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Someone once said “What’s in a name?” Exactly who it was that coined the phrase is beyond me, although I probably should know since I quoted them, but hey! I’ll be the first to admit that I am a boxing writer, not a journalist major, and the only person I can quote accurately is Shakespeare. That is only because my wife forced me to watch “Shakespeare In Love” some years back…anyhow, enough of that and on to the topic at hand.
In sports, to become remembered throughout history, one must accomplish something big. In basketball, Michael Jordan became famous for his tremendous skill and scoring ability. In football, Joe Montana became famous for being great in the clutch and being able to win the big game under pressure.
Baseball had home run hitters Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, Hockey had Wayne Gretzky…etc. Each man became legendary for their skills. Boxing is no different of course; the most famous men have been those who have won world titles.
Just winning a world title in boxing just isn’t enough though, especially with so many variations of the belt floating around today. One must be not only a world champion, a feat in and of itself, but they must be a dominant champion to leave an impression. If a champion is not dominant, their name, more often than not, ends up lost in the shuffle of the dozens of other current or former title holders, only to be remembered when the title lineage is examined.
It seems almost unfair, doesn’t it?
Well, boxing has always had one other way for a fighter to be remembered, even a fighter who barely made it past journeyman status. The “Nickname”!
While the nickname is something that athletes in every sport, such as the ones I’ve already mentioned, garner, do you really think the “Air Jordan ” moniker would have been so successful if Michael played third string, scoring an average of five points a game? Would Gretzky really be known as the “Great One” if he only scored a career 500 goals? Of course not.
Boxing , on the other hand, allows guys to be remembered at any level. Also, fighters have the luxury of calling themselves anything they want, while in other sports nicknames are given by fans or sportscasters.
While some of our legends have had great nicknames such as Joe “The Brown Bomber” Louis or Rocky “The Rock” Marciano, many of the best names have come from guys who we could not even come up with their given names if there was a $100 bill at stake.
So, out of suggestion sent over to me by world famous sunglass wearing fight fan “CutmeMick”, I figured I would throw out a few of my personal favorites from over the years, some because they were earned the hard way and some because I just liked how they sounded.
10.) “Gentleman” Jim Corbett: He was our first gloved world heavyweight champion and ended the reign of another fighter with a great moniker, “The Boston Strong Boy” John L. Sullivan. I always found this name amusing because boxing, especially in that era, was anything but a gentleman’s way of behaving.
Yet Corbett, who was always seen wearing the best suits money can buy and courting ladies of the upper social class, was a gentleman at first glance. His face did not even show the markings of a prizefighter. What many do not know is Corbett was anything but a gentleman outside of the spotlight, as he was reported to be foul mouthed and a racist.
9.) “Butterbean” Eric Esch: This is just fun to say. I always wondered how it would sound if Ben Stein was the ring announcer? …”In this corner we have ‘The Bean’…”. Sadly enough for my lousy sense of humor, that will never happen.
The name “Butterbean” came about when Esch was going to enter the Toughman contest back in the 90’s before he turned pro and needed to lose weight. For about two months before the contest, Esch ate nothing but a diet of beans with butter on them for a bit of flavoring, losing a rumored 25 plus pounds. After an interview describing how he shed the weight, the name “Butterbean” was dubbed upon him and stuck like glue ever since.
8.) “The Explosive Thin Man” Alexis Arguello: This name could not have been better suited for Arguello. When the bell sounded, Alexis would step to the center of the ring and attack, attack, attack! At his peak, Arguello was about 125-130 lb but before he made a world-wide name for himself, Arguello fought as low as 120 lb back in his homeland of Nicaragua.
If you were signed to fight him but did not know who he was or had never seen him in action I always thought it would be a bit hard to get any type of intimidation factor out of any guy with a name that contained the word thin attached but Alexis was a man to be feared between the ropes and in Spanish it sound a bit more menacing.
7.) “The Real Deal” Evander Holyfield: Evander started his pro career back in 1984 when boxing’s big men were in a transition stage. The cruiserweight division was fairly new and had been given the cold shoulder by most observers as an unnecessary weight-class, regardless of the fact that many talented fighters resided there and outside of Tyson, there were no heavyweights making noise.
