Boxing Legends

Just like every sport there have been athletes in the past that have paved the way for change and standards within the sport, they have set standards in terms of skill that future athletes would aspire to. The same thing applies with boxing, there have been boxers that have changed the way you look at the sport and have influenced you to try it.

But before the athletes in boxing are revealed, you may be interested in a little bit if history. Boxing has been around for thousands of years, it started from two people fist fighting each other.  The Ancient Greeks believed that fighting was a sport played by the Gods on Olympus. The Romans also employed the sport, but they usually fought until death in order to satisfy the spectators. A circle was marked on the floor whether two opponents would fight, this is where the name boxing ring comes from.

There are boxing greats that have helped shape the way boxing is today, they brought skill, speed and power to the sport. These legends have inspired current boxers to continue to push themselves in achieving their best while still maintaining the skill, excitement and power within the sport. The all time best boxers have earned their reputation to be called the best in their own unique way. Some of these best boxers are Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Willie Pep and Henry Armstrong
Sugar Ray Robinson began his career as an amateur boxer which he held an impressive record 89 wins 69 knockouts. At the age of 19 in 1940, he turned professional and won the world welterweight title which he defended four times. He also became the middleweight champion and defended his title twice. He retired twice, first was in 1952 but with financial difficulties he returned back to the ring. In 1955 he regained his old middleweight title  after winning against Gene Fullmer and Carmen Basillo but then lost it again in 1960 to Paul Pender. He finally hung up his boxing gloves for the last time in 1965 with a record of 175 wins, 19 losses and 6 draws with 109 knockout. He is among the greats of boxing, the Ring magazine named him as best of all time pound for pound, he will always be remembered for the music he made in the ring. He got his name “Sugar” from his manager’s description of his style as “Sweet as Sugar”.

Muhammad Ali’s career in boxing started at the age of 12 in 1954 when he discovered his talent in the sport through training at a local gym. He began to work on his boxing with his trainer Joe Martin which led to him winning the National Golden Gloves tournament in 1959. A Year later he became the Olympic gold medallist in Rome.  He then turned professional were he enforced his dormancy in the sport during the 1960s by not losing a single bout. In 1964 he became the world heavyweight champion after winning against the British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper and Sonny Liston. He became the first boxer to win the world heavy weight title three times. For 3 years he got banned from competing when his licence to fight was denied because he refused an induction into the armed forces during the Vietnam war. After the ban he lost to Joe Frazier, a fight that was called the fight of the century in 1971 and his first professional lose. Four years later they met again for a 15 round bout which resulted in Ali winning after Frazier’s eyes were swollen shut. Can you imagine two amazing boxers coming face to face wanting to each prove they are the best than the other. Frazier would have kept going if it wasn’t for his trainer who refused to allow him to answer the bail for the 15th and final round.  After 1976 his performance began to decline, he didn’t win as many fights and his health was taking a toe. His last ever fight was against Trevor Berbick in 1981 which he lost, then he completely retired from the sport with a record of 56 wins and 5 losses with 37 knockouts. He was always full of praise for himself before a fight, describing his fighting skills in the ring as “float like a butterfly, stings like a bee”. He reinvented the way heavy weight were supposed to fight developing speed and athleticism that was previously unheard of.

 Henry Armstrong had his first amateur bout in 1929 and went on to win a few more amateur tournaments before turning professional.  He lost his first two professional bouts before beginning to constantly win every bout. He was known  for his rapid combination of movements and knockout punches which earned him the nickname Hurricane Henry. In order to gain popularity Armstrong set a target of wining world titles in three different weight division, something that no boxers had ever achieved at the time. He succeed in reaching this goal by becoming the featherweight in 1937, lightweight and welterweight champion in 1938. Back then there were only 8 weight divisions, so Armstrong’s achievement was a very big achievement. He tried to add a forth title against Ceferina Garcia for the middleweight title but lost. Armstrong retired at the age of 32 with a professional record of 151 wins, 21 loses and 9 draws with 101 knockouts. Throughout his career he faced 17 world champions and defeated 15 of them.

Joe Louis nicknamed as “Brown Bomber” started his professional career in 1934 after wining the golden gloves as a light heavyweight. Louis became the world heavyweight champion after knocking out James Braddock, he held this title for more than 11 years and defended the title 25 times. An impressive record. In 1949 he retired still the undefeated heavyweight champion, but he returned back to the ring a year later to try and win his title back against Ezzard Charles which he lost. His last fight in the ring was in 1951 against Rocky Marciano where he was knocked out in the 8th round. Rocky had mixed feelings about winning the bout since Louis was his hero. Joe Louis fully retired with a record of 68 wins, 3 loses with 57 knockouts. He still remains a powerful part of boxing, he holds the record for the most defences for his title and knocked out 5 world champions.

Willie Pep is known as one of the greatest featherweight of all time. He learned to fight when he was protecting his shoe-shine patch. He turned professional at the age of 18, he won 63 of his professional fights and became the youngest world champion at the age of 20 in 1942. After this win, he went on to win a further 72 more wins before a loss. He fought in the army during the second world war until he was discharged. He went on to win a further 43 fights in three years. He retired for good in 1966 with a record of 229 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw with 65 knockouts. Pep will always be remembered for his dancing, floating style and speed that he brought to the ring.

I hope you are inspired about the stories behind some of boxing’s greats, they worked hard to become world champions through training with the right boxing equipment and trainers who would be able to get them the a world class level. But the most important element of been a great is believing in yourself, these champions believed they were the greatest Muhammad Ali once said “ I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was”. Only you can make yourself a champion!