BoxRec

What fighters do you love and admire in the ring but hate outside of it? Here's a few from me.

Larry Holmes. I love Larry's skill, heart and fearlessness, find him great to watch. As a man I've always found him to be a strange and ungracious weirdo, with a lack of self-awareness that borders on childish. To watch him in the 'Champions Forever' period, whining and bitching about recognition while endlessly wittering on about how great he was is a cringeworthy spectacle. I think Norton and Foreman conducting themselves like intelligent, rational, respectful adults probably magnified the stupidity of Holmes's behaviour. You see him interviewed today and it's the exact same grievances of 30 years ago. Something's missing, psychologically.

Mike Tyson. Not the most courageous of choices, admittedly. Entertainment-wise, Tyson is one of the best ever to watch in the ring. But is there anything remotely likeable about him as a person? Probably a psychopath.

Lennox Lewis. I rooted for Lewis throughout his career and his talents look better & better with each successive heavyweight title fight. Outside the ring dull, charmless and devoid of any personality or opinions. Always spoke of himself in the third person and was chronically reluctant to give any opponent any credit. Classless. In fact I think it took Tommy Morrison's death to prompt a genuinely praiseworthy sounding comment about a former opponent from Lewis. Amazing.

Marvin Hagler. Similar to Holmes. Beautiful to watch fight, but another one with a bizarre, tunnel-vision persecution complex and an inability to move on or change the subject. And any man who adopts a wiseguy Italian accent at the age of 40 is highly suspect. An odd man.

Prince Hamed. Like Tyson, a spectacle in the ring but always seemed to me a thoroughly odious and vile creature outside of boxing. His retirement years have confirmed these suspicions.

A few I like.

Joe Frazier. A killing machine in the ring, outside of it, beyond the Ali subject, he always seemed a comical, hard living, hell raising character that would be fun to be around.

Sonny Liston. Strange choice as has committed far worse atrocities than most of the above, however Liston in the various interviews and stories flashes a dry biting wit. Illiterate and yet seemed an intelligent, complex personality. Fascinating man.

Buster Douglas. Bags of natural talent and I seem to be alone in enjoying watching him box at any stage in his career. Like Liston shy but behind it a dry, laconic sort of wit, good with a quip. Always found him an intelligent, honest, sane talker with plenty of observations to make about fighting beyond the usual old cliches and boxing bromides. Curious character.

Marvin Hagler hasn't got a wise guy Italian accent and is a gentleman if you ever meet him

Good subject this as it's a tricky one isn't it? Love them as fighters, cant stand them as people. The worst is when they turn out to have feet of clay and let you down - very disappointing.

Floyd Mayweather - I cant stand Floyd. He's the best fighter of his generation but has robbed us of so many great fights of this era by not taking big chances and testing himself by taking on bigger/better guys. A true atg fighter though in fact a total legend in my view - maybe he is the best ever - his record doesn't prove it though and that's his fault. Outside the ring hes arrogant, obnoxious and stupid - not to mention the offenses hes committed.

Manny Pacquiao - one of my top 5 fave fighters of all time but those anti gay comments were woeful. Hes obviously not the sharpest tool in the box.

Gerald Mcclellan - great and brave fighter and one of the biggest punchers of all time but outside he sounded horrible - that feeding a dog to his pit bulls story is just the lowest of the low

Evander Holyfield - A true warrior in the ring, wonderful fighter but...where to start...there so many things to dislike - ok first off we've got the headbutting - famous for winning fights that way, then we've got the alleged ped use which seems to me to be likely to be true, then there's the numerous kids with different women and to top it all off - he wins fights - not through the alleged ped use, or the dirty fouling no, its cos god wanted him to win. Seriously - what is to like about this guy? Oh and he's also a homophobic moron too.

dr_devious wrote:Marvin Hagler hasn't got a wise guy Italian accent and is a gentleman if you ever meet him

He speaks in a hammy Italian accent and has done so for a couple of decades now. That being said I'd be delighted to be wrong about his personality, have never met him so can only judge him by what he says on the idiot box.

