I use to love watching Smoking Joe Frazier, I like boxers who dictate the fight, always moving forward, they'll take two or three hits to land the knock out punch. Who are some of your faves?

George Foreman.

I miss Arturo Gatti. Guy was all heart.

The younger guys who only know Foreman as a big, smiling, chubby faced BBQ salesman need to watch some of his fights. The Foreman of today is NOT the Foreman of the ring.

Yeah, Foreman vs Ali is one of the best fights of all time. He wasn't so tubby in that epic

Smokin Joe ALWAYS brought it.

George chavalo

Sugar Ray Robinson

Juan Manuel Marquez

The "pre-Ali" George Foreman was an absolute beast. So was Mike Tyson before he lost the battle to his craziness.

I'll second your choice. I recall reading he soaked his face in salt water to toughen the skin before a fight. Kind of aided in the wear them out beating on your head strategy.

Bad dude!

But the baddest was Roberto Duran.

Marvin Haggler

Marvelous Marvin and Smokin' Joe.

Rocky!

Joe Frazier, The guy was a freaking freight train.

Long time ago I worked with a guy that was an amateur boxer, I would be talking to him a Friday and he would tell me all about the fight he had on Saturday, come Monday he would look like he got hit by a truck!

I'd ask him if he lost most times he'd said he11 no, I'd look a lot worse than I do if I'd lost.

I never understood the willingness to get your face pulverized on a monthly basis.

It was not easy watching Smokin Joe get hammered by Foreman.

Favorite - Emile Griffith

Toughest - Carmen Basilio, could dish it out and take a punch. He looked like a fighter.

Basilio did stop a lot of right hands. Tough man! Fought in a tough era too.

Me too.

Saw him get shafted more than once against sugar ray.

I just knew you Minnesota dudes were gonna say Scott LaDeaux.

LMAO!

Alexis Arguello

Haggler was a freaking wrecking ball!

I loved to watch Roy Jones Jr. fight.

Tyson in his prime. Bent at the waist, moving side to side, all the while moving forward and throwing those compact, devastating hooks and overhands...That was a sight to behold. That crazy fugger never heard of a jab. He'd get inside and destroy whoever was standing in front of him

Aaron Pryor should have been booted out of boxing like his corner man was after they beat Alexis....

Haha, anyone remember Butterbean?

King of the 4 rounders!

tex cobb. he had a sledgehammer punch and could take a serious beating and have a sense of humor about it. he acted too and still has his senses and money. head like a cement block. reminds me of a big old farmboy i fought in my teens. i kept hitting him and all it did was sprain my wrist. i ended up running away and he couldn't catch me. we became good friends later. anywooo...

Julio Cesar Chavez,..without a doubt.

He was all business,..not flashy at all.

In his prime he was a machine.

Nobody wanted to fight Chavez.

His fight against Meldrick Taylor was something to watch.

Taylor was extremely fast, hard hitting,k and Chavez lost the first 9, maybe 10 rounds of the fight, taking at least 2 shots for every one he delivered. But by round 11, Taylor's eyes were closing and he was exhausted.

The fight had reached the point that Chavez had been waiting for.

Chavez KO'ed Taylor in the 12th and final round.

It's worth watching if you've never seen it,...even if you have.

Thomas "hit man" Herns

His two fights against Sugar ray were classics.

Hahaha...exactly!

I watched a lot of boxing in the late 70s through the early 90s. All of those mentioned were great fighters. I haven't watched a boxing match in 20 years though. The only current fighter I could name is Mayweather, and I have never seen him fight, only see his name mentioned in headlines. The Hagler/Hearns/Leonard era was great as well as early-mid Tyson.

Two Ton Tony Galento - Mohammed Ali.

Terry

Anyone remember The "Camden Buzzsaw" Braxton? Didn't last long but damn he was a mauler.

Dad told me a few Two Ton stories, he knew the guy.

Did you mean 3 rounds?

lol!

