Boxers who weren't great when you met them...

[G-man]

One off meetings but i found Herbie Hide (not that surprised) and George Foreman to be rude.

Nicest boxer i've met was Ensley Bingham. When i first went to watch the boxers train at Phoenix Camp in Salford as a schoolboy, i was quiet and a bit intimidated to be in the presence of pro fighters but he always went out of his way to talk to me and called me 'our kid'.

[rob h]

I idolized Hatton when I was younger and used to train in Hyde. I would see him in the gym from time to time and was star struck. I must admit when I think back to them days he wasn't "Ricky the boy next door" He was moody, arrogant and would barge past people on the stairs.

Now though I think he was still in his early 20's himself and probably didn't realise how respected he was and highly thought of he was by some of the kids.

[mickey1975]

I idolized Hatton when I was younger and used to train in Hyde. I would see him in the gym from time to time and was star struck. I must admit when I think back to them days he wasn't "Ricky the boy next door" He was moody, arrogant and would barge past people on the stairs.

Now though I think he was still in his early 20's himself and probably didn't realise how respected he was and highly thought of he was by some of the kids.

It wasnt a tickling contest on them stairs, though...

[rob h]

On another note,

Anthony Farnell used to message me before and after his fights after I met him at the louvalite gym. These were the days before facebook/Twitter and that.

I thought it was unreal that this guy from the TV who I watched all the time took the time and effort to speak to me. I don't know if Arnie remembers but I was chuft to bits about that.

I also asked him for his autograph on a little scrap of paper, to which he said I will do better than that, then produced a proper smart poster from the back of his jeep.

Being 14/15 I was well made up.

Also met Gomez when my mate was sparring him, was scary at first but could tell he sort of thought of us as "The enemy" walking in his gym. But I thought he was mental and really funny, shook my hand and that when we left.

[rob h]

Haha I know mate

[Counter-puncher]

I idolized Hatton when I was younger and used to train in Hyde. I would see him in the gym from time to time and was star struck. I must admit when I think back to them days he wasn't "Ricky the boy next door" He was moody, arrogant and would barge past people on the stairs.

Now though I think he was still in his early 20's himself and probably didn't realise how respected he was and highly thought of he was by some of the kids.

It wasnt a tickling contest on them stairs, though...

[mickey1975]

It means a lot to kids. When i was a teen, a tap on the head from Michael Gale made my day, literally. When your an adult you just think either nice bloke, or twat.

[Matt Teague]

nicest boxer i can recall meeting was arnie farnell, went to a hatton fight against a russian, arnie was on same bill managed to get a pic with him after his fight, top quality fella was just like speaking to your best mate. He even offered another fan a lift home that night.
Met gomez too the same night, had a pic with him, he just keep saying 'im a good looking pudendum me' i looked at him with his squashed nose and had to laugh.

[Matt Teague]

*good looking c**t lol

[davidas]

I idolized Hatton when I was younger and used to train in Hyde. I would see him in the gym from time to time and was star struck. I must admit when I think back to them days he wasn't "Ricky the boy next door" He was moody, arrogant and would barge past people on the stairs.

Now though I think he was still in his early 20's himself and probably didn't realise how respected he was and highly thought of he was by some of the kids.

It wasnt a tickling contest on them stairs, though...

[punjabipal]

Nathan Cleverley
John Murray
Paul Smith
Liam Smith
Steve Robinson
Nicky Piper
Jason Cook
Lee Haskins
Joe Egan
Michael Watson
Scott Dann
Patrick Mendy
Errol Christie
Graham Earl
All very friendly and happy to chat


Martin

[Wales]

So nobody that wasnt great then....

[Wales]

As a side, apparently ben ainsley refused some army lads a photo with his gold medal in the green sailor (?) pub in weymouth and it almost went off between the army lads who were in civys and ainsley and his mates before they made a sharp exit realising their mistake. The army boys were there having a drink in between security shifts, essentially providing security for him. pudendum.

[CB]

Met Gomez before Hatton/Tsyzu and found him a good lad. Chatted to us for a good bit, mad as a box of frogs but sound all the same.

Met Hatton in New York New York the night after he lost to Mayweather. Considering his face was bust up and he must have been getting stopped by everyone he was happy to chat and walk. On his own as well not surrounded by minders.

[Jeff Thomas]

So nobody that wasnt great then....

[Dirk Kelly]

the green sailor (?) pub

Sounds like somewhere Poncey and Eddie meet up.....

[Wake up call]

You can't really judge if someone is a twat just by your first encounter with them. Cuntish qualities tend to surface over time.

Very true. Some people are standoffish because they have insecurities rather than being arseholes. They need to get to know a person before they can act all pally with them.

That said, I've probably met over 150 boxers and less than five of them would fall into the arse category. Out of all the people in boxing there's only two people I actually dislike.

Enzo is lovely man & a right bundle of fun.

Who mentioned Enzo? The two people I don't like are both based in London. One is a boxer and the other is his trainer.

[keithmoonhangover]

I haven't met a pro boxer I didn't like.

I met Naz after he'd had 10 or so fights and he was quiet, polite and a gentleman.

