The WORST rivalries

[El Kabong]

Sure in boxing everyone loves Ali-Frazier, LaMatta-Robinson, Basilio-Fullmer, Marciano-Walcott, Luois, Schmelling, Dempsey-Tunney, Leonard-Hearns, Leonard-Duran, Ali-Foreman, Ali-Norton, Cotto-Margarito, Gatti-Ward...there have been some magnificent matchups and great rivalries in boxing's history but there have absolutely been some crap rivalries too.


What rivalries were pushed on us by promoters? What rivalries did the fighters think meant something to the average boxing fan and really nobody gave a flying fuck about.


I write this because of an article I read at Fightnews.com Fightnews.com #1 source for boxing news on the web

Yes the AMAZING matchup between Danny Green and Anthony Mundine but another "rivalry" has been stirred up recently which is just as bad David Haye vs Tony Bellew. To both of these I say....





Well gents, which "rivalries" irked you? Was it Larry Holmes vs Butterbean

[TitoFan]

I think to have a good rivalry in the true sense of the word, at least in boxing, you need several things:

Quality
Relevance
Public interest
.... and a little bad blood doesn't hurt, either


All those rivalries mentioned in your first sentence featured most if not all of the above.
When you mention Haye-Bellew, it fails miserably on just about all the ingredients.


But to answer your question, I can't think of any "bad" rivalries right off hand.

[Master]

I think the manufactured rivalries against Duran when he was old were silly against Pazienza and Camacho.

[vidgil]

I think the worst rivalry in boxing history is HANDS DOWN, Mayweather vs Pac.

They ducked and dodged each other for 7-8 years. Mayweather was scared of Pac and Pac was scared of a drug test. So the fight doesn't get made when they're at their best.

Then many years pass, Pac slows down and isn't killing guys like he used to, has been knocked cold by JMM, so Floyd finally summons up the balls to fight Pac now that he's weakened.

All the shit talk, all the hoopla, all the anticipation, and it's one of the worst abortions of a fight ever!

Fuck that rivalry! I hope the next shit Floyd takes comes out square.

[Spicoli]

Promoters get in where they fit in and push rivalries from neighborhood, Country or just convenient familiarity. Honestly Manny v Marquez 1-101 seemed a bit unnecessary but we did get a great finale planking out of it. Bronco McKart v Winky Wright x 3.. Cooney v Holmes had to pushed with all the wrong reasons?

[Master]

Bradley v pack man 3 times!

[El Kabong]

I think to have a good rivalry in the true sense of the word, at least in boxing, you need several things:

Quality
Relevance
Public interest
.... and a little bad blood doesn't hurt, either


All those rivalries mentioned in your first sentence featured most if not all of the above.
When you mention Haye-Bellew, it fails miserably on just about all the ingredients.


But to answer your question, I can't think of any "bad" rivalries right off hand.

When people say "Oh he's just trying to sell the fight" in the build up to any fight I hate it. Haye is one of the worst about it because he'll do all of these outrageous things and then bail on a fight....either you hate the guy enough that you're serious in which case money is less of an issue OR you're a con artist with no backbone....Haye is most certainly a con artist

[TitoFan]

I think to have a good rivalry in the true sense of the word, at least in boxing, you need several things:

Quality
Relevance
Public interest
.... and a little bad blood doesn't hurt, either


All those rivalries mentioned in your first sentence featured most if not all of the above.
When you mention Haye-Bellew, it fails miserably on just about all the ingredients.


But to answer your question, I can't think of any "bad" rivalries right off hand.

When people say "Oh he's just trying to sell the fight" in the build up to any fight I hate it. Haye is one of the worst about it because he'll do all of these outrageous things and then bail on a fight....either you hate the guy enough that you're serious in which case money is less of an issue OR you're a con artist with no backbone....Haye is most certainly a con artist

I agree. And yet some of these guys have an amazingly resilient fan base, to where it seems there's nothing this fighter could do to shake his fan base. Haye has a pretty long "rap sheet", when you think about it. Barging into the HW division and demanding to be put at the front of the line for a challenge to Wladimir...... taking trash-talking to new levels prior to the Wlad fight, promising fireworks only to deliver a wet, spent firecracker..... blaming his piss-poor performance on a hurt toe...... coming up with mysterious eyebrow gashes to get out of fights..... and all the while never shutting his fucking mouth and having an outsized and unrequested opinion about everything. Con artist is I believe a kind description.