I was going to add Bunny Johnson but I looked him up and near as I can tell Bunny was his real name. Too bad he never fought Floyd Patterson. We could have gotten The Bunny vs. The Rabbit.
That Jamaican thing always confused me too. We had the 3 Bunny's back in the day. Grant, Sterling and Johnson. I always figured they were their actual names until I saw that Bunny Grant's actual name was Leslie. So not sure on this either.
Your post made me think of Boots Monroe, a top-rated featherweight from the ‘60s. Also I thought of Toluco Lopez and Halimi Gutierrez. Many Mexicans went simply by their nickname. I recall once talking to Rafael Herrera and asking him who he sparred with when he was fighting on the west coast. He mentioned a few, whom I knew, but then mentioned El Coloradito Lopez. I was thinking to myself, now who’s that, when I remembered Danny’Little Red’ Lopez was known to the Mexican populace by that name.
In Puerto Rico as a kid: Bazooka Gomez Marvelous , Marvin Hagler actually made it officially his first name lol Also in Puerto Rico at least: "Hammer" Roldan.
Good examples. Some nicks are so solidly maintained that you either didn’t even know their real name in the first instance or due to lack of usage, you’ve forgotten their real first names over time. Nothing too startling but going in the way back machine: “Jack” - John Arthur Johnson “Jack” - Charles Jeffries “Jack” - William Harrison Dempsey “Jeff” - James (Jeff)ries A little bit more recent: - “Buddy” - Jacob Henry Baer
I addressed that above. I’ve been unable to find a first name for Johnson other than Bunny. Do you know what it is?
That’s a big carrot to dangle - a hare raising battle indeed - duly promoted by Frank “Rabbits” Warren. Referee? Why, Eddie Cottontail, of course. Apologies in advance, I’ll just hop on out now...