You can shoot Monzon in the arm with a gun and he's still going to defend his title another half dozen times. Prime Tyson and Foreman were menacing. They had an aura. I wonder what was going through Pianetas head during Wladimirs ring walk. I don't want to hear "oh just know to channel your inner Ross Purrity" bs. Belts lifted up, the chiseled machine coming at you... I don't know how Calderon kept his pants dry for a rematch with Giovani Segura. Jack Johnson in his time was a carved statue with terrible intentions.
It was a very close call between Mike Tyson and George Foreman but in the end I went for Big George There are two main reasons that tipped it George’s way 1, He intimidated an era of Boxers that were levels above those who populated the Mike Tyson era 2, When Ali announced his fight with Foreman, knowledgable commentators genuinely feared for Ali’s life and actually believed he might get killed in the ring. As intimidating and ferocious as Iron Mike was he did it against some pretty poor Heavies and his violence, though extreme, never had the Boxing industry genuinely fearing that he’d kill someone! So for me, the most intimidating presence ever to stalk the world of Boxing was Big George Foreman!
Intimidating in the sense of if you didn't know who they were, so in a purely physical appearance sense, who would you least want to upset in a pub/bar? Probably Valuev or Mike Tyson. In terms of who would other serious boxers be least likely to want to face? Probably Foreman or Tyson. As the question is vague, I've voted for Mike since he's in the running however you want to look at it. (And whichever way you want to look at it, Luis Ortiz being on the list is laughable)
Why on earth is Tyson Fury on the poll?? I can get Ortiz Wilder and kinda Joshua since they're all great punchers, but Fury??
Bit of a strange list to be honest! I think that Iron Mike at his height was most definitely one of the most feared fighters, but once you hear him speak it's so incongruous. Some other fighters I'd suggest were intimidating to any of their opponents, all in potentially different ways:- + Roy Jones Junior - almost superhuman at times at his peak, that's got to be intimidating + Floyd Mayweather - super high ring IQ, deck always stacked in his favour, had a plan A,B,C + Edwin Valero - always came across as a genuine psychopath, which unfortunately might not have been too far from the truth. + Carlos Monzon - soulless eyes!!!! Sad and disturbing parallels with him and Valero in many ways. + Roberto Duran - when Joe Frazier said that Duran reminded him of Charles Manson, that says it all IMO. Hands of Stone, and more than a bit of crazy thrown into the mix
I selected Sonny Liston because he was the prototype for how both Foreman and Tyson wanted to be perceived. They modeled their intimidation after him.
I know Tyson will win this poll but I had to send a vote to sonny liston. I've been doing some studying of his career and he was something else. Very intimidating boxer.
I know it's about boxers, but just wanna share Rodtang, Muay Thai fighter, most intimidating I have seen in a long time. This content is protected
