Want to know who’s the favorite boxer of all time and favorite active boxer of your favorite boxing writer? If you do, check this out:
JD Camacho
“(My) favorite active boxer (is) Timothy Bradley. I think he's got the goods. He's fast. He's slick. He's durable. He roll-counters, he body jabs-to-overhands, and he lets his hands go. And best of all? He's hungry. He wanted it more (than) Kendall Holt. He wanted to stop Nate Campbell. I'm pretty high on him at the moment.”
“(My) favorite boxer (of) all time (is) George Foreman. I think a certain version of Foreman, head-to-head, would beat any heavyweight boxer who ever lived, aside from perhaps Muhammad Ali. The Foreman that fought Frazier THE SECOND TIME was an absolute monster. Of course, the first performance was more devastating but everything about Foreman's encore performance was better. Foreman's technique was better. His control was better. He managed his energy and stamina similar to his second, older incarnation. THAT Foreman could have beaten any heavyweight in history, IMO.”
“I've always maintained that a young George Foreman with the mind of the old George Foreman might just be the toughest heavyweight in the 116 year history of gloved prize-fighting. I had never seen the second fight before, so I never knew that fighter existed.”
“Of course, Foreman fought other fighters after Ali and looked lackluster, especially against Jimmy Young and he barely got by Ron Lyle. However, I'd imagine that's because Foreman blasted Frazier the first time, he had the same confidence against him that he'd had pre-Zaire. You could see it in his face, his stance, his demeanor. If only for a single fight, he looked like the perfect George Foreman.”
“It's also important to note that Frazier's style would always make Foreman look good. Yet, it was extremely impressive to me that Foreman demonstrated patience. He probably could have gotten Frazier out of there in two again if he had just let go, but he conserved his energy. George stalked Joe and eventually broke him down - much like how the second version of George fought.”
“The virtue that Foreman showed in the second Frazier fight that epitomized his second career was PATIENCE. He wasn't patient in nearly all of his first career fights. Foreman wasn't in the same shape for the Young fight, clearly underestimated the supposed journeyman and didn't have the scowling face or steadfast stance that he showed against Frazier both times.”
“Foreman's excellent at cutting off the ring, and he was far better at it when he had fresher legs (i.e. when he was younger). Furthermore, patience behind his flagpole jab coupled with mental control, youthful exuberance, improved technique and natural, bone-crushing power made THIS particular Foreman better than any other Foreman IMO.”
“I'm sayin' that this Foreman was the Foreman I've always thought never existed. This Foreman had all the ingredients from the first career AND the second career. This Foreman was a thinking beast, a tactical monster. THIS Foreman could have beaten Ali, Louis, Lewis, Holmes, or any other heavyweight out there.”
“Sadly, it was only for one night.”
“I understand that this Foreman isn't perfect. Foreman always had poor defense, stood very upright, and even in his second career as well as this fight tended to loop punches in odd-ways at times. However, the mixture of attributes I outlined earlier would have given any heavyweight in history serious, serious trouble and could possibly beat all of them. How many heavyweights can say that? No more than a handful.”
George Foreman
***JD Camacho is a contributing writer for DoghouseBoxing.com
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Antonio Santiago
“My favorite fighter currently, I hadn't thought about that but it has to be Kelly Pavlik. I also like Miguel Cotto and Israel Vazquez, but Pavlik has been in perilous situations and he's pulled out of it. When he fights, it's guaranteed to be an action fight, which I guess you can also say of the other two I just mentioned, but Pavlik fights more often. I am looking forward to his next fight with Paul Williams."
"My favorite fighters of all time are two Puerto Ricans, Wilfredo Gomez and Wilfred Benitez. With one, you had the perfect power, he never let a hurt fighter go and scored 32 knockouts in a row, the most by any world champion in boxing history. His record of 17 defenses in a row by knockout is also a record. With the others, you had extreme wizardly, you could basically never touch him, and unmatched intelligence and out of this world speed. At his best, only Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns could beat Wilfred Benitez, his record of being a world champion at 17 still stands. I find it interesting that my two favorite fighters hold records where number 17 has something to do about it!”
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Antonio Santiago writes for DoghouseBoxing.com
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Chris Parry
“(I’m) not a fan of any active boxer, to be honest. All time? Ali.”
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Chris Parry writes for Vancouver Sun.
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Ivan G. Goldman
“(My) favorite active boxer is MANNY PACQUIAO.”
“(My) favorite boxer of all time is MUHAMMAD ALI.”
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Ivan G. Goldman writes a boxing column for RING magazine and I was a Fulbright Scholar. He wrote many books. One made the NY Times best-seller list. Exit Blue, a political satire, will come out from Black Heron in Feb. 2010. His second novel The Barfighter came out in April 2009 from The Permanent Press. To learn more about him, read "Caste and Class on The Washington Post".
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Marshall N. B.
Boxing Fan
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