BoxRec

For years, Virgil Hunter has been anointed as a top trainer in Boxing. Perhaps just a notch below Roach and Garcia and for years i've been wondering why though. We are constantly seeing him throwing the towels in on his fighters and bringing fighters into big fights unprepared. Almost more ridiculous than calling out Canelo to fight GGG after his fighter Amir Khan just got KTFO by him was his incredulous advice to Fonfara this weekend to NOT throw any punches against Adonis after getting hurt in the previous round. Then Hunter has the balls to throw in the towel after his fighter does exactly that.

Sure Hunter deserves credit for Andre Ward but he also deserves the credit for the horrible performances by all of his other fighters under his thumb. We saw what happened when Abner Mares left Hunter for Robert Garcia, a world title. Berto, Angulo, Khan have all been punching bags with Hunter standing in their corner for years. But to advise a fighter to NOT throw a punch in a round and then throw the towel in the ring is one of the most ridiculous things i've ever witnessed from a trainer in this sport.

Am i wrong? Has there been worse advice from a trainer than this?

Will be interesting to see where this thread goes, can't say I disagree with you though Caldo. I also thought he made a mistake plonking Fonfara down on the stool with jelly legs at the bell. How about get some feeling back into those legs before sitting down. He was out on his feet end of Rd1 IMO. Seems to be more of a motivational speaker in the corner than a calm clear hardened experienced boxing trainer with something useful to say.

Wasn't he working with troubled youth, ran into Ward and suddenly became a "great trainer"? He is more of a motivation speaker than a trainer. His failures with Fonfara, Khan, Vanes illustrate that.

I have to agree that he appears to be a media darling. However, how much could anyone else have gotten from Khan, Vanes, and Fonfara?

Tanzio wrote:I have to agree that he appears to be a media darling. However, how much could anyone else have gotten from Khan, Vanes, and Fonfara?

At least he could have told Fonfara what to do when fighting a one-trick pony southpaw with a lethal straight right. ... and tell Khan to try to fight like Lara.

boxing_rocks wrote:

Tanzio wrote:I have to agree that he appears to be a media darling. However, how much could anyone else have gotten from Khan, Vanes, and Fonfara?

At least he could have told Fonfara what to do when fighting a one-trick pony southpaw with a lethal straight right. ... and tell Khan to try to fight like Lara.

Do you think he didn't tell them that. Khan has always tried to fight like Lara, but he is Khan and he has a china chin.

Same goes for Fonfara. He made pretty good money in his career thanks to a decision loss in Stevenson I.

Tanzio wrote:

boxing_rocks wrote:

Tanzio wrote:I have to agree that he appears to be a media darling. However, how much could anyone else have gotten from Khan, Vanes, and Fonfara?

At least he could have told Fonfara what to do when fighting a one-trick pony southpaw with a lethal straight right. ... and tell Khan to try to fight like Lara.

Do you think he didn't tell them that. Khan has always tried to fight like Lara, but he is Khan and he has a china chin.

Same goes for Fonfara. He made pretty good money in his career thanks to a decision loss in Stevenson I.

It definitely didn't look that Fonfara knew what to do.

boxing_rocks wrote:

Tanzio wrote:

boxing_rocks wrote:
At least he could have told Fonfara what to do when fighting a one-trick pony southpaw with a lethal straight right. ... and tell Khan to try to fight like Lara.

Do you think he didn't tell them that. Khan has always tried to fight like Lara, but he is Khan and he has a china chin.

Same goes for Fonfara. He made pretty good money in his career thanks to a decision loss in Stevenson I.

It definitely didn't look that Fonfara knew what to do.

I agree. Clueless.

Teddy atlas

Atlas may be wrong quite often, but at least he tries to give advise about actual boxing.

I have to agree.

He's on a par with Atlas.

caldo2025 wrote:For years, Virgil Hunter has been anointed as a top trainer in Boxing. Perhaps just a notch below Roach and Garcia and for years i've been wondering why though. We are constantly seeing him throwing the towels in on his fighters and bringing fighters into big fights unprepared. Almost more ridiculous than calling out Canelo to fight GGG after his fighter Amir Khan just got KTFO by him was his incredulous advice to Fonfara this weekend to NOT throw any punches against Adonis after getting hurt in the previous round. Then Hunter has the balls to throw in the towel after his fighter does exactly that.

Sure Hunter deserves credit for Andre Ward but he also deserves the credit for the horrible performances by all of his other fighters under his thumb. We saw what happened when Abner Mares left Hunter for Robert Garcia, a world title. Berto, Angulo, Khan have all been punching bags with Hunter standing in their corner for years. But to advise a fighter to NOT throw a punch in a round and then throw the towel in the ring is one of the most ridiculous things i've ever witnessed from a trainer in this sport.

