Boxing is a brutal sport but it surprisingly is not really littered with fighters who are intimidating. Not if you look at it broadly, taking into account every level of competition. I mean, you have your out of shape doughnut eating guys who will take a fight at a moment’s notice, wanting to earn some money to keep making a living. There are those that you can tell who attempt to look tough but end up looking like every other “wannabe” tough guy.
But occasionally you see a boxer who you just know is a bad man. And that is what we are going to take a look at today. I have selected six boxers (some obscure to the casual fan but mostly not) who are legitimately some of the scariest boxers ever!
Nikolai Valuev
All you have to do is just look at his picture. Go ahead. Have a look. Do I really need to say much more? Unfortunately, the former WBA heavyweight Russian champion did not fight in a way that was as fearsome as he appeared, which must have been a relief for anybody who had to fight him.
Thomas Hearns
Equipped with a long reach for a welterweight boxer (although he did move up in weight), being over 6 feet tall, a hard jab and bone crunching punching power, Thomas Hearns also knew how to send a message to his opponents using just his eyes when he stared them down before the action commenced. Roberto Duran was said to be intimidated by him before their 1984 fight and Ray Leonard also suffered a 40% detachment of the retina caused by the Detroit warrior in their classic Fight of the Year 1981 encounter. Knowing all of this, it’s easy to understand why Thomas Hearns was one of boxing’s scariest boxers!
Edwin Valero
Rightly or wrongly, the events leading up to his demise in a jail cell in Venezuela after killing his wife contribute toward how scary Edwin Valero seemed to us. But that aside, the late lightweight boxer possessed something in his eyes that always said he would never accept defeat, no matter who he would have fought. That look always reminded me of many fighters of yester year that wore a face of pure determination and a desire to destroy!
Roberto Duran
Probably the most famous Panamanian boxer ever and the greatest lightweight in boxing history, there are a number of myths around Roberto Duran that has helped create and make his public image seem more scary than it actually is. Don’t get me wrong, he fought like a beast. The likes of Ray Leonard would know. But stories such as him knocking out a horse (which turned out to be not true) helped create the spine-chilling mythology around him that seeped their way into the imaginations of the general public.
Mike Tyson
What else can be said about the so called “Baddest Man on the Planet?” Mike Tyson may not have intimidated the general public, but he instilled a lot of fear in opponents due to his awesome punching power. Larry Holmes conqueror and former undisputed light-heavyweight champion, Michael Spinks was a beaten man before he got into the ring. He was subsequently wiped out in one round. Years later, the likes of Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon looked as if they were going to the gallows before the first bell rang.
Tyson may have been a little over 5’10 as a heavyweight boxer, but he was a figure that hardly anybody wanted to be standing on the opposite side of the squared circle.
Sonny Liston
Perhaps the second most scariest heavyweight boxer in history, only after Mike Tyson, Sonny Liston often said very few words. But it was that intense quietness that unsettled a lot of challengers. Liston often let his punches do the talking and was heavily avoided. Floyd Patterson attempted to avoid fighting him for as long as possible until he could no more and his world title was ripped away from him after he was laid out flat on his back. It has also been widely claimed by the media that the blood pressure of Muhammad Ali was sent soaring during the weigh-in before their first fight, which was said to have been a sign of pure fear. And it sure was never easy to scare “The Greatest!”
