Aggressive fighters with the most awkward brawling style

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Flo_Raiden, Feb 27, 2026.


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  1. Flo_Raiden

    Flo_Raiden Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Sluggers tend to be crude and predictable but there have been some exceptions where you have aggressive fighters who fought in an unorthodox, wild, and unpredictable manner that made them a dangerous fighter to deal with. Who are some of the most awkward, fundamentally flawed yet effective street fighters that you can think of? They can be guys that were relentless, could break rhythm, and threw some odd looping punches at different angles.

    First guy to come to mind is Bazooka Limon.
     
    Flo_Raiden, Feb 27, 2026
    Flo_Raiden, Feb 27, 2026
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  2. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    Arturo Godoy.

    Godoy's technique boils down to a deep concern for his hard head. His head and its position was everything for his style. You can see him fall off balance against Louis at one point and he is running to his left and Louis follows him and so Godoy keeps his head at all times during this most disorganised of retreats, pointed directly at Joe's throat. He gathered his offence around his head, and he certainly adopted the range of his defence based upon the position of his head. He rushed himself when he was in no-man's land, sometimes to his detriment, but that's because landing punches was secondary to his head's safe position. It sort of makes sense - if your head is safe, if it's on your opponent's shoulder, if it's under your opponent's chin, if you're ear to ear or eye to eye it's just very hard for your opponent to knock you out. Meanwhile you've trained to deploy your offence from this awkward position.

    You've eliminated the jab, you've taxed the physical memory, and you trust in yourself as being the more robust of the two. He's like Frazier without the art.
     
    McGrain, Feb 27, 2026
    McGrain, Feb 27, 2026
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  3. Terror

    Terror free smoke Full Member

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    Limon is a great shout. I'll go with Mayorga. He made his skillset work for him, Mickey Ward said you don't need every piece of the puzzle to make a picture in boxing, well Mayorga took that to the extreme. He made a picture with three pieces: He had power, toughness, he could fight hard. Those took him far.
     
    Terror, Feb 27, 2026
    Terror, Feb 27, 2026
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  4. Flo_Raiden

    Flo_Raiden Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Victor Rabanales is another guy that is an unusually awkward yet effective slugger where he threw so many punches in odd angles with mean intent. Ironically he was trained by Nacho Beristain who is usually known for training technically exquisite boxers like Ricardo Lopez and Juan Manuel Marquez.
     
    Flo_Raiden, Feb 27, 2026
    Flo_Raiden, Feb 27, 2026
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  5. ETM

    ETM I thought I did enough to win. Full Member

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    Gene Fullmer was strong as a bull with pretty good speed. A rough evening for a classic boxer.
     
    ETM, Feb 28, 2026
    ETM, Feb 28, 2026
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  6. Oddone

    Oddone Bermane Stiverne's life coach. Full Member

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    First guy that came to my mind was the drunken master, Emanuel Augustus. Wouldn't call him a brawler exactly but he was awkward.
     
    Oddone, Feb 28, 2026
    Oddone, Feb 28, 2026
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  7. Flash24

    Flash24 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    "Bazooka " Limon was the very 1st name to pop in my head. You beat me to him.
    So Ill add Ricardo Mayorga, and his cigarettes...
     
    Flash24, Feb 28, 2026
    Flash24, Feb 28, 2026
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  8. Flash24

    Flash24 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Augustus was more of what they call a " cutey" in the old days, a fighter so slick they could make a great fighter look bad, but not quite good enough to beat them.
    He was an awkward version of Howard Davis Jr.
    But he was far from a brawler...
     
    Flash24, Feb 28, 2026
    Flash24, Feb 28, 2026
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  9. Flash24

    Flash24 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    A few more additions....
    Marvin Johnson and Victor Galindez at Lt. Heavy. And ( Some actually called Johnson the fighting octopus, if I remember right )
    And the celebrated but very awkward puncher Rocky Marciano
     
    Flash24, Feb 28, 2026
    Flash24, Feb 28, 2026
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  10. Flo_Raiden

    Flo_Raiden Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Today we have Emanuel Navarrete who has a really unorthodox way of fighting yet manages to make it work for his style.
     
    Flo_Raiden, Feb 28, 2026
    Flo_Raiden, Feb 28, 2026
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  11. JohnThomas1

    JohnThomas1 VIP Member

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    Hagler fought two back to back. Roldan and Hamsho. Hamsho at his best was insane durability, rough housing and supremely dirty. Roldan was big, strong and had clubbing power in his right hand. There's a solid chance Hamsho was the second best middleweight in the world for a time.

    Trevor Berbick was tough on his good days. If you had top tier power you could affect his chin, but if you didn't he'd hang all night when he was on. Tho beaten decisively in rounds he kept coming at Holmes all night and landed his share of leather. He'd angle off his stance and become an awkward target and wasn't afraid to bull and let his hands go. He beat some excellent heavyweights and gave others a hard nights work.

    I'm going to name Aaron Pryor here. It's sort of unfair, he could do a lot of things when he wanted to but how often was that? He loved wading in high octane and blazing punches from angles rarely seen before. He was known as the most awkward fighter of his era and i think he's well worthy of this little sidebar.
     
    JohnThomas1, Feb 28, 2026
    JohnThomas1, Feb 28, 2026
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  12. Greb & Papke 707

    Greb & Papke 707 Active Member Full Member

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    Michael Katsidis comes to mind
     
    Greb & Papke 707, Feb 28, 2026
    Greb & Papke 707, Feb 28, 2026
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  13. USFBulls727

    USFBulls727 Active Member Full Member

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    Frankie Warren
     
    USFBulls727, Feb 28, 2026
    USFBulls727, Feb 28, 2026
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  14. drenlou

    drenlou VIP Member

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    Emanuel Navarrete of more recent times.
     
    drenlou, Feb 28, 2026
    drenlou, Feb 28, 2026
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  15. Macedoine62

    Macedoine62 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Luis Alberto Lopez, Emanuel Navarrete, Daniel Ponce de León, Vic Darchinyan, Dmitry Pirog, Edwin Valero, Satoshi Shimizu.
     
    Macedoine62, Mar 1, 2026
    Macedoine62, Mar 1, 2026
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