Foes who wound up as friends

Basilio and Tony DeMarco
Armando Muniz and Carlos Palomino

 

The one opponent which Jack Dempsey professed an intense personal dislike for was Carl Morris. Outside the ring, Dempsey appeared get along with just about every active or retired fighter. During his years as world heavyweight champion, Dempsey apparently was close friends with Joe Benjamin, a lightweight contender, and Lee Moore, a four-round fighter based in California.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Griffith Benvenuti.

 

No friendship beats the Creed-Balboa beach huggin'

 

Not quite true. SRR was the best man at seven or eight of Jake LaMotta's weddings.

Hardly surprising, being both Mexican born transplants to LA who already had college degrees when they fought for Palomino's WBC WW Title. [Palomino-Muniz I is a well known first in boxing history with respect to that fact.]

To me, what's far more unusual and interesting are former opponents with lasting acrimony. Not sure of the extent to which Frazier ever truly reconciled with Ali, but during the production of "Champions Forever," Norton, Holmes, and Foreman reportedly took turns physically placing themselves between Joe and Muhammad when it seemed as though Frazier was stalking after Ali to get one last shot in. [It appeared as though Muhammad was oblivious to all this, but Ken, Larry and George certainly weren't, and managed to keep the peace.]

My father tells me that Joey Giardello and Gene Fullmer were still pissed at each other during the 1998 IBHOF Induction Weekend.

Substantial antagonism seemed to exist between Larry Holmes and Scott LeDoux. When Scott was doing ringside commentary for ESPN boxing, Larry was trashing his performances.

Holmes and Norton seemed cordial and sporting during Larry's reign, but Holmes said Ken developed a lingering resentment later on. Not sure what the exact chronology is, but I wonder if brain damage sustained in Norton's 1986 car accident may have had a bearing on that.

John Denis just had a knack for pissing people off. I'm not sure how many other heavyweights could have gotten under the skins of both Cooney and Bugner like that, but Dino found a way. I'd like to know if he ever managed to have any friends at all among his former opponents. He seems to have been a pretty obnoxious ***** during his career.

Randy Cobb is just a good natured redneck who seems to have gotten along well with everybody before, during and after squaring off with them. The contrast between his relationship with Holmes and Cooney's relationship with Larry in the early 1980s couldn't be more striking.

Bob Foster's said he and Frazier went out to a bar after Joe knocked him out, and they got plastered. Wouldn't surprise me.

 

Come to think of it, I think Donald Curry and Marlon Starling have a very good relationship, years after they fought.

 

Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick ?

 

Cooper and Ali
even though Ali cheated him

 

Gatti and Ward were the first names I thought of.