Let’s get a thread of honor going for the toughest, roughest men ever to lace ‘em up.
I’ll start us off.
I’d like to go with one of my all-time favorites, Marvelous Marvin Hagler. A true fighting man, built like Hercules and afraid of nobody.
Another one is Roberto Durán - Hands of Stone, and a cruelty and warrior mentality to match.
Also, a shout-out to several boxers who were by no means ATG’s, but their chins were. I’m talking about Oliver McCall, David Tua, and George Chuvalo.
And a lesser-known one, Tiger Jack Fox, who fought in a bout only several days after being stabbed in the chest.
And then my favorite tough guy from the current generation, the underrated Nonito Donaire. He may not always win, but he will make any boxer’s night painful; I love how he made the p4p warrior Inoue walk through the fire and take some serious damage in order to win. Instant-Classic fight right there.
Now those are some real tough men.
Now, please add to my list with your own nominations.
George Chuvalo - 93 pro fights including Foreman, Frazier, and Ali (twice) and was never knocked down.
George Foreman - lots of guys could hit him. Almost nobody could hurt him.
Evander "Bombproof" Holyfield - unreal ability to recover from a punch.
Ali, of course - and he obviously paid long-term for what he could absorb in the short term. But punches he took from Shavers, Frazier, and Foreman were enough to kill most people twice.
James Toney - a middleweight that went up to fight heavyweights. Only knockdown in his whole career was a balance shot against Roy Jones.
Honorable mentions to Larry Holmes, Jose Luis Castillo, Vitali Klitschko, Emmanuel Augustus, and Tex Cobb. All incredibly hard to crack.
I’ve never looked down on him for what happened. Mental issues are no joke.
For the record he took Lewis’ shots very well considering he wasn’t even defending.
He was eating punches from Lewis while sobbing and looking off into space..... I'm like imagine if he was mentally there
Oliver while mentally unraveling was eating punches from Lewis with his hands down while crying.
U can't say he wasn't tough just cuz he had mental issues
I’ve never looked down on him for what happened. Mental issues are no joke.
For the record he took Lewis’ shots very well considering he wasn’t even defending.
Carmen Basilio. Iron chined welterweight - middleweight monster.
Basilio - Sugar Ray Robinson both fights is something the best in boxing I have ever seen.
The name that always comes to my mind for threads like these is Ruslan Provodnikov. Not a particularly good boxer but by god, he can't have been made of the same stuff normal people are made of.
Thinking the same.
Provodnikov one hard as nails fighter
Amir Khan is tough in the sense that he knows his chin won’t hold up if he gets hit cleanly, and yet he still goes for it. That takes some kind of resolve to do. I applaud him for that.
Amir Khan is tougher than anybody on this forum not a boxer.
Amir Khan is tough in other ways, he is a fighter who knows? He does not have the best durability, but he still goes to war in a big way etc
Khan is not a soft fighter, he is very tough.
Amir Khan is tough in the sense that he knows his chin won’t hold up if he gets hit cleanly, and yet he still goes for it. That takes some kind of resolve to do. I applaud him for that.
No.1 toughest: Hagler. Easy.
Mentions: Ricky Burns has never been stopped in 52 fights and been floored only once, I think. Not too shabby either. #TheRickster
One that sticks in my mind was Wayne McCulloch, he boxed a full fight with his ear swollen to double the size.. I remember wincing every time he took a shot.
Amir Khan & David Price. Two British warriors with granite chins.
Didn't know that about Tiger Jack Fox, that's insane.
Amir Khan is tough in other ways, he is a fighter who knows? He does not have the best durability, but he still goes to war in a big way etc
Khan is not a soft fighter, he is very tough.