BoxRec

Now I know alot of people think this a waste of time, but we all know the stories about Sonny Liston, and maybe Tyson a few times, winning the fight then and there.

Tommy Hearns had a pretty good cold eyed killer look on him too.

I was thinking about it just watching the Gatti fight. Arturo avoids eye contact - why is that? He's boxing's ultimate warrior - is he worried his opponent will see doubt in his eyes? What difference will it make anyway?
Everyone knows Gatti has the heart of a lion.

ODH used to do it to - he'd look up at the ceiling during the ref's instructions - I notice he's stopped that recently, no doubt on Floyd's instructions ( "Show him who's BOSS!!" )

What about the fighter's who read these boards - what are your feelings on this?

I'd be interested to hear.

I always feel Gatti is basically saying "hey, it's nothing personal".

Remember Kennedy McKinney when he used to bounce up and down with his back to his opponent? Junior Jones looked really daft eyeballing the back of McKinney's head. Although later Kennedy got told to turn around when he tried it against Espinosa (when he got KTFO).

The best pre-fight stare down - Honeyghan before he got battered by Breland. He was copying Aaron Pryor, if I remember rightly.

Doesn't Michael Grant say "God bless you" as he touches gloves with another fighter?! I always like fighters who gives a good stare but i suppose some prefer not to for various reasons, it is different and unusual not to stare at the other man to intimidate him so mayeb some guys do it to try and confuse there opponent or show that they disregard his threat?

Pryor used to raise his arm and point it like a gun at his opponent.

Honeyghan put his head right in the face of Bumphus during the ref's instructions - went on for about a minute, and poor old Johnny seemed to melt before our eyes.

I once had a guy come over to me in the dressing room before the fight and ask me my name. I was short for my weight and he was a lot taller.

He came over laughed and said i'm fighting you tonight. I didnt look at him or speak to him. Him was a right flash git.

We were fighting in his back yard and was very popular I got bood incessantly.

During the instructions i just looked into his eyes impassively.

He broke his stare. I knew i had him.

I won on points in a right tear up.

People were shaking my hands after, saying what a good fight it was and when was I fighting again.

I said , next month in Southend.

Bit of an anti climax, I went down three times inthe opening round.

Hagler / Hearns was one of the most intense stare downs I've seen: around one years build up, and everyone knew we were, finally, seconds aways from seeing the two best P4P fighters on the planet about to meet.

Hearns was the master intimidator - but no-one was gonna make Marvelous Marv blink.

Leonard v Benitez... superb staredown, they're both right in each other's mooey – Benitez with a smirk on his face and Leonard trying to look really mean.

Benitez had a great stare. Remember him walking over to Maurice Hope and giving him the full treatment. You could see it rattled Mo. That's what it's all about, really. Intimidation. Some fighters try and intimidate their opponents before a fight.
Others don't.

The Shea Neary/Micky Ward staredown was pretty intense nose to nose stuff.

Mugabi had an intense stare.

It's funny how psychology works though. Carlos Palomino was expecting Roberto Duran to kick off at a pre-fight press conference and had told his trainer if Duran tried any funny stuff he was going to retaliate.

Duran came in and smiled, shook Palomino's hand, called him a great fighter and asked for an autograph for his kid!

Palomino admitted the reverse psychology worked. Cleverer than most people think was old Cholo!

I always liked Drago's styles... Both Balboa and Creed was intimidated by the siberian bulls confidence... DON'T GET ME STARTED ON LANGS PRE-FIGHT STARE DOWN

Lewis in the Rahman rematch. Lennox had that look in his eyes saying ' I've been waiting for this. I'm gonna KYTFO', and Rahman's simply said ' Help'
Another one I thought was funny was the W Klitschko vs Sanders fight. Sanders couldn't even look Klitschko in th eye, and, well... we all know what happened next.

Iran 'The Blade' Barkley growling and prowling before destroying Darren Vann Horn always freaked me out.

On the subject of stare-downs Chris Eubank always said looking into Nigel Benns eyes was like looking into the eyes of a Shark.

Kevo wrote:Lewis in the Rahman rematch. Lennox had that look in his eyes saying ' I've been waiting for this. I'm gonna KYTFO', and Rahman's simply said ' Help'

I was thinking of that one - I reckon Rachman was thinking "Why did I call him Gay?" Rachman was chewing his bottom lip and looked to me like a kid waiting outside the headmaster's office!

Kevo wrote:was the W Klitschko vs Sanders fight. Sanders couldn't even look Klitschko in th eye, and, well... we all know what happened next.

yeah until the staredown i was sure Corrie could knock him out but when i saw the stare down, i thought he was shitting himself and was about to get blown away

Rahman was nervous as hell before the fight, all that pacing up and down the corridoors and trying to force Lewis to let him in the dressing room to inspect gloves. Meanwhile, big len is lying down as I recall, listening to some reggae.

Rahman was sweating like a paedophile under investigation on the way to the ring...he knew he was doomed.

The best staredown I ever saw was when Jim Watt screwed Howard Davis at the weigh-in to their 1979 world lightweight title fight. Davis had to turn away from Watt, such was the hatred on the Scot's face. The American had labelled him "Jim Who?" for many months.

I've read the Leonard/Benitez stare down described as "eerie". Nose to nose, and Benitez has the usual smirk on his face - neither of them blinks.

Duran's black eyes must've been one of the last things you'd want to see on the other side of the ring too.

Davey Boy Green tried to intimidate Leonard too, glaring at him during the referee's instructions. Leonard just smiled back, then winked as he turned back to his corner.

Dave's first words to his manager when he came round in the dressing room were "fornicating 'ell! What happened?!"

I read a story once about Duran which made me laugh. He ran across Alexis Arguello checking into a Las Vegas hotel in the 70's and started mouthing off. Arguello took offence, picked up his bags and began walking out of the hotel. "Come back," said Duran, following him. "I'm only hyping things. I like you."
Arguello can be seen clearly at ringside waving a Panamanian flag during Duran's win over Leonard in 1980.

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:It's funny how psychology works though. Carlos Palomino was expecting Roberto Duran to kick off at a pre-fight press conference and had told his trainer if Duran tried any funny stuff he was going to retaliate.

Duran came in and smiled, shook Palomino's hand, called him a great fighter and asked for an autograph for his kid!

Palomino admitted the reverse psychology worked. Cleverer than most people think was old Cholo!

Another interesting story involving Duran. Before his first fight with Leonard he stepped off the plane and greeted people in French and If I'm correct he also talked some French at press conferences and charmed the pants off the Franch-Canadians. Considering Leonard had rocketed to prominence when winning Olympic Gold at the Montreal Olympics, Duran still had the crowd on his side on the night he handed Leonard his first defeat.

DIRT SUGAR wrote:

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:It's funny how psychology works though. Carlos Palomino was expecting Roberto Duran to kick off at a pre-fight press conference and had told his trainer if Duran tried any funny stuff he was going to retaliate.

Duran came in and smiled, shook Palomino's hand, called him a great fighter and asked for an autograph for his kid!

Palomino admitted the reverse psychology worked. Cleverer than most people think was old Cholo!

Another interesting story involving Duran. Before his first fight with Leonard he stepped off the plane and greeted people in French and If I'm correct he also talked some French at press conferences and charmed the pants off the Franch-Canadians. Considering Leonard had rocketed to prominence when winning Olympic Gold at the Montreal Olympics, Duran still had the crowd on his side on the night he handed Leonard his first defeat.

Robin Reid pulled a simular trick when he when to Italy to face Nardiello for the World Title, I heard he put the word out he was half Italian to try and win some support overthere.