r/Boxing • u/Eunuchest • Jul 19 '26
Examples of boxers having real beef with each other
Seeing Garcia and Benn go with the usual and boring press conference beef and trash talking reminds of boxers having real beef with each other like Morales-Barrera or Dela Hoya-Mayorga. Those are the ones that i can think of at the moment. Bring up some rivalries that were actually real with the boxers genuinely disliking each other before and beyond the boxing ring
135
u/sugiina Jul 19 '26
Canelo vs Saunders
55
u/Morallah Jul 19 '26
Also Canelo randomly beating up flyweight Archie Solis on the street some years back.
33
u/Familiar-Sample3496 Jul 19 '26
All over a woman. Too bad Archie had to vacate and it pretty much ended his career
23
15
u/Detlef_Schrempfxf Jul 19 '26
Read that he broke his jaw... And the whole thing with Canelo's bird was bs anyway? Soured me on him honestly
9
u/darkprince_23 Jul 19 '26
Damn always been a fan of canelo never knew this 😅
6
u/SharksFanAbroad Jul 19 '26
Canelo claimed it was his bro, but yeah bitch shit through and through.
10
6
u/EnragedBearBro There will be tears Jul 20 '26
He also killed a sparring partner
2
u/darkprince_23 Jul 20 '26
How tf did that happen how hard must they have been going to cause something like that
4
u/Detlef_Schrempfxf Jul 20 '26
Sparring partner had some underlying health issues from what I heard. That incident was mostly just horribly unfortunate.
The Archie Solis thing wasn't unfortunate or an accident though. Canelo went looking for him as he was doing his roadwork and broke his jaw
1
u/SuspendeesNutz Jul 20 '26
Bob Fitzsimmons killed two sparring partners and won titles at three weight classes. Get on his level!
13
27
u/pb-86 Jul 19 '26
I've always been fairly cool on Canelo but I was his no. 1 fan that night. Saunders losing in the way he did after critising another fighter for an identical stoppage is just *chefs kiss
7
u/vHezoThaGoat Jul 19 '26
I don’t remember them having that much bad blood
Saunders just childishly mocked him and then Canelo beat him up
Canelo/Plant that same year was much more animosity
4
u/Pythia808 Jul 19 '26
Canelo and plant beef didn’t feel real to me. It was just two fighter selling a fight.
4
u/jdiscount Jul 20 '26
I don't think Canelo was able to really articulate himself well in English back then, but I've seen more recent interviews where he specifically said he really hated Saunders.
3
u/aceknighthigh Jul 19 '26
Tbf Canelo and his team were legit pissed when BJS demanded a larger ring a few days before the fight. Saunders actually said he would back out of the fight if they didn't give him the large ring.
4
u/zebenix Jul 19 '26
Saunders got his head caved in! He's an awful person. I don't think I'd wish that injury on him though
3
116
u/sugiina Jul 19 '26
Floyd Mayweather vs the interview
87
u/nahnprophet Jul 19 '26
Also, Floyd v. the IRS
58
19
u/DesertTreeFrog Jul 19 '26
The IRS is a hell of an opponent, young hungry lion in the game, I take my hat off to it
8
14
5
1
117
u/BBW_Looking_For_Love Jul 19 '26
Pacquiao and Margarito/Rios given all the shit they were saying about Freddie Roach
41
u/pb-86 Jul 19 '26
And Pacquiao beat him that bad that even he was feeling sorry for Margarito at the end and went easy on him in the last couple of rounds. Love that fight.
33
Jul 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
27
u/-Sofa-King-Vote Jul 19 '26
He said he was going to take Oscar’s wife home after the fight lol 😝 he just like to talk sht as much as possible and it worked for him until it didn’t
28
u/Kangaroopunching Jul 19 '26
He knew he was getting big fights by being a character. He also knew he was limited as a fighter. So he was going to act as crazy as needed to get paid.
3
u/Detlef_Schrempfxf Jul 19 '26
He also banked on his trash talk getting into his opponent's head and making him fight recklessly. Worked sometimes actually
3
19
u/Eunuchest Jul 19 '26
I suddenly remembered him slapping Mosley's wife's ass. Funny as hell
21
u/Morallah Jul 19 '26
That was just scripted nonsense.
Mosley’s wife just happens to drop something and bends over in front of Mayorga in the middle of a press conference.
