A LIFETIME OF STALKERS

What do I mean by a stalker? Boxing writer Ted Sares refers to a stylistic class of fighters as "Stalk, stun and destroy." That is more or less what I mean. Fighters whose entire repertoire is measured, rather than frenetic, offense. I don't mean brawlers like Henry Armstrong or Ricky Hatton or Pipino Cuevas and I don't mean offensive legends who could also lure one in to vulnerability going backwards like Joe Louis or Ray Robinson. The style I am thinking of is characterized by the following:

1) Solely offensively minded. May be defensively sound but it is all in the service of the next offensive move.
2. Fights in a measured way. Doesn't throw a hundred punches a round, but the ones he does throw count and when he gets you hurt, look out because a fusillade is just around the corner.
3. Almost impossible to discourage. Not at all bothered by being behind on the cards and not particularly troubled by getting hit. Often they can be made to look temporarily silly by gifted boxers. Doesn't matter. They just keep coming.
4. Bodywork is normally an important element in their attack. The plan is simply to finally make the other man stationary and then it is just a matter of time.
5. Exceptional stamina. They are the tortoise, not the hare.

These men often win in a come from behind manner and usually accelerate their pace as the fight goes along. In many cases their excellence boils down to they can throw hard punches and take hard punches longer than just about anybody else. Often times their fights feel like a race to the finish line. If the foe can last the entire distance, he may be able to win. Few can do so against the great stalkers.

The analogies for this kind of fighter are an incoming tide, the Anton Chigurh character in No Country for Old Men or as someone here phrased it "creeping death." There is an inevitability to their victory and while the very end may be sudden, it often comes into view several rounds before it arrives. This style often produces stirring and dramatic fights.

Here are some of the best of the last forty years in no order.

Khaosai Galaxy-It seems almost impossible that that physique could be crammed into only 115 pounds. The Thai legend was simply too much man for anyone he faced. The antithesis of the slick southpaw, this one would lunge and lurch and stumble. But he always did so going forward and that piston-like left hand would hammer into the foe somewhere and gradually it would dawn on the viewer "Galaxy is just too powerful and too relentless" He lost in his seventh fight and then won his last 43, 38 by KO. The knockouts when they came usually weren't lightning strikes. Instead they had the feeling of a gradually crumbling building. Here is one of his best wins over the excellent Yong Kang Kim.