Which fighter had a very bad reaction before a fight with somebody, scared, nervous ect the most that i know is when Gene Tunney fought Jack Dempsey the first time - Tunney said the night before the fight he woke up in the middle of the night sweating and shaking worrying about what Dempsey was going to do to him, i'm not asking where a fighter could not perform from nerves but who was most scared before a fight ? their performance in the fight dosen't matter,good/bad or otherwise just how they were before the fight
But was there any indication before the fight you know of? such as panic attacks anything like that, like Floyd Patterson getting a disguise ready for after the fight or like the one above Gene Tunney shaking and sweating
It's been reported that Sonny Liston was actually afraid of Ali and thought he was stone crazy prior to their first fight. Ali was constantly hounding and harassing him almost everywhere he went prior to their fight.
It's impossible to say. Some of the greatest, meanest, most intimidating fighters might be awfully scared leading up to fights but can appear outwardly cool.
I don't know if fear is what Liston felt, but you're right, he thought Clay was crazy and didn't want anything to do with him. He told someone that he wouldn't have been surprised if Clay had pulled a butcher knife out of his trunks- he was a nut case. Maybe fear is the right word.
King Levinsky was so frightened of Joe Louis that reportedly he was the only fighter ever to be carried INTO the ring in 1935...
rubbish.. hes claimed many times he knew spinks had nothing for him. he couldnt understand why people thought it would even be a competitive fight.
Aforementioned George Foreman was terrified of Joe Frazier before their first fight. He said he's glad Joe was staring him in the eye rather than looking down because he would of saw his knees shaking. Even after he knocked him down he was afraid that Joe was going to get up and "Get me with that big left hook of his." lol I think the most intimidating fighters are inwardly scared and that they project it on to their opponents. Jack Dempsey talked about being terrified of jess willard before their fight. He stood 6'6 and 245 and Jack stated he wasn't just fighting for the heavyweight championship but for his life. Even after he brutally beaten Willard he had a dream that night that Willard had beaten him and he woke up in a cold sweat ran down his hotel stairs and asked the paper boy early in the morning around 5am who won the fight. The paper boy looked at him and said "You're Jack Dempsey aren't you?" to which Jack replied "Yes." then the paper boy laughed and said "You knocked Willard out in the 3rd round." or something like that. Tyson always talked about carrying fear into the ring with him [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4fpk2TEfbk[/ame] Gene Tunney also said that punchers who try to end the fight as quickly as possible have severe anxiety and want to end it quickly and thats what makes them so deadly early.