Meeting and seeing boxers outside the ring

Boxers I've met in and arounds shows and spoke too;

Calzaghe
Fury
Del Boy
Cleverly
Enzo Mac
Crolla
Ryan Rhodes
Ricky Burns
Barry Mcguigan
Frank Bruno
Jazza Dickens
Bellew
Martin Murray
Rocky Fielding
Jamie McDonnell
Oliver Harrison
Matt Macklin
Johnny Nelson
Wayne Alexander

Bumped into Billy Joe in Mcdonalds and Jamie Moore in an Irish Bar in Tenerife, both sound. Also seen Paul, Liam & Stephen Smith at the footy.

 

Grew up with John Ryder sparred him for years he is a great man not a bad bone in his body

 

People are also very, very bad at guessing heights.
Manny is a short guy with a strong build. He looks shorter than he really is, which isn't much, but no way is the guy 5'4.

 

He boxed Groves as an amateur didn't he?

 

Is Fury actually 6FT 9?

 

I saw B-Hop outside the ring in his last fight.

 

It's not really that impressive. It's not like other sports. Only the superstars are inaccessible. I saw Manny Pacquiao from about 6 feet away at the Bradley 2 press conference in NYC. We were roped off.

But other than that, everyone else I met was in the seats (Zab Judah at the Khan-Malignaggi fight) or walking around the hotel before or after the fight (Paulie, Kovalev, Rigondeaux).

And they're all very willing to take photos and chat for a bit because they appreciate fans more than most other athletes because they risk their life for our entertainment.

They're professional fighters, so they're not too worried about being attacked by rabid fans.

 

It's interesting that so many of the lists have names in common. Either all of Hatton's neighbors post here or he gets out quite a bit.

 

Not really my story but a friend of mine almost ran over tex cobb in west Philly. I'm sure he would have been fine

 

Matthew, Campbell and Ricky Hatton

 

I spent a few hours with Sugar Ray Leonard. Met/spoke with Buster Douglas, Johnny Tapia, George Foreman, Hasim Rahman, Lamon Brewster, Audley Harrison, Andrew Golota, Bermane Stiverne, Ray Austin, Fres Oquendo, Bruce Seldon, Oliver McCall, Axel Shulz, Monte Barrett, Derrick Jefferson, Roy Jones, Fernando Vargas, Ricardo Mayorga, Andy Lee, Zab Judah, Lucas Matthysse, David Diaz, Humberto Soto, Andrzej Fonfara, Montell Griffin, Rafael Ruelas, Vasili Jirov, Mariusz Wach, Dannell Nicholson, Calvin Brock, Javier Castillejo, Jesus Chavez, Kendall Holt, Sergio Mora, Raul Marquez, Anthony Hanshaw, Joe Lipsey Jr., Rocky Juarez, B.J. Flores. Sechew Powell, Michele Piccirillo, Przemyslaw Saleta, Kevin Kelley, Luis Collazzo, Don King, Jose Sulaiman, Emanuel Steward, Lou Duva, Jim Lampley, and others.

 

dunno pal but John Ryder is a proper gentleman and dedicated boxer God bless him

 

He really is pal look at him standing next to vitali (6’8) Fury is at least an inch taller then big bro

 

My father and I went to see Glenwood Brown years ago when I was a teenager. He was signing autographs in his hometown. We lived in a town close by so we drove to get an autograph.

I also saw Manny Pac at Newark Airport. I was coming from Las Vegas, Nevada and landed in Newark. Me and my wife were waiting for our luggage and so was Pac. He was on his way to the press conference for his fight with Antonio Margarito . Dressed casual in a yellow polo shirt. Only one other man , my wife and myself took pictures of him. Everyone else just stared at us. Not sure many knew who he was but their were a few " ooohhs and ahhhs " when he appeared. The other fellow took a picture with him. After that Pac walked off to his ride and Buboy got lost and I helped him find Pac outside near the car.

 

Over the years in boxing Ive met so many guys & the vast majority have been down to earth nice guys I was a fixture at Dave Gorman's Super Pro's gym & the BMI gym in Ft Worth Tx & Curtis Cokes Home of Champions gym in Dallas Tx. Both of these late greats were real nice guys & good friends Two of boxings best