk of being seriously injured just because of money.

Yes, both Holmes and Foreman have both made millions outside of boxing, along with in boxing, but it's not like he'd have been facing some guy that's 20 something years younger like Lennox Lewis. He'd be facing someone the exact same age as himself who has physically declined just as much.

Holmes-Foreman is a fight that people, and Holmes, had been calling for from 1991 up until their retirement in 1997 (Foreman) and 2002 (Holmes). Foreman was making millions with his grill endorsement while he was fighting guys like Shannon Briggs and Lou Savarese, and he was making less fighting them than he was going to make fighting Holmes.

All fighters fight for money, even guys like Holmes and Foreman in their comebacks when both had business empires making them millions outside of the ring. Making millions for a 10 round fight against a fellow 50 year old fighter is a fantastic deal that he turned down.

[fsenties4]

Originally Posted by bill1234

Yes, both Holmes and Foreman have both made millions outside of boxing, along with in boxing, but it's not like he'd have been facing some guy that's 20 something years younger like Lennox Lewis. He'd be facing someone the exact same age as himself who has physically declined just as much.

Holmes-Foreman is a fight that people, and Holmes, had been calling for from 1991 up until their retirement in 1997 (Foreman) and 2002 (Holmes). Foreman was making millions with his grill endorsement while he was fighting guys like Shannon Briggs and Lou Savarese, and he was making less fighting them than he was going to make fighting Holmes.

All fighters fight for money, even guys like Holmes and Foreman in their comebacks when both had business empires making them millions outside of the ring. Making millions for a 10 round fight against a fellow 50 year old fighter is a fantastic deal that he turned down.

I see you have a valid point there, but what I say is that if I was Foreman/Holmes I'd think: I have an opportunity to make 10 million here, but I have to spend at least 4 months to get my body back in shape, which means to not look after my other business properly, and yes, I'll go against a guy who is as old as me so he surely won't hit me as hard as he would hae done before, but my body is also old and won't resist the same as it used to either.

Looking at it that way, plus the fact he doesn't need money that much, I'd say the better thing is not to do that fight, despite what fans ask for, there will always be fights that people would ask for and never get done.

[bill1234]

Originally Posted by fsenties4

I see you have a valid point there, but what I say is that if I was Foreman/Holmes I'd think: I have an opportunity to make 10 million here, but I have to spend at least 4 months to get my body back in shape, which means to not look after my other business properly, and yes, I'll go against a guy who is as old as me so he surely won't hit me as hard as he would hae done before, but my body is also old and won't resist the same as it used to either.

Looking at it that way, plus the fact he doesn't need money that much, I'd say the better thing is not to do that fight, despite what fans ask for, there will always be fights that people would ask for and never get done.

I understand that much, but by the time it was called off training already started, obviously the press conference already happened and really the only thing left to do was actually fight in like a month. I'd have gone through with the fight for the extra five million or so. That'd open the door for an entirely new business opportunity.

[hitfan]

Originally Posted by bill1234

Yep. Now it's going to be some kind of sad afair. Jones has been shot for quite some time now and been brutally knocked out multiple times, Collins is pushing 50 and hasn't had a fight in years.

Jones should retire ASAP and Collins shouldn't be coming back at all.

They should've fought in 1997/1998, not in 2013.

I was frustrated with Roy Jones back in the 1990s when there were all of these potential name opponents who could have been paired with him for potential super fights: Collins, Michalczewski, Rocchigiani, Michael Nunn, etc. Not sure whose fault it was that these fights never happened, but I think they should have. Fans were practically screaming for the Michalczewski fight to happen and Roy Jones' fan boys like Max Kellerman dismissed that out of hand saying that Michaelczewski wouldn't stand a chance because he struggled to beat the same opponents that RJ beat more convincingly. So what? It would have still attracted a large audience, and anybody who can rub two brain cells together could easily promote it (Undefeated Champion VS Undefeated Champion!).

Would the Muhammad Ali story be all that interesting if he had an undefeated record and consisted mainly of shutout decision wins against uninteresting opponents that seem to occupy the list of Roy Jones title defenses from the 1990s? The Ali-Frazier trilogy had a "rock-paper-scissors" type of dynamic. Puncher VS Dancer. Everybody had written off Muhammad Ali when it was all assumed who would crumble at the feet of George Foreman.

And now that Pacquiao lost twice in a row, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, if it ever happens, will not have the same sense of anticipation and intrigue it had a few years ago.