Olympic Boxing:True Stories of Extraordinary Lives
Boxing is a sport of stories. The history of the game is filled with true tales of heartache and adversity, mentors and manipulators, bravery and heroism, remarkable victories and bizarre moments that make the 'Rocky' films seem dull.
If we look back at Olympic boxing champions, we discover the Olympics often provide a revealing introduction to the boxers who create such fascinating real-life stories.
Lennox Lewis:How Britain Learned to Love a Winner
Britain's three time World Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis learned stoicism from the Olympics. After his controversial loss to Tyrell Biggs in the 1984 games, Lewis declined to turn professional and returned to win Gold in 1988.He could have made millions but resisted.It was a matter of pride and honour.
This display of determination to overcome unfair obstacles was to characterize Lewis' professional career. Lewis was rarely in trouble when boxing - most of his battles were outside the ring. Such was Lewis' talent that fighters and promoters tried to prevent him from contesting. In one of sport's most surreal moments, Riddick Bowe refused to fight him and conceded the WBC title - by putting the title belt in a dustbin. Mike Tyson paid millions not to fight him in 1996.Lewis was such an intimidating fighter that Oliver McCall quit their bout in the fifth round in tears, and only Holyfield and his family thought that Lewis didn't win their first clash.
Yet his ultimate battle was for acceptance by the British public. This had little to do with the fact that London-born Lewis fought for Canada in the Olympics. The British adore an underdog and those who show humility and self-deprecation. For the British, character is as important as sporting success, and in the 80s and 90s Frank Bruno was the nations favourite boxer.
Bruno was funny, gentle and affable. He appeared on chat shows, in comedy sketches and even, famously, in pantomime. However, as defeats to world-class fighters like Tim Witherspoon showed, although powerful and incredibly brave, he was limited in range and a failure in the 1980s. And Britain loved him. In contrast, Lewis was confident, relaxed, and thoughtful. Significantly, chess-playing Lewis was a winner with an excellent all-round game, tactically astute and versatile, and his rise was swift. Bruno eventually surprised critics who thought he was too nice to be a fighter and won the world title in 1995, but Lewis went on to become heavyweight champion of the world on three separate occasions. Only Ali and Holyfield have done that in history. Curiously, we still loved Bruno more.
From Henry Cooper to Bruno, the British had a tradition of adoring lovable losers: when Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield to become the best boxer on the planet in 1999, Britain finally learned to respect an outstanding and honorable winner, voting him BBC Sports Personality of the year.
The Olympics: Where the Stories Begin
There are many other instances where the Olympics have introduced us to fighters of character and skill.
The Olympics have premiered great champions with fascinating stories such as Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman. Fighting with sublime showmanship and grit while wearing photos of his son and girlfriend pinned to his socks, Sugar Ray Leonard at Montreal 1976 gave warning of the flamboyance and expertise to come in his epic fights with Hearns, Duran and Hagler in the 1980s. In recent years we have seen the brilliantly entertaining Roy Jones and Oscar De La Hoya.
Boxing at Beijing 2008
There will be boxers of ability and spirit to look forward to this year. Take the story of Billy Joe Saunders. Saunders is from Britain's Romany Gypsy community and joins the entertaining Frankie Gavin as part of the talented team that Britain is taking to the 2008 finals.
During the Beijing Games, look out for fighters such as Saunders and America's Deontay Wilder who have a truly remarkable stories to tell and might have a thrilling future after the Gold medals are handed out.
拳击运动是一项传奇的运动，拳击的发展历程充满了拳手真实的人生故事：心痛和逆境、名师与经纪人的帮助、勇气和英雄气概的培养、精彩的胜利与难忘的瞬间。与真实的拳坛生涯相比，那部以拳击为主题的经典电影《洛奇》其实很平淡。
回顾历届奥运会拳击冠军，我们会发现奥运会带给我们如此多的具有传奇色彩拳击选手，他们创造了一个又一个引人入胜的的真实故事。
拳王刘易斯（Lennox Lewis）：
三届世界重量级拳王刘易斯正是通过奥运学会了坚韧。1984年洛杉矶奥运会，他在比赛中富有争议性地败给了比格斯（Tyrell Biggs），为了能参加1988年奥运会，之后他放弃了成为职业选手和赢得上百万的奖金的机会。最后，1988年奥运会上他赢得了金牌，用实力为自己赢得了尊严与荣誉
在不公平的情况下克服重重困难贯穿了刘易斯的职业生涯的始终。有意思的是，刘易斯遇到的困难大多不是来自拳击比赛本身，他的大部分的“战斗”都发生在拳击场外。因为刘易斯的出众天才，他的对手和经纪人都想方设法阻止他参加比赛。里迪克-鲍（Riddick Bowe）就曾拒绝和他对决，还把金腰带扔到垃圾桶里，主动放弃WBC（世界拳击协会冠军）的头衔。1996年泰森付给了他百万巨款以避免和他交战。Oliver McCall曾在比赛中被刘易斯逼得在第五回合就眼噙泪花退出比赛。霍利菲尔德也是一样，估计只有他和他的家人天真地认为，刘易斯并没有赢下他们之间的第一次交锋。
刘易斯面临的最大障碍是得到英国公众的认可。英国人喜欢同情弱者和谦虚自嘲的人。他们认为运动员的个性与运动成绩同样重要，因此在八九十年代英国人最爱的拳击手是成绩并不出众的弗兰克布鲁诺(Frank Bruno)。
布鲁诺很风趣，温和可亲。他经常做客谈话节目，喜剧片，甚至客串哑剧。但是，作为诸如Tim Witherspoon这些世界级选手的手下败将，尽管他表现出了自己的能力以及难以置信的勇敢，但他在整个90年代始终是以一个失败者的身份出现在大家面前。但是英国人就是喜欢他。相比之下，刘易斯充满自信，无拘无束，足智多谋。值得注意的是，刘易斯还曾经得到过国际象棋比赛的冠军，充分体现了他头脑灵活和多才多艺的一面。虽然布鲁诺最终让那些认为他太仁慈了而不会成为一个好拳手的评论家们大吃一惊，赢得了1995年的世界冠军头衔，但是刘易斯的成就更加辉煌，在三大拳击大赛中相继取得了重量级世界冠军头衔。历史上也只有拳王阿里和霍利菲尔德做到过。但是令人奇怪的是，英国人依然执著地更喜欢布鲁诺多一点。
从Henry Cooper 到布鲁诺，英国人似乎有同情弱者的传统。当1999年刘易斯击败霍利菲尔德成为这个星球上最出色的拳王时，英国人最终学会了尊重这位出色的可敬的胜利者，他被评选为当年的BBC年度体育人物。
奥运会：故事开始的地方
奥运会带给我们很多象刘易斯一样个性鲜明而又满身技能的勇士，还有很多其他这样的例子。
他们中很多是具有传奇故事的伟大冠军，例如Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier和George Foreman。Sugar Ray Leonard喜欢把儿子和女朋友的照片挂在袜子上参加比赛。近年来，我们又看到了搞怪大师的Roy Jones 和Oscar De La Hoya的出色表现。
2008北京奥运会的拳击比赛
很多意志坚决，实力出众的拳击选手都会在今年有所表现。比如来自英国吉普赛聚集区的Billy Joe Saunders，他和将Frankie Gavin一起将代表英国队参加2008年在北京的比赛。
北京奥运会上请注意Saunders 和美国的Deontay Wilder。你会发现在奥运金牌的背后，他们都在讲述着不平凡的故事，而且拥有光辉的未来。
