Most exciting fighters of all time?

[diamonddavestafford]

Who was the most exciting fighter in history to you? A lot of people have their own opinions on what makes the Sweet Science so sweet. Thats why in the recent Toney-Peter fight, the judges who liked fewer punches but harder ones and a continual coming forward aggressive approach scored for Sam Peter; while the people who appreciate slick defensive counterpunching and greater numbers of punches and combinations thrown thought that Toney had it won hands down. It all comes down to what you look for and what excites you about boxing.Is it devastating punching power? Dazzling hand and foot movement? Brilliant strategy and ring generalmanship executed to a tee? What about the ability to take punishment and fight through blood and guts to victory? Some fighters just have that special "something" that spark of electricity that puts asses in the seats whenever their name goes up on the marquee. It's not always the best fighters of the ones with the winningest records that figure in here. Pick five of the 30 listed and maybe list a few reasons why you believe they were among the most exciting fighters around...


mine go...(and not in this order necessarily):

Mike Tyson
Aaron Pryor
Roy Jones Jr.
Arturo Gatti
Sugar Ray Leonard

[Bookkeeper]

My vote went to Tito, everytime he stepped in the ring he had a seek and destroy attitude even when he was the smaller man, nobody ever stood toe to toe with him except for Vargas, was to small to be at 160

[diamonddavestafford]

Yeah Tito could really swat. That Vargas fight was so entertaining. I remember being at a friends house and it was like "...next on HBO". I was like HOLY SHIT...i didnt even know it was comin on that night. Exciting fight plus the footage contains essentially the end of Vargas as we knew him. The crushing KO that Trinidad laid on him rendered him a lot less fearless and ferocious inside the ropes. He was never the same after that beating. Crafty move on Trinidad's part in that fight too, using the low blow to change the momentum of the fight shortly after being knocked down early by El Feroz. That Mayorga-Trinidad fight...oh man! That was like Hearns-Hagler but for nearly three times as many rounds!

[p4pking]

Hearns- was never in a bad fight, electrifying style, so tall and rangy, deadly puncher yet very polished , always brought thrills in every fight win or lose.
Leonard- Same goes, he had star quality and always brought his A game, could adapt so well in fights, dig down deep and find power when he needed it.
Toney- One of the slickest defensive counter punchers ever, very complete fighter.
Whittaker- Had absolutely everything but power, which only made him more exciting to watch imo, he had to genuienly outclass everyone he faced and always did so thoroughly. You could count the number of rounds he lost decisevly on your hand in his prime.
Julian Jackson- Truly a murderous puncher but somewhat vulnerable, always made for entertaining fights and would match up well with most Jr middle's of all time, he had the punch and will to beat anyone and. A tough guy to bet against, his opponents could never afford even one mistake and he could never be counted out of a fight until he was face down on the canvas.. Ask Herol Graham or Terry Norris.

[diamonddavestafford]

Yeah. Fuck just ask terry norris. For real. Jackson is the reason Terry is all messed up now. He wasnt ready for that fight and the knockout ruined him; scrambled his head. Sad shit. I still talk to Terry Norris all the time. He speaks in barely a whisper and slurs pretty bad. Still a great guy though. I will never forget some of the pointers he gave me in the gym, it was an honor to be at the same heavy bag with the man.

[raleights]

Wheres Gerald Mcclelland, surely he was more exciting than Muhammed Ali

[skel1983]

Yeah. F*** just ask terry norris. For real. Jackson is the reason Terry is all messed up now. He wasnt ready for that fight and the knockout ruined him; scrambled his head. Sad S***. I still talk to Terry Norris all the time. He speaks in barely a whisper and slurs pretty bad. Still a great guy though. I will never forget some of the pointers he gave me in the gym, it was an honor to be at the same heavy bag with the man.

Mate you know you stuff didnt say welcome to the forum, you will enjoy it here loads of guys know there stuff. i already owe u a cool click in 24.

[p4pking]

Yeah. F*** just ask terry norris. For real. Jackson is the reason Terry is all messed up now. He wasnt ready for that fight and the knockout ruined him; scrambled his head. Sad S***. I still talk to Terry Norris all the time. He speaks in barely a whisper and slurs pretty bad. Still a great guy though. I will never forget some of the pointers he gave me in the gym, it was an honor to be at the same heavy bag with the man.

