avoided/feared would be james jeffries. sam langford advertised he would fight any man in the world except james jeffries. :rofl:
The most avoided fighter of all time pound for pound is- Barbados Joe Walcott He was avoided by champions and top contenders in every class from lightweight to heavyweight.
Very good choice, I would have respond with Burley and Barbados Joe Walcott too! Btw., if you want, read my little article in Great forgotten fighters, Part VII! :thumbsup
Hagler was rated as the number one middleweight by most media authorities, from Monzon's retirement in August 1977, until his actual dethroning of Alan Minter in September 1980. Liston may well have been the best heavyweight, from January 1958 to September 1962, when he finally kayoed Patterson. Peak Jimmy Young made everybody he faced look bad, between the Shavers draw in 1974 to the first Ocasio match in June, 1978. Tyrone Everett toyed with Escalera, and may have been the best P4P in the world at the time of his murder.
Great call on Burley; if Sugar Ray did not want to fight him (with his alledged 'I'm too pretty' quote), then you know Burley was a 'ducked' fighter! Other 'modern' fighters that stick out; Archie Moore, Marvin Hagler, Aaron Pryor, Bob Foster, Charles Williams, Herol Graham and Eusebio Pedroza
Pryor was ducked by the Lightweights of the late 70s when Duran moved up, so he had to move up himself to 140. Also although it probably he was not being intentially ducked; although spoken about Pryor/Leonard and Pryor/Hearns never happened... Sanchez made it clear before his death he was not intrested in Pedroza nor was any of the excting fighters of the 130 and 135lbers of the era. Pedroza may not of been the most exciting fighter, but he was effective in his own (dirty ) way, and as such the bigger names did find a way to avoid him IMO.
Winky used to be avoided but he's no longer avoided. He gets the big fights and paydays now (except for the Oscar one he's long wanted).
Pryor also would have probably loved a chance to avenge his defeat to Howard Davis Jr. at the 1976 US Olympic boxing trials. After Pedroza kayoed Pat Ford in far more impressive fashion than Sanchez decisioned him, he told Cosell that he was ready to take on Sal at any time. Because of Ford's acclaimed performance against Sanchez in his previous match (which many believed Pat won), the fact that Pedroza was defending at home, and Eusebio's awareness of ABC's viewing audience, he was especially outstanding in shutting out Ford. Several seconds after he went to his toes, with the Guyanan on the ropes, he thrilled the spectators by dropping Ford for the count with a bolo right. Just then, Pedroza made it appear that Sal was indeed the number two featherweight. A real shame no unification ever took place between them, or even a nontitle Zarate/Zamora type matchup. (Who knows for sure what that outcome would've been?)
Funnily enough, it may surprise some people Hagler isn't rated in Ring's Top 10 from the August 1977 issue. Of course, he iced Monroe later that month but Willie wasn't ranked in the top 10 by that time. It was after the Colbert win that he was generally rated Top 2- after Valdes; until Rodrigo lost to Corro a second time, but that was November 1978. He was definitely avoided for a bit, but not as long as people make out.