Classy Fighters

[1000Islander]

Had a chance to spend some time with Emanuel Augustus after his last fight. Couldn't have asked for nicer guy. He was very, very humble.

I think Glen Johnson has to be thrown into the mix for his class both inside out outside the ring.

[puga]

hopkins not an exciting fighter??his pascal fight wasnt exciting??tarver fight not exciting??pavlik fight not exciting??and those were his over 40 fights..tito fight not exciting??

not to me...every boring fighter has atleast one exciting one larry, does'nt mean they are excitng fighter, its actaully one of bhop's flaws why he was never a big draw.....the pascal fight was not excting to me, neither the tarver fight ..

[Las Vegas,]

Ali was a certified racist, don't take my word for it, ask Joe Frazier. He went from being a ****y, arrogant, racist, to getting humbled when he realized he was about to quit and get embarrassed.

Barrera punched Morales at a press conference, and wanted to "kill" Naz. Lol.

Matthew Hatton should be replaced with Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley and Glen Johnson.

Martinez is also a classy guy.


Other than that I agree with the rest of your list.

[Larry the boss]

Ali was a certified racist, don't take my word for it, ask Joe Frazier. He went from being a ****y, arrogant, racist, to getting humbled when he realized he was about to quit and get embarrassed.

Barrera punched Morales at a press conference, and wanted to "kill" Naz. Lol.

Matthew Hatton should be replaced with Felix Trinidad and Glen Johnson.

Other than that I agree with the rest of your list.

strange..angelo dundee was white

[Las Vegas,]

strange..angelo dundee was white

There's always an exception. Yet, doesn't change the fact about all the stuff he said to AND I QUOTE "White Collar" Joe Frazier.

[littlemac]

Is it classy for a fighter to take away credit from another fighter by making up excuse like because of socks, gloves after losing......I think any fighter can be classy when things are going well, but when they lose I think its fair to say thats when the true colors come out.

[1000Islander]

strange..angelo dundee was white

This one is a tough one. When Ali became friends with Malcolm X, Malcolm X was a separatist, and black supremacist, but, Malcolm X was starting to move towards shifting his beliefs towards integration and against racism.

I am willing to give Ali the benefit of the doubt, that he sincerely thought he was doing the right thing, in an issue with a pretty hazy grey area.

[SPREAD]

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

Sugar Ray Leonard Beat his first wife up and was a coke head

[IronDanHamza]

When you say classy, one name springs to mind;

Alexis Arguello.

The epitome of classy.

[goblin213]

Arguello is the only classy fighter in that list of yours in/out of the ring. In fact I think Arguello is the only classy fighter in/out the ring.