March 12, 2001

3:04 PM

A fight between the heavyweight champion of the world and a poet - Lennox Lewis and Andrew Motion, now I'd pay to see that.
posted by johnny novak (17 comments total)

I couldn't think of a contemporary internationally famous poet, can you?
posted by johnny novak at 3:24 PM on March 12, 2001

Hmmm....now that Nipsey Russell is gone, I'd have to go with Maya Angelou, because no matter how many times you knock her down... She'll Rise/She'll Rise/Still, She'll Rise

:^)

c
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:31 PM on March 12, 2001

*ahem*
posted by DoublePostGuy at 3:31 PM on March 12, 2001

I'd agree with Maya - I can feel this thread turning into the literary equivalent of "name ten famous Belgians".

Bet we could all name 10 technology CEO's though.
posted by johnny novak at 3:42 PM on March 12, 2001

Meet James Ensor . . .
posted by grimmelm at 3:47 PM on March 12, 2001

Belgium's famous boxer?
posted by muppetboy at 3:50 PM on March 12, 2001

Now it's getting DaDa
posted by johnny novak at 3:54 PM on March 12, 2001

OK...Front 242 as the Belgians fighting James Ensor whose corner-man would be Christ entering Brussels in 1889. Coincidence? I think not, my friend. I think not.

They paint the donkey blue if you pay

c

OK last silly post
posted by Kafkaesque at 4:09 PM on March 12, 2001

Does Eminem count?
posted by techgnollogic at 4:43 PM on March 12, 2001

While he's not internationally known, or particularly talented, perhaps Henry Rollins could be coaxed into the ring.
posted by poseur at 4:45 PM on March 12, 2001

From an "I'd pay to see him fight Lennox Lewis" standpoint, Eminem sure as hell does count. :-)
posted by youhas at 6:38 PM on March 12, 2001

For further boxer/egghead clashes, see also here for the story of a showdown between Mike Tyson and A.J. Ayer.

(search for "Wykeham" and read the block quotation)
posted by grimmelm at 6:41 PM on March 12, 2001

I'm just curious if it's possible to reduce the font size on that page any lower. I could still tell that it was text.
posted by solistrato at 7:22 PM on March 12, 2001

Thom Gunn. Seamus Heaney. John Ashbery. C'mon, guys.
posted by Caffa at 2:14 AM on March 13, 2001

Caffa: quite. I think Seamus Famous is probably the best-known - at least in the English-speaking world.
posted by Mocata at 2:55 AM on March 13, 2001

Here's another good one: from the Chronology in Wallace Steven's Collected Poetry & Prose:

"1936: Provokes drunken fight with Ernest Hemingway while in Key West in February; breaks right hand in two places from hitting Hemingway's jaw, and is knocked down; the two make up before Stevens leaves (tells [his wife] Elsie he fell down a flight of stairs)."
posted by EngineBeak at 6:42 AM on March 13, 2001

Wallace Stevens: two-fisted insurance executive!
posted by snarkout at 7:07 AM on March 13, 2001