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What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 03 Feb 2013, 18:25
by Kilburn
Without wanting to turn this into a UFC discussion, I realised last night that it had been some considerable time since I'd felt quite so nervous for a fighter as I was for Bigfoot Silva ahead of his match with Alastair Overeem. I'd grown to quite like the lumbering giant and had the feeling like many that brutal humiliation beckoned for him.
I know there will be some hard hearted geezers on here that don't get affected by such things, but I'm interested to know what fights have had a similar affect on others.
Holyfield v Tyson 1 is probably the all-timer for me. I knew the "old fella" would give it a go but feared the worst all the way up to the 10th round fireworks. I could barely watch the opening couple of minutes.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 03 Feb 2013, 18:44
by Ratchet Exits Nu
Kilburn wrote:Without wanting to turn this into a UFC discussion, I realised last night that it had been some considerable time since I'd felt quite so nervous for a fighter as I was for Bigfoot Silva ahead of his match with Alastair Overeem. I'd grown to quite like the lumbering giant and had the feeling like many that brutal humiliation beckoned for him.
I know there will be some hard hearted geezers on here that don't get affected by such things, but I'm interested to know what fights have had a similar affect on others.
Holyfield v Tyson 1 is probably the all-timer for me. I knew the "old fella" would give it a go but feared the worst all the way up to the 10th round fireworks. I could barely watch the opening couple of minutes.
BRUNO VS MOST!
As for Overeem, he reminds me of David Haye and if Haye carried on fighting at Heavy he will end up the same way as Alistair.
All Bruno fights had me on edge..
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 03 Feb 2013, 19:39
by 15829
Poor conditioning and arrogance cost Overeem last night, my girlfreind was pissed at me last night woke her up celebrating Maia out Fitch Fitch
As for boxing most Juan Manuel Marquez fights in the last Pacquiao fight I was trying to dodge the punches to the amusement of my mates
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 04 Feb 2013, 01:58
by Jeff Thomas
Whenever a British guy who could bang for it top world class...
Like Lueshing - Trinidad, Alexander - Simon, Takaloo - Santos.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 04 Feb 2013, 06:15
by Crazyboy
Ratchet Exits Nu wrote:Kilburn wrote:Without wanting to turn this into a UFC discussion, I realised last night that it had been some considerable time since I'd felt quite so nervous for a fighter as I was for Bigfoot Silva ahead of his match with Alastair Overeem. I'd grown to quite like the lumbering giant and had the feeling like many that brutal humiliation beckoned for him.
I know there will be some hard hearted geezers on here that don't get affected by such things, but I'm interested to know what fights have had a similar affect on others.
Holyfield v Tyson 1 is probably the all-timer for me. I knew the "old fella" would give it a go but feared the worst all the way up to the 10th round fireworks. I could barely watch the opening couple of minutes.
BRUNO VS MOST!
As for Overeem, he reminds me of David Haye and if Haye carried on fighting at Heavy he will end up the same way as Alistair.
All Bruno fights had me on edge..
Completely agree with that, Bruno v Tyson for me, i almost didn't want him to even get in the ring!! (Bruno that is...obviously)
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 04 Feb 2013, 09:02
by dookus
Froch v Bute - I was worried that the Ward fight had taken a lot out of Froch and that Bute's speed and power would get to him over 12 rounds. How wrong I was.
Lewis v Tyson - in retrospect, yes, a mismatch, but Tyson's aura of danger hadn't completely faded by 2002
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 04 Feb 2013, 09:16
by hurlock
Obviously before my time but Ali v Holmes must of been horrendous!
Many felt hagler was certain to destroy srl.
I was genuinely worried for benn v McClellan & when he clamberd off the canvas I was thinking stay down nige! & then a roller coaster of emotions in a great fight!!
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 04 Feb 2013, 09:36
by black panther
Burns vs Martinez.....I left a wedding reception early so I could watch the fight!
I was jumping around when it was clear he was in command!

Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 04 Feb 2013, 09:49
by MarkMcBurney
Hatton v Senchenko.
Bizarre choice maybe but there was so much riding on it for Ricky. I desperately wanted him to turn up and blitz Vyacheslav like the Hatton that beat Tszyu but I think deep down I knew he would struggle, hence the trepidation.
Similar situation for the Mayweather & particularly the Pacquiao fights too.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 04 Feb 2013, 10:15
by P4P#1
Iv usually had a drink at the fights iv been to so it helps with the nerves, The most tense id say is Cotto V Maragarito 2, My stomach was in bits because i wanted Cotto to win so badly. And when mayweather took the big shot from mosley that shit me a bit,
Hatton v Mayweather was a big one cuz the build up, atmosphere, I was shit faced watching it and still was on eggshells.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 08:48
by avidlemon
Probably Smigga V degale. Being a smigga fan, i was convinced he had it in him to do a number on degale, but it didn't stop me being mega nervous so maybe deep down i knew what was going to happen?
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 09:41
by Ezzard
Honeyghan – Starling
- It was obvious Lloyd had lost a beat or two and that Starling had not. I just hoped Lloyd could find that one last performance.
Hearns – Leonard II
- Seemed like Ray waited to rematch Tommy once his legs had gone. I knew there was nothing between them in the ring but 2 defeats would make it hard to your average Joe to appreciate that.