Monzon is an obvious answer.

Tuan_Jim wrote:

dr_devious wrote:Marvin Hagler hasn't got a wise guy Italian accent and is a gentleman if you ever meet him

He speaks in a hammy Italian accent and has done so for a couple of decades now. That being said I'd be delighted to be wrong about his personality, have never met him so can only judge him by what he says on the idiot box.

I've met him and he's a very nice individual. His accent may have altered slightly but he's been living over there about 26 years, I wouldn't say its a wise guy accent or any type of affectation

floyd mayweather by quite a margin. i bought
into this persona idea, that he made up as part
of his business. when i saw a self funded docu
where he had half a dozen hookers running
around his children i changed my opinion. this
is a very weird person, yet among the best of
the sport in all of its history. amazing intelligence
within the ring, amazing lack of character outside
of it.

within the ring i always respected him with the
exception of the ortiz incident which was clearly
ugly.

one of mayweather's biggest achievements to me
was how he caught and held on to the very right
hand from shane mosley that hurt him. never seen
anything like this. in the very moment his reflexes
should turn off they actually kicked in. i seem to
be the only one impressed by that though.

Davey Hilton
G-man
Monzon
SRL
Diego Corrales

Edwin Valero, would loved to have seen him in with other top world champions absolute loon!

I can't think of one. I try to never judge people I've never met.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I can't think of one. I try to never judge people I've never met.

Someone like Valero is a great answer, I just always thought he was overhyped and was on the fast track to losing. If it's people you didn't cheer for but liked their fights I have a list a mile long.

- An interesting topic, congrats.

Some can't rationally separate their feelings to properly evaluate fighters which is how bookies make their most money. I would agree with your assessments save Marv. Guy grew up in the pits of inhumanity, yet was always very well spoken, intelligent, and usually gracious. Any Italian accent comes from the petronelli bros and near 30 yrs living in Italy. He hated to lose, but gave 100% in the ring, so I don't begrudge him his surliness over the bogus SRL decision.

I'd happily share some brew with he, Duran, and tommy, but never that fake comeback of Leonard.

BroughtonRulesRefuge wrote:- An interesting topic, congrats.

Some can't rationally separate their feelings to properly evaluate fighters which is how bookies make their most money. I would agree with your assessments save Marv. Guy grew up in the pits of inhumanity, yet was always very well spoken, intelligent, and usually gracious. Any Italian accent comes from the petronelli bros and near 30 yrs living in Italy. He hated to lose, but gave 100% in the ring, so I don't begrudge him his surliness over the bogus SRL decision.

I'd happily share some brew with he, Duran, and tommy, but never that fake comeback of Leonard.

Here's a shocker
George Foreman. . The guy was a total prick all three times I met him. A real diva.
His nice guy persona he shows to the general public is a joke.



I saw Larry Holmes listed above.
I've met him on a half dozen occasions. Was a great guy with a good sense of humor each and every time I have spoke with him.

tiny_acres wrote:Here's a shocker
George Foreman. . The guy was a total prick all three times I met him. A real diva.
His nice guy persona he shows to the general public is a joke.



I saw Larry Holmes listed above.
I've met him on a half dozen occasions. Was a great guy with a good sense of humor each and every time I have spoke with him.

Can you expandd on your three Foreman encounters?

Rexob wrote:Edwin Valero, would loved to have seen him in with other top world champions absolute loon!

Such a exciting fighter to watch.

Sounded like absolute scum outside it though.

Mayweather froch and amir khan love watching all 3 box,but turn the TV off as soon
as they open thier mouths

semtexreilly wrote:Mayweather froch and amir khan love watching all 3 box,but turn the TV off as soon
as they open thier mouths

Tuan_Jim wrote:

dr_devious wrote:Marvin Hagler hasn't got a wise guy Italian accent and is a gentleman if you ever meet him

He speaks in a hammy Italian accent and has done so for a couple of decades now. That being said I'd be delighted to be wrong about his personality, have never met him so can only judge him by what he says on the idiot box.

He does live in Italy, right?

