1st ever was Holyfield. He took heat & I was along with naysayers: He fights old men like Holmes, Foreman & can't stop them. He got a standing 8 against Bert Cooper. He's a blown up cruiser who will lose to the first young HW---if he takes one on.Well he did fight a Young gun and lost. But that loss turned him from Real-Deal to the Warrior. Never stopped trying, eye swolled up and still went toe to toe. And of course the round of the year, had Holyfield landing more by the close of the round. I Became a Holyfield fan after that loss. Pacman. Pacquiao vs Morales. Up to that point I'd only seen his Ledwaba, MAB & JMM fights (3) Back then, most forums called Pac a one hand wonder, as soon as his left is stopped, his day is over. Man O man. Morales gave this kid a boxing lesson. the 130lb Filipino who is touted as not being able to move up that far in weight, came in at 139lbs ending the myth he was too small to move up. Jim Lampley Round 1: "Roach his trainer said he has been too left hand dominant. In order to beat Morales he has to use his lead hand. Pac 2 minutes in 1st round decided now was the time, cracking Erik, who responded back by snapping Pac's head back, beat him back to the ropes and whooped his heads between the ropes, I knew this was on! By round 5, Pac was bleeding from a punch. & boy did they give him time to recover. Rd 12, Morales decides rather than play it safe, he turned southpaw! 12th round Merchant "This is a picture that doesnt need any captions." Roy Jones "This is crazy U dont turn southpaw in give Pac a chance to comeback." Morales went toe to toe southpaw with the baddest southpaw at that weight. I couldn't help but see Morales as the wizard. He gave Pac a round where he fought southpaw, & Pac still couldn't drop Morales. He opened himself to Pac's powerhand, whew! Next day most boards (4 those who remember that day after) almost gave up on Pac. Not me. I knew he was going to continue. As much as I was shook by his win over MAB, dropped JMM 3x and sending Lucero punch drunk to the ropes---it was his loss to Morales that turned me into a Pacfan. When they announced Morales, PAc bowed his head and started bawling like a baby on Buboy's shoulder. I was convinced this young man was going to develop, just didn't know how great it would be!
Recently, George Groves. Didn't like him till after those 2 Froch bouts. Didn't enjoy that last Smith bout either.
Vargas against Trinidad Vargas against Mosley (1) Mayorga against Trinidad Ouma against Taylor Klitschko against AJ Katsidis against Casa Corrales against Casa (1) Gatti against Ward Vasquez and Marquez against eachother Pac against Morales (1) Mab and Morales against eachother Judah against Cotto Andrade against Kessler Ruslan against Bradley Magomed against Perez Vitali against Lewis Haye against Bellew (1) Macklin against Moore Torres against Cotto Morales against Maidana Morales against Garcia (1) Maidana against Mayweather (1)
Thanks Tramell! I mainly knew those because I was rooting heavily for the loser in most of those Boxing was not kind to me when I was coming up lol.
Most recently, Yarde. I still don't think he's particularly good, and feel his lack of experience at his age will ultimately have a big impact on his ceiling despite his obvious athletic potential. But he went to Russia, fought with a lot of heart and showed he's got a far better chin than I thought he had.
The title implies that the normality is losing respect for fighter that lose. That shouldnt be the case. Every fighter that gives his everything should be respected. We should be more harsh with those that dont..
Victor Ortiz after the Maidana fight. Hear me out, I know a lot of fans jump on fighters who take the way out. For me when I saw that particular fight which consisted of both fighters being hurt/knocked down I wasn't upset or angry that the fight didn't have a conclusive ending. It made sense to me that he was protecting himself. I don't think his corner was made up of anything but 'yes' men at that point anyway and that version of Maidana at 140 was serially avoided I believe. Also Victor Ortiz was actually an exciting fighter to watch. Over hyped?, sure but he was decent for a time and I didn't really have much respect for Andre Berto either before they fought but though that fight was one of the best WW fights in the last ten years. Didn't include Floyd or Pac. Two overhyped fighters in a good scrap.
