To give a recent example, I had a lot of respect for Fury after the Wilder trilogy. After he defended against Chisora and Ngannou back to back, it is fair to say that I was frustrated with him.
Not as performed in the ring but in terms of PR, Fury has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for me - in recent times, more often on the downhill run than not. His persona was great for the sport - witty, funny and not OTT malicious. He made people take notice of the sport in a positive way - and not least for the incongruent fusion of a dad bod with his legit abilities as a boxer. The insults and rants in more recent times (particularly in lieu of actually fighting) have been a big detraction imo - but at the end of the day, he’s still no dummy and the name Fury still garners plenty of attention - though it may be diminishing.
Well he would talk about things like chasing Joe Louis’ record, speak in interviews of a legacy he could craft, mostly was interested only in talking Boxing. Before the clown world stuff.
I read a story about a guy somewhere in the southwest and he said Roberto Duran was like a god in every household along the border including his. Nobody could stop talking about him. Then came the "No Mas" and just like that he was a disgrace , quitter and so on. It became a sin to even mention his name. On the street he became a joke, a meme of that era.
Juan Manuel Marquez for sure. I was a fan of his but his constant whining and crying about being robbed in every fight he ever lost was enough to push me away. I think he clearly lost to Bradley but cried robbery in that fight as well. He could never accept his defeats.
I agree that JMM clearly lost to Bradley but he was also 40 years and young Timmy was only 30yrs old to be fair.
Fury - clown show had a limited use by date and he carried it on well past the time it became boring. Canelo - midget killer these days, not worth watching anymore. Holmes - has just become a bitter human. Tyson - from the moment he turned into Mr Bitey he was dead to me.
Jimmy Young He was as good as any heavy for like a 2 year period. But he never got the breaks. And he didn't have either the discipline or perhaps the pedigree to keep focused and in top condition and to keep trying. He went downhill fast and to mediocre pretty fast and the game was over. He never had a promoter behind him and tv sure didn't like him. Everything was always an up hill battle for him. And went downhill while still in his youth.
Hopkins. When he fought Roy Jones the first time, up until the Trinidad fight I was a fan. Then got sick of his mouth, the baby/attention seeking antics falling out of the ring and crying all the time, the clutching and holding, and just plain lousy fights, I couldn't take him anymore. The fight with Morrade Hakkar has to be one of the worst I've ever seen. Also, considering what became of Jermaine Taylor, he should be ashamed of those fights as well.
I rooted for Fury against Wlad and was very glad to see him come back and trounce Wilder, but I've really tired of him since. No retired fighters I've really changed opinion of.