What boxers have you met?

As posted before many times, I met Archie Moore in Dec 1969 at the local Junior High. I ran into Carlos Monzon while exiting the men's restroom to get a beer at the concession stand, we nodded up at each other on March 24 1979, he had been retired for almost two years.

 

I met Nigel Benn at a boxing venue in battersea park when I was 12 in 1989 shortly before he was stopped by Watson, he was very pleasant.

 

Mine were all when I lived in my hometown of Liverpool, UK, mainly in the 90s and early 2000s (with one notable exception).
Here goes :
1) John Conteh - I saw him at a hotel I used to to train in, where he was doing a speaking gig. He gave me a warm smile and greeted me like I was an old friend who’d known him for years. He’s easily the most charismatic person I’ve met.
2) Shea Neary - same hotel, his managers were based there. A very shy man, I remember seeing how different his demeanor was a few days before a fight….he was very tense, distracted and clearly gone through weight loss.
3) Earnie Shavers - he’d married a Merseyside girl in the 90s and moved there, where he trained her nephew ( or stepson?) Kenny Rainford. He worked as a doorman in Yates Wine Lodge in the heart of the city in the early 2000s, always wore a white tuxedo. I chatted with him a few times and he was great….not many people knew who he was but he knew I was a fan. Got to shake the right hand that nearly decapitated great fighters. The sadist in me kind of wishes someone would have started trouble around him…
4) Shane Sutcliffe - I posted this on another thread last week, but I met this Canadian heavyweight at a park in Vancouver. He was shocked that I’d heard of him. Very insightful….said he still doesn’t remember David Tua knocking him out.. Showed me his chin scar caused by a right uppercut from Riddick Bowe in sparring. Commented on Holyfields head clashes in sparring. One thing that stuck with me was something I also read in Holyfields autobiography years later….I asked him who the best people he fought were, and he said it wasn’t really that clear, and that the difference was less to do with skill and more to do with conditioning and who had it together better on the night. His reasoning was that heavyweights are usually exhausted from the adrenaline dump and at least mildly concussed within the first few rounds, so it’s a largely instinctive battle after that.

 

1) Jason Adams (Canadian featherweight champ)
2) Sheldon Hinton (heavy weight journey man)
3) showtime Shaun Bogart (used to fight like James Toney but kept on losing.)

Fighters I've been in the gym with:
Ken lakusta (a David tua foe/ victim)
Helena mrdnovich ( I didn't see what the hype was about) pro female world champ
Chris golden boy Mathews I think that's his last name (Canadian welter or middleweight champ) my memory forgets me.
And I saw this dude at the light rail transit LRT: scotty the bulldog Olson.

Fighters I've seen live in my city: Donny Lalonde.

 

From Memory.
Alan Rudkin
Vernon Sollas
John Conteh
John Stracey
Colin Powers
Mark Rowe
Ken Buchanan
Ron Barton
Billy Walker
Dave Parris
Jimmy Anderson
Charlie Magri
Jimmy Batten
Sylvester Mittee
Brian Hudson
Peter Gragg
Henry Cooper
Johnny Pritchett
Tony Humm
Freddie King
Johnny Mccleave
Johnny Cheshire
Stan Davis
Tommy Mcgovern
Roy Gumbs
Frankie Lucas
Lotte Mwale
Colin McMillan
Michael Watson
Ricky Porter
Eric Blake
Ron Cooper
Rocky Kelly
Dave Green
Johnny Waldron
Johnny Wall
Alan Minter
Kevin Finnegan
Chris Finnegan
Tony Sibson
Lloyd Honeyghan
Terry Downes
Mickey Duff
Bunny Sterling
Maurice Hope
Terry Allen
Billy Aird
Terry Spinks
Dave Williams
Johnny Clark
Fred " Nosher " Powell
Bobby Neill
A few have slipped my mind....
stay safe guys.

 

Felix Trinidad
Eder Jofre
Juan Manuel Marquez
Michael Spinks
George Foreman
Larry Holmes
Roberto Duran
Manny Pacquaio
Sugar Ray Leonard
Roy Jones
Ruben Olivares
Carlos Zárate
Carlos Ortiz
Wilfred Benitez
Roman Gonzalez
Nonito Donaire
Jeff Fenech
Bernard Hopkins
Pipino Cuevas
Carlos Palomino
Alfonzo Zamora
Rafael Marquez
Israel Vazquez
Danny López
Marco Antonio Barrera
Erik Morales
Terence Crawford
Vasyl Lomachenko
Oscar De La Hoya
Bobby Chacon
Jeff Chandler
Virgil Hill
Chiquita Gonzalez
Daniel Zaragoza
Paul Banke
Johnny Tapia
Ricardo López
Ray Mancini
Shane Mosley
Michael Nunn
Terry Norris
James Toney
Jose Torres
Alfredo Escalera
Samuel Serrano
Ivan Calderon
Juan LaPorte
Ricky Hatton
Ray Mercer
Iran Barkley
John Scully
Michael Olajade
Kelly Pavlik
Diego Corrales
Jose Luis Castillo
Mikkel Kessler
Reggie Johnson
Jorge Arce
Vinny Paz
David Tua
Antonio Tarver
Yory Boy Campas
Rosendo Alvarez
Ricardo Mayorga
Andrew Golota
John Ruiz
Tim Witherspoon
Marlon Starling
Mike Weaver
Ruben Castillo
Albert Davila
Yaqui López
Frank Duarte
Miguel Cotto
Fernando Vargas
Amir Khan
Andre Berto
Abner Mares
Giovanni Segura
John Stracey
Alex Gvozdyk
Roger Mayweather
Freddie Roach
Floyd Mayweather Sr.
Felix Trinidad Sr.
Shawn Porter
Paulie Malignaggi
Montell Griffin
Henry Tillman

& there’s a lot more im missing.

 

Thanks Rich, giving my age away me thinks...
stay safe amigo.

 

Ok you win...

 

My word….that’s unreal. Do you work in the business?

 

Stay safe too my amigo.

 

@djanders met James Figg when James was just an amateur. Taught him how to hold his hands up and tuck his chin down.

I’ve met quite a few and I’m sure I’ll miss some, but …

Larry Holmes

Roy Jr

Roberto Duran

James Leija

Deontay Wilder

Oscar de la Hoya

Leo Santa Cruz

Oliver McCall

Evander Holyfield

Paulie Malignaggi

Sean O’Grady

Pinklon Thomas

Jesse James Hughes

Johnny Nelson

Couple of 1970s contenders: Edgar Ross and Jack Tilllman

Don’t know if we want promoters, but Don King and Bob Arum. Also Angelo Dundee and Brendan Ingle among notable trainers.

I’ll try to update if I think of more.

 

Trained with Buster Douglas for about a year in Columbus. Really down to Earth guy, but an intense trainer.

I personally know Albert "Prince" Bell and his father. I also met Jared "Big baby" Anderson and my brother used to spar with them.

Greg Wright, former NABF champion was my coach.

 

As a hobby. I set up events for some fighters and help some of the HOF’s, and as a result created a large network.