Influential Fighters

George Dixon - man invented the art known as sparring and also the speed bag, along with being the first african american to hold a title in boxing

James Corbett - first to wear boxing gloves in a title match, also the first to use foot work, and a jab as effective weapons

Gene Tunney - First to show that being athletically fit was important to the sport

Jack Dempsey - took boxing out of the hug and fight era, took boxing into the modern era that we live in know

John L. Sullivan - took boxing out of the bar and gave us a champion

Jack Johnson - first black heavyweight champ, very effective hold and tire you out fighter, who showed the importance of solid defense and a good chin

Muhammad Ali - first to show us that laying on the ropes and getting your ass kicked wasnt a bad idea after all

Rocky Marciano - fought out of a crouch like Dempsey, but he did it better, showed how to truly be effective from the crouch

Mickey Walker - showed that size doesnt matter...................if your name is Mickey Walker

Henry Armstrong - first man to hold 3 titles simultaneously, we are still waiting for the 2nd. Perpetual motion, punches in bunches, and kept them coming at all times

Joe Louis - showed the importance of being a technical fighter even if you are a bit undersized and slow a foot. Fast puncher wwith all the right ideas = greatness

Ray Robinson - showed what smart fighters with amazing gifts can do

add yours

great post and done with thought....geroges carpentier...set a trend of moving up several weight classes that many today try to do..the only differnce georges moved up in real weight classes.ALL of them from flyweight to heavy...john L may of popularized what i dislike..trash talking....

Excellent post, Bird. The fighter who may very well be the GOAT, Muhammad Ali, is probably the worst influence on young fighters I've ever seen. Ali's talent allowed him to get away with murder. Pulling back from punches with your hands down, basing your whole attack on punching while going backwards, telegraphing punches by shuffling your feet before you throw the combo, etc. You don't pull an Ali unless you're an Ali. That said, Benitez, Leonard, and a few others were able to pull some of this stuff off beautifully. Others, like Marvin Hagler, were not destroyed by emulating Ali, but I feel it stunted their growth. Hagler was a boxer - puncher. Sure he got ripped off against Vito A., however, if he was fighting like Hagler, he could've put him away in 5 or 6. Also, if you've ever been confused by seeing a fighter knocked out by a punch he didn't even try to block, odds are he was trying to pull backwards, aka Ali, and got taken out.

Henry Armstrong - first man to hold 3 titles simultaneously, we are still waiting for the 2nd. Perpetual motion, punches in bunches, and kept them coming at all times

Good guy to imitate. Either you'll get knocked out or attain ATG status aka Aaron Pryor and Manny P.

harry greb- even if you can only see out of one eye you can still be an ATG if you have heart and are aggressive. frazier shows this same thing.

willie pep- it is possible to truly be a defensive fighter before and offense fighter and still whip everybody you fight.

jersey joe walcott- i dont care if you are winning every round against marciano, dont put your hands down.

tex richard..although in his day boxing in popularity ranked only behind baseball tex gave vision to other promoters on how to hype an invent..considering the only media was newspapers and magazines tex put on fights in the middle of nowwhere sometimes like reno nevada and yet drew huge paying crowds..he further was limited to where he could hold a fight because many in areas boxing was outlawed...what could he have done in todays era boggles the mind..

Birdofthad wrote:

George Dixon - man invented the art known as sparring and also the speed bag, along with being the first african american to hold a title in boxing

James Corbett - first to wear boxing gloves in a title match, also the first to use foot work, and a jab as effective weapons

Gene Tunney - First to show that being athletically fit was important to the sport

Jack Dempsey - took boxing out of the hug and fight era, took boxing into the modern era that we live in know

John L. Sullivan - took boxing out of the bar and gave us a champion

Jack Johnson - first black heavyweight champ, very effective hold and tire you out fighter, who showed the importance of solid defense and a good chin

Muhammad Ali - first to show us that laying on the ropes and getting your ass kicked wasnt a bad idea after all

Rocky Marciano - fought out of a crouch like Dempsey, but he did it better, showed how to truly be effective from the crouch

Mickey Walker - showed that size doesnt matter...................if your name is Mickey Walker

Henry Armstrong - first man to hold 3 titles simultaneously, we are still waiting for the 2nd. Perpetual motion, punches in bunches, and kept them coming at all times

Joe Louis - showed the importance of being a technical fighter even if you are a bit undersized and slow a foot. Fast puncher wwith all the right ideas = greatness

Ray Robinson - showed what smart fighters with amazing gifts can do

add yours

I hate to be a jerk but Dixon was a Canadian, not an American, Sullivan was the first to wear gloves in a title match and I'm not sure you can argue Tunney was some kind of fitness breakthrough when 30-40 years before William Muldoon had set up a training/fitness camp devoted to wrestlers and boxers.

Otherwise, good stuff.

4445Frank wrote:

Excellent post, Bird. The fighter who may very well be the GOAT, Muhammad Ali, is probably the worst influence on young fighters I've ever seen. Ali's talent allowed him to get away with murder. Pulling back from punches with your hands down, basing your whole attack on punching while going backwards, telegraphing punches by shuffling your feet before you throw the combo, etc. You don't pull an Ali unless you're an Ali. That said, Benitez, Leonard, and a few others were able to pull some of this stuff off beautifully. Others, like Marvin Hagler, were not destroyed by emulating Ali, but I feel it stunted their growth. Hagler was a boxer - puncher. Sure he got ripped off against Vito A., however, if he was fighting like Hagler, he could've put him away in 5 or 6. Also, if you've ever been confused by seeing a fighter knocked out by a punch he didn't even try to block, odds are he was trying to pull backwards, aka Ali, and got taken out.

Johnny Bench caused the same problem with a generation of catchers. There are certain things it is ok to do IF YOU ARE SUPREMELY GIFTED!

For mere mortals? Not such a good idea.

da Im an idiot I knew/know Dixon was canadian cant believe I put African american, shoulda been african canadian

your right on Tunney, I was just under the influence that he was the first boxer to go give speeches at places like Harvard on the importance of being athletically fit

all good adds you guys