In Grouping Your Top 5-10 Favorite Boxers, What Patterns Do You See?

Mosley,Barrera,Jones. Speed and body punching.

 

I like 'force-of-nature' fighters best i.e. extravagant athletic ability coupled with unorthodox styles - Ali, Duran, Roy Jones Jr, Hamed.

However, enjoy superior technicians too e.g. Winky's watertight defence...

 

duran
hagler
arguello
hearns
tito

with the exception of hearns all fighter who got stronger as the fights wore on.

 

:thumbsup I would have loved to have seen him run at Hayward Field.

 

Roy Jones Jr
Thomas Hearns
Muhammed Ali
Roberto Duran
Joe Calzaghe

I tend to like fighters that have very good handspeed, that can be slick. That can mix it up, can box and punch.

I also tend to like fighters who at their best make it look easy

 

:good

Love to see a master at work in his prime a la Ali v Williams and Floyd v Gatti. Not so much a mismatch just a masterclass!

 

Ali
Leonard
Hearns
Frazier
RJJ
Moore
Duran

This is rated after their fighting style, because I can't stand Duran's attitude. I most of all like extravagant, slick boxers that have a warriors spirit, which make the top 3 kind of self-explanatory. Duran had most of these qualities as well and would come higher if not for the "no mas" bull****. RJJ was definitely extravagant and slick, but wasn't really involved in any legendary wars. Frazier is definitely the least slick of these, but I just love his spirit and that he never was boring. I also think he was a very skillful swarmer. Moore wasn't really extravagant, but he was slick in a kind of scientific fashion and he definitely was a warrior.

 

For me Duran's attitude adds to his legend though - he was really an animal. Intimidating without having to make any effort to be that way

 

I agree with you about boxers and boxer-punchers. That's what ultimately attracts me to boxing. I think Kid Gavilan, along with Napoles, are my two favorite welters, and the pattern there, obviously, is that they are both Cubans. Cuba must have something in the water to produce such great fighters. As for Barrera, he is my favorite fighter of the past decade or so, and the fight with Hamed made me a fan. What a beautiful exhibition of disciplined boxing! I love that fight, and one of the reasons is that a class act guy like Barrera put an obnoxious punk in his place with such skill.

 

Well, at the risk of bringing out all the obnoxious haters that abound, a week ago one evening on ESPN, I saw Calzaghe vs Lacy, and it was truly impressive how Joe so totally outclassed his opponent. As you say, hand speed, making it look easy,..I'm tellin' ya, it was AMAZING how JC did whatever he wanted to against Lacy, a guy that all the "experts" had picked to destroy Calzaghe. They can talk all they want to about "slapping" and his lack of a big punch, but to tell you the truth, it's GOOD that Calzaghe dosen't have anymore power than he does, otherwise he would have killed poor Lacy, or put him in a wheelchair. It was almost like how Ali tortured and did as he pleased against Terrell in '67.

 

But if you wanna be a tough guy, be a tough guy. Don't ****ing quit just because you get pissed off and frustrated. And especially don't go around spewing nonsense about "stomach-cramps". If there's something I loathe it's someone macho who don't know how to be a man.

 

My faves are guys who can punch but can also be KO'd. The guys who are one punch from victory or one punch from calamity...

Thomas Hearns (especially later in his career)
Julian Jackson
Bob Satterfield
Mike Weaver

But for sheer ba11s out machismo it has to be Duran.

 

Jack Dempsey
Jack Johnson
Joe Louis
Muhammad Ali
Mike Tyson

Pattern: Heavyweight appeal around the world

Pernell Whitaker
SRR
Thomas Hearns
Willie Pep
RJJ

Pattern: the most skillful fighters, impossible to outbox

Arturo Gatti
Aaron Pryor
Antonio Margarito
Manny Pacquiao
Saad Muhammad/91-92 Holyfield

Pattern: exciting blood & guts warriors

 

Its possibly the lowest point in any boxers career (maybe aside from Tyson) but I would recommend reading up on Duran's character and then judge his reaction. Its not defensable, but it is easy to understand when you know a bit more about him. Granted I'm probably seeing it through rose-tinted glasses as Duran could possibly do no wrong for me. But he was the meanest of the mean, something missing in todays boxing. Is there anyone around at the moment who actually scares opponents because they are wild, rather than people fearing them because they are a good boxer.

The nature of the sport needs a bad guy like that, and of all them Duran was the best

 

..............I was just in Eugene running a marathon. They let us warm up on the track at Hayward Field, just as they did last year.