Pep had to have great mental toughness to come back from the crash especially because of the extreme reliance on the nimbleness of his body per his defensive style...
Detachment seems to be a common theme here. That is, the ability to zero on on the goal, to remove any thought of pain, of self-consciousness, of tomorrow, and of the roaring crowd from your mind to inexorably pursue that goal. These enables the less talented to literally roll over the talented in the ring. When you combine that kind of mindset with high tech skill and God-given talent, you have something special. For those less detached -like Duran or Greb, passion for battle is their key. For most fighters in my experience though, I think that the motivation is what I call "ghetto rage" -it's something they find in that reserve when fatigue and doubt begin to set in late in the fight or when you're in trouble. That "now you're gonna pay" attitude; that thing that looks like anger but doesn't burn out like normal anger. The best example of this that I recall is the bloodied but unbowed Iran Barkley to his corner during Hearns I: "I ain't got time to bleed."
Frazier Greb Foreman sometimes Hopkins JMM Maidana Vargas Pacquiao Mayweather(fought with a broken hand.also fought with shoulder problems) SRL Trinidad Benn Gatti Matthew Saad Morales Lamotta Margarito(he might have cheated but he is known to break guys down with his will) maybe Matthyssee? A few from the top of my head. All tough fighters with lots of willpower in the ring.
You want to know what mental toughness is aye ? Here goes ! You are competely blind in one eye. Your other eye is losing sight. Yet you go into the ring for 150 or so fights against bigger and stronger great fighters, knowing that one blow to the remaining sight in one eye, can virtually blind you and making you defenseless,and virtually blind... And yet this real anxiety before each of your 150 fights, knowing that you may be blinded possibly permanently, is overcome by your unmatched courage and mental toughness... And yet you persevere with your SECRET handicap against some of the greatest fighters in history, and triumph... Your name is Harry Greb,probably the greatest P4P fighter, and certainly the most courageous and FEARLESS fighter in history...A profile in courage !
Roky Marciano is the definitive example. The man wrapped himself in a cocoon before his fights, he was supposedly impossible to be around during the final week. He got himself up for every single one of those fights, in the hardest fight that there is to maintain either over 15 rounds or a career. And nobody beat him. He's not unique, but he's the best example on paper.
Floyd Mayweather- Never seems to get frustrated when he fights. Example judah was out boxing floyd for the first 4 rounds and he never panicked. Another one is Shane Mosley. He got rocked pretty bad and came back in that same round. Muhammad Ali. This man went to hell and back in the third frazier fight. They way he came back and knocked frazier mouth piece out late in the fight was amazing.
Tunney, Ali, Greb. Any guy who can consistently go into the enemies back yard and whip his ass in front of a rabid hostile crowd.
There is a poster on here, who believes Johnson was lucky to be born when he was ,he made a thread about it. atsch