History's biggest coward

[Othro]

I wouldn't use the term coward but one of the biggest ducks that no one is mentioning is Adonis Stevenson vs Sergei Kovalev. You have a potential super fight slipping away from us as we speak . Two top tier power punchers to unify all of the titles and instead Stevenson is beating up random guys outside of the top 10.

[keithmoonhangover]

Floyd Mayweather.

Yeah, of course he is mate. He stepped into the ring 49 times and put his life on the line. Very cowardly.

[keithmoonhangover]

No-one who gets into a boxing ring is a coward.

This.

Boils my p1ss when people call someone a 'coward' who risks their life every time when they get in the ring.

[Bricks]

I don't buy into the "no one who steps into the ring is a coward" idea. I've seen a few cowards step into the ring. They're the ones that talk poo and then when poo starts getting real, fake an injury, or avoid coming to the gym at the same time a tough sparring partner works out. In the pros, they're the ones ducking fighters, claiming fouls, or takin a knee/dive.

Coward can be an apt word.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

That's probably the most inappropriate question ever asked about this particular sport.............BOXING we rarely see coward's competing in this arena.

[Kalan]

Bowe should have put his foot down & Alvarez should do the same now, but they put to much faith in the people that are around them & sometimes those people can make you look like a mug & this is what has happened

The people around them didn't make the decision to discard their Lineal World Title Belt... Lewis-Bowe and GGG-Canelo were the biggest fights in the world that the time those cowards rejected those fights... Are any professional boxers cowards??? Plenty of them are NOT.. But some are.

There's no bravery involved in fighting a weak hitter or somebody who you're very confident you can beat... But it takes real courage to fight a guy who you believe could knock you out.. Some fighters have been overmatched 10 or 15 times, to the point where they have no shame.. They want their paycheck, basically.. But I often see fear in a fighter's face before a fight.. They try to hide their fear in various ways, often by smiling, trying to act nonchalant, or even by acting belligerent.. That doesn't make them a coward.. In most boxers' careers they're going to be overmatched at some point, maybe in a big money fight. That doesn't make them a coward, even if they're scared half to death.. Bowe and Canelo were perfectly willing to beat up smaller, weaker, lighter hitting, and badly overmatched opponents.. But when those guys were matched with bigger, taller, stronger, and harder punching opponents...even though those 2 fights were the best paydays out there for them, with the most fan appeal of any fight in that particular time period... they gave up their World Title Belts rather than man up.

[elmersalsa]

Bowe should have put his foot down & Alvarez should do the same now, but they put to much faith in the people that are around them & sometimes those people can make you look like a mug & this is what has happened

The people around them didn't make the decision to discard their Lineal World Title Belt... Lewis-Bowe and GGG-Canelo were the biggest fights in the world that the time those cowards rejected those fights... Are any professional boxers cowards??? Plenty of them are NOT.. But some are.

There's no bravery involved in fighting a weak hitter or somebody who you're very confident you can beat... But it takes real courage to fight a guy who you believe could knock you out.. Some fighters have been overmatched 10 or 15 times, to the point where they have no shame.. They want their paycheck, basically.. But I often see fear in a fighter's face before a fight.. They try to hide their fear in various ways, often by smiling, trying to act nonchalant, or even by acting belligerent.. That doesn't make them a coward.. In most boxers' careers they're going to be overmatched at some point, maybe in a big money fight. That doesn't make them a coward, even if they're scared half to death.. Bowe and Canelo were perfectly willing to beat up smaller, weaker, lighter hitting, and badly overmatched opponents.. But when those guys were matched with bigger, taller, stronger, and harder punching opponents...even though those 2 fights were the best paydays out there for them, with the most fan appeal of any fight in that particular time period... they gave up their World Title Belts rather than man up.

Well, you got a point. Well said.

[Dixonian]

History's biggest coward? I see names like Alvarez, Cooper, Mayweather Jnr all being mentioned. But Christ, if they're cowards then what does that make us brave souls of the internet forum?

[Grilling Machine]

Mate, you were facing your so-called murderers' row of cushioned wrist rests while I was jamming typewriters. I only lost to that Amstrad 'cause Foster stepped in when I caught my finger in the tape deck.

[Nile4000]

Probably Mayweather, but Ali should've given Norton that fourth fight, and Mcguigan should've fought Nelson.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

GOLDEN BOY PROMOTION'S CHEAT THE GAME THAT MADE THESE ASS-WIPE'S

[Kalan]

All ridiculous claims. Bowe made 10 million for two easy fights and a bigger payday than Lennox against Evander.

Canelo looks stupid after calling Golovkin out in the ring but he's not a coward.

Floyd fought the best in the game over 5 weight classes for well over a decade.

Ask guys like Burley, Williams, Charles, Moore, etc.. about being ducked.

Is kind of hard to ask people who are gone about being ducked -- unless you can communicate with the dead... Canelo ducked GGG for years and now he's ducking a super hot rematch after he got objectively beaten in the ring... It's the biggest money fight he can possibly do -- so there's no reason to be a duck-ass.

Floyd ducked the best to fight Berto and McGregor... Brook and Thurman were undefeated Welterweight Champions looking for unification fights.

Bowe threw his Title Belt in the trash -- and Lennox Lewis was the much bigger payday after his smashing KO of Razor Ruddock... Holyfield did crap all... Lewis pulled much better against an aged and diminished Tyson than Holyfield did against a young and highly favored Tyson.

