Fear in boxing...

[Russell]

From another thread, Dempsey on Langford...

“The Hell I feared no man. There was one man, he was even smaller than I, I wouldn’t fight because I knew he would flatten me. I was afraid of Sam Langford.”

Langford himself voiced his similar feelings over Jeffries.

I'm curious as to what other instances there are of a boxer being terrified of another, and voicing it in some way.

And how much a part did that fear play into the fights outcome, if there was one?

Foreman was seemingly afraid of Lewis after his demolition of Ruddock.

Max Baer voiced something like fear after his fight with Louis.

In a Frank Bruno special he talks about being afraid of Tyson. Explains the holding. "He beat me like my father used to".

[joe33]

Patterson against liston maybe ? though he took him on twice,i think it was a case of dead man walking in both bouts,he kind of knew he had little chance.The majority of tysons early fights id say would be the same.I also believe in a early joe louis title fight,they had to get the guy out of the locked toliet to fight him,he had panicked and locked himself in LOL.Golotta would be another good one,vs lewis and again tyson.

[McGrain]

Well, the Dempsey thing is interesting - he basically was afraid of most of the guys he was fighting but it either seemed to help him, or fail to affect him. A human being can get used to working under the yolk of fear and I suspect that this was the case with Dempsey, that all those fights (some of them loses) that he had as Kid Blackie made him invulnerable to fear in a way most people just weren't. And fear can be a great motivator. In his fight with Willard, Dempsey was afraid of being killed whereas Willard was supposedly only afraid of the same thing - that he might kill Dempsey. And we all know what happened in that one.

Spinks seemed absolutley terrified against Tyson. Just looked like he froze up.

I read that Jeffries was terrified of Johnsn. He'd been told that Johnson would be taking a dive and found out just before the fight that this was not the case. His wife claimed that Jeffries couldn't sleep that night and spent the twilight hours shivering by the window.

Ali was terrified of Liston in the first fight. Seemed able to channel it though.

Howard Eastman looked thouroughly imtimidated to me against Hopkins. Again, this was a fighter who just seized up and couldn't work properly. Hopkins, in contrast to Tyson, was quite happy to help the fear strangle his man rahter than chase the KO.

[Silver]

foreman said he was afraid of joe frazier when they fought the first time. he dealt with it well.

[JohnThomas1]

SRL always said the day he went in the ring without fear was the day he had not given his opponent due respect. He said fear was part of every single fight for him, and he was glad for it. Great fighters can turn fear into a very positive influence.

[McGrain]

SRL always said the day he went in the ring without fear was the day he had not given his opponent due respect. He said fear was part of every single fight for him, and he was glad for it. Great fighters can turn fear into a very positive influence.


I agree.

[Duodenum]

"Rapid gum-chewing Ollie Pecord was the referee. It was his first championship fight and he was agitated. Funny, it wa my first, and I wasn't agitated-I was downright scared." "Willard and I were called to the center of the ring to pose for pictures. I saw Ollie Pecord's lips moving and couldn't hear or understand a word he was saying. All I knew was that a towering Willard was standing in front of me." "...something my father had once said flashed through my brain: 'Son, when you find stumbling blocks in your way, use 'em boy-as stepping stones. If you can't go over 'em, around 'em, or under 'em, then goddamnit boy, go through 'em!" "When Willard raised his massive arms over his head, a kind of desperation overcame me and I knew I would have to use every ounce of strength I had-and then some. Not wanting anyone to suspect these emotions, I scowled fiercely and bared my teeth." "Once our gloves were slipped on, we stepped forward to shake hands. As Willard moved away I realized I wasn't just fighting for a title, I was fighting for my life." - Jack Dempsey

[janitor]

From another thread, Dempsey on Langford...

“The Hell I feared no man. There was one man, he was even smaller than I, I wouldn’t fight because I knew he would flatten me. I was afraid of Sam Langford.”

Langford himself voiced his similar feelings over Jeffries.

I'm curious as to what other instances there are of a boxer being terrified of another, and voicing it in some way.

And how much a part did that fear play into the fights outcome, if there was one?

Foreman was seemingly afraid of Lewis after his demolition of Ruddock.

Max Baer voiced something like fear after his fight with Louis.

In a Frank Bruno special he talks about being afraid of Tyson. Explains the holding. "He beat me like my father used to".

All fighters feel fear it is just that some handel it better than others. Some go to peices while some make it work to their advantage.

