Fighters who had the highest aura at their peak.

You had me fooled thinking you were unc for a little bit im ngl…

 

Jim Jeffries should be mentioned.

When he retired, it was assumed that nobody could beat him with an axe, or if they did it woudl be a narrow points decision.

 

Steve Zouski

 

If no one has said Lomachenko yet …they should

 

I agree:..I didn’t think he would ever lose

 

As generic at it is, Mike Tyson and George Foreman are two that instantly spring to mind

Also:

Vitali Klitschko
Sonny Liston
Oleksandr Usyk
Tommy Hearns
Roberto Duran
Sugar Ray Robinson

 

Loma was my penultimate mention.

I was tempted to put Rigo down as well, who I actually liked better than Loma and then they fought ... natural weight difference arguments aside, I expected much more from him.

Thinking about it, prime Liston, 167 lbs Fitz, G-Man, Naseem, Wilde, Tunney, arguably Eubank, all had an aura about them.

 

Seen them all from early 70's onwards .
If we are talking aura then it's peak TYSON by a mile.
Sorry not a very original answer.
Most of the other obvious ones have already been mentioned, so I'm giving a mention to Chris Eubank , who had an amazing and slightly unique aura at his peak.

 

Foreman
Frazier
Hearns
Duran
Hagler
GGG
Tyson
Dempsey
Robinson
Louis
Gomez

 

George Dixon made Heayvweight sized men second doubt themselves when in his presence.

 

There is no need to repeat many already mentioned, but I would add the name - Naseem Hamed.

 

Hi Buddy.
Neat idea for a thread, you cite " intimidating " for me the fighter that most embodied the word was Liston, there have been some very good names already mentioned, SRR, Louis, and yes , there was an aura about them, the flash, handsome, Robinson, the quiet unassuming, Louis, both had auras, but they or anybody up to Listons demise by Ali, couldn't compare to that of Sonny's, the brooding, meaniceing Liston struck fear into his opponents, and a sense of revulsion to the general public, not helped by his early violent criminal background, his whole demeanour spoke of a man that didn't care, about his life or his reputation, get in the ring, hurt somebody, get paid, repeat.
stay safe Devon, like you, and your posts, chat soon.

 

When your aura can arguably have an opponent well on the way to being beaten before first bell, then that is something - see Liston (vs Patterson) and Tyson (vs Spinks).

I’ve read that John Henry Lewis was quite fearful at the prospect of facing Joe Louis.

That’s not to impugn Lewis and I can’t vouch for that being fact anyway but it seems Louis did have a good number of opponents bricking it before first gong.

At MW, Monzon had to be an intimidating prospect to be facing. Near impossible to hurt and prepared to torture you over the longer haul of necessary. A 1st round KO loss at the hands of Mike Tyson would be more merciful.

Also, I would’ve been extremely fearful for my family jewels facing Andrew Golota.

Charlie Zelenoff has the aura of being as mad as a cut snake - dangerous for not knowing what he might do next.

Allegedly, Ali’s crazy act put Liston a bit off balance - facing conventional tough guys is one thing - engaging lunatics is another thing altogether.

While auras are earned in good measure, including by irrefutably great fighters, they still allow for a perceived, illusory advantage which kinda becomes real if the opponent lets the self created intimidation take them over.

When a fighter who can’t be intimidated comes along, with accompanying skills of course - the fighters previously advantaged by their auras can lose some serious ground - lending to bubbles being burst and major upsets occurring.

 

We need to add in John L. Sullivan. He had so much aura that people even bragged: "I shook the hand that shook the hand of John L. Sullivan!"