Tarver – Jones II
- Thought Tarver would get robbed again.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 10:23
by fasteddie
Kilburn wrote:Without wanting to turn this into a UFC discussion, I realised last night that it had been some considerable time since I'd felt quite so nervous for a fighter as I was for Bigfoot Silva ahead of his match with Alastair Overeem. I'd grown to quite like the lumbering giant and had the feeling like many that brutal humiliation beckoned for him.
I know there will be some hard hearted geezers on here that don't get affected by such things, but I'm interested to know what fights have had a similar affect on others.
Holyfield v Tyson 1 is probably the all-timer for me. I knew the "old fella" would give it a go but feared the worst all the way up to the 10th round fireworks. I could barely watch the opening couple of minutes.
i thought big foot would of got schooled but like another post said arrogance and bad cardio cost overeem,btw i think overeem did respect big foot after that haha. benn vs mcClelland naz vs kelly de la hoya vs mayweather,mayweather vs hatton de la hoya vs mosley and de la hoya vs trinidad all got my juices flowing

Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 10:27
by fasteddie
Ratchet Exits Nu wrote:Kilburn wrote:Without wanting to turn this into a UFC discussion, I realised last night that it had been some considerable time since I'd felt quite so nervous for a fighter as I was for Bigfoot Silva ahead of his match with Alastair Overeem. I'd grown to quite like the lumbering giant and had the feeling like many that brutal humiliation beckoned for him.
I know there will be some hard hearted geezers on here that don't get affected by such things, but I'm interested to know what fights have had a similar affect on others.
Holyfield v Tyson 1 is probably the all-timer for me. I knew the "old fella" would give it a go but feared the worst all the way up to the 10th round fireworks. I could barely watch the opening couple of minutes.
BRUNO VS MOST!
As for Overeem, he reminds me of David Haye and if Haye carried on fighting at Heavy he will end up the same way as Alistair.
All Bruno fights had me on edge..
couldnt of put it better myself the david haye of the mma world,great power and athletism but when under pressure folds like a deck chair
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 10:29
by fasteddie
Kilburn wrote:Without wanting to turn this into a UFC discussion, I realised last night that it had been some considerable time since I'd felt quite so nervous for a fighter as I was for Bigfoot Silva ahead of his match with Alastair Overeem. I'd grown to quite like the lumbering giant and had the feeling like many that brutal humiliation beckoned for him.
I know there will be some hard hearted geezers on here that don't get affected by such things, but I'm interested to know what fights have had a similar affect on others.
Holyfield v Tyson 1 is probably the all-timer for me. I knew the "old fella" would give it a go but feared the worst all the way up to the 10th round fireworks. I could barely watch the opening couple of minutes.
btw frankie edgar vs jose aldo got me anxious before hand,most big ufc fights get me anxious now although boxing is my number1 there isnt many big fights out there atm apart from froch vs kessler
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 10:50
by Counter-puncher
Bruno - Mclellan.
I had cold, sweaty, clammy soaking armpits from the ringwalks onwards.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 10:53
by Counter-puncher
ha, sorry, Benn - Mclellan, yes.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 10:58
by Counter-puncher
given that I had sweaty pits before the fight you can imagine what the first round did to me. i don't think i spent any longer than a minute at a time actually seated during the whole fight, contiunually shooting up and going towards the tv/ punching air/ etc etc etc etc. that fight was exhausting to watch
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 11:01
by orbtastic
Yeah, I've yet to experience another fight like it, before or since.
The only fight that came close on TV was Gatti/Ruelas but that wasn't comparable, especially when you factored in the build-up and back story of the pair.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 11:24
by binipop
I'm very nervous before all fights involving a brit fighter in a big world title fight or big domestic scrap. The most nervous though was before Groves v Degale. When the fight was first announced i tipped george to win. As it got closer i got sucked in by most pundits opinion that degale would win comfortably and started to fear for George. Come the day of the fight i was a friggin' wreck. After about 4 rounds i started to settle a bit as i had a feeling it wasn't going to be James' night then started bricking it again in the 9th when James had his big round and cut George. taught me a couple of lessons that fight:- always stick to your initial prediction and pundits/ex-boxers aren't that much better at picking fights than you, they can just back up their opinion better in most cases!
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 11:40
by lurkyshaka
Benn/McClellan was the most tense i've felt prior to and all throughout a fight. I was soaked to the skin in sweat just watching! I had a bet on Nigel to see off McClellan but knew that McClellan was a ferocious b*sta*d who had the potential to leave one of my personal favourites flattened. Course that came close to happening several times during the fight, but Benn that night was at a point where he was ready to die rather than lose. It was a direct throwback to the caveman days such was the base brutality. Obviously a completely tragic ending, but the fight itself was incredible.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 12:48
by deadpan
Froch-Bute. I really thought Lucian fancied it and would kayo Carl.
My anxiety didn't last long after the first round.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 13:05
by Datsue
Benn vs McLellan scareded me, but before Marquez vs Pacquiao II, III & IV (my favourite fighter, his nemesis) I had the full lack of appetite, sweats, agitation, rapid eye movement, inability to concentrate, high heart rate, intense euphoria...
Though that might have been the leisure pharmaceuticals again.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 13:07
by Counter-puncher
oh, should have mention
Darren McDermott - Wayne Elcock. having followed Darren's career for quite some time i felt i had a lot riding on that one, emotionally like.
Re: What fights made you the most tense / anxious beforehand?
Posted: 05 Feb 2013, 16:40
by Terrrrry
Groves/DeGale's first pro fight.
Wanted GG to beat DeGale SO much!