Why Is Your Favorite Fighter Your Favorite Fighter?

William Sherriff was a sullen, unexpressive, shiftless, disgruntled man who shook his fist at the indifference of the universe. He is unquestionably the greatest fistic talent the ring has ever witnessed.

 

Rocky Marciano. He's the perfect combination of all of the things I love in a fighter and want to be as a fighter.


Heavy-handed with a chin of iron, a killer with a blistering pace inside the ring that's sustained by his bottomless pit of stamina, yet outside of the ring, a classy gentleman that's respectful to his opponents and the press before and after the fight. An iron man that never lost, despite his wild style.

Short, short armed, weighing much less than his average opponent, and yet still never lost. the boxing scientists and modernists look at him as some sort of anomaly that they pretend doesn't exist or bash and hate out of fear. Frequently the betting underdog, yet never lost.

It's as if he couldn't lose. Before he was born, Marciano's mother, Pasqualina, was told by a doctor that she would never be able to have a child after her miscarriage. After having Rocco, she had 5 other children. As a baby, he caught pneumonia, and Pasqualina offered her wedding ring to ensure that he survived, and Marciano's pneumonia went away. It's as if she sacrificed her wedding ring to give Rocky invincibility.

What I'm trying to get at is, Marciano led me to faith

Also I idealize the 50s, so him not only being from the 50s, but being the rolemodel gentleman of the 50s helps

Also also Rocky 3 is my favorite movie, and as we all know the character and setting had major influence from Marciano

 

!!

 

Juan Manuel Marquez.

I started following his career around the mid 90s and was drawn to his technique. I’d had an appreciation for a lot of Mexican boxers and something about his demeanor and style just clicked with me.

It was challenging seeing him get frozen out and be so stop-start until finally getting his title in 2003. I remember I was about the only Marquez fan on forums before that time. When I was old enough to start traveling by myself and going to fights I started attending all his fights starting with the Barrera one. Have been lucky to have met him on many occasions, been to Romanza gym, was hanging out with him in Houston in his hotel before the Diaz fight and he’s a great guy too.

I was so happy for him to see him become a national hero and be involved in some truly iconic moments. I always knew he’d be great but didn’t think he’d get that big as a celebrity/national hero. Great style, great guy, tons of heart and great action fights. I made a good choice as a youngster!

Also Eder Jofre. A fighter from before my time but I got the International Boxing Hall of fame register back in 1999 or 2000 and decided to research him more based on the snippet in there. I guess I was intrigued as there were never any other great Brazilian boxers and I searched for additional information and loved what I’d read and loved what I saw. His style just clicked with me and the type of person he is represents what I generally like in a boxer.

 

I am not sure if anyone can ever replace my favorites growing up... but in watching a fighter and appreciating his style and skill JMM is among my favorites and of the last 15 years he and Loma are my 2 favorites to watch...although there are many.

 

I love Lomachenko too. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him live on six occasions and to be honest in my 15 years of going to live fights he might be the most impressive. I am a huge Crawford fan currently as probably my current favorite but Lomachenko gives me more of that “wow” factor live.

 

Roberto Duran, first time I saw him on TV I was stunned by his ferocity , but he did it under control.

 

Floyd Patterson!
Reasons?
1) Dad had me interested in all sports, starting a scrapbook for me from clippings from 59-60 when I was 6-7 years old; baseball, basketball, football, golf (Arnie), Boxing,etc.
2) He used to tuck me into bed at that time, telling me how much of a great fighter and champion Floyd was along with his being a true gentleman in so brutal a sport.
3) My dad and uncle Ray went to see the 1st Liston-Patterson fight closed circuit in downtown Indy and after returning home, against my Mom's wishes, woke me up and told me my hero had been stopped in the first round. I cried myself to sleep that night!
4) You can count on one hand the number of fighters that had such a kind, calm, demeanor with no trash talk; he was only there to ply his trade.
5) Has ANY fighter (Champion) ever had a better 'second career' after being so brutally stopped twice in title fights?
6) He came back and beat Machen and Chuvalo putting him right back to the top of contenders!
7) I was praying he could beat Ali in Vegas in 65; he couldn't beat Ali but his back issues didn't help as well.
8) From that point on he, could, have could have run the table on ALL the rest of his opponents until his swan song against Ali in Sept. 72 (Devil Green's dirty tactics in Sept. 70 led to Ali's nasty eye injury stoppage) IMO Floyd would have lost a not so wide decision (at almost 38!).
How any fight fan can criticize Floyd's career is beyond me.
Fastest HW hands of all time.
Helped his opponents up after decking (or KOing) them several times.
And finally...wasn't my hero SO exciting wondering what would happen in all his fights?
My tribute! Sorry for rambling. He'll be my hero until I expire!

 

Good stuff! Slightly before my time but Floyd exudes class! I may have missed him live, but watching him till this day is still fun for me. Cool story and thanks for sharing

 

Good bump...

I don’t know that I have “a” singular, favourite fighter, but when pushed to choose I opt for Joe Louis more often than not.

Technically perfect, lightning fast, compelling punch power = just beautiful to watch.

I guess Louis is one of those well know. nominations that immediately speaks for itself, with little or no qualifications required - any serious boxing fan knows exactly what Joe did in the ring.

 

Even though this name is Pernell,, I love Pernell but my favorite fighter is Thomas Hearns. The way he could fight many styles and all his fights were something special win or lose. And he always came back and fought legends. No matter what it was always great when Tommy fought.

 

Guts & class - as rare a combination as you will ever find in the sport of Boxing. & nobody exhibited more than my man Joe Frazier.

 

I don't have a favorite fighter, but I like how Holyfield fought "everyone".
Derek "War" Chisora is doing that with much less success these days.
You can imagine the philosophy of a fighter I like.

 

Ken Buchanan for me. I consider King Ken the greatest ever Scottish fighter and the P4P best British fighter of the post-War era. He was born and raised in Edinburgh, juts like myself, and grew up in the part of Edinburgh my dad was born in, he was a Hibs supporter and a marvellous technician in the ring. I have him just on the tail-end of my LW top 10 and would probably struggle to justify his placement there but that is how highly I regard him. His jab was beautiful and he had one of the most educated lead hands in the history of the LW division, he had a lot of different dimensions as a fighter, a text-book boxer, a capable inside fighter, an elusive defensive master, and even a decent combination puncher. He was a quiet, reserved, and sometimes resentful man and there are probably a couple boxers I enjoy watching more, but none who resonate as deeply with me. Just the very idea that someone like me, from my town, could reach such heights and be so well-skilled and well-regarded fills me admiration and hope.