Tuan_Jim wrote:What fighters do you love and admire in the ring but hate outside of it? Here's a few from me.

A few I like.

Buster Douglas. Bags of natural talent and I seem to be alone in enjoying watching him box at any stage in his career. Like Liston shy but behind it a dry, laconic sort of wit, good with a quip. Always found him an intelligent, honest, sane talker with plenty of observations to make about fighting beyond the usual old cliches and boxing bromides. Curious character.

You are not alone! Great guy & awesome boxer.

Cutman Scabbers wrote:

Tuan_Jim wrote:

dr_devious wrote:Marvin Hagler hasn't got a wise guy Italian accent and is a gentleman if you ever meet him

He speaks in a hammy Italian accent and has done so for a couple of decades now. That being said I'd be delighted to be wrong about his personality, have never met him so can only judge him by what he says on the idiot box.

He does live in Italy, right?

I believe so yes

Hamed was a great watch for a few years - kind of set the British scene on fire with that style - but he was by all accounts a bit of a jerk outside the ring and especially when he got behind the wheel of a supercar.

I think Joe Calzaghe's book 'No Ordinary Joe' has the story of Naz teasing and generally belittling Carl Thompson on a trip over to the US and the mild-mannered Thompson finally snapping and telling Hamed to shut-up or he was going to get involved in a fight he would not want or like.

Strangely, I was never taken with Eubank Sr and was a big Nigel Benn fan. But I met Chris a couple of times in Brighton and he was an absolute gent of the first order and generous with his time. His fashion sense has always been 'alternative' and borderline oddball...but he was very approachable and made an effort.

Tuan_Jim wrote:What fighters do you love and admire in the ring but hate outside of it? Here's a few from me.

Larry Holmes. I love Larry's skill, heart and fearlessness, find him great to watch. As a man I've always found him to be a strange and ungracious weirdo, with a lack of self-awareness that borders on childish. To watch him in the 'Champions Forever' period, whining and bitching about recognition while endlessly wittering on about how great he was is a cringeworthy spectacle. I think Norton and Foreman conducting themselves like intelligent, rational, respectful adults probably magnified the stupidity of Holmes's behaviour. You see him interviewed today and it's the exact same grievances of 30 years ago. Something's missing, psychologically.

Mike Tyson. Not the most courageous of choices, admittedly. Entertainment-wise, Tyson is one of the best ever to watch in the ring. But is there anything remotely likeable about him as a person? Probably a psychopath.

Lennox Lewis. I rooted for Lewis throughout his career and his talents look better & better with each successive heavyweight title fight. Outside the ring dull, charmless and devoid of any personality or opinions. Always spoke of himself in the third person and was chronically reluctant to give any opponent any credit. Classless. In fact I think it took Tommy Morrison's death to prompt a genuinely praiseworthy sounding comment about a former opponent from Lewis. Amazing.

Marvin Hagler. Similar to Holmes. Beautiful to watch fight, but another one with a bizarre, tunnel-vision persecution complex and an inability to move on or change the subject. And any man who adopts a wiseguy Italian accent at the age of 40 is highly suspect. An odd man.

Prince Hamed. Like Tyson, a spectacle in the ring but always seemed to me a thoroughly odious and vile creature outside of boxing. His retirement years have confirmed these suspicions.

A few I like.

Joe Frazier. A killing machine in the ring, outside of it, beyond the Ali subject, he always seemed a comical, hard living, hell raising character that would be fun to be around.

Sonny Liston. Strange choice as has committed far worse atrocities than most of the above, however Liston in the various interviews and stories flashes a dry biting wit. Illiterate and yet seemed an intelligent, complex personality. Fascinating man.

Buster Douglas. Bags of natural talent and I seem to be alone in enjoying watching him box at any stage in his career. Like Liston shy but behind it a dry, laconic sort of wit, good with a quip. Always found him an intelligent, honest, sane talker with plenty of observations to make about fighting beyond the usual old cliches and boxing bromides. Curious character.

Are you a licensed therapists or something ?

Your very right about Lennox