[Seamus]

It's a different kind of cowardice, it's one where a man certainly has no fear of a physical beating, but may be terrified of the loss of his title.

[Ambling Alp II]

That is a good point. Except for maybe some fighters at the 4-round level, most fighters are not avoiding another fighter because they are afraid of a physical beatdown. They are worried about loss on their record.

Years ago the almighty win/loss record that was not as prevalent. One loss didn't hurt your career nearly as much. Contenders were not afraid to risk losing a fight against another contender. From Harry Greb to Ray Robinson to Ray Leonard, fighters fought tough opponents on their way up and had tough competition when were a contender themselves. Of course you usually can't fight everyone else that is good unless your division is weak at the time. Guys just miss each other. Fights are signed way in advance and there are conflicts in scheduling. However, if a guy has a long time to fight another guy and didn't (and wasn't buys fighting other comparable opponents) then yes he may have ducked him. That happened way less years a go than it has in recent times.

[Caractacus]

Was it Robert Ford ?

For the Historical challenged here.
Robert Ford was the one who shot Jesse James in the back (of the head)
when Jesse James got on a stool to clean a dusty picture on his mantle place back in 1882.

[Tomasino]

It's a different kind of cowardice, it's one where a man certainly has no fear of a physical beating, but may be terrified of the loss of his title.

THIS.

The only guy in recent times who I could honestly say avoided no one in his division would be Hagler.

J M Marquez?

[BitPlayer]

As others have said, it's a joke for some of people on here to be , sitting on their sofas eating cheetos, risking little more than bursting their belt, calling people like Floyd Mayweather Jr cowards.


If they duck people as a risk calculation (probably by someone else), that isn't enough to make these fighters cowards, not by our standards.

[HomicideHenry]

No man who gets in a ring is a coward... However... The most cowardly performance... Without question, Charlie Zelenoff in his pro debut against 1-13 (all 13 losses by way of knockout) Andrew Hartley in Paris, Arkansas in 2008.

After several months of nonstop YouTube video challenges, claims of an amateur record, and insane stalkeresque posts on every boxing site known to man... He got his chance on Stacy Goodson's shows... Less than 1:30 of the first round he spit out his mouth piece three times.

The rest as they say is history. He never fought again, although he now claims a 200-0-0 record in "real boxing" matches as he has somehow created this alternate reality that professional boxing is fake and all champions are really actors.

[gp.]

Was it Robert Ford ?

For the Historical challenged here.
Robert Ford was the one who shot Jesse James in the back (of the head)
when Jesse James got on a stool to clean a dusty picture on his mantle place back in 1882.

What's cowardly about that? He wanted to kill him, not to prove himself the better man. If you want to kill someone you do it in the most efficient, risk-free way possible.

[Tomasino]

No man who gets in a ring is a coward... However... The most cowardly performance... Without question, Charlie Zelenoff in his pro debut against 1-13 (all 13 losses by way of knockout) Andrew Hartley in Paris, Arkansas in 2008.

After several months of nonstop YouTube video challenges, claims of an amateur record, and insane stalkeresque posts on every boxing site known to man... He got his chance on Stacy Goodson's shows... Less than 1:30 of the first round he spit out his mouth piece three times.

The rest as they say is history. He never fought again, although he now claims a 200-0-0 record in "real boxing" matches as he has somehow created this alternate reality that professional boxing is fake and all champions are really actors.

You and him are even. Two of a kind, fake boxers.

[Caractacus]

Was it Robert Ford ?

For the Historical challenged here.
Robert Ford was the one who shot Jesse James in the back (of the head)
when Jesse James got on a stool to clean a dusty picture on his mantle place back in 1882.

What's cowardly about that? He wanted to kill him, not to prove himself the better man. If you want to kill someone you do it in the most efficient, risk-free way possible.

Because if he had faced him like a real man (particularly back in the days of real men)and told him to "Draw",then Jesse James would have shot him full of holes.

[Tomasino]

For the Historical challenged here.
Robert Ford was the one who shot Jesse James in the back (of the head)
when Jesse James got on a stool to clean a dusty picture on his mantle place back in 1882.

What's cowardly about that? He wanted to kill him, not to prove himself the better man. If you want to kill someone you do it in the most efficient, risk-free way possible.

Because if he had faced him like a real man (particularly back in the days of real men)and told him to "Draw",then Jesse James would have shot him full of holes.

So the opposite of coward is idiot?

[Ambling Alp II]

Apparently so. Obviously he was not a real man like Jesse James who robbed banks and killed people, and who was by the way was not a good shot. How in the world did we get to talking about this?

[Counter-puncher]

Because, when men in the old west fought with guns, it all always started off with one of them saying "draw!"

[Ambling Alp II]

Those were the days I guess.
anyway, I think with anyone you can always find a guy they could have fought. Even if you beat the top 4 guys in your era (when they were in their prime) people will come up with the 5th best. Or if not a heavyweight why didn't he move up in weight? If he does move up in weight then inevitably the guy who gets the title that he vacated will be singled out as someone he ducked. Or if if he retires with the title, then someone will say he should have fought his successor.


Realistically, if you fought the best guys around (when they were close tho their prime) then nobody should be bashing you. Michael Spinks, Leonard, Hearns, Duran fought the best out there. Many of the greats before them did the same.