Do a fighter's character flaws affect his in-ring greatness?

[ShoulderRoll]

I know certain people who forever view Emile Griffith's talent as tainted because of his sexuality.

Oscar de la Hoya being a cross dresser causes his historical standing to be lowered in the eyes of some.

How do you see it? Is a boxer's character inseparable from his quality as a fighting man?

Or are these two completely different things that exist independently and have no influence on each other at all?

[JK1700]

Of course it depends on who's judging them and how judgmental that person is. Me? It's totally different. Very few of us know any of these people personally so we're in no real position to judge who they are on a personal level. A lot of times people are the opposite of what they seem (Who would've thought that Oscar De La Hoya had drug and alcohol problems or that Manny Pacquiao and Sugar Ray Leonard were serial cheaters when it came to their wives?). So I try to stay away from all that. There's in the ring and out the ring. We see this argument a lot with Mayweather for example - "I don't want to give him credit because he's a woman beater". Okay, can't really condone that if it's true but then you wouldn't be able to give Sugar Ray Robinson any credit either. So it's just petty and illogical to judge a fighters greatness based off that. Great people in general are badly flawed in some ways and to be a genius you have to be at least borderline crazy in order to do these unique things. Nobody is perfect, that goes for all of us too, nobody.

I remember seeing a video on it a while back. The guy basically broke down so many fighters who've done bad things and basically said if we judged all of them we would hardly like any of them, which is true. So let's not go crazy about it.

[Tom Cruise]

No. Boxing is a sport, and as a sport only what happens in the ring counts towards how you rate a fighter.

Obviously it can affect if you are a fan of the fighter, if you want to pay to watch them fight etc.

[JK1700]

I remember reading SRL's book a few years ago and it really showed how flawed even the greatest of people can be. Here was a guy who was one of the greatest boxers of all time, made millions, and had some amazing moments. However he still had a lot of demons in his life (even when he was at the top) that he just couldn't shake. He felt terrible about it and he knew what he was doing was wrong, but he just couldn't stop. Do I view him any less great of a fighter because he cheated or did drugs? Of course not. Not at all. Skill wise he will always be one of the GOATS and he gave us as boxing fans, moments we will never forget.

[GGG Gloveking]

If its "my guy" then it doesn't matter, but if it's "the other guy" then of course it does

[GhostofDempsey]

They are two different things for me. I rank Sonny Liston was one of the top 5 ATG heavyweights despite his association with mobsters and his brushes with the law. Unfortunately, the public wasn't ready to embrace a champion during the 1960s who was an ex-convict and had an undeserved and unfair reputation as a bully.

Take Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta, guys who used to beat the shyt out of their wife on a regular basis. That was glossed over by the media and their PR folks were able to keep that out of the news and away from headlines. But, fans today and the media, still regard them as ATGs regardless.

[NChristo]

How they act outside of the ring should not affect how they're viewed inside of the ring, these men are not role models for children, they fight for a living and it is obviously a sport which is going to attract people from bad beginnings.

Escopeta was a ****ing horrific human, that does not stop me admiring what he did in the ring.

[Eff Pandas]

I think its bound to have some impact on many as its not like fans or pundits are perfect in their ability to judge without bias based upon character traits.

I'd also say that some fighters character traits have had direct impact on their ring performance & the easy example to make there would be Tyson being DQ'd for biting Holyfield's ear so of course it can in those types of cases.

[joseph5620]

Nope. It has nothing to do with their boxing accomplishments.

[joseph5620]

I think its bound to have some impact on many as its not like fans or pundits are perfect in their ability to judge without bias based upon character traits.

I'd also say that some fighters character traits have had direct impact on their ring performance & the easy example to make there would be Tyson being DQ'd for biting Holyfield's ear so of course it can in those types of cases.

Unfortunately for Tyson his character flaw was in the ring lol. If he had done that to a guy on the street it would not be relevant to his boxing career.