Am i wrong? Has there been worse advice from a trainer than this?

The most overrated trainer in Boxing HIstory was Angleo Dundee... He could charm the skin off a snake -- but his depth of knowledge was ridiculously poor.

It does seem like a case of his reputation as a top trainer being based almost entirely around Ward's success. He doesn't seem to have done much for the other fighters he's trained...

He may be overrated as a trainer, but he has that smooth bedside voice baby.

lazboy wrote:Will be interesting to see where this thread goes, can't say I disagree with you though Caldo. I also thought he made a mistake plonking Fonfara down on the stool with jelly legs at the bell. How about get some feeling back into those legs before sitting down. He was out on his feet end of Rd1 IMO. Seems to be more of a motivational speaker in the corner than a calm clear hardened experienced boxing trainer with something useful to say.

Lazyboy, I could completely wrong and perhaps way too opinionated on the matter without physically being witness to his training camps but it just seems that fight after fight, his fighters are just lost in there. I mean Berto pretty much asked out of that fight with Porter because he seemed surprised that Porter leads with his head....WHAT? How can you not know that Porter uses his head as a weapon? He should have been prepared for that and I put that on the corner for not preparing the boxer to have an answer for it. But again, i'm not a boxer or a trainer, just an avid fan that sees what he sees.

Kalan wrote:

caldo2025 wrote:For years, Virgil Hunter has been anointed as a top trainer in Boxing. Perhaps just a notch below Roach and Garcia and for years i've been wondering why though. We are constantly seeing him throwing the towels in on his fighters and bringing fighters into big fights unprepared. Almost more ridiculous than calling out Canelo to fight GGG after his fighter Amir Khan just got KTFO by him was his incredulous advice to Fonfara this weekend to NOT throw any punches against Adonis after getting hurt in the previous round. Then Hunter has the balls to throw in the towel after his fighter does exactly that.

Sure Hunter deserves credit for Andre Ward but he also deserves the credit for the horrible performances by all of his other fighters under his thumb. We saw what happened when Abner Mares left Hunter for Robert Garcia, a world title. Berto, Angulo, Khan have all been punching bags with Hunter standing in their corner for years. But to advise a fighter to NOT throw a punch in a round and then throw the towel in the ring is one of the most ridiculous things i've ever witnessed from a trainer in this sport.

Am i wrong? Has there been worse advice from a trainer than this?

The most overrated trainer in Boxing HIstory was Angleo Dundee... He could charm the skin off a snake -- but his depth of knowledge was ridiculously poor.

Man, i can't go there. SRL was my favorite boxer of all time and I honestly feel that Ray couldn't have done it like he did do it without him.

"You're blowing it Son"... Against Hearns (1)

"You've only got 6 minutes!" Against Hagler.

The gameplan alone against Hagler was a two headed masterpiece by he and Ray so i can't be with you on this. Comparing Dundee to Hunter is not a good one at all. Is Dundee overrated? Perhaps he is to a degree but he was head trainer for one of the greatest of all time. That says something. Ward isn't even close to that.

Impractical Poster wrote:He may be overrated as a trainer, but he has that smooth bedside voice baby.

LOL... I honestly can't argue with that. He does have a great voice.

I actually think his voice and his philosophical cast of deliverance are part of what leads to him being overrated.

He sounds smart, so he must be able to teach his fighters all the smart moves!

Yeah he sounds like pedo wanting to corrupt a child.

Impractical Poster wrote:He may be overrated as a trainer, but he has that smooth bedside voice baby.

caldo2025 wrote:

lazboy wrote:Will be interesting to see where this thread goes, can't say I disagree with you though Caldo. I also thought he made a mistake plonking Fonfara down on the stool with jelly legs at the bell. How about get some feeling back into those legs before sitting down. He was out on his feet end of Rd1 IMO. Seems to be more of a motivational speaker in the corner than a calm clear hardened experienced boxing trainer with something useful to say.

Lazyboy, I could completely wrong and perhaps way too opinionated on the matter without physically being witness to his training camps but it just seems that fight after fight, his fighters are just lost in there. I mean Berto pretty much asked out of that fight with Porter because he seemed surprised that Porter leads with his head....WHAT? How can you not know that Porter uses his head as a weapon? He should have been prepared for that and I put that on the corner for not preparing the boxer to have an answer for it. But again, i'm not a boxer or a trainer, just an avid fan that sees what he sees.

