Ten fighters fans love to hate
By Dan Horgan/Maxboxing.com
February 13, 2008
For those with a special someone, Valentine's Day is a day to rejoice and bask in love. But for those without someone to share the day, February 14 is the perfect day to be miserable -- and complain.
Boxing fans must not get much love -- all year. No matter how well fighters do in the ring, pugs always attract 'haters' that find fault with boxers' every move. These critics, who often flood message boards with hundreds of posts a day, can either be insightful or incredibly annoying. But one thing is for sure: they keep the sport interesting.
As a rare ode to the critics of today's best fighters, and as a pugilistic celebration of Valentine's Day, I put together a list of ten boxers fans love to hate. Whether the odium is warranted or not, it will be fun to take a look why some boxers rub fans the wrong way.
1) John Ruiz: Ruiz, unlike other fighters on this list, does not have a large fan base to counter his detractors. With his "hit-and-grab" style, "The Quiet Man" is rarely seen in anything but ugly fights. And his former manager Norman Stone, who would often try to start fights with opposing corners, did nothing to help Ruiz's rep.
Is the hate warranted? No one will deny that Ruiz's fights are about as exciting as watching MTV's "Life of Ryan", but the vile comments Ruiz receives are a bit much. Ruiz is a class act who just happens to be doing his job (boringly) under an international spotlight. The entire fight world's bashing of him is over the top.
2) Cory Spinks: Spinks is the antithesis of a likeable, tough fighter: he enjoys dancing more than he does punching; he rarely (if ever) hurts opponents in the ring; and his ostentatious, cocky attitude does not sit well with fans drawn to humble fighters. Spinks also ruined his acting credibility during a fake cry job following his victory over Roman Karmarzin in July of 2006.
Is the hate warranted? Spinks enjoys being a villain. His dancing during his ring entrances and his smack talking leading up to fights are meant to piss people off. But Spinks' tactics work: he still finds his way onto Showtime and HBO.
3) Jermain Taylor: Fans of Bernard Hopkins, Winky Wright, and Cory Spinks all don't like Taylor. Why? Because Taylor held on to his title against the aforementioned foes via controversial decisions. The good luck even frustrated some of the game's top journalists, with our own Steve Kim playing on Taylor's nickname of "Bad Intentions" by dubbing him
"Bad Decisions". Many critics also wish that Taylor, a gifted physical specimen, would do more to reach his full potential.
Is the hate warranted? Give Jermain a break. The man provides exciting fights -- what more can you ask for? Although Taylor has gotten the benefit of the doubt in many of his biggest fights, it's not like his opponents were robbed of wins; the bouts were close, and the judges simply liked Taylor's energy. Outside of the ring, Taylor is a likeable guy. There's no need to hate on the man.
4) Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Boxing's pound for pound king may be the vainest individual in the sports world. Mayweather likes to flash his cash and "make it rain" on HBO cameras -- fans like to hate him for his pretentious actions. Many also claim that Mayweather, fighting in a talent rich division, is not taking on tough challenges.
Is the hate warranted? Mayweather can be annoying with his grandiose displays of wealth, but calling someone a "punk" based on a reality TV show is ridiculous. Most of Mayweather's detractors attack him personally; considering these cynics do not know Mayweather on an individual level, the criticism is unwarranted. However, Mayweather has yet to fight Paul Williams and Miguel Cotto -- two fighters many think Mayweather would lose to -- so those who say that "Pretty Boy" has ducked challenges have a legitimate argument.
5) Jose Luis Castillo: Fight fans couldn't wait for Castillo's rematch with Diego Corrales. Five months prior, the two had staged what was perhaps the greatest action fight in history. And now, the two were about to duke it out again for the lightweight championship of the world. But there was only one problem: Castillo couldn't make weight.
Not that he didn't try, however. One of Castillo's handlers attempted to fix the scale so Castillo could make 135 pounds -- when he got caught, many fans turned against Castillo, calling him a cheater. And when the bigger Castillo trounced Corrales the following night, Corrales aficionados went into an uproar.
Eight months later, when Castillo was set to meet Corrales for the third match, Castillo again failed to make weight. He let hundreds of thousands of fans -- and Corrales down -- and gave a black eye to boxing.
Is the hate warranted? The facts speak for themselves.
6) Antonio Margarito: Before he was outpointed by Paul Williams in July of 2007, Margarito and his supporters called (loudly) for a fight with Mayweather Jr. Needless to say, Floyd fans took offense. When fans argued as to who would win the fight, Margarito became the subject of the biggest verbal war in Internet boxing history.
Is the hate warranted? No. Margarito is not as good as people made him out to be, but that doesn't mean the man can't fight. Plus, Margarito always provides excitement for fans -- be it in the ring or out -- and it's hard to ask for more than that.
7) Zab Judah: Judah, with his loud mouth and wasted talent, may be boxing's most annoying fighter. He claims to have "the swagger like [Marvin] Hagler", but with his lack of passion in the ring, even mentioning Judah's name in the same sentence as Hagler's is a bit ridiculous.
Is the hate warranted? Whether you like Judah or not, it's hard to deny that he hasn't lived up to his potential. Judah could have gone down as the one of the greats; but he refused to take the necessary risks to put himself in that upper echelon of fighters. And rumors of Judah hooking up with tennis star Serena Williams in an NYC nightclub did nothing to help the married fighter's character rep.
8) Wladimir Klitschko: The heavyweight champion of the world should be American - or so claim Klitschko haters. Klitschko, of Ukraine, epitomizes the typical European heavyweight: he's mechanical, stiff, and oh so strong. This combination ticks off American heavyweight lovers.
Is the hate warranted? Considering Klitschko can fight, hatred based on nationality is irrational.
9) Sergio Mora: Mora, the season one winner of 'The Contender', is as cocky a fighter as you'll find. "The Latin Snake" claims to be the best middleweight in the world, although he has not fought the opponents to warrant that claim.
Is the hate warranted? Until Mora gets a win over a world class opponent, no one will take him seriously -- especially considering he turned down a fight with then champion Jermain Taylor in May of last year.
10) Roy Jones Jr.: "Mr. Unknockoutable" turns people away because he is so damn cocky. His two rap CD's, "Round One" and "Body Head Bangers", left many to think that Jones cared more about fame than his fighting.
Is the hate warranted? Jones' cockiness is good for the sport -- I find it very entertaining. And although "Round One" wasn't the greatest CD in the world, "Body Head Bangers" actually has some decent tracks.
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confused
Yeah I'd like to see Pavlik fight Winky too, I'm just not toally convinced about Kelly yet tho, been watching a few of his fights like the ones versus Zertuche, and Miranda, he gets hit ALOT and tends to get wild and sloppy during the action parts of the fight. What saved him against Taylor was the fact he didn't do those things against Jermaine and Taylor carrying his hands by his waist, AND taylor going fuckin crazy trying to KO Pavlik when he had him hurt, by all accounts the fight should not have gone past that round, if Taylor fights the right fight this time around I don't think Kelly will last. 
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