You really think it was the Jackson fight that ruined him?? Just wouldn't appear that way since all his good performances occured after that. It certainly didn't appear to have any short term effect.. Your right though that he didn't seem prepared for that fight.. Before the KO he was outboxing Jackson very well but in the 2nd round he sort of just took a nap against the ropes.. I have no idea what he was thinking against a guy like Jackson, could he really have gassed out that early? Either way, he was not going to win that fight after the first round, for whatever reason. That's really cool you see him at the gym, wherabouts if I might ask. I don't know where he used to train or anything.

[Bookkeeper]

Yeah. F*** just ask terry norris. For real. Jackson is the reason Terry is all messed up now. He wasnt ready for that fight and the knockout ruined him; scrambled his head. Sad S***. I still talk to Terry Norris all the time. He speaks in barely a whisper and slurs pretty bad. Still a great guy though. I will never forget some of the pointers he gave me in the gym, it was an honor to be at the same heavy bag with the man.

You really think it was the Jackson fight that ruined him?? Just wouldn't appear that way since all his good performances occured after that. It certainly didn't appear to have any short term effect.. Your right though that he didn't seem prepared for that fight.. Before the KO he was outboxing Jackson very well but in the 2nd round he sort of just took a nap against the ropes.. I have no idea what he was thinking against a guy like Jackson, could he really have gassed out that early? Either way, he was not going to win that fight after the first round, for whatever reason. That's really cool you see him at the gym, wherabouts if I might ask. I don't know where he used to train or anything.

If Tito would have been in the same class as them in that era I think he would have had epic slugfest with Norris and Jackson, but Norris simply did not have the chin to hold up despite being perfection on offense. I am still hurting for Taylor after the Norris beating, and Norris after the Brown beating.

[diamonddavestafford]

Thanks for all the welcoming to the forums guys. Its great to be here. I train in San Diego and the gym I used to train at, Arena Boxing was where i first met and briefly trained with Terrible Terry Norris. Nowadays I am at City Boxing and I dont see him there really. I do run into him from time to time in Pacific Beach at some of the bars and clubs. He goes out a lot. I had a drink with him about five or six months ago at a bar called the Tavern. And yeah, most fight trainers agree that it was the Jackson fight that started the brain damage, it just got progressively worse after that. I heard (and i hope it is just a rumor) that he may be close to death because the damage is so bad. I would never ask him about something like that though. He's a really, really cool person.

[ICB]

not in any order

aaron pryor
nigel benn
meldrick taylor
julio cesar chavez he was in some good scraps
evander holyfield
julian jackson
gerald mc
mike tyson
joe fraizer
jack dempsey
ray mancini
bert cooper
arturo gatti
micky ward
thomas hearns
marvin hagler

all i can think of for now

[Violent Demise]

Yeah. Fuck just ask terry norris. For real. Jackson is the reason Terry is all messed up now. He wasnt ready for that fight and the knockout ruined him; scrambled his head. Sad shit. I still talk to Terry Norris all the time. He speaks in barely a whisper and slurs pretty bad. Still a great guy though. I will never forget some of the pointers he gave me in the gym, it was an honor to be at the same heavy bag with the man.

What the fuck you talking about? Norris won all his championships after the Jackson fight. He became a p4p fighter after the Jackson fight. Not only that, I met Terry Norris early this year. In his home town of San Diego. And he sounded just find to me. He was very happy that his accomplishments were recognized and was inducted into the HOF. Rumours that Norris is all messed up are just that, rumours. Terry has a throat condition, in which his throat dries up quickly. His voice gets real low and is barely understandable. Which probably gives the impression that he's all messed up. Norris said it himself. Listen to his HOF inductee speech. And see if he sounds all messed up. Norris has always been one of my favorite fighters. So I always look out for any Norris news. The only thing I can agree with in the above post is that it was an honor to be in his presence. Still I'm a give this clown his first sc for the other garbage he posted.

[Punisher136]

Tyson- Was relentless in his prime and could end any fight in one punch.

Ali- Was bigger than most of his opponents yet moved like he was half their size. The first boxing match i ever saw was Ali Chuvalo I and i knew who ali was but i never knew that he moved and jabbed like that. After watching 15 rounds of that on espn classic, i decided to become a boxer .

Foreman- What can i saw he was an animal.

Balboa- Lets see you go 15 rounds with a dude that punches with over a ton of force. Yeah thats what i thought.

Toney- Great boxing skills and master of the counter punch.

[Pugilistic]

mike tyson was amazing to watch. leonard, ali and mayweather are also good to watch

[CutMeMick]

I voted Tyson, JCC, ODLH, from your list and would like to add Ricardo 'El Finito' Lopez & Alexis 'El Flaco Explosivo' Arguello.....