Cleanest Fighters Of All Time.

[wouter]

I think it´s a tossup between Hank Bath and Ted Showers.

[Ezzard]

I think it´s a tossup between Hank Bath and Ted Showers.

Joe Soap was always spotless...

sorry

[zurdo]

I don't know much about Coetzee, but I agree and think he did get a bad rap just because he was from South Africa!

Thats right, from what I remember Coetzee was one rare intance in Boxing where where a guys career suffered because he was both good and caucasian .

He was no world beater But Coetzee was was good enough to to have gotten a fight for the real championship against Holmes.

Coetzee most likely would have gotten walloped but he was more deserving of a shot than a lot of guys who did fight Holmes



As far as i know, Coetzee was always against apartied.

[RazorKO]

I don't know much about Coetzee, but I agree and think he did get a bad rap just because he was from South Africa!

Thats right, from what I remember Coetzee was one rare intance in Boxing where where a guys career suffered because he was both good and caucasian .

He was no world beater But Coetzee was was good enough to to have gotten a fight for the real championship against Holmes.

Coetzee most likely would have gotten walloped but he was more deserving of a shot than a lot of guys who did fight Holmes



As far as i know, Coetzee was always against apartied.

I really wanted to see the Coetzee vs Holmes fight when it was signed and ready to happen in 1984 - The fight would of been even bigger than the Holmes vs Cooney fight as Coetzee had been in with the best and proved he was an elite fighter. Gil Clancy as well as I agree that Coetzee had all the arrtibutes to become a great fighter he had the power, size, iron chin and heart. The only problems he had was very bad endurance and somewhat slow handspeed.

And yes Coetzee was always against aparthied and because of that he was in fear of being killed by White nationlists and was seen as a traitor to his people. He was also the first sportsman to bring back and white people together during a sporting event.

[Collins2000]

Gerrie Coetzee - Always grateful to his opponent and never lashed out in fights when he should of won (Snipes, Thomas, Tate) instead he embraced them. Coetzee was also treated cruely by the British public as well as the press when he fought Bruno but didnt say anything bad about the country but instead apoligised.

Arguello, Patterson, Louis are as well clean fighters.

What do you mean by "Coetzee was also treated cruely by the British public"?

The public hurled abuse and accused Coetzee of being racist just because he is a South African. But little do they know that Coetzee activley proested against aparthied saying it was a disgraceful reigme and Coetzee had to move around the country in fear of being killed by the white supremacists.

I was in Britain at the time. The public were not against Coetzee based on him being a white South African sportsman. In fact, they weren't against him at all. Where did you get this from?

I don't recall anything in the popular press at the time deriding Coetzee on this basis either. It's possible there was the odd article in the gutter press but I'd like to see sources for your claims.

I also attended the fight between Brian Mitchell and Jim McDonnell in London. There were about half a dozen people outside the Elephant and Castle Leisure Centre handing out anti-apartheid literature. From what I saw, the fans were politely ignoring them.

The British public weren't, in my experience, against white South African sportmen at all. As I recall, some Africans actually played for England at cricket without much, if any, backlash. I think the public saw them, to a large extent, as victim of apatheid too.

[Collins2000]

The public hurled abuse and accused Coetzee of being racist just because he is a South African. But little do they know that Coetzee activley proested against aparthied saying it was a disgraceful reigme and Coetzee had to move around the country in fear of being killed by the white supremacists.

I can vouch for this statement. Too often, people judge you by the nation you come from. The response of the English public mimicked the apartheid that Coetzee was opposed to.

Decagon, do YOU have any evidence of the activities of 'the British public' regarding Coetzee. Are is this just a generalisation?

[Collins2000]

I don't know much about Coetzee, but I agree and think he did get a bad rap just because he was from South Africa!

Thats right, from what I remember Coetzee was one rare intance in Boxing where where a guys career suffered because he was both good and caucasian .

He was no world beater But Coetzee was was good enough to to have gotten a fight for the real championship against Holmes.

Coetzee most likely would have gotten walloped but he was more deserving of a shot than a lot of guys who did fight Holmes



As far as i know, Coetzee was always against apartied.

I really wanted to see the Coetzee vs Holmes fight when it was signed and ready to happen in 1984 - The fight would of been even bigger than the Holmes vs Cooney fight as Coetzee had been in with the best and proved he was an elite fighter. Gil Clancy as well as I agree that Coetzee had all the arrtibutes to become a great fighter he had the power, size, iron chin and heart. The only problems he had was very bad endurance and somewhat slow handspeed.

And yes Coetzee was always against aparthied and because of that he was in fear of being killed by White nationlists and was seen as a traitor to his people. He was also the first sportsman to bring back and white people together during a sporting event.

