Your favourite fighter of the 80's?

I would say Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran were my favorite to watch in the early part of the decade.

Mike Tyson REALLY brought a lot of excitement in the mid to late eighties - he was just so explosive and just beating the heck out of contenders that were decent and had size advantages. He was just blowing these guys up.

 

Sugar Ray Leonard
Greg Page
Michael Spinks
Marvin Hagler
Ray Mancini
Aaron Pryor
Alexis Arguello
Donald Curry
Milton McCrory
Howard Davis Jr.
Jeff Chandler
Bernard Taylor
Larry Holmes
Davey Moore
Hector Camacho
Tony Tucker
Michael Dokes
Mitchell Green
Jamie Garza
Eusebio Pedroza.
Thomas Hearns.

 

Alexis arguello

 

Those were the days . Badly coverted tapes from NTSC to PAL that had been copied loads of times.But that was the only way .My mate found a collector in one of the British magazines who had a huge collection, thousands of fights, he had. He was a guy from Leeds who sold them for £15 for a 3hr vhs tape .Me and my mate bought loads and I used to copy them for each other . My mate was a huge Hagler fan and couldn't believe the collector had so many of his fights . He used to stand In the pub drunk as a sack just kept telling me``i can't believe it 21 HAGLER fights' on and on and on.I used to get all my favs .Arguello , Sanchez , Zarate ,Pintor, Olivares .Too many to remember but iv'e still got them all and I had a perfectly good video player and meant to convert them to dvd but I was too lazy .Then a couple of weeks ago it broke, I couldn't believe it but I found on ebay good second hand video players , mine arrived today and I got some leads and soft ware for my pc. I just needed that kick up the butt to make me do it.I loved the 80's you couldn't beat it for quality and depth. I could go on all night and iv'e found more on youtube some good quality copies that you just couldn't get back then. Believe it or not a few months ago I saw for the first time a full 12 rds clear copy of NELSON VS GOMEZ ,that was just impossible to find In the 80's. DAVE

 

mr Brixton Bomber my favourite looking back had to be Alexis Arguello. Pure class, ko in both fists. Ijust had to collect every fight I could find even ****py copies on vhs. I had for example a rubbish copy of him against Naverete which was out side with the sun out which made the picture worse. but if it was an Arguello fight I wanted it. Arguello vs Pryor 1 what can I say ,the 2nd best fight of the 80's .Though I loved his fight against Boom Boom Mancini. Eddie Futch in A.A's corner told him to stay calm and mancini will tire and the fight will be yours. round after round mancini fought at 100 miles an hour.When he slowed i remember A. tagged him with a big right in about the 12th mancini's knees buckled and then he stood up straight and turned to walk to his corner.Arguello hit him so hard he thought he heard bells, absolute classic. Also the first Escalera fight away from home in the lions den of Puerto Rico outside in a thunder storm with only the ring covered and the commentery goes off.icould go on all night. DAVE

 

Hearns, Hagler and Leonard.

 

Marvin Hagler
Julio Cesar Chavez
Salvador Sanchez
Alexis Arguello
Mike Tyson
Sugar Ray Leonard
Thomas Hearns
Roberto Duran
Michael Spinks
Larry Holmes


This is my top ten...you can argue about the placement of the fighters south of Hagler, especially between Chavez and Sanchez, and i really don't have the firmest convictions about their relative ratings, to tell you the truth, but Marvelous Marvin belongs at the top IMO.

 

There is only 1. And I was at most of his fights in AC. There was no one more exciting and gave me my moneys worth like FRANK "THE ANIMAL" FLETCHER. I would also really enjoy Mustafa Hamsho fights. His beating Czyz was trememndous and justified what was right in boxing for me. Substance over Hype. Too bad Fletcher vs. Hamsho didn't happen in 81 or 82.:yikes Whenever I see a boring fight like the recent May-Pacman debacle, I put on Fletcher-Singletary, Fletcher-Jackson (either Silky or Clint) or any of the other Animal fights to see real getdowntoit fighting. Hope he ends up alright.

 

At the time, I probably would have said Tyson, but who I want more of now it's Duran.

 

Great list !

 

I have most of Fletcher's biggest fights on VHS. The Clint Jackson fight was an all out war. Jackson was more skilled but Fletcher was more of a natural middleweight so he imposed his strength and made Jackson fight his fight. Still, it was pretty close.

 

in no particular order:

Duran
Hagler
M. Spinks
Marvin Johnson
Boza-Edwards

 

Oh yes! Fletcher fights were always exciting as it said in The Ring mag in 83, he generally was smashed and bashed before coming back to triumph in heroic fashion. Give me the flawed exciting fighters every time over of the defensive genious action killers. BTW, I saw a lot of Saad's fights live too and he was as exciting as they come R. I. P. :hi:

 

A couple others that were TV staples during my heavy interest days........

Harry Arroyo
Rocky Lockridge