Fifty years ago, Roberto Duran was king of the lightweights. He really was just at the start of his career in some ways. His defence againstRay Lampkin showed Duran at his darkest. After putting Lampkin down, unconscious and his left leg temporarily paralyzed, after he said he hadn't been at his best and next time he'd send him to the morgue. So what are some moments where great fighter s really showed their darker side?
Qawi vs Leon Spinks. Qawi was pissed after his close decision loss to brother Michael and was a six fight win streak when he met Leon on national TV. He was a snarling beast in that fight and beat the living **** out of Leon and was grinning ear to ear in the process. This performance set up an atg fight against Holyfield and got Qawi a decent payday after years of grinding.
Frazier vs Ali I, Joe had enough of Ali's bs and had to shut him up with his smokin',I am more of an Ali guy but damn, Frazier got the deserved win.
Hagler versus Minter (He wanted that belt badly) Hagler versus Hearns (To prove he was one of the greatest Middle Weights ever) Hagler-Hamsho 2 (Hamsho kept trying to headbut Hagler and Hagler got pissed ) all three fights ended in the third round
Qawi vs Saad II comes to mind. Qawi beating the ever living crap outta Saad, all while smiling at him, and sticking his tongue out at him. Also, Gomez vs Derrick Holmes. Gomez putting Holmes down like 100 times and taunting him each time to get up. Duran, Qawi, and Gomez are like the holy trinity of mean fighters.
Apparently the bad blood there from Gomez went back to their amateur days, when Holmes beat Gomez up pretty badly. This was his payback.
Qawi's performance against Leon Spinks was also pretty sadistic where he seemed to enjoy inflicting pain on him throughout.
Ismael Laguna beating up Raul Soriano to the point of continuously punching after the referee stopping the fight was pretty messed up.
I recall reading about this in the mags at the time when the title fight was signed. The article elaborated that Gomez was the star of the Puerto Rican amateur team and it didn't sound like he wasn't letting all the other fighters know that. So when he boarded the team bus to go home after Holmes whipped Gomez (who was sporting a very swollen eye), the other fighters on the Puerto Rican team really gave him a razzing, which he didn't care for. So I think there was a lot in that payback.
Tony Ayala v Robbie Epps - there was very bad blood between Epps and the Ayala camp. Apparently due to Tony Sr. working with Epps only for him to sign with someone else. Ayala took it out on Epps in the 1st round, but after the stoppage, he snuck around the referee to batter Epps some more.
1980s lightweight John Wesley Meekins was so mean he once shot a man for snoring. Wait, that was 1870s Old West outlaw John Wesley Hardin. Never mind.