The fights was signed? I thought it never got past the discussion stage. When Coetzee beat Dokes, Holmes said he'd fight him IN SOUTH AFRICA for $100 million. An unbelievable sum at the time (and now) and which was seen as saying he wasn't interested in being an Uncle Tom. Then again, you never knew with Holmes as making money was a very big part of his life and he had the bloody mindedness to believe he knew best in all matters.

[RazorKO]

Thats right, from what I remember Coetzee was one rare intance in Boxing where where a guys career suffered because he was both good and caucasian .

He was no world beater But Coetzee was was good enough to to have gotten a fight for the real championship against Holmes.

Coetzee most likely would have gotten walloped but he was more deserving of a shot than a lot of guys who did fight Holmes



As far as i know, Coetzee was always against apartied.

I really wanted to see the Coetzee vs Holmes fight when it was signed and ready to happen in 1984 - The fight would of been even bigger than the Holmes vs Cooney fight as Coetzee had been in with the best and proved he was an elite fighter. Gil Clancy as well as I agree that Coetzee had all the arrtibutes to become a great fighter he had the power, size, iron chin and heart. The only problems he had was very bad endurance and somewhat slow handspeed.

And yes Coetzee was always against aparthied and because of that he was in fear of being killed by White nationlists and was seen as a traitor to his people. He was also the first sportsman to bring back and white people together during a sporting event.

The fights was signed? I thought it never got past the discussion stage. When Coetzee beat Dokes, Holmes said he'd fight him IN SOUTH AFRICA for $100 million. An unbelievable sum at the time (and now) and which was seen as saying he wasn't interested in being an Uncle Tom. Then again, you never knew with Holmes as making money was a very big part of his life and he had the bloody mindedness to believe he knew best in all matters.

The fight was signed, but Coetzee had broken his hand again and the fight had to be postponed, it was first said to of been fought in South Affrica for $30 million going to Holmes, Holmes turned it down because of the aparthied. It was then signed in Las Vegas with Holmes getting $5 million and he agreed but as I said Coetzee broke his hand and he had to be cancelled as he had to fight Page who was the no.1 contender.

[RazorKO]

What do you mean by "Coetzee was also treated cruely by the British public"?

The public hurled abuse and accused Coetzee of being racist just because he is a South African. But little do they know that Coetzee activley proested against aparthied saying it was a disgraceful reigme and Coetzee had to move around the country in fear of being killed by the white supremacists.

I was in Britain at the time. The public were not against Coetzee based on him being a white South African sportsman. In fact, they weren't against him at all. Where did you get this from?

I don't recall anything in the popular press at the time deriding Coetzee on this basis either. It's possible there was the odd article in the gutter press but I'd like to see sources for your claims.

I also attended the fight between Brian Mitchell and Jim McDonnell in London. There were about half a dozen people outside the Elephant and Castle Leisure Centre handing out anti-apartheid literature. From what I saw, the fans were politely ignoring them.

The British public weren't, in my experience, against white South African sportmen at all. As I recall, some Africans actually played for England at cricket without much, if any, backlash. I think the public saw them, to a large extent, as victim of apatheid too.

I just read it in newspapers that he was being treated cruely in the build up as everyone had tried to convince Bruno not to fight Coetzee because of the aparthied but Bruno went away with it anyway so the public were both mad at Brubo and Coetzee. Coetzee also had objects thrown at him after the fight although not nearly as bad when the fans threw racist abuse and objects at Hagler - Although they were racists.

[zurdo]

I've seen twenty four of the twenty six filmed Hagler fights,

Only 26 filmed doesn't seem much for a modern day great who had so many fights.

I have about 18 fights of Haglers so far.

Are you sure about the number 26? and do you know if any of his fights against Kevin Finnegan or Sugar Ray Seales were filmed?

I know that the third fight with Seales would probly exist I remeber seeing the actual fight on CBS television

[Expug]

Minter goaded his fans on that night. In the lead-up to the bout, he said, "I'm not going to let any n----- take my title."

And Haglers response to that remark was classic. "Hes not giving me the title, Im taking it".

[DoubleM]

I've seen twenty four of the twenty six filmed Hagler fights,

Only 26 filmed doesn't seem much for a modern day great who had so many fights.

I have about 18 fights of Haglers so far.

Are you sure about the number 26? and do you know if any of his fights against Kevin Finnegan or Sugar Ray Seales were filmed?

I know that the third fight with Seales would probly exist I remeber seeing the actual fight on CBS television

Spectacular, that one. Good punch picking by Hagler.

