Good points. Also, on seeing the film of Dempsey-Willard, Joe Frazier was apparently appalled by the way Dempsey was allowed to stand over Big Jess waiting to land on him as he staggered up. Frazier said "That's bad for boxing". I'd still say his intense fighting style qualifies him as being "ferocious" but he certainly wasn't vicious or spiteful in the true sense. He showed uncommon levels of sportsmanship in the Bugner incident you refer to. He could have finished the fight right there, and WITHIN the rules, but he allowed a hurt Bugner to go to ground slowly without getting any extra licks in.
Maybe this deserves to be in the other thread about controversial opinions, maybe not, but i think Nigel Benn is one of the most dangerous fighters ive seen, when his back is to the ropes
Definitely agree that Frazier's fighting style was ferocious. Ferocious but pretty much clean. Mercante said the same about him.
Glad ya mentioned Rocky, D. Those who saw him years later as a lovable bufoon on TV or in ads, never saw the vicious guy he was in the ring and in the street, He never argued; his right hand came first.
Another vote here for Ketchel. He put weights in his pockets to appear heavier just so he could get a shot at not just the champ, but the greatest heavyweight in history. 99% of the population simply cannot relate to this quality of man. It wasn't just a his right hand or chin that he believed in... [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R0ro_Rq26I[/ame] www.youtube.com/eslubin