Who do you consider to be the most unorthodox in their approach to the Sweet Science, and what made them so? I’ll throw out a few to get this rolling: Ken North — not just that cross-arm defense, he moved forward with his left side leading and right foot trailing; Archie Moore kind of rolled and weaved but was much more squared up in his approach. Roy Jones Jr. — everything about him was unique, not just his speed and athleticism; he never really committed to a conventional stance and was able to dart in and out with electrifying power; I read once where he said he studied chicken fighting (he had fighting dogs and chickens) and copied them — lean in to draw an opponent to punch, then rock back and instantly back in full force with his counter. Vilomar Fernandez — wasn’t so much as a runner or mover as it was he just literally walked around the ring like a stroll through the park and then lashed out with accurate combos whenever he sensed his man was relaxing too much; nobody could look good against him for the most part. Who comes to mind for you?
Mustafo Hamsho for toughness . Showtime analyst Steve Farhood said in 35 yrs covering boxing he was the toughest fighter he had watched.
Vic Darchiyan always looked awkward to me. He had that stalking, southpaw style with an iffy jab that was more a range finder for that booming left hand. He didn’t move his head a lot, didn’t have much finesse, was methodical to the extreme but at his peak was very effective.
Marcos Maidana fought like a drunk barroom brawler yet he gave the #1 p4p fighter of his era his toughest fight. Michael Spinx was such a weirdo. His eyes would bulge and make goofy expressions and his footwork was weird. I think I remember him having both feet off the ground while maneuvering around Holmes. He often turned his body to the side and made it even harder to hit him. Robert Guerrero was weird in the sense that he made a change in his career and decided to become a rock em sock em inside slugger despite having very little knockout power. It was awkward because he had a good chin and stamina, so unless you had big power he'd simply be in front of you all night getting tagged repeatedly while he himself was ineffectively slugging away. A really stupid strategy if you think about it: he wasnt winning decisions OR getting knockouts and took tons of punishment.
