"I'M SORRY; I LOVE YOU" ...when fighters reluctantly beat up fellow champs they had idolized.

Joppy - Duran

 

Marciano beating Joe Louis who was on the comeback trail in October 1951...winning 8 fights in a row before stepping into the ring with prospect Rock Marciano. Louis was a 6-5 favorite.

 

I wouldn't say the Louis fight was a squash, even of the extended variety. Louis held his own for the first sixth and actually had a lead on the cards.

 

The only fighter that Holmes idolized was himself.

 

Holmes absolutely relished battering an icon like Ali, bitterness is a hell of a motivation. Tyson in turn talks to this day how he enjoyed flattening Holmes. The ''wouldn't stand a chance'' comments were a young kid copying a quote from some old time fighter, same as his hands on hips celebration mimicking Battling Nelson. Terry Norris couldn't finish Ray Leonard. The only genuinely humane gestures I remember were Roy Jones vs Bryant Brannon and to be fair Holmes vs Marvis Frazier. Both pleaded with the ref to stop the fight.

 

Holmes wasn't bitter toward Ali himself -- Ali gave Holmes the chance of a lifetime, hiring him and keeping him in his camp for so long, having him fight on his undercards, etc. Holmes was bitter at being called an Ali impersonator, so yeah, he did walk into there with the goal of whooping Ali's ass to shut everybody up. And he was really takin it to Ali until he realized Ali just had nothing, and then he backed off. I forget what round it was, but at the end of the round where Homes realized this, he walks back to his corner and does a hand gesture like "you guys seeing this??"

The Marvis stoppage was a funny one. While actively trapping Marvis in the corner and beating on him, Holmes was motioning and calling for the ref to come stop it.