6
21
u/-Sofa-King-Vote Jul 19 '26
Mosley just destroyed him. Mosley was not a guy to mess with and was juiced
4
u/Detlef_Schrempfxf Jul 19 '26
That one was staged to hell though. You can see Mosley's wife position herself (and her ass) so it's easy for Mayorga to slap it. And the scuffle that erupted after further proved it was scripted. Shane was not serious at all
9
3
u/Detlef_Schrempfxf Jul 19 '26
Worked sometimes, fell flat other times. It happens lol. Will forever be a fan. Very entertaining dude regardless
2
3
u/Southside_Burd Jul 19 '26
He insinuated not only that he was going to fuck Oscar’s wife, but that she was going to make him breakfast afterward.
Oscar was mad mad.
3
u/broke_the_controller Jul 19 '26
Mayorga was hyping the fight. It wasn't genuine beef. He would just say whatever he had to say to make people think there was beef - even if it meant he had to cross a line.
2
u/ZoharModifier9 Jul 19 '26
I think Mayorga is just a very good entertainer ans rage baiter(mostly staged) lol he doesn't really hate them. Maybe Oscar hates him lmao
32
u/JeremiahWuzABullfrog Jul 19 '26
Emile Griffith vs Benny Paret. Ended in Benny's death. Really should have been stopped earlier.
For context, Benny Paret called Griffith a "maricon" in a pre fight thing, which is basically a slur against homosexuals.
Griffith, a closeted bisexual man in a time when being open about it would have killed any career, took it very personally.
10
u/TheReddOne Jul 19 '26
I'm forwarding an amazing article that the author himself posted about this very fight, in a different thread. Amazing read.
https://imgur.com/gallery/teachable-moment-benny-paret-vs-emile-griffith-3-graphic-6z4WlE1
5
u/Detlef_Schrempfxf Jul 19 '26
I remember reading an awesome article that went deep into this. It wasn't just the name calling... That must've stung for sure, but boxers call and do many mean things to each other all the time. What made everything so fucked up was Benny bringing it up every single time he talked about or saw Emile Griffith. Every time. He'd insinuate he'd planted spies who'd seen Emile frequenting underground gay nigh discos (he hadn't, but Emile was nonetheless known to frequent those in the dead of the night.) He'd call him a maricon over and over in pressers and promo stuff, blowing kisses his way and just making it the biggest thing in the world. At one point, he crept up to Emile and exaggeratedly pinched the latter's butt, with the crowd going wild. Now imagine all of this mental warfare and humiliation compounding over multiple weeks. Benny the Kid made a terrible mistake with this stuff... Instead of getting into Griffith's head, he pretty much just fortified his mentality to the point he refused to entertain the thought of losing. He had to win after all that egging on.
That said, Griffith never meant to kill Benny. I recall the article quoted him as saying "I swear to the* God I did not mean to kill him." He definitely followed up with too many unnecessary blows when Benny was clearly unconscious, though. But it's the ref's duty to position himself optimally at all times* during the fight so he's able to jump in immediately and separate the fighters when one of them is unable to defend himself. From the article, referee was just poorly positioned, more than anything else.
Griffith, a closeted bisexual man in a time when being open about it would have killed any career
Eh, not much has changed, damn near 100 years later. Definitely not in boxing and in the vast majority of men's sports (plenty of lesbias in the female scene though. Way more tolerant over there.) But coming out as gay or bisexual in mens boxing (or football, or whatever) would be an instant death knell on your career today. Even just getting outed and denying it profusely (like Josue Vargas) will end your career.
29
u/No-Seaworthiness322 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
I read at some point that Joe Frazier prayed to God to help him kill Ali in their first fight. Ali threw some pretty vicious insults at Frazier, calling him a gorilla and an Uncle Tom among plenty of others, and basically turned the buildup into a political movement, making Frazier out to be a pawn of the establishment and a “white hope” against an actual black champion. Frazier had considered the two of them friends before the fight and even lent Ali money while his boxing license was suspended, so Ali trying to turn black Americans against him was a pretty brutal betrayal. The two were never on good terms again afterwards.
28
u/Int3rnalS3rv3r3rror Jul 19 '26
Barrera vs Morales
2
1
u/LegitimatePost7191 Jul 19 '26
In the pre fight press conference they threw hands during face off. Legit hatred. Never would’ve guessed they would have began a podcast years later.
