Glass Cannons - we salute you! (ITT: a 30+ cannon salute...)

Of all the stock characters in our sport - where, more than perhaps any other, boiling a complex individual's essence down to superficial cookie-cutter pith consisting of just a few words is an everyday (if unconscious) pastime of the fandom - there may be none more colorful than fighters simultaneously blessed with nature's equivalent of Mjölnir but also the heel of Achilleus, if you'll forgive the mixing of mythologies. Here's a smattering - thirty, en réalité - of the memorable ones from the current/near-past generation:

• Travis "Freight Train" Walker, USA: 39-14-1 (31 wins and 10 losses via KO)

• Santander "Cha Cha Azucar" Silgado Gelez, Colombia/Panama: 28-8 (22 wins and 7 losses via KO)

• Thomas "Top Dog" Williams, Jr., USA: 20-4 (14 wins and 4 losses via KO)

• David "Dynamite" Price, UK: 25-6 (20 wins and 6 losses via KO)

• Oleg Alexandrovich "The Big O" Maskaev, Kazakh/Russian: 39-7 (28 wins and 7 losses via KO).

• Ricardo Adolfo "El Matemático" Núñez Pérez & Ricardo Antonio "El Científico" Núñez Pérez, Panama: 29-11 (23 wins and 5 losses via KO) and 21-3 (19 wins and 2 losses via KO)Danie

• Ryō "Model Johnny" Matsumoto, Japan: 22-3 (20 wins and 2 losses via KO)

• Adrián "El Confesor" Hernández, Mexico: 30-5-1 (19 wins and 4 losses via KO)

• Ammeth Antonio "El Cloroformo" Díaz Tejada, Panama: 32-14 (23 wins and 9 losses via KO)

• Enzo "Big Mac" Maccarinelli, Wales: 41-8 (33 wins and 8 losses via KO)

• Kermit "El Asesino" Cintrón, Puerto Rico: 39-6-3 (30 wins and 4 losses via KO)

• Jaidon "The Don/The Chinchecker" Codrington, USA: 21-4 (17 wins and 4 losses via KO)

• Emmanuel John Chukuwuemeka "Real Steel" Nwodo, Nigeria: 24-6 (20 wins and 4 losses via KO)

• Eddie "Thunder" Caminero, USA: 7-9 (7 wins and 9 losses via KO)

• Fernando Guerrero De La Cruz, Dominican Republic: 28-4 (20 wins and 4 losses via KO)

• Marlon Andrew "Rumblin' Man" Hayes, USA: 23-21 (12 wins and 11 losses via KO)

• Glen "Jersey Boy" Tapia, USA: 23-5 (15 wins and 4 losses via KO)

• Urbano "Azteca" Antillón, Mexico: 29-3 (21 wins and 2 losses via KO)

• Dmitry Alexandrovich "The Russian Hammer" Kudryashov, Russia: 23-3 (23 wins and 3 losses via KO)

• Juan Manuel López Rivera, Puerto Rico: 36-6-1 (32 wins and 6 losses via KO)

• Nick Webb, UK: 13-2 (11 wins and 2 losses via KO)

• James Derick "Mandingo Warrior" Kirkland, USA: 33-2 (29 wins and 2 losses via KO)

• Rakhim Ruslanovich "The Machine" Chakhkiev, Russia: 26-3 (19 wins and 3 losses via KO)

• Travis "Iron Man" Fulton, USA: 25-48-2 (23 wins and 33 losses via KO)

• Melvin "Vermin" Bétancourt, Dominican Republic: 29-6 (23 wins and 6 losses via KO)

• Boonsai "Medgoen" Singsurat, Thailand: 74-6 (51 wins and 6 losses via KO)

• Fernando "El Guerrero Yaqui" Carcamo, Mexico: 23-10 (18 wins and 6 losses via KO)

• Alejandro "Naco" Berrio Hernández, Colombia: 38-8 (33 wins and 8 losses via KO)

• Zack "The Black Warrior" Mwekassa, DRC: 15-4 (14 wins and 3 losses via KO)

All of them share that special "don't blink" aura, if nothing else, hailing as they do from vast distances across the class and notoriety spectrum. A few were genuine contenders, and some were never fated to make it past ESPN2 FNF level, but they all had enough of their adventures (plus their misadventures) televised for an imprint to be left on the fans' minds. Hopefully a few of these names are either new to some readers, or hitherto forgotten about.

The antithesis of this archetype is, of course, the "iron-chinned feather-fist", who quite often find themselves enlisted as specialist journeymen known as "professional round-goers", best exemplified by the ilk of Rénald "Cœur de Lion" Garrido, Kamil "The Dangerman" Sokolowski, Juan "Fenix" Ruiz, Rodney "The Red Shield/Guard Dog" Hernández, but often boast a few champions in their ranks, such as Paulie "The Magic Man" Malignaggi, Christopher Mark "The Fightin' Collegian" Algieri, and Timothy Ray "Desert Storm" Bradley, Jr.

Post up some anecdotes, footage and/or GIFs of your own favorite glass cannons (or, the most extreme variety, the Death Star™ - featuring lights-out power that could vanquish anyone, but with tissue-paper resistance meaning they rarely get the chance) - and be fair, include both an example of them delivering a crushing blow, and having their own jaw imploded by one. Be judicious, as well - this isn't a matter for lazy researching on BoxRec if you've never seen the people in action before. Level of competition factors into how seriously "good" power or "bad" chin should be taken, and of course whether or not the person (or the people by whom they were KTFO and whom they in turn knocked out) happened to be in their prime matters as well...as plenty of redoubtable tough guys start to incur stoppage losses once they've hung around too long. That's why a couple of the records in my list above maybe don't appear like they belong at first glance, but if someone's KO ratio isn't super high and I have included them...you just need to place your trust in my evaluation of them as enormous hitters (for instance, Cloroformo has a meager 48.94% overall, but he could whack, and fought a lot of tough customers...the fact that he brutally stopped more than a few hardy opponents, as well as the proverbial eye test, belies what might be inferred from his record on paper).

 

...would it be cheeky to nominate Thammanoon "Knockout CP Freshmart" Niyomtrong for inclusion on the anti-gc list? I was on the fence.

 

I forgot Arthur "The Cowboy" Ryan Karl...that was nagging at me, knew there was some white dude in the welter range from the U.S. in recent memory who fit the bill. People were fairly excited about him until the zero went and then he was discarded like a used condom..

 

Fidel "The Atrisco Kid" Maldonado, Jr.

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Yep! ...and Heaven a good shout himself. 9-3 (7/3)

 

DaVarryl "Touch of Sleep" Williamson couldn't have asked for a more bilaterally prescient nickname at his career's outset.

(he's 27-8, with 23/6)

 

I can think of another Jorge L. some might argue.