Fighters at one time you disliked or didn't appreciate but now you do..

I never used to like Eubank but he earned my respect in the Carl Thompson fights. I've gone back to not liking him again now.

 

Steve Collins with his excessive Irishness. Did my ****ing swede in. Good fighter though

 

I hated on SRL for beating my man Tommy for years but came around to him. He was gracious after the Hearns rematch and when i first joined here he copped a caning from some corners and i started debating his merits.

I also hated on Holmes as he dodged and weaved latter 1st career but was cheering him in the Spinks rematch. I had him as high as #3 at one point but have turned around a bit again and am keeping an open mind. Definitely a great fighter with some serious heart and determination. Hard to disregard that sort of will to win and sting.

Never disliked them but really came to appreicate the abilities of guys like Jeff Chandler, Sonny Liston and Bernard Hopkins. I was also quite oblivious to just how incredible Roberto Duran was before joining here.

 

Him and Hamed are two I really dislike,I have to say Eubank had plenty of heart though.

 

I didn't think much of Wladimir Klitschko when he was getting KO'd by Sanders and Brewster but he kept winning so I rate him as pretty good.

Most of the fighters we discuss on this forum are very good ones, great ones.

 

Fighters who have been retired a few years tend to get the rose-coloured treatment more than anything, I guess.
But I think I tend towards the other way. When they become historical artefacts they fall into the larger historical landscape and their exploits don't often stand out so much in the crowd.

 

When I first got into boxing as a kid it used to be Sonny Liston.
I hated him after what he did to my first boxing hero Floyd Patterson, and I revelled in his 2 defeats agains Ali.
However as I grew up and matured I realised that Sonny was a great fighter and all in all probably a misunderstood fella.
I love watching the old films of his knock out wins, he really was something special.

 

My appreciation has grown for both Klitschkos, and especially Wlad. Mostly because of the fact that he kept on dominating the division and didn't really leave me a choice!

 

This is almost exactly what I was going to write , except I hated him then liked him now just dislike him

 

Me too. He's just a really difficult man to like consistently. Calls himself 'English' now to avoid confusion with his son. Would have been better if he had just not been such a dong in the first place and called his son something other than his own name.

 

A Len Harvey fan who likes Patterson and Liston? You're my kind of boxing fan, Cecil. There's an interview with Sonny which seems to be between the Patterson fights where the interviewer points out the nice things Floyd had said about Sonny.

Liston's voice trails off as he says how grateful he was to Patterson and then, sort of shyly, chuckles. I don't know why but I find it really poignant to watch. Maybe it's the kindred link because each had such horrible childhoods and was never able to really enjoy what he had worked for because of it. And Sonny is trying so hard to be media friendly but his efforts make him seem painfully shy - which I doubt he was.

In David Remnick's 'King of the Hill', Patterson relates a tale of when Liston lost to Ali in Maine. Floyd went to see him in the dressing room. No stranger to the humiliation of a first round knockout defeat (albeit with very legitimate punishment) Floyd offered some consolation but Sonny just stared ahead. Floyd went to leave but as he got to the door, Sonny called his name and when he turned back, Sonny simply said 'Thanks'. It was his first word since Floyd had arrived.

As a kid, going through the rollercoaster that was adolescence, I reread that a lot. That, and the spoken intro by Bruce Springsteen on 'The River' in the live box set 1975-85, were guaranteed to get me all emotional.

 

I hated Manny Pacquiao up until 2013.
Carlos Monzon used to bore me to death, now I pay special interest in how he could control a fight without wasted movement.
Carl Froch. Still dislike him but I appreciate his warrior attitude in the ring.

 

Yes Sonny's was a sad tale Eddie.
There's another story of when he won the title after beating Floyd,he stepped off the plane back home in Phili expecting a bit of a fanfare to welcome the new heavyweight champion of the world and not one person turned out to greet him.
It must have been soul destroying.

 

They should have got a load of school parties to greet him. All those kids would have brought out a whole different Sonny. A load of kids would have been perfect for Sonny and really let him shine.

If that had happened, would he have stayed focussed and motivated? And if he had, would we ever have remembered that lippy kid Cassius Clay who lost to the great Sonny Liston?

Funny how destinies can alter their course so radically on such moments.

All the best, Cecil. Look forward to seeing more of your posts.