If beer is like boxing I guess there are those who's true personality doesn't show until they're sipping on a brew, more relaxed, confident albeit. What fighters needed to be clipped by a kd in order for there true personality or style to shine through? Just like booze, they became more or less better afterwards even to the point of getting knocked down a few times. I know it takes courage to get up from a KD, but what boxers benefited from a flash knockdown or two to help steady their nerves and let their true ring persona come through?
Being badly hurt or dropped for the first time would be HUGE - not least for not being accustomed to same with all the sensations, feelings and thoughts that come barrelling in all at once. Foreman spoke of same when Ali dropped him in Zaire - a totally alien experience for George, causing him to literally not quite know what to do next. If anything, Foreman appeared stunned amd almost unbelieving to find himself flat on his back - that was exactly how Ali, not George, was supposed to end up. At any rate. Foreman was able to use the memory of same to motivate him to peel himself off the canvas against Ron Lyle, vowing to himself that he would never let himself be knocked down and counted out again. So, imo, the experience in Zaire definitely benefitted George in so far as knowing exactly what he needed to do, even when in a somewhat befuddled state.
I wouldn't call them flash knockdowns, but Juan Manuel Marquez was the epitome of this. The first Pacquaio fight, the Katsidis fight, the Barrera fight (even if that occurred in the middle of the fight). Obviously, no fighter wants to get hurt and dropped, but Marquez answered the call every time. Against Mayweather, he was just outclassed and a bit undersized, so that was insurmountable. But his warrior's mentality never wavered when he got hurt or put on his butt. Even when Juan Diaz was pressuring him backwards and battering him with right cross, left jab, right cross combinations or right cross, left hook combos, he was able to analyze his opponent and make master level adjustments. He was one of those fighters who wasn't impossible to hurt, although he had a very sturdy chin, but he had absolutely remarkable recovery abilities. The fact that he was never finished is a testament to his will, his ability to adjust, and his nerves of steel.
I think Naseem Hamed is a good example. He suffered flash knockdowns in at least 3 different fights...Daniel Alicea, Augie Sanchez, & Kevin Kelly...and each time he went into a different gear afterwards. Each of the three opponents hit the deck shortly after.
