George St. Pierre/Lennox Lewis. Both ATGs in their sport, cleared hot divisions and shamed because got KOed twice yet avenged those losses. Categorized as safety-first and decision merchants despite rocking sum stunning highlight finishes. You got controversy for St. Pierre-Hendricks that reminds me of the one Lewis got with Mercer. Didn't experience their run in real time but didn't also both get their flowers once they retired? Tony Ferguson/Matthew Saad Muhammad This one is a bit more far-fetched but hear me out: exciting fighters that are offensive machines and neglected their defense to give some of the most exciting, bloody performances in their sport, basically sacrificing their health. Both went away too far (with Tony still competing smh), with Saad later years in his life being very tragic. Honestly I could also picture currently some parallelism with Bam Estrada and Topuria current run with the ways they're slaying certified high-operators.
Jones/Mayweather Jon had a close fight with Alexander Gustafsson and then wins decisively in the rematch like Mayweather/Castillo. Then later in his career he encounters another close win with Reyes like Maidana/Floyd first fight. Other than Jon not rematching Reyes, i would say they've had similar careers, both undefeated for a long time. hate for antics outside the ring. Not given enough respect for their skills. There is also an aspect of fans wanting them to badly lose. Being the goats of their sports or at least in that discussion.
Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard 2 reminded me a lot of Pacquaio vs Marquez 1. One fighter getting absolutely pulverized in the first round, on the verge of getting stopped multiple times. Then for both of them to somehow courageously fight their way back to a draw by winning one round at a time. Both were incredible displays of conditioning, courage, and determination.
Jones is doing a Mayweather for not facing the best right now too. He needs to face Aspinall, it's a shameful duck.
I've always thought the Diaz brothers shared a similar archetype to Antonio Margarito. Volume boxers who relied on their stamina, their work rate, their body punching, their forward pressure, their reach, their height and their near indestructible chins. They weren't very athletic or naturally talented. Definitely slow twitch type fighters. Not the fastest guys. But they were nightmares to fight if you you didn't have a really good plan on how to nullify the pace and pressure they were trying to set.