[Dempsey1238]

Not sure if Jeff was afraid of Johnson. There was a LOT of weight on Jeff's shoulders for the fight. People made it seem to Jeff, that the whole White Race living on would depend on his victory or lost.

[thunder06]

Not sure if Jeff was afraid of Johnson. There was a LOT of weight on Jeff's shoulders for the fight. People made it seem to Jeff, that the whole White Race living on would depend on his victory or lost.

but didnt johnson know that if he lost their would be mass lynchings of the Black Race in celebration of the "white victory"?

[Dempsey1238]

There WERE MASS lynchings because Jeff Lost.

[karmazon]

I define fear as standing across the ring from Joe Louis and knowing he wants to go home early.
Max Baer

[garymcfall]

Ali was afraid of Sonny Liston before the first fight.

[Russell]

All fighters feel fear it is just that some handel it better than others. Some go to peices while some make it work to their advantage.

Any instances come to mind for you, janitor?

[McGrain]

Ali was afraid of Sonny Liston before the first fight.

I think everyone who ever fought Liston, inside or outside the ring was afraid of him.

The exception may be Ali II.

[NickHudson]

Interesting thread, and something that we should build more into our fantasy match-ups. We have much discussion of physical attributes without so much inclusion of 'psychological match-ups.'

For example, thinking of HW's some boxers have the fear factor in spades (Liston, Tyson, Foreman?), and some might be considered prone to being intimidated (Patterson, McCall?).

Liston, Foreman and Tyson performed better when their opponents were overwhelmed by fear. Tillis fought Tyson in a relatively relaxed frame of mind, based on his body language. He smiled after the flash knockdown. Equally, Ali was not scared of Foreman. Almost any other HW in history would have been petrified of Foreman in '74...

The elite of the elite, as is true of any sport, respond best in the pressure cauldron. 'Come the moment, come the man' and all that.

[Stonehands89]

From another thread, Dempsey on Langford...

“The Hell I feared no man. There was one man, he was even smaller than I, I wouldn’t fight because I knew he would flatten me. I was afraid of Sam Langford.”


I'm not sure about that one. I'd probably check the source. Dempsey was very aware of the accusations that he ducked the great black fighters and answered them throughout his life. It was pretty clear that he himself would have fought them all but like most fighters then, deferred to management.

Dempsey is on record as saying that he feared no one except "Ernest Hemingway" and that was only because Hemingway would have went straight at him and Dempsey would have been forced to hurt him badly.

[mcvey]

From another thread, Dempsey on Langford...

“The Hell I feared no man. There was one man, he was even smaller than I, I wouldn’t fight because I knew he would flatten me. I was afraid of Sam Langford.”

Langford himself voiced his similar feelings over Jeffries.

I'm curious as to what other instances there are of a boxer being terrified of another, and voicing it in some way.

And how much a part did that fear play into the fights outcome, if there was one?

Foreman was seemingly afraid of Lewis after his demolition of Ruddock.

Max Baer voiced something like fear after his fight with Louis.

In a Frank Bruno special he talks about being afraid of Tyson. Explains the holding. "He beat me like my father used to".
Seldon against Tyson,Akinwande against Lewis,both painful to watch ,an older Louis one ,Johnny Paycheck.

[janitor]

I'm not sure about that one. I'd probably check the source.

The source is Dempsey's autobiography.

You might want to take into acount that Dempsey was modest and had a verry high opinion of Sam Langford.

He said that Langford was the greatest fighter that ever lived and helped him out financialy after he went blind.

[Stonehands89]

The source is Dempsey's autobiography.

You might want to take into acount that Dempsey was modest and had a verry high opinion of Sam Langford.

He said that Langford was the greatest fighter that ever lived and helped him out financialy after he went blind.

Good enough, but then I'd check the reliability of the source! Jack had a big heart and was a good man, but I wouldn't expect that he would have said that in 1920. When testosterone goes, oftentimes mean attitudes and animal pride go with it. I suspect that Jack was being nice to an great old man who had nothing. Kind of like Foreman talking about how scared he was of Frazier.

[janitor]

Kind of like Foreman talking about how scared he was of Frazier.

I would imagine that Foreman probably was scared of Frazier.

[Lacyace]

Good enough, but then I'd check the reliability of the source!

The source in an autobiography?

[Stonehands89]

The source in an autobiography?

It was facetious.

[JohnThomas1]

I reckon a good example of a fighter not overcoming his fear was Milton McCrory vs Curry, the man was frozen and in slow motion, made to look worse of course by the extreme sharpness of Curry at that time.

[FrankieCas]

Would or did Marciano have a fear of anyone?