Fighters you came to respect after a loss?

Tarver after Jones I

not a loss but JMM after Pacquiao I

 

James Tillis (against Tyson). He was on a pretty bad run, losing to guys like Biggs, Williams and Frazier (ironically enough future Tyson KO victims.)

I have to admit I expected a massacre as Tyson had KO’d everybody in his path up til then. And after the customary knockdown by Iron Mike before halfway, it seemed like normal service would be resumed, and young Tyson was going to go on and destroy the experienced but limited Tillis.
But after that things didn’t quite go to plan for Mike as ‘Quick’ fought him to an extremely close points decision.

Respect to JT for that display.

 

Vitali against Lewis of course.

 

Unfortunately, Johnny Owen and Duk-koo Kim.

 

Not that I didn't rate him, I trained in the same gym as him, Tony Willis coming back from a one round blast out to win the British Lightweight Title and Lonsdale Belt inside two years.
He was, at the time of beating Iain McLeod in an absolute war at Digbeth Civic Hall, also the number one contender for the British Light Welterweight Title.

 

I gained even more respect for Duran after the Hagler loss.

 

Sergio Martinez got a lot more respect after his close loss against Paul Williams in the first fight.

I initially wasn’t too fond of Erislandy Lara because of his boring style but became more appreciative of him after his gutsy loss to Jarrett Hurd.

 

I still remain a larger fan and proponent of Wilder than Fury, can't stand either very much but the heavyweight champion shouldn't be talking like this lmao

https://youtube.com/shorts/pMbrwxjbSZU?feature=share

Fury's so weird. AJ is weird. Why are so many of the top fighters so goddamn weird?

 

What?

 

Holyfield after the first Bowe fight.

 

Jess Willard coming out and giving more rounds against Dempsey

 

Coincidentally, Lara’s loss to Williams also works for this category if you’re willing to count it as a loss.

 

Bert Cooper against Holyfield AND Moorer.

I remember Bert saying in a post fight interview, "No more ESPN fights for me!" meaning he's a hot commodity and would only fight on HBO, Showtime and PPV events from now on.

Marco Antonio Barrera after his first bout with Erik Morales. I remember thinking neither guy could beat Hamed before their fight of the year. Both guys put on a classic but Barrera's stock definitely went up with that "loss".

 

Eubank Snr after Calzaghe

 

After all those knockdowns he received from Tommy Hearns, and his refusal to stay down, getting up again and again ,I thought that Dennis Andries may well be a limited fighter, but he sure has a lot of heart and inner strength.

I started following his career closely after that and boy, did he show a great deal of improvement since that Hearns mauling.
Mucho respect to him.