Yea I'm just like you, a fan. We weren't saying he was the worst boxing trainer, (theres probably one or two worse lol) but the most overrated. No ones really made a case for him in the posts. Ive heard him commentate a few fights too. Amongst the waffle (as he tends to waffle on and on) he was just way off, way off in hs advice and know how and understanding what was going on in the fight (my opinion). Also, I dont know if I've made this up, but I seem to remember fighters saying they go to Hunter to improve their defence. Who's defence has he improved and how? All I've seen is his fighters losing their offensive output, getting a very strange stance (most notable in Khan vs Canelo and not that he would have ever won that fight) and then just being cleaned up. Also, I remember him saying, after Berto had lost to Mayweather (which was going to happen anyway again), you had him in the corner, if you were more like Maidana you would have won. Well, that advice makes sense to us but not to Berto, who is and never was Maindana. To say that to a fighter that lost, that doesnt have a similar style.

Yes who knows what goes behind the scenes but we listen, we observe and frankly I find him strange in his advice and strange in general.

caldo2025 wrote:

Kalan wrote:

caldo2025 wrote:For years, Virgil Hunter has been anointed as a top trainer in Boxing. Perhaps just a notch below Roach and Garcia and for years i've been wondering why though. We are constantly seeing him throwing the towels in on his fighters and bringing fighters into big fights unprepared. Almost more ridiculous than calling out Canelo to fight GGG after his fighter Amir Khan just got KTFO by him was his incredulous advice to Fonfara this weekend to NOT throw any punches against Adonis after getting hurt in the previous round. Then Hunter has the balls to throw in the towel after his fighter does exactly that.

Sure Hunter deserves credit for Andre Ward but he also deserves the credit for the horrible performances by all of his other fighters under his thumb. We saw what happened when Abner Mares left Hunter for Robert Garcia, a world title. Berto, Angulo, Khan have all been punching bags with Hunter standing in their corner for years. But to advise a fighter to NOT throw a punch in a round and then throw the towel in the ring is one of the most ridiculous things i've ever witnessed from a trainer in this sport.

Am i wrong? Has there been worse advice from a trainer than this?

The most overrated trainer in Boxing HIstory was Angleo Dundee... He could charm the skin off a snake -- but his depth of knowledge was ridiculously poor.

Man, i can't go there. SRL was my favorite boxer of all time and I honestly feel that Ray couldn't have done it like he did do it without him.

"You're blowing it Son"... Against Hearns (1)

"You've only got 6 minutes!" Against Hagler.

The gameplan alone against Hagler was a two headed masterpiece by he and Ray so i can't be with you on this. Comparing Dundee to Hunter is not a good one at all. Is Dundee overrated? Perhaps he is to a degree but he was head trainer for one of the greatest of all time. That says something. Ward isn't even close to that.

Ali wasn't the ATGreatest or he would have won all his fights -- not lose to huge underdogs like Spinks (He should have been fighting Holmes) and Norton... Part of Ali's lack of defensive skills or even a basic body attack has to do with Dundee and his lack of knowledge... I agree that Dundee was a great cheerleader and motivator... When it comes to correcting faults in a stance or jab you need guys like Jack Blackburn, Eddie Musafa Muhammad, Floyd Mayweather Sr, Bill Gore, Robert Garcia, John David Jackson or other trainers who know what they're doing.

A lot of fighters just don't listen to their corner mid fight. I remember many times watching Floyd stare into the distance while Sr blathered on.
I was surprised at Fonfara moving straight into Aduckis's left hand like he was programmed to eat southpaw power lunches all day. Fundamental stuff!
Mad advice at the end of round one, and I agree with letting Fonfara stand for a while to get blood into his legs.
Fonfara's performance was absmal and his trainer should take at least some responsibility.

Kalan wrote:

caldo2025 wrote:

Kalan wrote:
The most overrated trainer in Boxing HIstory was Angleo Dundee... He could charm the skin off a snake -- but his depth of knowledge was ridiculously poor.

Man, i can't go there. SRL was my favorite boxer of all time and I honestly feel that Ray couldn't have done it like he did do it without him.

"You're blowing it Son"... Against Hearns (1)

"You've only got 6 minutes!" Against Hagler.

The gameplan alone against Hagler was a two headed masterpiece by he and Ray so i can't be with you on this. Comparing Dundee to Hunter is not a good one at all. Is Dundee overrated? Perhaps he is to a degree but he was head trainer for one of the greatest of all time. That says something. Ward isn't even close to that.

Ali wasn't the ATGreatest or he would have won all his fights -- not lose to huge underdogs like Spinks (He should have been fighting Holmes) and Norton... Part of Ali's lack of defensive skills

WTF, how can you say so many wrong things in such a small space?
-The best boxer of all time has losses, so does the second best, the third best, and so on.
-Spinks was a past-prime defeat. Do you not know how past-prime defeats work?
-Ali DID fight Holmes. WTF.
-Ali's lack of defensive skills? WTF are you talking about? He was a defensive wizard.