Boxing – When A Loss Is A Victory

Of late I have found it extremely challenging to keep up to date with my blogging. I find myself in October writing about completed items from April. My current location is in Madrid and I am here to tick off another item on my list, #14 -Watch a football match in the Nou Camp, Bernabeu, San Siro (Completed watching Inter Milan vs. Tottenham Hotspur, 20th October 2010), and Maracana. Tottenham Hotspur’s, the football team I follow, are playing Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the Champions League. However, this post relates to a different sporting spectacle. Item #90 on my list is to ‘Go to a boxing fight’.

Boxing is a sport I love to watch, but know little about. It is a sport that interested my grandad, someone who would regularly attend fights and write post-fight reviews for a number of press titles. In all honesty, my appreciation for boxing has fluctuated somewhat. I grew up admiring the heavyweights who showed respect towards each other but lost interest as the division become less competitive and the athletes spent more time disrespecting each other.

The Anthony Joshua vs. Vladimir Klitschko fight was the perfect fight for me to lose my boxing virginity. Both athletes showed respect and class, and both athletes were a class above the rest of the heavyweight division.

The fight took place on the 29th April at Wembley Stadium in front of 90,000 boxing fans. I was one of those in attendance sat ringside, close enough to see the action as the boxers pummelled each other until Joshua won by technical knockout in the 11th round. It was an incredible fight with an amazing atmosphere, and it was also refreshing to see not just the athletes respecting one another, but even the fans in attendance applauding Klitschko for the spectacle we had witnessed. Klitschko himself made reference to this reception in a LinkedIn post titled ‘When a loss is a victory‘ (this is where I stole my post title from). This is a great read and insight into the true class of the athlete.

This is one item on my list that I will tell my grandchildren about in years to come. It really was a great experience. I must admit I cannot say if I would feel the same if the fight was not such a big event, but in any case, it has motivated me to watch more boxing whether that be in person or in front of a television screen. Who knows, maybe one day I will go a step further and step into the ring itself.

This is one item on my list that I will tell my grandchildren about in years to come. It really was a great experience. I must admit I cannot say if I would feel the same if the fight was not such a big event, but in any case, it has motivated me to watch more boxing whether that be in person or in front of a television screen. Who knows, maybe one day I will go a step further and step into the ring itself.