There's a really good interview with RJJ on B-Talk that will remind everyone here why they will be buying this fight:

(I just realized that the link won't work because it's a members' only section.)

In it Roy says "I'm going there to take him (Tito) out. People are paying for it and I'm going to be there to give them what they're paying for."

While the rest of the interview is good (there's a nice quote about doing business with Don King), I can't help but be annoyed with the statement above. It reminds me too much of the interviews he was giving before the third Tarver fight, when he was talking about how his chickens would die before they'd lose ect. Obviously Roy knows what the fans want and he sells that, but the question is whether or not he'll even try to deliver. I'd like to think that, given the fact that Tito is so much smaller than Roy, Roy will be a man of his word and slug it out with him, but at the same time I've heard this before.

On a side note, I feel wierd about linking the B-talk interview here, but I would have linked it if it had been from anywhere else, so I'm not going to worry about it.

To Greg and Ben: for Christsake, make up already. Greg, give Ben 30% of B-talk for the board and the management of it. Ben, let it go. Life's too short and there's no such thing as any great relationship, business or otherwise, that doesn't have at least one overly dramatic crisis. Both of you need to stop being so selfish and start thinking of the fans!

As a member who hardly posts, I must say that was a great post. The bit about the boxingtalk management was very well put as well. I agree with you %100.

What's a B-talk? Sounds like a dead animal.

Indeed I heard that species was extinct !

B-Talk is B-Hop's baby momma's cousin.

I dont understand why Ben needs to make up with someone who sounds like he fucked him over repeatedly

F.........................................ck B.Talk
That guy is all about himself!

Because Boxingtalk is less of a site without this board and this board is less than it could be without the more heavily trafficked B-talk bringing in new posters.

I'm an outsider in that I've never met anyone on this board other than just chatting about boxing online, but my sense is that most of the best posters here are loyal to Ben and would only go back to a B-talk board if Ben went as well. So in that sense, Ben has a strong hand because I think it's clear that this is the best boxing board on the web with the most knowledgable, articulate posters. That said, I'm not at all sure that fighthype.com is growing fast enough to bring in new blood to this board. (I could be wrong about that, as I have no idea what the traffic is here.) And if he can't start drawing new blood to the board, the board will, in all liklihood, begin to decline.

At the same time, Boxingtalk is clearly the best boxing site on the web, as it gets the top named fighters on a daily basis, and the brand is established and strong. But as strong as it is, the heart and soul of B-talk, for me, was always this board. More than anything, this board seperated Boxingtalk from every other site because here you get the feeling that you're chatting with, for the most part, smart guys who are passionate about the sport. And I do think that the B-talk membership will decline without this board, as this board gives the site some credibility and some interesting insights that wouldn't be prudent for Greg to print on the front page.

The last thing in the world I want to do is offend Hype by implying that his site is second rate because I think it's really great given the amount of time it's been up and I appreciate all his effort in keeping this board alive. But that said, it does kind of feel like there are less posters these days and less random traffic, which, of course, is to be expected.

I know that the subject of the split is a sore one and I wouldn't have brought it up if I hadn't wanted to link the RJJ interview. I just think that it's a real shame that the best board on the web is separated from the best site on the web and vice versa, as both the board and the site benefit substantially from the other. That's all I'm sayin'.

The only people who really know what happened are Ben and Greg, both of whom are obviously proud and strong willed. From what I've seen of Greg, it's easy for me to imagine that he could be a difficult guy to work for/with and that his ego could have gotten a little out of whack with the success of the site. And from what I know about Ben, he ain't no shrinking violet either. And given my impressions of these personalities, it's easy for me to imagine situations where things could get out of hand in a hurry and egos complicated things. I like to think that the reason that Greg hasn't put a new board up is because he still considers a reconciliation possible. I could be wrong. Worse yet, it could be that Greg really does think we're all monkeys and that he has no intention of putting another board up. If that's the case, then that's really stupid on his part.

Anyway, it doesn't look like there will be any kind of reconciliation, and so there's no reason to continue talking about it.

And once again, Hype, I'm personally grateful to you for your effort in keeping this board alive. Thank you.

Hasim Rahman > boxingtalk

This site has not gotten any slower since the switch. Actually I think the activity has risen.

And any new site is going to start off slow. I'm sure it will get bigger. Hype already talked about doin some freelance shit, so I guess this is it. Just broke off on bad terms. Ben took care of the posters so that is why we are here and BT still does not have a forum. If Greg believed that a forum would help his site I think he would have one up by now. I say Kudos to Hype for the new site and give it time and I'm sure it will grow. This is just a baby site now. How new? A couple months, if that.

exactly

I don't see the need to have Ben go back to Greg, even if it is to the betterment of both as you imply, considering what Ben has written in the threads about it.

I am of the opinion that considering Ben's contacts are probably the same as Gregs then how could this be a bad thing? Another site with connections is launched to cover boxing. Sure traffic is slow right now but once he starts gaining a foothold maybe you wont notice the difference between the level when btalk was run by Ben and what Ben is doing with his own site. Seeing as how Greg has treated some of his former employees do you really blame Ben for wanting out? Especially since his goal was to start on his own?

I applaud Ben for his actions and for trying to cover boxing the right way

I have no interest in pouring any salt in any wounds because, as I said, I'm grateful to Ben for keeping the board alive and I am afraid the the split is final and so there is no point in continuing the conversation.

Ben's obviously a smart guy and I have no doubt that eventually this will be a great site, but being a great site and being a site that attracts visitors aren't necessarily the same things. Not that I'm a doubter. (I've just recently started a business of my own and I, like Ben, have no room in my life for any negative people and so the last thing I would want to be is someone who comes across as doubting the site's potential.) It just seems like an unnecessary risk unless the situation with Greg really is unfixable.

