Image details: Wladimir Klitschko v Tony Thompson Press Conference served by picapp.com

Tomorrow afternoon the consensus (if not undisputed) heavyweight champion of the world is facing the consensus top American heavyweight but for some reason the excitement level hasn’t reached fever pitch on these shores. The clinical, cautious and glass-jawed Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko has yet to capture the American imagination and highly unlikely that his American challenger Tony “The Tiger” Thompson ever will. Even if his beats the 6:1 odds and fells the Eastern European giant.

We at jabandgrapple.com will be glued to our TV set tomorrow a 4:30 p.m. and dialed into HBO hoping Doktor Steelhammer can make clean work of Thompson. We are big Klitschko fans; Mrs. Jabandgrapple has even claimed to have married Mr. Jabandgrapple because of his passing likeness to Wlad.

Regardless, Wlad Klitschko fights always set us on edge. Even though he has the belts, the trainer, the supreme talent, the knockout punch, the smarts, and the imposing presence it always feels as if out of nowhere his opponent is going to knock him out. We were devastated by the Corrie Sanders and the Lamon Brewster fights. How could our champ get knocked out by them?

But he did and in every subsequent bout we suppose it is going to happen again. When his many skills supersede the glass jaw curse then we breath a sigh of relief and are thankful our hero made it through.

This trepidation, of course, is not the way one should feel about their heavyweight champ. The champ should mow people down with his superiority and strength like Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Rocky Marciano, Joe Louis and most other linear heavyweight champs.

The real question is will we be breathing a sigh of relief after tomorrow match with Tony Thompson? My feeling is yes but that won’t stop the worry. Not one bit.

Post from: EveryJoe

Holding Our Breath For Wladimir Klitschko

This week hip-hop fans by the legion have downloaded, bought, or found a copy Nas‘ new mixtape, The N—– Tape which is mixed by DJ Green Lantern. The tape includes a fast-paced banger produced by Salaam Remi called “Legendary (Mike Tyson)” which also is featured in the new Mike Tyson documentary which premiered a few months ago at Cannes.

It’s hard to explain to Mike Tyson cynics how my generation could ever love the man with all his tragic flaws, unfulfilled promise, and descent into a sad carnival act. Nas tries to answer these questions in his song.

The “Legendary (Mike Tyson)” narrative exists on two levels. The chorus chants Mike’s strengths and is an adolescent admiration of the former champ; a reflection of how all coming-of-age Gen-Xers felt when we saw Iron Mike from 85-89. It was a combination of awe, respect, and fear. The intro and early first verse put Mike on the pedestal we placed him on in 1986. It’s a place we always want him to be.

The second level recounts the earnest empathy that the grown up fan feels towards our former hero. It talks about his downfall with understanding but without sympathy acknowledging the choices made and offering no excuses. The song ends with the hope that there will be another Tyson but acknowledges that “Mike Tyson/Never see another like him.”

Nas’ rap career never sank to the depths of Mike Tyson’s boxing life and with this mixtape we’re hopeful that he can return to the promising form of his youth. The youth of Illmatic, a knockout album every bit the legend of Tyson’s string of fearsome first round knockouts and the destructions of Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks, Tony Tubbs, Trevor Berbick, and so many more.

Illmatic is remembered with the same passionate fervor as Tyson’s early career. Our memory tells us that the LP’s greatness allows for Nas’ subsequent 12-year musical downfall and cascading career arc. Like Tyson, he made his money selling sub-par performances, never equaling what might have been. We accept it because there is always the hope that the genius will return. Just as true Tyson believers always felt he had a chance against Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis.

It’s no accident that in “Legendary (Mike Tyson) Nas quotes his own Mike Tyson quote “Amped Up/They locked the Champ up/Even my brain’s in handcuffs” which appeared on Illmatic’s “The World is Yours.” The track’s just as much about his own legend as it is about Tyson’s.

I never fell for the legend of Nas like I did for the legend of Mike Tyson. Perhaps because Nas and I are around the same age or perhaps because he always seemed like a poor Rakim imitation. I never really bought into the over-intellectualizing of and deification of his sporadically great work. In other words, he’s never been anything without Primo and just because you’re discussing intelligent things doesn’t mean you’re saying something intelligent.

Is this song (and his subsequent “controversial” album) actually saying something different? Is Nas finally fulfilling the artistic promise rap fans have always wished and hoped was there? Mike Tyson never became Joe Louis or Muhammad Ali but maybe just maybe Nas might become more than the last great hip-hop hope. His time is running out.

To hear the song and watch an unofficial video just play the youtube below:

Photo Source: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Nas Honors Mike Tyson With Track on New Mixtape