[Wales]

the green sailor (?) pub

Sounds like somewhere Poncey and Eddie meet up.....

they dont have a pool table or dart board, just a little mat men can roll around on.

[johnnygreaves]

I know I'm not exactly a name but anyone interested in me I've always put myself out for them. We as boxers owe the paying public that.those who don't should hang their heads in shame

[danconnollyeire]

I know I'm not exactly a name but anyone interested in me I've always put myself out for them. We as boxers owe the paying public that.those who don't should hang their heads in shame

A bit off topic... Johnny - didn't you fight Kevin Mitchell's brother? Has he retired... I know he at least had some decent domestic potentional??

[squared circle]

Although not a big fan, to give him his due Amir Khan was pretty good value at the Excel yesterday. Was signing a lot of tickets and programmes for the fan by leaning over from the gantry where BBC were broadcasting from.

Lennox on the other hand was always "busy". We caught up with him twice as he was about to climb the gantry or was coming down from it and politely asked for a quick photo. He just muttered something both times and kept walking. They say you should never meet your heroes......

Wlad was good value, he was happy to pose for a quick shot. Audley got booed out of town when the announced him on the in-house mic at the start, which was quite funny if a bit unfair given his amateur achievements.

All the GB and Irish squad were as good as gold. Stalker stopped for a quick chat and photo, Katie Taylor was lovely if very quiet. We even got up close to Rob McCracken at the end, and although he is a man of very few words he did at least let us have a photo.

A cracking day, even if Fred got his head boxed off. The noise when Joshua got the nod was simply unbelievable.

[danconnollyeire]

Although not a big fan, to give him his due Amir Khan was pretty good value at the Excel yesterday. Was signing a lot of tickets and programmes for the fan by leaning over from the gantry where BBC were broadcasting from.

Lennox on the other hand was always "busy". We caught up with him twice as he was about to climb the gantry or was coming down from it and politely asked for a quick photo. He just muttered something both times and kept walking. They say you should never meet your heroes......

Wlad was good value, he was happy to pose for a quick shot. Audley got booed out of town when the announced him on the in-house mic at the start, which was quite funny if a bit unfair given his amateur achievements.

All the GB and Irish squad were as good as gold. Stalker stopped for a quick chat and photo, Katie Taylor was lovely if very quiet. We even got up close to Rob McCracken at the end, and although he is a man of very few words he did at least let us have a photo.

A cracking day, even if Fred got his head boxed off. The noise when Joshua got the nod was simply unbelievable.

This is why we don't like Lennox - apart from him being Canadian!
They were discussing the boxing on BBC and from nowhere he pulls out two pics:
"this is me winning gold and this is me as the last ever undisputed HW champ of the world baby!"

Ok dickhead... can we please get back to the Olympics...

[thepocketrocket]

I think Lennox thinks he is better than he actually was. He is most famous for beating Holyfield and Tyson when they were pretty much past it (Tyson was a walking corpse), plus losing to Oliver Mcall and Haseem Rachman. Yes, there are always excuses like 'oh, he wasn't properly fit'. Hard shit, you wouldn't have seen the greats of the sport getting knocked out by guys like these.

We always had to put up with people saying that Lennox wasn't popular because he was Canadian, or because he was black. No, Lennox always came across as arrogant, and not in a funny, tongue in cheek way.

[danconnollyeire]

I think Lennox thinks he is better than he actually was. He is most famous for beating Holyfield and Tyson when they were pretty much past it (Tyson was a walking corpse), plus losing to Oliver Mcall and Haseem Rachman. Yes, there are always excuses like 'oh, he wasn't properly fit'. Hard shit, you wouldn't have seen the greats of the sport getting knocked out by guys like these.

We always had to put up with people saying that Lennox wasn't popular because he was Canadian, or because he was black. No, Lennox always came across as arrogant, and not in a funny, tongue in cheek way.

Lewis cleared out his division. He isn’t to blame for the fact he came on later than others and should be given credit for not going to prison, losing his form in his early-20s and for not having countless wars with lesser men, as Holyfield did. If a guy was leagues below Lewis he tended to brutally chin him. Lewis is punished for things we generally praise a fighter for and why is this, because he’s aloof and confident, call the cops. So what if his passport said Canada, his heart was Jamaican and his media savvy side was British.

Plus Lewis legitimately beat a guy who went on to become one of the world’s number one and the people who cream over Vitali should bear in mind that Lewis ripped his face up and TKO’d him.

Merchant may have purposefully and erroneously labelled the TKO win as “controversial”, but it was a clean win. Lederman summed it up best when explaining why he couldn’t take to Lewis, he said: “Lewis often ignores you, but Wlad and Vitali will happily stop and talk to you on the corridors.” That tells us more about Harold, and the men who take to the mic, than it does about Lewis. Lennox brought in good figures for HBO in his latter career and some decent fights, Wlad and Vitali don’t, but at least they’ll do a stop and chat next time they get on the network, eh?

There's never a reason to be a cock... we all go through shit in life but can still be courteous and polite. Lennox has lots of money... what's he got to be grumpy about? Working 6-8 to feed his family and working weekends? No! He loves talking about himself