Who was the blood & guts warrior of the 1950s to present day?

40s: Jake LaMotta
50s: Rocky Marciano, Carmen Basilio
60s: Tiger
70s: Frazier, Duran. Late 70s into early 80s would be Matthew Saad Muhammad, (who is one of the ultimate blood and guts warriors and is too often forgotten) Chacon, Mancini, etc.
90s: Holyfield, Gatti, Ward. (even if no one knew him for most of the 90s)
2000s: Gatti, Ward, Corrales, Morales.
2010s: So far Katsidis and Rios look like the best bets, although I think Katsidis is going downhill fast.

 

for 2010's I would like to nominate maidana as well

 

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Good nomination. As is Vasquez, as Thread Stealer points out.

 

I personally wouldn't really consider Duran a blood and guts warrior in the same vein as others being mentioned here.

For a start he was a much more skilled and cerebral fighter then these guys.

Plus lets face it he quit several times in his career...and not just the Leonard bout...several times in the years between Leonard II and Barkley, when things weren't going his way (mainly because he wasn't in the shape he should have been and he was just there to collect the cheque) he mentally gave up and just coasted through the fight.

 

Thread of the month :good

 

Some blood and guts warriors are pretty skilled, so I don't think they should be disqualified for that alone.

You have a point about Duran losing his fire and drive, though. I think that Duran never had the same intensity after the fight with Leonard in 80 that he did before, which is why I only count his years in the 70s. Back then he was a vicious ***** who always went for the KO, despised anyone who tried to dance away with him, and took the idea of someone going 15 rounds with him as a personal insult. There's a couple of fight where you can see him ratcheting up the pressure in the late rounds just to make sure the other guy doesn't make it to the final bell.

He was as much warrior as it was possible to be back then.

 

Morales. Margarito.

 

Good shout, I would definitely say Morales.

 

I agree, I'd probably take Hagler over Duran.

Also need Danny Lopez in there for the 70's.

 

Nigel Benn deserves a mention for the 90s

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TVgkCN_1aE&feature=related[/ame]

 

Late 90s to mid 2000s irish mickey ward