Getting under your opponents skin

Backfired on Benn.Altough I think he fought how he always did at the time.

Martinez was pissed on Chavez jr.

 

The public love the idea of boxers not liking each other, it probably helps them understand and get into a fight.

But although there clearly are fights where opponents get under one another’s skin the vast majority of grudge matches is really just an extreme competitive spirit rather than a driving, genuine hatred for one another. Fighters are proud. They won’t be out done when they want to win. And they rightly target certain rivals who have what they want.

Fighters will take an opponent completely apart if they can. Be utterly ruthless. And it doesn’t have to be personal.

 

Hopkins seemed to get to Tito and anger most of those born of Puerto Rican descent in the process.

 

There have been tons of theories behind what was the reason why Duran quit against Leonard. One thing is for sure, Ray got under Duran's skin big time in that fight.

 

Yeh cause the ****ing media darling was doing the shuffle and bolo bollocks. Any other boxer would have been cautioned by the ref. But not this spoilt *****.

 

Another obvious one is Duran vs Leonard #1 . Leonard wanted to ko Duran so badly
it backfired on him, Duran completely took him out of his game. But it did prove
Leonard was more than a flash in the pan. It also paved the way for his victory
over Hearns in fight one.
Tyson vs M.Spinks.... Look at Spinks eyes..... The fight was over before
the bell rang.

 

Duran won the psychological battle in the first fight ..,,Leonard won the psychological battle in the second....its as simple as that

 

Wladimir Klitschko and Shannon Briggs ...it’s funny because Shannon always starts off trying to get under Vlad’s skin ...but it always backfires and Shannon is The One who loses his cool

 

Agree. But Leonard clowning ****ed up Duran. As I said any other fighter would have at least got a referee caution.

 

Hopkins just had that prickly nature. Be got under a lot of people's skins.

 

Bonavena actually got the better of Ali verbally before their fight. You could see Ali was genuinely bothered.

 

I think a lot of the supposed hatred between fighters, and the importance of mind games, can be a little overstated at times, but there are some definite cases where a bit of psychological warfare has come in handy and made the fight a real grudge match, rather than a manufactured one.

Anyone else remember when Collins, Eubank, Woodhall, Calzaghe and Jones sat round the table for one of those Sky Sports 'The Gloves are Off' shows a few years ago? You can tell that underneath the forced politeness and 'respect', there's definitely still something bubbling under the surface between Collins and Eubank and palpable tension, possibly even resentment there. Eubank has openly admitted that Collins is the only guy who he feels had the wood on him psychologically, and has conceded that he was guilty of doing the same thing he accused Benn of years earlier, letting his pre-fight hatred of Collins affect his mindset going in, and it ultimately cost him the fight (or at least contributed to his defeat).

Eubank certainly took Collins' jibes about him being a fake Englishman, a sellout to his African heritage and people etc. to heart. He's always been quick to praise the men who beat him - apart from Collins. And when he does praise him, it's usually in a passive-aggressive, insincere kind of way. Likewise you can tell that Collins still has a chip on his shoulder about what he deems as the insufficient praise he's received for beating Eubank, and the fact that people this side of the Atlantic were lapping him up as a major star while Collins had to spend years putting the hard graft in over in the States.

Have to admit, I found it fascinating watching them try to one-up each other.

 

He called Ali a 'chicken' and a '******'. Ali said Bonavena was 'crazy'. Ali was riled. Shows how, when people say Ali would have toyed with Tyson psychologically, they may be miles off. If Ali loses it at being called a '******' he's going to need to toughen that skin up before Tyson's foul-mouthed prison trash. I could see Ali totally losing it after Tyson threatened to 'make him his girlfriend'.

Haugen got under Chavez' skin. Even after the fight - a nasty beat down by JCC when Greg was being respectful, Julio still had the hump, demanding respect for his opponents whom Haugen had dismissed as 'roadsweepers'.

 

I think my old buddy Randall Tex Cobb summed it up right when a woman asked him. "Why is it two boxers beat the heck out of each others hitting him as hard as they can. Why is it when the bell rings at the end of the fight they Hug & kiss their opponents " ?? Tex said " Easy answer darlin' he's stopped hitting me aint he" LOL Great guy always had an answer