When do you feel mind games have worked?

[Cleaver]

George Groves goes into his SMW fight with Carl Froch this Saturday, seemingly intent to use mind games to make his opponent fight with anger. As we all know, if a fighter does so they run the risk of abandoning a game plan, pushing their punches, going for the knockout thus burning up energy.

This isn't so much a question about this weekend's fight, more so when in history do you feel this has played against a fighter. Off the top of my head I think Eubank got Benn to fight angry and that worked against him.

Cheers.

[Sugarj]

Duran seriously wound Leonard up before their first match.

Ali seriously went to town on Foreman in Zaire; witch doctors/succubus, having the African fans shout 'Ali Bom-ba-ya' at him, when to be fair he was darker than Ali.

Steve Collins alluding to being hypnotised before his match with Chris Eubank was genius. Rumour has it that Michael Watson was hypnotised before meeting Chris the second time. Hearing that Collins was doing the same clearly riled him.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Duran getting to SRL in the lead up to the first fight, is the first one i thought of

collins as well,,,

I also think that hopkins has spooked some guys before, cant name just one fight, but im sure he rattled some guys



Most recently was broner vs pauli,, pauli was very unnerved by the whole "side piece" girl,, It almost backfired as pauli came in super motivated to beat broner

Tyson would scare guys before the first bell

joe louis when he said "he can run, but cant hide"

floyd really tore into corrales in the lead up to that fight


Mayorga talking smack to oscar, totally backfired, as oscar came to pound him and ko him

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Duran getting to SRL in the lead up to the first fight, is the first one i thought of

collins as well,,,

I also think that hopkins has spooked some guys before, cant name just one fight, but im sure he rattled some guys



Most recently was broner vs pauli,, pauli was very unnerved by the whole "side piece" girl,, It almost backfired as pauli came in super motivated to beat broner

Tyson would scare guys before the first bell

joe louis when he said "he can run, but cant hide"

floyd really tore into corrales in the lead up to that fight


Mayorga talking smack to oscar, totally backfired, as oscar came to pound him and ko him

[Anthony342]

Vargas did the same to De La Hoya and it backfired on him as well.

Speaking of mind games, Leonard returned the favor to Duran in the rematch as well.

[Bodyshot3]

Personally, I loved the way George Foreman totally reinvented himself when he came back. It was a PR masterclass.

He very cleverly went from being a scary dude who used to frighten the living daylights out of opponents with just a scowl to this carefree, avuncular guy who used to make-up his own gags which were directed at himself and laugh at his age, wobbly waistline, less than rigorous training and burger-diet.

It was masterful stuff; not least because Foreman knew full well he still had the power, technique and desire to compete with a younger generation of fighters. He literally heaped all the pressure on the younger guys he faced and got the media and fans behind him when he won another fight by 'winning fat, winning old.'

George was a wise old campaigner and perhaps one of the very few fighters of any era to disparage himself as part of an overall strategy to win a fight.

[Ray Corso]

............Ali................I am the Greatest!!!.......Then called the round!

[Barn]

SRL vs Hagler

[RubenSonny]

Duran seriously wound Leonard up before their first match.

Ali seriously went to town on Foreman in Zaire; witch doctors/succubus, having the African fans shout 'Ali Bom-ba-ya' at him, when to be fair he was darker than Ali.

Steve Collins alluding to being hypnotised before his match with Chris Eubank was genius. Rumour has it that Michael Watson was hypnotised before meeting Chris the second time. Hearing that Collins was doing the same clearly riled him.

What does that have to do with anything?

[Sugarj]

What does that have to do with anything?

It was a point made by one of the African interviewees in the documentary 'When we were Kings'. The natives of Zaire did notice that Foreman's skin was darker; George Foreman himself pointed this out too; he couldn't figure out why he was so hated and Ali so loved by the Africans. His one mistake was bringing a German Shepherd dog with him! I'm not aware that he said anything to upset the locals either.....

Its not beyond the realms of imagination that the African locals might have favoured who they felt was more obviously African of two American heavyweights. Few would have known terribly much of either fighter due to the lack of supply of sports publications, let alone television in Zaire. But support was more than unanimous for Ali, what he stood for and how he related to the people. It wasn't just that Ali was cheered or favoured......'Ali Bom-ba-ya' literally meant 'Ali kill him'.

Ali's embracing/manipulation of the locals to such a degree was a psych job in itself. Foreman became distrustful, suspected poisoning, witchcraft......and when the fight was delayed he was forbidden from returning to the USA, which he hated.