Marv Albert Talks Hugs & Psychological Warfare: Quote Spotlight

On the seventh of March, 2015, NBC aired the debut Premiere Boxing Champions card. The first match was Adrien Broner VS John Molina Junior. When John had just entered the ring, Marv Albert, commentator for the event, began to talk of a pre-fight discussion they'd had. 

Marv Albert, for PBC:

"John "The Gladiator" Molina. He told us yesterday that he ran into Adrien Broner at a press conference, in New York, recently. Molina said 'I gave him a hug!' but he made sure it was a *strong* hug. He said that was the psychological reasons, in effect, it was an *insincere* hug. He wanted Broner to *feel* him. He wanted Broner to know he was going to knock him out tonight, when they meet in the ring. A most unusual approach by John Molina."


The calculated hug, for the purposes of psychological warfare, is a dangerous risk for a competitor. If done improperly, it could certainly backfire. John Molina took the risk. He did not receive the reward. But that's why they call it 'gambling'. 


Work that bag,
Basement Gym Boxing


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Quotes About Clinching: Richard Steele Delights Marv Albert

"One thing a lot of people don't understand, you know, when a guy is holding, if his tactic is to throw a combination and to hold, that's his fight plan, you know. Providing that he is not holding so much that he is interrupting the other guy, or, you know, making the fight a bad fight, there's not too much you can do. But a lot of people don't understand that, you know, when there is holding, that means that a person is holding, but the other person, most of the time, is allowing him to hold."

~Richard Steele, the fifteenth of May, 1987, discussing the controversial and unsatisfactory match between Ossie Ocasio and Dwight Muhammad Qawi, which he'd refereed. The interview actually took place after both the Ocasio fight and the following match between Evander Holyfield and Ricky Parkey (a significantly more fan-friendly affair), on the Showtime channel.

This match was one of those matches that the commentators want someone to pay for after being forced to watch it. Richard Steele threw up a roadblock for Marv Albert in the post-fight interview, by saying he basically had no problem with the scoring and there wasn't much more to be done about the clinching. It was a funny interview in a way, with Albert clearly and fruitlessly wanting Steele to echo his sentiments, and an interesting take on clinching from a professional referee and former fighter. With regard to Steele's easygoing scoring opinion, basically saying the judges know best, Marv Albert actually said "You're kidding me." Steele gave Albert no quarter in his passivity. He didn't even give him a penny. He rolled right over his prodding in polite and unassuming fashion. He was almost controversial by way of trying not to be controversial.



Work that bag,
Basement Gym Boxing

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