What if you could shake hands with any five fighters in the history of the sport?

Ew Jan don’t say that…

Sugar Ray Robinson
Emile Griffith
Willie Pep
Benny Leonard
John L Sullivan
Sam Langford

I’m sorry I couldn’t do 5 Jan! I’ll add Greb too just to make sure he’s real.

EDIT: Leaving off Tunney, Napoles, Moore, Ezz, Barney Ross and Henry Armstrong feels incredibly wrong personally… I am leaving off the living as there is a chance even if it is microscopic I’ll get to shake there hands.

 

Muhammad Ali/Sugar Ray Leonard/ Lennox Lewis/Oscar De La Hoya/Joe Bugner

 

Mike Mccallum …Tyson Fury …Azumah Nelson …Lennox Lewis…Vitali Klitscko …I picked these 5 …not because they’re my favorite fighters …but because I think it would be cool to shake hands with these powerful and dangerous men …and look them in the eyes

 

Sonny Liston, i want to see how little my hand looks compared to his

 

Roberto Duran
Nigel Benn
Sugar Ray Leonard
Barry McGuigan
Evander Holyfield

 

Frazier
Duran
Robinson
Armstrong
Liston

 

Rocky Marciano
Joe Louis
George Foreman
Rocky Graziano
Artur Beterbiev

 

Floyd Patterson deserves it and there’s the question of whether you should shake the hand of some fighters? There are murderers, r*****, child predators and radical racists in there ranks even the “ATG’s” across all of history have had that “sort” of “evil” amongst them for example I probably wouldn’t shake Battling Siki’s hand he killed POW’s with a grenade he’s a war criminal (so I’ve read) Jack Johnson was a pimp and Vitali is possibly worse a mob connected human trafficker… what would folks say if you shook those sort of individuals hands and they weren’t famous sportsman? Some can seperate them and the achievement I can to a degree but it’s a question I’d ask myself in some instances even if it meant Carlos Monzon being mad at me.

 

Harry Greb - just to confirm that he existed.

Sam Langford- amazing fighter. Maybe the GOAT.

John L Sullivan - just to see what its like to shake hands with an elite alcoholic

Sonny Liston - just to see if his arms were as long as advertised.

deciding on the fifth one.

 

Top 5 in order:
Foreman
Ali
Louis
Leonard
Marciano

 

Dempsey
Greb
Duran
Liston
Benn

 

Ali
SRR
Pep
Charles
Langford

Honourable mentions to Gans, Benny Leonard, Jofre, Burley and Barbados Joe/Walker

 

Eh maybe I should put my scales down, it’s historic people not the murderer around the corner or the PIMP beside him - it’s Jack Johnson and Carlos Monzon these are “figures” Washington, Napoleon and General Lee could all be considered “evil” but are doubtless pages in history but there are definitely personal hard lines for me, no matter how “great” we ink them on our existence I’m sure I’d despise many “great men” but they were what they were I’d like to meet Marx though I’d hate him.

 

I can't name just five.

I did shake with Foreman.

Chavez and Usyk would be on there. Too many to name.