fighters that you never really liked but gained respect for

froch- i used to hate froch and think that he was way overrated. as time has past though, he has shown that he is a tough guy that is willing to fight anyone and he has overachieved IMO. he isnt a great fighter but has turned out to be a very good one.

canelo- i dont like that he seems to complain a lot (although he is still young), but he has impressed me that he seems to take tough fights. he really doesnt seem to want to be protected like most fighters like him would be. he was protected at first, but he has fought some solid fighters recently.

berto- i was never a fan of berto but his toughness has won me over. im not necessarily a fan, but i definitely respect him for never giving up in the ring.

Mayweather. I hated the guy for years but his KO of Ortiz made me a huge fan.

Chris Byrd.

His style always seemed so weak and slimey to me but It only occurred to me very very very late in to his career just how courageous he really was.

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Originally Posted by Jimanuel Boogustus

Chris Byrd.

His style always seemed so weak and slimey to me but It only occurred to me very very very late in to his career just how courageous he really was.

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Agreed....

In fact I never actually got WHY people hated Chris Byrds style.

For the most part, I actually found his fights nearly always EXCITING!

What with Larry MErchant always hanging shit on him for "not being a serious factor in the superHW era" and "punching like he's putting paint dabs on a canvas", and the way he dodged and ducked his way around the hardest fists if the era to most often prevail was legendary.

I've rarely seen such brilliance and Chris Byrd was one of those shining examples of superiority.

Bernard Hopkins. I HATED him because when I was first getting into boxing he beat my favourites Trinidad and DLH. I was the happiest boxing fan when Taylor dethroned him. But when he moved up 2 divisions and embarrassed Antonio Tarver (a guy who I hated even more than him for KOing RJJ), I gained a lot of admiration for him. He used to complain about how boring he was out of spite, but as I learned more about boxing I realized he was practicing the sweet science at the highest level.

Lennox Lewis. Hated him for destroying Mike Tyson (was new to boxing at the time) and didn't like his cocky British attitude. Was even more pissed when he "beat" Vitali and retired without a rematch. In subsequent years after visiting his dominant run that I missed, I had to respect the guy because he was a damn near perfect HW and stood head and shoulders above a lot of solid opposition.

Mike McCallum beating Herol Graham and Watson. Then looked at his career and thought wow. Quality fighter.

Leonard after Hagler he was hand picking opponents but looked at when he was at his peak at welterweight and realized he was a great fighter.

Paulie Malinaggi for the fights vs Hatton and Cotto....he took some beatings in those bouts, but also gave all he had. He's still a Jersey Shore caricature of an Italian-American, but I respect him for those fights.

Camacho for taking a beating against Chavez and staying in. I thought he'd quit.

Definitely Chris Eubank for me, i couldn't stand him and was always more of a Watson and Benn fan but after he beat Benn especially i started liking him more and more.

One hard as nails fighter and a real Warrior pre Watson ;)

Also Lennox Lewis a bit early in his Career, i think a lot of Brits were dubious because of his accent and that he fought for Canada etc, i then learned that not only was born in East London but lived there till about age 10-11 and started warming to him more and more.

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Originally Posted by smashup

Also Lennox Lewis a bit early in his Career, i think a lot of Brits were dubious because of his accent and that he fought for Canada etc, i then learned that not only was born in East London but lived there till about age 10-11 and started warming to him more and more.

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I can't even begin to understand this. Where someone is from has absolutely nothing to do with if I am a fan.

SRL for me, hated him because he had the easy path. Then grew to respect him for the fabulous fights he gave us all. Most importantly the great competition he faced.

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Originally Posted by Ron Swanson

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Originally Posted by smashup

Also Lennox Lewis a bit early in his Career, i think a lot of Brits were dubious because of his accent and that he fought for Canada etc, i then learned that not only was born in East London but lived there till about age 10-11 and started warming to him more and more.

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I can't even begin to understand this. Where someone is from has absolutely nothing to do with if I am a fan.

SRL for me, hated him because he had the easy path. Then grew to respect him for the fabulous fights he gave us all. Most importantly the great competition he faced.

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Apparently it was common in England in the early 90's where most saw Lennox as an opportunist "trying" to be English and favoured Frank Bruno as their HW hopeful still.

Had nothing to do with their respective boxing performance though (quite obviously).

People are going to root for hometown boys, it's only natural.

Brits had a right to hate Lennox because even though he was a Brit, he learned to box in Canada and won a gold medal for Canada

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

People are going to root for hometown boys, it's only natural.

Brits had a right to hate Lennox because even though he was a Brit, he learned to box in Canada and won a gold medal for Canada

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Exactly this - none of my friends or me got behind him for a while as we just saw him as an imposter really but he won over the general public but was still way behind Bruno for example with his fanbase.

Your average guy on the street never really took to Lennox for ages until he started winning belts ;)

as a young kid I disliked Hagler. Knew nothing about boxing then and he just looked like the bad evil guy ;D

I loved Leonard as he was a pretty boy smooth talker

Now years later and more mature and learning bout the fighters rises I have nothing but respect for Marvin and he is one of my favourites

Would love to meet him