When/why did you become a hardcore fan of your favorite ATG fighter?

Well there are lots of fighters that I really, really like, in no order, Olivares, Basilio, Bad Bennie, Monzon, Chavez, Ike Williams, and loads more of that caliber, BUT my ATG is and always will be Jose Napoles, just to see his name gave me tingles, his look with the tash, the trunks with M on one leg and N on the other, the slopping shoulders of a natural puncher, the way he used to squat before the start of every round, the cool almost nonchalant forward movement to close the ring down, hooks thrown with missile like precision , head feints to avoid on coming shots, no fuss, no rush, he would prevail usually, later rather than sooner, like Monzon he knew he was a better fighter than almost all of them, they would be beaten, but beaten in style... Jose Napoles.

 

Getting into boxing history involved watching a lot of highlight reels for me. So one day, I stumbled upon the Beautiful Violence, Ezzard Charles video by @haNZAgod and that was that. I had to look into him coz he was that good and as I did I found him to be a great man, a great fighter and one of the most resilient and hard done by men in boxing.

 

I can remember, when I was a little boy, I once asked my father: Who is the best boxer ever? He said to me, Muhammad Ali. First I thought he was joking, cause it sounds Arabic and not American. Before I heard just about Tyson and Holyfield.
Later I have seen in German TV a six-part documentary about Muhammad Ali. It was shown at Chistmas time. Since then, I became a boxing enthusiast. I can still remember the outro-song: "Don´t Back Down" from Eddy Grant. Later I have read the autobiography of Max Schmeling. He was after Ali my second boxing hero. Schmeling has written also about his idol Jack Dempsey. He has seen the fight between Dempsey and Carpentier in a cinema in Hamburg. Afterwards he started with boxing.
Also in this autobiography was a table with all heavyweight-worldchampions. So, I read the name: Rocky Marciano for the first time. Though I thought, he lost to Floyd Patterson, cause he became champion afterwards. Floyd Patterson was already in the Ali documentary. My father was born 1956 and so we have a book: chronicle 1956. I leafed through it and suddenly I have found an article about Rocky Marciano, his retirement, unbeaten record and brave, exciting fighting style, in spite of his physical disadventages.
Then I was very interested in Marciano
Well, it was the time before Internet became popular.

 

At the time. I remember I rooted for Leonard when Tommy fought him in 1981, yet when I saw Tommy keep fighting and not play games and Leonard did that Armory thing with Marvin and making Marvin look like a fool, I changed on them both. Tommy came off better as a no nonsense guy, and Ray came off as what he was a bit of a game player. But I always like Hearns ability to bounce back and keep going at the high level. He had some big highs and big lows.. A great career.

 

Joe Frazier. I've always been a fan of Frazier's do or die style, and how he stayed on you like a rash throwing murderous left hooks all the way.
Against Ali, in TFOTC. He took a hellacious amount of punishment, which would've knocked out a majority of fighters early. Not only did he survive, he thrived. More than that, he essentially laughed and said "is that all you got?" then proceeded to kick Ali's ass.
Also, against Foreman he took numerous bombs flush that would've ended most fighters but he got back up every time ready to go. Him refusing to give up when the result was all but a formality at this point, was one of the most badass things I've ever seen in my life.
Only rivaled by Thrilla when he had been beaten so badly his eyes were swollen shut, and was still begging to come out. He simply didn't know the meaning of word quit.
Also, one of the bravest things imo that he rarely gets credit for is rematching Foreman. Nobody wanted to fight Foreman ONCE let alone twice. He was one of only two people to fight Foreman twice (the other being Peralta in case anyone's wondering). It takes a considerable amount of mental strength to step into the ring with someone who not only beat you but decimated you. It may very well destroy you psychologically (as it arguably did say Patterson). Not only did Frazier not give up, but he put up a decent effort, much better than anyone could've expected. He may have even won a round or so. And was the only victim of Foreman's between Peralta II and Young to answer the bell for the 5th round without having been dropped. What makes it even more impressive, is that he was shot, arthritic, and legally blind. He may not have won, but this was a personal victory for him, all things considered.
Whenever I hear the words "badass", and "warrior", I instantly think of Joe Frazier. The man was a ****ing beast.

 

Since my attempt at humor seems to have fallen flat in my above post, here is a real one.

Wilfredo Gomez.

Me and my big brother used to follow his fights (mostly by newspaper as we couldn't watch the majority of them) and were in awe when he never seemed to fail to produce another knockout. I was about seven when the fight against Derrick Holmes was being hyped up and I guess me and my brother missed the "Derrick" part and we thought he was climbing in there with world champion "LARRY" Holmes! Imagine how impressed we were when we heard "Gomez knocks out Holmes". We finally figured out what was really happening and got things back into perspective. We were at a great age for that particular time when Gomez made his mark.

Years later I tracked down as many of his fights as I hadn't seen and was not disappointed. Filled in a lot of my childhood as the fight dates progressed. He was a great champion to us as kids.

A real special fighter.

 

Seen that video before but just watched it again nice watch. Under appreciated fighter especially at HW

 

Muhammad Ali

I really liked him as a kid in the sixties after he'd beaten Henry Cooper and Brian London in title defences. My interest grew and grew during his exile from the ring. When he returned, a lifelong obsession became fully formed.

 

You were a kid in the sixties?! For some reason, I always envisioned you as being someone in your mid 30s!

 

Nigel Benn

While he retired shortly after I became a boxing fan (mid 1996) was aware of his popularity and reputation as a warrior but wasn't until I watched the Gerald McClellan fight that I became a hardcore fan. There's been few fights in the history of boxing with the atmosphere and drama of that night and when you go back and watch his career realised he was a one off.
I'm sure most of you have already seen it but just in case you haven't :

This content is protected

 

My favorite fighter is Roberto Duran. I liked him since I became a Boxing fan, but I was not a hardcore fan of anyone besides Ali and Robinson. Back then I mainly watched highlights and summaries of several fights instead of experiencing them on my own, and I already liked Duran due to just how angry and aggressive he looked in them. So one day I decided to watch a Duran fight, specifically vs Palomino since I heard it was his best performance. I was impressed from the start, but I will never forget the feeling I had when I watched him feint 4 or 5 times, he did not end up hitting him, he just stared at him and smirked knowing he had full control over the fight. Hardcore fan ever since.

 

I wish !!!! Lol. Happy new year to you,Swagdelfadeel.

 

Simple in my case...I love all things Philadelphia especially through the 70-80’s. So naturally all of the Philly sensations are the ones I am a fan of. Other fighters I like, enjoy or appreciate but with no real rooting interest. Oddly I would say I am more a fan of great boxing rather than a great boxer in particular

 

There are fighters I appreciate. Some, a great deal. But I haven't been a hardcore fan of anyone for decades, basically since I was a kid. I'm more a fan of boxing as a whole.

 

There are fighters I appreciate. Some, a great deal. But I haven't been a hardcore fan of anyone for decades, basically since I was a kid. I'm more a fan of boxing as a whole. If I root for a fighter in a particular fight, it's because I think they're better for boxing.