As far as Greg's behavior is concerned, I wasn't there so I don't know. Like I said, it's easy for me to imagine that Greg's ego got a bit out of whack thanks to the success of the site, his age, the weight the boxing world suddenly gives his opinions, and the fact that he has an unusually strong personality to begin with. If Greg really is an asshole and treats his employees badly, then Ben did the right thing. But if Greg was just a young punk from the Bronx that got a bit carried away with himself and is man enough to see the error of his ways, then that could be an opening for a reconsiliation.

I wish I hadn't mentioned it.

well I support the site Ben owns. I go through the site to get to the board to make sure he gets every hit he deserves, I read the articles and the press releases even if I have seen it elsewhere.

and dont regret mentioning it. In my opinion I dont think its wrong to talk about the differences between the two. I side with Ben as I think he has his supporters' best interests.

Fight hype suits my needs perfectly well with accurate & up to date information. I have no need to go elsewhere. I would actually lose a lot of respect for Ben if he did go back to Leon but considering the hard work he has put in here I don't see it happening.

Ben the site looks great & I am proud to be a part of the board. It is a ballsy move to break out on your own but you have your shit together whilst other sites are sliding. I don't care about members only videos with the same tierd old fighters treading out the same old bullshit. I care about a feeling of community & enjoy things like seeing Bazookas kid knock out another guy in a amateur fight & shooting the breeze with other people who love boxing.

Oh yeah Monkeys Rule!

As fight freaks, we check every site for information, BUT, a message board is pretty much your home for boxing. A boxing site with no message board is just a news site.

I go where this board goes.

It's a valid point you raised.

Me 2 from boxing.com to bt now to fighthype I love reading everyone post you guys crack me up from what I seen ben always came on the board to chatt with fans I mean name another site beside bt that you could chat with a fighter and could get a phone call if your lucky from them Maybe This is starting off Slow but Im sure there a lot of people out there like myself Who dont post but enjoy reading everyone post. Why don't you start selling fighthype shirts , Ill buy one I remember the first time i saw a fighter wearing the bt shirt I was proud to be a member . keep up the good work Ben and thanks for keeping this board alive

Yes Sal, the interview was excellent, I agree.

In my opinion, its hard to keep any relationship peaceful and progressing, when it involves the sport of boxing. The split between Ben and Greg is just another example of why boxing, as a sport, continues down the path of destruction. Everyone involved in the sport is concerned about one thing. Know what is? Money! the integrity of the sport, if you will, is no longer existant and may realistically have never existed. So that chase for the ever powerful dollar turns promoters against fighters, fighters against promoters, writers against website owners, website owners against writers, website owners against website owners, writers against writers, and so on and so forth. You get the point.

I wrote for ringsidereport.com and every time I talked to the owner on the phone all he could talk about was how much he hated Greg, like Greg was the Anti-Christ or something. I had to tell him on a couple of occassions " Uh...can we talk about something else ....other than how much you despise Greg?" If you ask me, his only problem with Greg was Greg's success with boxingtalk.

Hell, some four years ago when I was banned from Dogshit boxing for getting in Glaxor a.k.a Chee's ass, just on some respect shit....he blasted Greg, talking about how Greg stole the site from Ron Heard. How the fuck do you steal a site from someone? I listened to this cat like what the hell are you on man? It must be some powerful shit.

I've never spoken to Greg over the phone or met him. I've spoken to Ben once over the phone about 4-5 years ago. I met Avon at a couple of cards in Phildelphia....of course he seemed cool as well, but from what I've heard through the grapevine he was the one responsible for banning me aka Reg_One from these boards last time. Now you have to say to yourself "Wow, I've met this cat in person, shook his hand a few times, and he was the one that banned me? Back to my point on the integrity of the sport.....there is none when two "MEN" can shake hands, disperse, and the other stabs the other in the back like that. I've only worked in this sport as a freelance writer but I've seen and heard shit that would make your stomachs turn.

The one year I covered fights in Philadelphia for them, never once was I sent a free t-shirt or anything, I paid for my boxingtalk t-shirts out of my own pocket. You know how it is....when you love doing something and being a part of a positive thing.....you don't care about little shit like that, but looking back, that was extremely selfish of him not to at least forward to me a free tee or something since I am doing this coverage for you for free! Goddam! Hello! Its in the past and quite frankly I could give a shit who sinks or who swims in this business because at the end of the day no one in this business gives a fuck about the other. They just act like they do to get what they want.


Reg_One

Avon didn't ban you, from what I know...unless someone knows something I don't.

But that is neither here nor there.

Avon probably did JD, considering he banned me 3 other times because he knew he was wrong.

What is he a 30 year old acting like a 15 year old on the boards?

So JD when BT puts its boards back up, are you going to go along with Method to Boxingtalk?

I really don't understand very well what's going on, but I feel very good over here.

That pana is still going down on Nov. 10th Konar

Avon didn't ban you, Reg. I know he always stood up for you behind the scenes.

That pretty much sums that up. I post on these boards because I have posted on these boards for years. Period. I would have continued to post on this forum no matter where it wound up (except for Dogshitboxing). Ben dates back to the Max days, which is where we go back to. Other than that, I go everywhere the news is....but I post only post on a few boards. Not enough time and already spread too thin....

I do as well

LOL off topic here but I find it amusing that this thread was about an RJJ interview and the 24+ replies that have followed it so far have not even touched upon the thread topic at all.

Was thinking the same thing. Guess a thread about Roy Jones has no legs.