Top 10 greatest cherrypickers of all time

Mike Tyson

 

Butthurt

 

Foreman ducking Holmes is one of the biggest ducks of all time.

Holmes literally got on his knees and begged for a match. Foreman didnt even mention HOlmes names

Holmes, Bowe, Lewis, Tyson, Tucker, Bruno, Ruddock, Mcall and a whole host of others were all ducked by Foreman.

 

yep

 

They were signed to fight in 1976. Giachetti pulled the plug on the fight.

Speaking of Holmes, he was a pretty big cherry picker himself. Never fought the WBA champs, never rematched his tough or controversial wins, ditched his belt to avoid his #1 contender Page, and made lots of title defences against Evangelista/Rodriguez/Cobb level opponents.

Gene Tunney too.

 

1.Mayweather Jr
2.Larry Holmes
3.Roy Jones Jr.
4.Joe Calzaghe,
5.Sven Ottke
6.Lennox Lewis/Riddick Bowe

 

1) Larry Holmes
2) Floyd Patterson - D'amato's fault
3) Sammy Serrano
4) Pipino Cuevas
5) Santos Laciar
6)old Foreman
7) Nino LaRocca
8) Jack Dempsey
9) Chong-Pal Park
10) Gianfranco Rossi

 

Fully agree. :good

 

Gene Tunney anybody?

 

Fritzie Zivic, Harry Greb, Sam Langford, Muhammad Ali

 

Hopkins, like it or not, fought such a glut of no-hopers that it is hard to get around that. I would like to think that he was going after Gerald McLellan, Jorge Castro, Reggie Johnson, Julian Jackson and Steve Collins but what we got was bums like Morade Hakar, Steve Frank and Bo James. We got pointless rematches with the ordinary Robert Allen and Antwan Echols and matches with overblown welters like Simon Brown, Felix Trinidad and DeLaHoya. You might say he fought Glen Johnson, but Glen Johnson wasn't even Glen Johnson then. He was 32-0 but not one recognisable name on his record. I won't doubt you if you say he was trying to get a match with these guys, but maybe his style had something to do with that. He was not the typical Philly fighter. He wasn't overly exciting, which maybe why some didn't want to fight him. I don't know, but again, it's hard to get the head around such ordinary opposition.

 

Chuck, I think I outlined it pretty clear that his management didn't start taking chances until after his 7th defense.

 

I forgot Sugar Ray Leonard. As great as he was, he always timed his fights with people to suit himself, and in the case of Hagler, demanded certain rules. I lost some respect for Leonard after his long layoffs, coming back to fight people just to feel like he was achieving something great (LaLonde. Nothing great accomplished, really), instead of defending titles and being a full-time fighter.

It all backfired late in his career against Camacho, another old-timer but one who'd stayed active, and got his ass finally handed to him. Way to go, Hector!

 

He didn't stay champion, though, did he?

 

Roberto Duran fought Esteban De Jesus for the first time in a non-title, 10-round bout at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 17, 1972, losing a unanimous decision. Their second bout took place in Panama City on March 16, 1974 with Duran successfully defending his world lightweight title by scoring a knockout in the 11th round of the scheduled 15-rounder. That second bout took place only 14 months after their first bout.

Their third bout took place at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas on January 21, 1978, a little over five years after their first bout. Duran won the third bout and retained his world lightweight title by scoring a technical knockout in the 12th round of a scheduled 15-rounder.

Duran fought De Jesus three times during a period of a little over 5 years. That is hardly the most blatant example of cherrypicking in the history of boxing.

- Chuck Johnston