Even though Holyfield had an Olympic Bronze Medal, critics questioned if he could bring that same intensity over to the pro rankings, considering many Olympic medallists had disappointed in the pro ranks. But Evander wanted to break the streak and break the streak he did. At cruiserweight, he marched to a world title practically without breaking a sweat and when he moved to the heavyweight division, his march to greatness continued. Those who doubted him found out he was for Real!
6.) “The Beast” John Mugabi: Anyone who has seen Mugabi’s early fights does not need to ask how this name came about. The man from Uganda was like a jungle animal in the ring, attacking his prey and bringing them down. That was of course until he met the great Marvin Hagler in 1986. Mugabi entered the fight holding a spotless record of 25-0, all wins by way of knockout in six rounds or less, an impressive achievement to say the least. Sadly enough, Mugabi found out what happens when a “Beast” meets up with something “Marvelous” and was knocked out in the 11th round. Mugabi was never the same fighter afterward.
5.) “Wimpy” Jerry Halstead: How Jerry Halstead got this name remains a mystery. He fought at heavyweight from 1985-1997 and never made any noise or was he ever taken as a threat in claiming the world title, regardless of having 85 wins out of 103 fights. Despite only having wins over limited competition, Jerry was not what you would call “Wimpy”, in fact, by sight alone, Jerry was pretty intimidating. It does not matter how far he went or who he fought, the nickname caught your attention.
4.) “Homicide” Hank Armstrong: He is the first, last and probably will always be the only man to ever hold world titles in three separate weight classes at the same time. Henry held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight championships during late 1930’s and early 1940’s. This, folks, was when there was only one champion in each division mind you! Hank would fight anyone and would fight just days apart. When Henry was in the ring, there was a good chance the bout would be brutal. Some of his fights had a reported five to ten knockdowns before being stopped. Armstrong retired with a record of 149-21-10 (101) and was only stopped twice in 180 bouts.
3.) “Mantequilla” Jose Napoles: The great Mexican welterweight champion of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s had a clever nickname indeed. When you got hit cleanly by Jose, you were left feeling like you just drank a liter of Tequila and ate the worm to boot! Napoles often went on 10 and 12 fight knockout streaks. Jose retired with a 79-7 record and defended his welterweight title 14 times in a combined two title reigns.
2.) “The Body Snatcher” Mike McCallum: The man from Kingston, Jamaica held titles in both the 154 and 160 lb divisions. On his list of casualties were names like Julian Jackson, Milton McCrory, Donald Curry and Herol Graham. Mike truly lived up to his moniker, perhaps more than any other fighter in the history has. When the fans saw an upcoming fight with his name attached, chances were that it would be a smoker! Despite snatching the bodies out from under 36 of his 49 defeated opponents, McCallum was defeated only five times in his 55 bout career and was never stopped.
1.) “The Hands Of Stone” Roberto Duran: He graced the ring for 27 years, winning world titles in the lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight divisions. He reinvented himself more times then a fashion model on the runway. He fought the who’s who of his eras, from Ken Buchanan to Thomas Hearns to Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. The lightweight years of Duran’s career were perhaps his best. Those who did not get knocked out merely survived as Roberto was not known as a hard puncher but outright brutal!
In all the years I have been around boxing and all the fights I have attended with the exception of Muhammad Ali, I still, to this day, do not think there is a bigger crowd reaction nor does a fight fan get more pumped up when the announcer would say “And in this corner, he is MANOS DE PIEDRA. The Hands of Stone, Roberto Duran!”
If you haven’t heard it for yourself, it is almost indescribable, one has to hear it to do it justice.
There is my top 10 all-time favorite nicknames in the sport of boxing. Some names you have heard before, others maybe not, but all pretty darn good and none easy to live up to.
Just missing my list was Michael “Second To” Nunn, “The Blade” Iran Barkley, Darnell “The Ding-A-Ling Man” Wilson, James “Bonecrusher” Smith and Donovan “Razor” Ruddock.
