Classy Fighters

[balintawak]

Styles makes fights in boxing, and here are some of the fighters which had some interesting styles. In no particular order, I think these guys were cool in and out of the ring.

Sugar Ray Leonard
- great quickness, power, skill and defence
- throws brilliant combinations
- always respects his opponents and his fans
- never heard anything negative about him in and outside of the ring

Alexis Arguello
- classic upright stance, super accurate, and powerful
- never saw him hold or clinch
- knocks you out with one punch, and decent chin

Marvin Hagler
- gentleman brawler
- great power, chin, and inside game
- fought all the greats - Hearns, Duran, Leonard

Muhammad Ali (of course)
- I think he invented the slick Afro-American style
- combined power, quickness, and technique
- controversy was part of his era (Vietnam, social revolution, racism, etc..)

Manny Pacquiao (of course)
- relentless attacker
- quick, powerful, and elusive
- focuses purely on the boxing, leaves the other stuff to his handlers
- does not trash talk, and even attempts to befriend his opponents
- tries to help his countrymen
- PED controversy: innocent until proven guilty

Miguel Cotto
- always fights the best
- never disrespectful, never complains
- one of the best body punchers
- has good boxing skills, but nobody seems to notice

Humberto Soto
- decent all-around skills
- impressive warrior spirit even in his loss to Guzman
- keeps himself grounded by driving a bus - cool

Matthew Hatton (gutsy performance agains Alvarez)
- was clearly outgunned, but used good defence and fought valiantly
- maximizes his boxing ability
- never lost his fighting spirit
- nothing bad to say, still thinks he could win (ignorance is bliss)

Juan Manuel Marquez
- still one of the best counter-punchers I have ever seen
- amazing ability to recover from a knockdown
- his annoying pursuit of Manny only shows his fighting spirit
- the best style to counter a pure attacker - like MP
- just don't go over 140 lbs

Marco Antonio Barrerra
- great all around skills, no weaknesses
- knock-down against JMM was ruled a slip, so he should have won
- head-butt against Khan was ruled a punch, so he should not have lost
- I think he will be back

Erik Morales
- always comes to fight
- his retirement was just due to a lost in desire
- great ability to setup and fire strong accurate combinations
- his fight against Maidana maybe a surprise for many

Bernard Hopkins
- a thinking man's fighter
- first saw him 14 years ago, and knew the guy will last a while
- has speed, power, technique and a bag of tricks

Roy Jones Jr.
- was the best ever seen in his prime
- unorthodox style, but uncanny power, accuracy and speed
- glad he retired - else he wouldn't be as good in his color commentary

Oscar DeLa Hoya (of course)
- skills, speed, power and throws good combinations
- straight up classic style, with good forward movement
- controversies mainly after his boxing career ended
- helped bring boxing back to the mainstream in the 90s

[Walt Liquor]

2 comments.

1) Matthew Hatton??????? If you're gonna put him, the list should expand cuz there's hundreds of dudes in boxing like that guy.

2) Ali was classy? That's pretty debatable, he said a lot of hatefull and classless stuff back in the day. Great great boxer, but not sure if classy is the right way to describe him.

[ThatHaitiankid]

no emmanuel agustus?

[balintawak]

2 comments.

1) Matthew Hatton??????? If you're gonna put him, the list should expand cuz there's hundreds of dudes in boxing like that guy.

2) Ali was classy? That's pretty debatable, he said a lot of hatefull and classless stuff back in the day. Great great boxer, but not sure if classy is the right way to describe him.

I think many people gave respect to Mathew after providing a good showing against Alvarez. He didn't just lie down in that fight, he deflected many of the shots well, and punched back and connected. Its also his commentary after the fight that impressed me as well. He showed respect, but did not looked defeated.

With regards to Ali, he often poked fun at his opponents but never in a hateful way like Mayweather does. He also changed his religion from Christianity to Islam, and went to jail because he didn't want to fight in Vietnam. He was famously quoted for summing up the war in these words: "Here lies the yellow man, killed by a black man, fighting for the white man."

I think Ali goes beyond class because he fought not just in the ring, but also in defiance against the consevative 'white' establishment of the time. Maybe he has outboxed the establishment because we honor him today.

[balintawak]

no emmanuel agustus?

I don't know him, can you describe what he was like?

[Frighteous]

emmanuel is a good choice because of his uniqueness. he brought a uniqueness to a fight where he clowned around alot, did drunken boxing sometimes even landing shots while messing around, which began to establish kind of a cult fan base.

he's most famous for a two fisted punch, where both fists landed on a guy and knocked him down around 2005.


