One fighter from before your time you wish you could have seen

Simple really. Who would you love to have seen fight? For me it would have been Benny Lynch. From what I have seen he would have been such good entertainment. Had it not been for the alcohol who knows how good he could have been?

mckay1402 wrote:Simple really.  Who would you love to have seen fight?  For me it would have been Benny Lynch.  From what I have seen he would have been such good entertainment.  Had it not been for the alcohol who knows how good he could have been?

I think that his love of golfing and hanging around Jimmy Tarbuck didnt help

I'm pretty sure I'd have hated Ali fwiw

Hank Armstrong

Being greedy would have to be Ezzard Charles and the Black Murderers Row, the talent and frequency they fought each other would ensure entertainment and intrigue.

If it was confined to just one boxer then it would have to be Charley Burley.

Sugar Ray Robinson at welter

I would've loved to of seen Edwin Valero fight. never a dull fight with him

You write well for a 3 year old Adam

haha you know what I mean

Peter Jackson vs Frank Slavin

Either that or anything involving John L Sullivan so I could scream abuse at him for not being man enough to face Peter.

Robinson at any weight...just to be in the presence of greatness

Harry Greb

Gentleman Jim for me............Father of Modern Boxing. Pulled the chicks...Brought style into the game....Larger than life character.........

Back then the Heavy crown was the only one that really mattered..

Loved to have seen him outclassing Peter Jackson ......

I love Hagler now but I wonder if his 'nobody loves me routine' would have gotten on my nerves back then. Bit like Froch gets on my nerves now.

Ok, I'll go Tommy Hearns in that case.

I'm old enough to remember seeing an unbeatable Roy Jones, sometimes I think I'd have liked to have been a bit older during his pomp to really appreciate it but then the fact I was so young meant I was in awe of him. Maybe that was key to getting me into boxing.

Yes I was lucky to have got into boxing at the height of the Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran rivalry.

Can only be Burley for me, obvious choice, but my favourite fighter.

You know what they say about meeting you're heros.

That's a top era Truss. I imagine the excitement leading up to and during those fights were a different level. Obviously we can watch it with hindsight and enjoy but watching Hagler and Hearns belt each other across the ring in 'The War', I'd have been on the edge of my seat!

Dipper Brown wrote:That's a top era Truss. I imagine the excitement leading up to and during those fights were a different level. Obviously we can watch it with hindsight and enjoy but watching Hagler and Hearns belt each other across the ring in 'The War', I'd have been on the edge of my seat!

Hagler-Hearns is the one that really got the attention................After destroying Duran in two.....could Marv take the right hand ???.......

Always be the most exciting run up to a fight I've ever witnessed..

Boy did it deliver !!

It's not so bad over here now..... but when I first came here big fights tended to be shown either the next night or a few days later...

You miss the moment !!..

I'd liked to have seen Harry Greb. He must have been a great fighter.119 fights and only 8 losses and from all accounts two of those were disputeable.

Seeing his first fight with Tunney would have been quite something. Gene's only ever loss and according to all reports was an absolute shellacking, even Gene would happily admit Harry almost murdered him that night. His fights with Kid Norfolk would also have been one hell of a sight, Norfolk was one of the few fighters ever as adept in the dark arts as Greb. Not fights for the faint hearted one suspects.

Harry greb has a case for being the best ever after Robinson. Fantastic record. I would have him and Armstrong on par followed by the greatest

Ali
Robinson
Armstrong
Greb.......
Leonard.....


Top 5..

Robinson
Greb,Armstrong
Ali
Duran (my favorite fighter now so I'm biased.

used to have Ali 2nd but reading old stories and books and I'm a sucker for Greb and you can't not have Armstrong up there with his multidivisional achievements.

Poor old Ezzard Charles always gets forgotten in these discussions.

Ezzard Charles top ten for sure. Probably have him between Duran and Leonard. Willie pep is another great fighter.

Dam a top 10 list is hard to do. Always forget someone. I have mentioned 8, I could include Sam Langford and Mayweather (the bashing awaits)

Id love to see Joe Louis around now to breath some life into the cruiserweight division. Mouthwatering punnet of strawberry clashes with the likes of Bellew and Cleverly to look forward to.

Haha imagine Louis vs Bellew, suppose Bellow would still be the puncher

AdamT wrote:Haha imagine Louis vs Bellew, suppose Bellow would still be the puncher

"And it's as simple as that."

Bit of an obvious example and one that a couple of people have already picked, but in terms of fighters who I've literally seen nothing of, it's got to be Greb. It's crazy that there's no (available) footage of someone who ranks so highly in the lists of greats, regardless of how long ago he peaked. Got to be worth seeing how he put together such an unbelievable record.

I would love to see his first fight with Tunney, be interesting to see how somebody who going by his record wasn't a big puncher beat the iron chinned Tunney almost into submission.

Benny Lynch for me too. My Dad was an amateur boxer in the 30's and his good friend Jim Brady from Dundee fought Benny Lynch 4 times between 1933 and 1934. He held Benny to a draw in one fight which was some achievement. It's heartbreaking to know that Benny died from complications with malnutrition and alcoholism - such a waste at only 33 years old.

This is a tough one as I can think of three fighters I would have liked to have seen live. They are Jack Johnson, Henry Armstrong and Joe Louis.

But if it's only one I can choose, then it's going to be Jack Johnson. I would have loved to have been in the crowd when he beat James J. Jefferies.

Maybe Dempsey for me - or Stan Ketchel.

A modern fighter would be Barry McGuigan. Oh to have been there for his most famous nights in Belfast.

Good shout Haz with McGuigan, my uncles used to tell stories of going to his fights at the Kings Hall, sounded epic.

I would love to have been in the arena when Tyson was fighting in the late 80s during his rise. I imagine there would have been a real buzz around the arena.

theanimal316 wrote:Good shout Haz with McGuigan, my uncles used to tell stories of going to his fights at the Kings Hall, sounded epic.

I would love to have been in the arena when Tyson was fighting in the late 80s during his rise.  I imagine there would have been a real buzz around the arena.

A Tyson fight would have been something else.