Willie Pep was another one my father would tell me stories about. I spent a bunch of time as a youth listening to various boxing stories and about fights from my father.

Watched a bunch of fights when I was a kid. I always rooted for the underdog. I despised Larry Holmes. I really wanted Tex Cobb to lay him out...

Not a Sugar Ray fan either. Haggler was a favorite of mine.

Yup.

Duran, Holmes, Spinx, Camacho... Witherspoon... Buster Douglas, Holyfield...



Leonard was a micro Ali, cocky, you just loved to hate the guy. I remember watching those matches on early HBO. I loved the Hagler Leonard matches.

Simply awesome.

I think it's 4 cheezeburga's. :>)

The best thing about getting cable TV was The Thursday Night Fights.

Willie Pep retired with a 229-11-1 record. Impressive.

I'm not sure if I have a favorite, never watched much of it. Whenever I did watch, it was Tyson. Awesome in the early years. Plus he was from a little downstate, so he was like a home town favorite .

Pretty sure it was 4 rounds....he was entertaining.

Roberto-Duran

Absolutely! Chavez was a stud.

The guy that mows my grass loves him.

I know, I'm just funning, big boy run outa steam.

Never liked him much. He just bled alot.

You're misremembering...I can't remember Duran bleeding at all.

Hagler, Boom Boom Mancini

Well, you're correct. Most of his fights ended well before the bell cause he knocked em out.

Butterbean had some stupid fast hands for a big ol' fat boy!

My favorite was Ray Boom Boom Mancini, who grew up on the mean streets of Youngstown, Ohio, a dirty old Rust Belt town built on steel in Northeast Ohio. Gotta route for the hometown boy. Ray was never the same after he killed Du Koo Kim in the ring.

One of the greats, Rocky Marciano. Another great was Sugar Ray Robinson.

As an aside, when I was in the Army many, many years ago, I was stationed at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, for awhile. My platoon sgt. was career Army, and had been on the Fourth Army boxing team. He'd also been wounded in combat, Korea.

Also, when he was a civilian, he was a Golden Gloves boxer. For one summer, he had been a sparring partner of Rocky Marciano's.

Once, he was in the barracks before "Taps," and boxing came up as there was a base match in which he was going to box coming up. We asked him, "Sargeant, what was it like when Marciano unloaded on you, full bore?"

He thought for a few seconds and said, "It was just like being hit with a .45."

No matter what, in the ring Marciano just kept on a'comin'.

L.W.

Roberto "hands of stone" Duran. I don't remember him bleeding much either. The "no mas" fight was his low point

Yeah, that took a lot of polish off of my respect for him. Sugar Ray was making a fool of him with his hand speed. I've never seen a fighter just quit like that. Most of the time if the doc or ref stops a fight they are angry, even if they are getting beaten to a pulp.

Boxing just isn't what it used to be. MMA has taken over. I've also heard that boxing is so corrupt now (like it never was before?) that fighters just want no part of it.

Yes, MMA is far more popular, and interesting in my opinion. But did you see the purse that Mayweather hauled in this week? As I said, I haven't bothered to watch a boxing match in 20 years. Tyson was probably the last fighter I watched.

Manny Pacquiao takes a beating and is relentless in the ring. Always fun to watch him fight.

Evander Holyfield was also fun to watch. He didn't have much knockout power but put on a good show.

One fighter many seem to overlook is Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whittaker. He was the best fighter in the early 90's holding world titles in 4 weight classes.

Great or not so great, my hat is off to prize fighters anywhere. Amateur boxing is fun as a kid/teen, get knocked around some and maybe get a bloody nose but you don't really get hurt (much!).

But on a professional level, all of those guys are some tough mofo's and need to have a lot of heart to get out there and go through the punishment they take.

1. Marvin Hagler
2. Roberto Duran

Ray Boom Boom Mancini, all the heart in the world!

Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

i lived right down the road from holyfield when he was in his prime. he had quite a mansion at the time but i believe he went broke and had to sell it off a couple years ago. walked next to him through the atlanta airport and spoke to him about a recent fight. he was polite and made fun of his black eye and swollen face. he was an imposing figure.

Holyfield has to be one of the top ten dumbest people of all time.

As much as he is an ass wart, Floyd Mayweather may be one of the best technical fighters ever.

I kinda hope he dies of syphilis.

You all have recalled a lot of excellent fighters here. In their prime, I too best liked Frazier, Hagler, and Tyson - for a while - but still think the most skilled and tough I ever watched were Sugar Ray Robinson and Willie Pep.

Carmen Basilio. Now there was a bleeder.

Jerry Quarry could leak, big time

Duran and Frazier. I also liked Danny "little red" Lopez. Danny won most of his fights after being knocked down.

Salvador Sanchaz

Danny Little Red Lopez? You're kidding!! I was in Calif during his rise and he was a great fighter.

Another that could have been great was Tony the baby bull ayala.

Earnie Shavers

Not a favorite really, but met Archie Moore when I was about 11 years old. He'd spent time as a "yute" in the Calif penal system and my Dad called me and said there was someone I might like to meet up at the main gate at Preston. Quite a thrill for a kid, talked quite a while, got his autograph, etc. Very soft-spoken guy and a really nice person.

Very big hitter - heavy hands.

Marvin Haggler

Like to have seen him and Foreman go at it or Frazier.

Ask Holmes about Shavers power....

Shavers vs Frazier

Well, Frazier didn't fare well against Foreman. Shavers may have been a harder hitter.

Tyson vs Frazier could have been interesting

I would have loved to see Tyson in his prime when his head was right against any of the great heavyweights. I think he'd have been at least a handful for any one of them.

Ali

Jack Johnson and Sonny Liston would have been tough test for Tyson to pass.

Jim in Idaho,
Duran didn't quit because he was getting beat. He quit because he was weak and had a terrific stomach ache caused by eating a huge steak dinner just before the fight. Duran's manager screwed up by agreeing to a rematch with Leonard too soon after their first fight. Duran had to starve himself to make the weight before the fight. Duran is my favorite fighter and also the favorite fighter of a friend of mine who fought 42 professional fights as a welterweight (including 3 times for the title).

Archie Moore was one of the greatest. Still holds the career record for knockouts and one of only two men to put Marciano on the mat, although Rocky KO'd him later. I watched the fight against Yvon Durell, after being knocked down about 5 times he KO'd Durell in the tenth. My dad was a small time pro in the 20's and a lifelong enthusiast. He said you peel away all the bull and Ali was a terrific fighter- maybe the best.

James J Braddock.

For sure, big loud mouth but a lot of GOOD heavyweights had trouble shutting it. I do enjoy watching old Ali fights... I have the Ali-Frazier trilogy on DVD I've been thinking about breaking out.

Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Smoking Joe Frazier, Evander Holyfield, Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

Respects,
Richard

...early in his career Mike Tyson was a great 'fighter'...but
Muhamaad Ali..(Casius Clay) was the greatest 'boxer' of 'em all.

My memory isn't so great as of late, but it seemed like back in the 70's, the heavyweight division was filled with some bad ass fighters and a lot of them have been mentioned on this thread. But, one name I didn't see was Ron Lyle. He was ranked for awhile, and fought some good fights. But, as I remember, he did a lot of prison time. Does anyone remember? I think he may have gone to prison for shooting someone? Getting knocked out, or at least on his ass, didn't mean much to him.

+1

It really took this long for someone to say ALI ?? In his prime; he would have turned Tyson's face into hamburger.

Big plus one

Of course I am telling my age, but I have never seen a bull of a fighter like Rocky Marciano. Not a great "boxer" but damned near unstoppable. Well, since he was undefeated, I guess he was unstoppable.

Mickey Ward...