Classiest fighters, well take a look at history...a few guys went on to become actors on the big screen after boxing or did other stuff similar to acting. Pep did this. One immediate other acting name that comes to mind is Cobb, but he's not really 'classy' per se.

What George Foreman did with the youth center was the classiest thing I've ever seen a fighter do. Then came back as an old man to help pay for it, then again he might have just used that as a thing to make the public fall for him harder. Big man tryin to fight for his community.

[Walt Liquor]

I think many people gave respect to Mathew after providing a good showing against Alvarez. He didn't just lie down in that fight, he deflected many of the shots well, and punched back and connected. Its also his commentary after the fight that impressed me as well. He showed respect, but did not looked defeated.

With regards to Ali, he often poked fun at his opponents but never in a hateful way like Mayweather does. He also changed his religion from Christianity to Islam, and went to jail because he didn't want to fight in Vietnam. He was famously quoted for summing up the war in these words: "Here lies the yellow man, killed by a black man, fighting for the white man."

I think Ali goes beyond class because he fought not just in the ring, but also in defiance against the consevative 'white' establishment of the time. Maybe he has outboxed the establishment because we honor him today.

you should talk to joe frazier.

again, a thousand boxers do what matthew hatton does.

micky ward would be a great addition to your list.

[Larry the boss]

Styles makes fights in boxing, and here are some of the fighters which had some interesting styles. In no particular order, I think these guys were cool in and out of the ring.

Sugar Ray Leonard
- great quickness, power, skill and defence
- throws brilliant combinations
- always respects his opponents and his fans
- never heard anything negative about him in and outside of the ring

Alexis Arguello
- classic upright stance, super accurate, and powerful
- never saw him hold or clinch
- knocks you out with one punch, and decent chin

Marvin Hagler
- gentleman brawler
- great power, chin, and inside game
- fought all the greats - Hearns, Duran, Leonard

Muhammad Ali (of course)
- I think he invented the slick Afro-American style
- combined power, quickness, and technique
- controversy was part of his era (Vietnam, social revolution, racism, etc..)

Manny Pacquiao (of course)
- relentless attacker
- quick, powerful, and elusive
- focuses purely on the boxing, leaves the other stuff to his handlers
- does not trash talk, and even attempts to befriend his opponents
- tries to help his countrymen
- PED controversy: innocent until proven guilty

Miguel Cotto
- always fights the best
- never disrespectful, never complains
- one of the best body punchers
- has good boxing skills, but nobody seems to notice

Humberto Soto
- decent all-around skills
- impressive warrior spirit even in his loss to Guzman
- keeps himself grounded by driving a bus - cool

Matthew Hatton (gutsy performance agains Alvarez)
- was clearly outgunned, but used good defence and fought valiantly
- maximizes his boxing ability
- never lost his fighting spirit
- nothing bad to say, still thinks he could win (ignorance is bliss)

Juan Manuel Marquez
- still one of the best counter-punchers I have ever seen
- amazing ability to recover from a knockdown
- his annoying pursuit of Manny only shows his fighting spirit
- the best style to counter a pure attacker - like MP
- just don't go over 140 lbs

Marco Antonio Barrerra
- great all around skills, no weaknesses
- knock-down against JMM was ruled a slip, so he should have won
- head-butt against Khan was ruled a punch, so he should not have lost
- I think he will be back

Erik Morales
- always comes to fight
- his retirement was just due to a lost in desire
- great ability to setup and fire strong accurate combinations
- his fight against Maidana maybe a surprise for many

Bernard Hopkins
- a thinking man's fighter
- first saw him 14 years ago, and knew the guy will last a while
- has speed, power, technique and a bag of tricks

Roy Jones Jr.
- was the best ever seen in his prime
- unorthodox style, but uncanny power, accuracy and speed
- glad he retired - else he wouldn't be as good in his color commentary

Oscar DeLa Hoya (of course)
- skills, speed, power and throws good combinations
- straight up classic style, with good forward movement
- controversies mainly after his boxing career ended
- helped bring boxing back to the mainstream in the 90s

they say leonard was on coke and abused his wife..is it true>??dont know wasnt there

and roy jones isnt retired heard he has a fight coming up

[Frighteous]

hopkins should be added to the list of classy people. he may thrown down pr flags and call me a honky, but damnit he doesn't beat his wife or get caught poppin' off shots in the Skate Heaven parking lot like floyds 'classy' self, either

[Walt Liquor]

morales isn't know to be the nicest guy wither, but who cares. he's a certified beast in the ring.

i wouldn't say classy though.