[Expug]

Supposedly he said he didnt mean it,and evidently he was best friends with a black fighter who was a former opponent. Billy Knight. When it comes to racism amongst fighters,I tend to think it is not that prevalent. I fought amateur and pro for a little while , was around gyms for years and years and I saw very very little disrespect along racial lines amongst the fighters. I am Irish, and I never cared what another fighters color was or ethnic heritage,I had deep respect for everyone. Some of the fans in the arena however were a differint story. The shit I used to hear yelled out was a f....n disgrace.Not all the time but once in awhile.

[KOJOE90]

Supposedly he said he didnt mean it,and evidently he was best friends with a black fighter who was a former opponent. Billy Knight. When it comes to racism amongst fighters,I tend to think it is not that prevalent. I fought amateur and pro for a little while , was around gyms for years and years and I saw very very little disrespect along racial lines amongst the fighters. I am Irish, and I never cared what another fighters color was or ethnic heritage,I had deep respect for everyone. Some of the fans in the arena however were a differint story. The shit I used to hear yelled out was a f....n disgrace.Not all the time but once in awhile.

I remember an early TV interview with a then up and coming prospect Nigel Benn who basically echoed your above statement. He said he saw a lot more racism during his time in the Army then he ever did in the Fight game.

I have attended a lot of Boxing matches in the UK over the years both small and large and have heard very few racist comments made.

The only time I can clearly remember one was when I was at an early Richie Woodhall fight in my old town of Telford. On the undercard a young Henry Akinwande had just stopped the late Tucker Richards.

As Richards was heading back to the dressing room a member of the crowd at the back of the hall shouted out a racist comment. Now being from that town I recognised the person that shouted out and the people he was sat with. The point I am trying to make is that this person and his friends are known trouble makers and just a bunch of idiots and not real fight fans. I assume this is often the case.

[Expug]

Supposedly he said he didnt mean it,and evidently he was best friends with a black fighter who was a former opponent. Billy Knight. When it comes to racism amongst fighters,I tend to think it is not that prevalent. I fought amateur and pro for a little while , was around gyms for years and years and I saw very very little disrespect along racial lines amongst the fighters. I am Irish, and I never cared what another fighters color was or ethnic heritage,I had deep respect for everyone. Some of the fans in the arena however were a differint story. The shit I used to hear yelled out was a f....n disgrace.Not all the time but once in awhile.

I remember an early TV interview with a then up and coming prospect Nigel Benn who basically echoed your above statement. He said he saw a lot more racism during his time in the Army then he ever did in the Fight game.

I have attended a lot of Boxing matches in the UK over the years both small and large and have heard very few racist comments made.

The only time I can clearly remember one was when I was at an early Richie Woodhall fight in my old town of Telford. On the undercard a young Henry Akinwande had just stopped the late Tucker Richards.

As Richards was heading back to the dressing room a member of the crowd at the back of the hall shouted out a racist comment. Now being from that town I recognised the person that shouted out and the people he was sat with. The point I am trying to make is that this person and his friends are known trouble makers and just a bunch of idiots and not real fight fans. I assume this is often the case.

You are right . True fans of the sport do not approach it from a racist standpoint. Neither do real fighters.

[KOJOE90]

I know that the third fight with Seales would probly exist I remeber seeing the actual fight on CBS television

That's good to know.

[Ezzard]

Supposedly he said he didnt mean it,and evidently he was best friends with a black fighter who was a former opponent. Billy Knight. When it comes to racism amongst fighters,I tend to think it is not that prevalent. I fought amateur and pro for a little while , was around gyms for years and years and I saw very very little disrespect along racial lines amongst the fighters. I am Irish, and I never cared what another fighters color was or ethnic heritage,I had deep respect for everyone. Some of the fans in the arena however were a differint story. The shit I used to hear yelled out was a f....n disgrace.Not all the time but once in awhile.

I remember an early TV interview with a then up and coming prospect Nigel Benn who basically echoed your above statement. He said he saw a lot more racism during his time in the Army then he ever did in the Fight game.

I have attended a lot of Boxing matches in the UK over the years both small and large and have heard very few racist comments made.

The only time I can clearly remember one was when I was at an early Richie Woodhall fight in my old town of Telford. On the undercard a young Henry Akinwande had just stopped the late Tucker Richards.

As Richards was heading back to the dressing room a member of the crowd at the back of the hall shouted out a racist comment. Now being from that town I recognised the person that shouted out and the people he was sat with. The point I am trying to make is that this person and his friends are known trouble makers and just a bunch of idiots and not real fight fans. I assume this is often the case.

You are right . True fans of the sport do not approach it from a racist standpoint. Neither do real fighters.

I think this is right to a large extent. Watch a fight on TV in a pub or bar and there will often be some idiot talking cr*p. I remember one such particular epsiode when watching Lewis-Ruddock. Two men were standing there making racist comments about Lewis. They weren't fight fans just d1ck head who happened to be in the bar.