My favourite boxer was Julio César Chávez. The way he stalked his opponents around the ring reminded me of a shark and his punches were sickeningly hard. I also really like Naseem Hamed, Roy Jones Jr, and Floyd Mayweather for their technical abilities and flair.
For me the art of boxing has always been in not getting hit. Anyone blessed with the ability to use their arms can punch, but to not get hit is what for me makes boxing an art. So my favourite artists, if you will: Pernell Whitaker Willy Pep Nicolino "The Untouchable" Locche Floyd Mayweather Jr Honourable Mentions: Chris Byrd: A 6ft tall, pumped up middleweight who consistently held his own and beat some excellent heavyweights too. Early Mike Tyson: Very underrated defense. Very hard to hit cleanly back in the day.
You're right about not getting hit, but 'awkward' boxers with good defence aren't always the most entertaining to watch. Chris Ewbank must have been one of the most frustrating boxers to fight, because he gave his opponents NOTHING. Can't say that I ever really enjoyed watching his fights, but you had to admire how effective he was. When I think of favourites, the first name to spring to mind is that of the great Joe Frazier. But I'm not old enough to really remember his fights that well from the time, so I'm going to ignore all the great names of the past and just concentrate on those boxers who I really remember watching at the time. Barry McGuigan - non-stop action and limitless courage. Not the most 'beautiful' style from a purists point of view but for guts and determination he was unbeatable. Always a real buzz when he fought. Herol Graham - boxing as an art form. In any sport, when someone does something so outrageously skillful that you laugh out loud with admiration, then you know you've seen something special. Nigel Benn - shortly before boxing disappeared from proper public view, there was a golden era of British middleweights. It's arguable whether Benn was the best, but he was the most exciting. Before it ended so tragically, his fight against Gerald McClennan was probably the most gripping match I've ever seen. Also an 'honourable mention' to Carlos Palomino - a classy Mexican who handed out the mother of all boxing lessons to John H. Stracy. Only saw him fight that one time, but would have loved to have seen him again. He was absolutely top class.
There is a theme of favourite matches running through this thread too. I think mine might be Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor. Or any of the Mickey Ward and Arturo Gatti trilogy. Yours?
The three ones that i'd say are closest to me are chacon-limon 4, saad muhammed-lopez 1 and holyfield-qawi 1.
I had a lot of my favourite fights on VHS and chucked them out a couple of years ago. What a wrench that was. Chavez V Taylor was in there- what an end to the fight! My favourite fight had its moments but wasn't actually a 'great' fight- Benn V Eubank the rematch. I can remember the buzz of the occasion as a kid watching on TV with my Mum, Dad, and brother. Both household names, champions at the time, genuine dislike for each other, contrasting characters and all happening just a couple of miles up the road from me under the lights at Old Trafford. Great days..... Naz was great to watch, I appreciated him as a boxer but watched in hope that he'd get floored. He did on a few occasions but credit to him he usually took the other guys out, phenomenal power from the strangest angles
My son was -3 months enjoying the occasion. Seats were crap though & we needed to get home to actually watch the fight
Benn had some great fights. People forget he could actually box. When Eubank couldn't see against Thompson was a fantastic fight too.
Joe calzaghe ftw! I loved his fights but calzaghe vs Lacey was my favourite. Quitting at 46-0 with 32 by KO ! I also loved how he used to run around newbridge with his staffie for his road work. Modest as you like and hard as nails
I've said this before, I know. But I think Calzaghe was way over-rated. He had some real stinkers. I also think he lost to Robin Reid. I made the Hopkins fight a draw. He repeatedly pulled out of fights, and refused to fight Glen Johnson. 3 times he pulled out of that one. 3 times! He slapped a lot as well, not hitting with the padded part of the glove. Getting caught with the white stuff up your hooter isn't exactly classy in my book either. I'll give you Lacey was a good performance, although I actually bet on him to win that, although for some reason people thought Lacey was going to be a great, which he wasn't. And the Kessler win, although against an injured fighter now looks impressive. For me, he was very fit and game. But not great. I couldn't imagine him fighting a prime Jones, or Toney. I think he came along at exactly the right time. He was undefeated, on paper at least, but so was Sven Ottke, in the same weight, at the same time. Calzaghe didn't fight him either. I don't hear anyone saying how great Ottke was. I think he was about 34, maybe 35 and 0. Calzaghe hardly fought a "who's who" of boxing did he?
