When You Realized Your Favorite Fighter

Before I ever took boxing seriously, I had seen Roberto Durán fight Sugar Ray Leonard in their first bout—the legendary Montreal fight. I was still VERY young back then, and while I was undeniably fascinated by Durán’s ferocity and intensity, I completely shrugged him off as a hard hitting unintelligent brawler

But years later, after I started truly studying the sport and gaining a deeper appreciation for its nuances, I decided to revisit Durán’s career. That’s when everything changed. I watched his third fight against Esteban De Jesús and his masterclass performance against Carlos Palomino. I rewatched the full Montreal bout with a more informed perspective, and this time, I wasn’t just entertained—I was left in absolute awe.

Durán wasn’t just fighting. He was executing a brilliant, layered game plan with incredible timing, subtle defensive movements, and an unmatched ability to control distance and rhythm. His craft, especially on the inside, was nothing short of genius. The more I watched, the more I realized how wrong I had been. He wasn’t just a brawler—he was a master technician hiding behind the mask of a street fighter.

And i fell in love

 

Hi Guys.
So we go back to Feb 1971, and a much anticipated fight on Grandstand around midday, Jose Napoles defending his title against the highly regarded ( but not mentioned much ) Hedgemon Lewis , oh how I longed to see Napoles in action, had been reading all I could about him since he won the title, now I was finally going to see him in action, I didn't sleep the night before, it was not unlike Xmas eve, a couple of hours before the fight we had a surprise visitor, it was my dad's brother in law Tommy, he worked for a fledgling Irish construction company called William Press, they had a big project in hand building a town called Basildon, and paid for his small bungalow there, if he stayed on and help build the first of many new towns, anyway he was a former booth fighter, resplendent with flat nose, cauliflower ear, and heavy brows, and the biggest hands I have ever seen outside Listons, just before the fight my old mum made Tommy, my dad, and myself a bacon sandwich ( brown sauce since you ask ) and a cup of tea each, we settled down on the old couch, Tommy had the cuison with the faltering springs, he didn't care, I said to him we will be seeing Jose Napoles in a minute, Michael you don't pronounce his name like that he said, I said it like Joesay, no not right he said, it's a soft J more like Hosay, fair enough, as to his performance and style, they both exceeded expectations, he looked so cool, the drooping " mexican moustache " very vogue in the early 70s, the large M and N on his shorts, think they were wearing the Seyer's gloves, or it might have been Reyes, not sure, he boxed like a dream, gliding in and out of range, unloading a salvo of hooks when close, jabbing to effect, never rushing, if ever a fighter looked unrushed Napoles was that man, he boxed in the lower gears for most of the 15 rounder, only chastising Lewis when he had to, I was glad in a way that Lewis went the distance, gave me a longer look at the great man, done job, after the fight Tommy bid us a fond farewell, and drove back to Basildon in his Ford Zodiac, I think I have something in my eye.......
stay safe guys, chat soon.

 

When I saw the footage of Duran's destruction on Leonard...

 

It wasn’t watching a fight, actually. I got into boxing in 1983, a year after Sanchez died. As there was no Youtube then, there was no real way to watch old fights. All I had were boxing magazine back issues I would order. I did that, read a few stories covering his various bouts, and liked what I read about how he trained, took the game seriously, his legendary stamina, and of course the tragic death. It all made great copy. It wasn’t until the late 90’s when I discovered you could order fights sets from Ebay and such that I actually saw him fight.
He lived up to my internal hype.

 

When a feral animal named Johnny Du Plooy disassembled a streaking James Quick Tillis with a combination of Boerish pluck and a power not seen in the ring since prime Shavers. Chin up and right hand swinging.

 

RIP Chana.

Your post reminded me how when I got high school aged, I would go to the library every morning before class started to hang out and especially on Mondays, I would peruse the newspapers. Not just the local ones, but NY Times and such, and scour them for results and accounts of fights.

I would also go to bookstores and convenience stores and they all had magazine racks and most of them carried one or more boxing magazine. I’d pour through them and buy as many as I could afford. Just reading about guys I’d not yet seen (and many I’d never get to see as they faded into obscurity) would start my imagination running.

 

I got into boxing at first by watching old films. When I saw Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling 2, I was hooked. Joe Louis is my guy.

 

Where I grew up there were still a few boxing gyms, so boxing was still a popular sport back then. The average boxing fan was much more knowledgeable then than they are today. I would say Spinks versus Ali I. My dad was an Ali fan, but I rooted for Spinks because he was the underdog and a veteran like my dad was. I jumped for joy when Spinks won and my old dad just smiled. He respected Ali, but he understood why I would root for Spinks who was a big underdog at the time. FYI: We watched that bout on black and white TV and did not pay a dime. I was a young teen at the time, but that’s when I really started watching boxing.

My favorite boxers as a kid were Foreman and Duran but Saad and Arguello were a close second.

 

eBay existed in the 1990’s ? I remember watching Sanchez on Saturday afternoons year ago. He was a great featherweight. I was a little torn between who I wanted to win, Sanchez or Gomez, but Sanchez was my guy and he won. Still I liked Gomez too

 

My favorite fighter is Erik Morales

I think he really became my favorite fighter when he claimed his 3rd title against Jesus Chavez

 

James Toney became one of my favourite fighters when I realised I couldn’t find a guy with better manners and his skills in HD.

 

I could be off by a year, maybe, but yeah, I seem to remember it being maybe 1999.

 

Had to look it up; Google says Ebay launched in 1995.