Name a fighter who u use to hate then began to like.

To answer the original topic question as closely as possible, my answer would have to be Larry Holmes.

I never hated him, but did come to like and appreciate him more and more as time went by. He is well inside my Top 10 heavies of all time.

 

Holmes - couldn't stand that peanut head. Always bitching. Kind of liked him after he lost to Tyson (who I hated even more) and said he'd end up in jail.

 

Lennox Lewis, Floyd Maywether, Paul Mallinaggi,BHOP but now I started to dislike him again

 

I used to dislike Duran. I hated his vulgarity and nastiness. But after watching more of his fights, and understanding his upbringing more, I am starting to appreciate the darker side of him that I start to find in me sometime reverberating as well.

 

Lennox Lewis.
I hated him throughout his career because of his aloof, arrogant attitude. I also thought he was a bit of a fraud as a fighter and a person.

Over the years though, I came to appreciate him more as a fighter and a person. The Youtube videos I've seen of him at home and messing about with Eubank have cast him in a mellower, more human light and I appreciate that.

 

Holmes and SRL.

 

Talk about a 180.

 

My picks:


1. Liston (Year's ago my impression of him was tained by the manner of the Ali fights (defeats). The more prime footage I've seen of him, though the more impressed I am. Especially his pre title years.)

2. SRL (It was moreso the guys personality which grated, but I've come to admire his supreme skill, speed and heart over time, almost to the point that he's one of my adopted fights on ESB in debates. Underrated power.)

3. Duran (pretty much the same as what Topdawg said.)

4. Lewis (Never hated Lennox as such- cause he's a Brit after all, but I've come to appreciate his career/skill/ability/legacy etc quite a bit more since he hung up the gloves. He'd be a hellish tough fight for any other great Heavyweight in history when 'on it'.)

 

Half true with Holmes, fully with Leonard

 

can't say i've ever hated a fighter.early on the nearest would be sonny liston,because he beat up my first hero floyd patterson,was delighted when ali came along and whipped him.later however i came to realize that he was a helluva fighter,now i have the greatest respect for him.

 

I wouldn't say hate, but I was a huge Bruno fan instead of Lewis.
Bruno was the funny guy wheras Lewis came off as snooty.

Ironically, it was the Lewis-Bruno fight that turned me round about Lennox...I appreciated how he was able to suck it up in a tough situation and blast back, something I had sorely wished Bruno was capable of.

That new respect was sorely tested by the McCall loss, but I stayed the course and that made the eventual complete career all the more satisfying
It would've been easy to give up on Lewis, some of the criticism he was getting (Stateside particularly) was absolutely blistering.

Oddly enough, the cocky arrogant Eubank I always liked, and still do...nutbar that he is.

 

I used to dislike eubank,but actually realise now that he was a very good,courageous fighter as well as being super articulate,honest and worldly wise for a boxer.

 

bernard hopkins....the way he beat tarver made me like him

dont really like what he said to calzaghe though

 

I'm gonna go with Roy Jones, and Felix Trinidad.

 

Apparently Larry offered to help Mike get out of Kings grip a little before they signed to fight, and Mike told him to go **** him self, so Larry warned him that he would end up in an ally way dead in the future, and would end up in jail again.