Which fighters have you met in person?

[ClivePatrickLyons]

In the early 80s I met Michael Dokes when he came to Australia he said he had to many moves for Larry Holmes lol

Was he cool, or a bit of a jerk?

I met him with my brother inlaw who was a fighter Jeff Malcolm he was with Dokes in Don Kings training camp in (not sure of the spelling) Orwell Ohio in the early 80's he came to Australia after he lost the WBA Heavyweight Title he was a cool dude i was only 12 years of age i sort of knew he was on the coke and it was'nt coke the fizzy drink I loved ready boxing magazine's he had a big remote control truck with him when we picked him up at the airport it must have been worth a few hundred he tried to give it to me and his snake skin cowboy boots fuc i wanted to take up his offer but i seen the look my brother inlaw was giving me (say thanks but no thanks) or you'll get a kick up the ass on the way out He got himself into some trouble I heard a few years after that he came back to Australia and ended up in Sydneys Long Bay jail for a short stint so he must have be a jerk to someone

[Tuan_Jim]

I'm a former pro fighter, sparring partner, second & promoter's assistant for Don Elbaum, Don King, Bob Arum. Main Events & Mike Acri. Therefore, I've had the opportunity to meet & work with many, many of boxing's biggest stars ranging from the biggest names ( like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Floyd Patterson, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ernie Terrell, Chuck Wepner, George Chuvalo, Tyson, Holyfield, Razor Ruddock etc. just to name some of the heavyweights ) to the most minor four round pugs that you can imagine.
If I could figure out how to post images here I'd post photos.
My favorites that I've met? Ali & Ray Leonard.
My most memorable experiences as a sparring partner were with Livingstone Bramble, Hector Camacho, Johnny Bumphis & Matt & Davey Hilton.

What was Jersey Joe like? Under what circumstances did you meet him?

Also--don't forget Greg Page in your list! That was quite the story!

[Tuan_Jim]

In my 45 years as a sportswriter I've specialized in boxing and been lucky enough to meet and interview most of the big names since the mid-'70s, including: Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Terrell, Patterson, Chuvalo, Spinks (both of 'em), Lyle, Holmes, Cooney, Holyfield, Tyson, Douglas, Morrison, Moorer, Lewis, Chagaev, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Leonard, Arguello, Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao, Zou Shiming (I'm currently working in China).

What was Lyle like? Always seems a slightly brooding, edgy character.

[Tuan_Jim]

I spent a lot of time with Calzaghe while on a fairly dull media engagement and he seemed relieved to have someone there who he could talk boxing with. Very nice man. Echo what was said earlier about Eubank--have met him a couple of times in London, iron handshake and built like a tank. Met David Haye and told him not to box JD Chapman but to box Monte Barrett instead--so you can all thank Tuan Jim for that fun 00s heavyweight fight!

[bennie]

Frank Bruno: he had only just turned pro and I met him at the Holmes-Cooney showing at the Leicester Square Odeon; nice guy. Lloyd Honeyghan is another nice guy, although his dress sense leaves a lot to be desired. He had a heart attack recently and I hope he's fully recovered. Met Alan Minter when he was watching his son Ross fight. I had been told that Minter is a man to avoid but he was OK to me. He was more nervous than Ross.

[sweetviolenturge]

I'm a former pro fighter, sparring partner, second & promoter's assistant for Don Elbaum, Don King, Bob Arum. Main Events & Mike Acri. Therefore, I've had the opportunity to meet & work with many, many of boxing's biggest stars ranging from the biggest names ( like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Floyd Patterson, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ernie Terrell, Chuck Wepner, George Chuvalo, Tyson, Holyfield, Razor Ruddock etc. just to name some of the heavyweights ) to the most minor four round pugs that you can imagine.
If I could figure out how to post images here I'd post photos.
My favorites that I've met? Ali & Ray Leonard.
My most memorable experiences as a sparring partner were with Livingstone Bramble, Hector Camacho, Johnny Bumphis & Matt & Davey Hilton.

What was Jersey Joe like? Under what circumstances did you meet him?

Also--don't forget Greg Page in your list! That was quite the story!

I met Jersey Joe while working the inaugural IBHOF induction in Canastota back in 1990. He was a very pleasant, polite gentleman. Unfortunately, he passed away shortly afterward so that was the only HOF weekend that he made it to.

[Bodyshot3]

I spent a lot of time with Calzaghe while on a fairly dull media engagement and he seemed relieved to have someone there who he could talk boxing with. Very nice man. Echo what was said earlier about Eubank--have met him a couple of times in London, iron handshake and built like a tank. Met David Haye and told him not to box JD Chapman but to box Monte Barrett instead--so you can all thank Tuan Jim for that fun 00s heavyweight fight!

@Tuan.........glad to hear that Joe was a good guy and not a haughty celeb and happy to talk boxing.
I followed Joe's career closely and was a fan but you always worry that your hero might actually be a charmless git.

Eubank was charming, modest and generous with his time when I met him. Just parked-up his Harley and had a good old chat without any airs or graces. Even chuckled when I said my mates had shoved me over for a chat.

And although I was as a massive Benn guy I warmed to Chris and could see how Nige could not blast him off his feet. Eubank was a proper specimen; difficult to describe really but he's a masively powerful guy packed into a relatively average frame.

[semtexreilly]

I spent 30 to 40 minutes in Barry mcguigans company whilst observing his fighter at the time anto cacace getting his hands wrapped,He was about to fight my good friend Ronnie Clark,mcguigan gets a bad press nowadays mostly due to his treatment of boxers in his stable over money etc,but I totally enjoyed listening to him just talking boxing that night

[Nile4000]

In the early 80s I met Michael Dokes when he came to Australia he said he had to many moves for Larry Holmes lol

Was he cool, or a bit of a jerk?

I met him with my brother inlaw who was a fighter Jeff Malcolm he was with Dokes in Don Kings training camp in (not sure of the spelling) Orwell Ohio in the early 80's he came to Australia after he lost the WBA Heavyweight Title he was a cool dude i was only 12 years of age i sort of knew he was on the coke and it was'nt coke the fizzy drink I loved ready boxing magazine's he had a big remote control truck with him when we picked him up at the airport it must have been worth a few hundred he tried to give it to me and his snake skin cowboy boots fuc i wanted to take up his offer but i seen the look my brother inlaw was giving me (say thanks but no thanks) or you'll get a kick up the ass on the way out He got himself into some trouble I heard a few years after that he came back to Australia and ended up in Sydneys Long Bay jail for a short stint so he must have be a jerk to someone

Quite the character.