Originally Posted by a harmful of swallows
Who do you guys think are the true villains of boxing today? Does anybody stand out as someone you love to hate? Who's out there that you can't wait to see knocked out or humbled?
Another question. What makes a villain? the attitude? the ethnic rivalry? the fight style? too much exposure?
For me personally the only fighters I hate are Zab Judah, John Ruiz and to a lesser extent Arturo Gatti. Zab's attitude sucks plan and simple. When he fought Floyd all his fans in NY were chanting "whoop that trick." No class. Enjoy your unfullfilled promise all the way to its slow decline. He's the only reason I like Baldomir. He's good but he chooses to nullify it by taking rounds off. Warriors don't take rounds off. Keep flushing your great talent down the toilet.
John Ruiz is just a travesty to watch. Retire already, in the latest Ring Magazine an editor said that hugging was for the UFC. One punch hug, one punch hug, one punch hug should be a foul. Ricky Hatton has the same problem but I give him a pass because he's shows his guts. By that same token I respect Gatti's entertaining fight style, I just think he's overrated. Everybody keeps talking about how wild and violent his fights are. Considering the level of his opposition a decent fighter would have made those fights easy.
One of the greatest villains in the last decade was, of course, Naz. For all the reasons listed above, it was very difficult for a non brit to like the guy.