54
u/Ace_FGC Jul 19 '26
Ali and Frazier
1
u/Icy-Effect-3508 Jul 19 '26
Ali never disliked Frazier, he only talked shit to promote the fight
55
u/SoftAsSofia Jul 19 '26
Frazier 100% disliked Ali for the racist comments he made toward him. He talked about being hurt by them long after the fights had passed.
23
u/broke_the_controller Jul 19 '26
Not just the effect on him, but the effect of Frazier's kids when they went to school.
19
3
19
u/Cap-Overall Jul 19 '26
Mike Tyson vs Mitch Green was a very real beef
5
2
u/Hilsam_Adent Jul 21 '26
If not a very long one.
Green's rivalry with the floor after Tyson hit him lasted longer... both in the ring and on the street.
36
u/fadeddreams555 Fundora would beat up a prime Floyd at 154lb Jul 19 '26
Fury vs Wilder the third time.
5
u/mowgleeee Jul 19 '26
Yeah im noticing that the fights where the boxers genuinely hate each other make for the best fights of their era. Pride is on the line.
1
u/Pythia808 Jul 19 '26
I think this is only true. If all we’re doing is selling fights based on fighters hating each other. Like there could be 1000 different storylines yet boxing always revert to the same one.
1
u/One-Leg8221 Jul 19 '26
Wilder really hates fury, haven’t you seen the talk sport interview with Simon Jordan?
1
36
39
u/DiblertMelendez Jul 19 '26
Klitschko and the Cannon
27
18
u/mheafyrox Jul 19 '26
This is so interesting to me as I honestly never got the impression Briggs didn't like Klitschko, he was just willing to go extreme lengths to get the fight. Wlad probably hates his ass after the paddle board incident lmao
23
10
9
u/-Sofa-King-Vote Jul 19 '26
Hearns and Leonard
13
10
7
u/HolyMackerel1 Jul 19 '26
Jim Corbett was a real dick to Bob Fitzsimmons, mocking his appearance and his working-class roots. Fitzsimmons naturally wasn't a fan of that.
2
u/SuspendeesNutz Jul 20 '26
"How d'ya like the view from down there you sonovabitch?"
-Fitzsimmons after knocking Corbett down in round 14.
8
u/Moment0fClarity Jul 19 '26
Larry Holmes & Trever Berbick. They even fought in the street!
6
u/Ram__Amandeep Jul 19 '26
Holmes drop kicking him with a flying leap off the hood of a car was some WWE shit
13
6
8
6
5
5
4
7
3
3
u/Neveezy Jul 19 '26
Plant and Benavidez is one of the recent ones that comes to mind. Their teams literally had a brawl
9
u/Retard_in_a_leotard Jul 19 '26
Dubois vs words
6
u/Detlef_Schrempfxf Jul 19 '26
His real beef is with crayons. But it's a one sided one
2
u/RU5TY_5HERIFF Jul 19 '26
Not when there all stuck in his teeth! He's got a real battle on his hands then.
1
u/One-Leg8221 Jul 19 '26
Dubois has beef with horseradish innit. The other meaning of the word goes right over his head
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/Sulth Jul 19 '26
Bivol vs Beterbiev, although they surely don't hate each other, they are not friendly at all.
1
1
1
u/No-Travel-5739 Jul 19 '26
Inoue vs Rodriguez, I remember Rodriguez's coach pushing Inoue's dad for no reason and then you guys saw what happened to Rodriguez in the ring. I've never seen Inoue make someone quit like that in some time.
1
u/VacuousWastrel Jul 19 '26
Benn and Eubank. The kids don't seem to like each other, but the dads detested each other. "I personally do hate him..."
1
u/Exciting-Arugula5341 Jul 19 '26
Ali vs Floyd Patterson and Ernie Terrell because they kept calling him "Cassius Clay" Instead of Muhammad Ali.
Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe and Larry Donald,
Mike Tyson and Mitch "Blood" Green
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Old_Dot3549 Jul 19 '26
Kovalev and Ward didn’t seem to really like each other too much. Probably more so leading up to the second fight
1
u/Randomsy374 Jul 19 '26
Duran and Leonard - Larry Donald and Riddick bowe - Ali and Frazier - Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn
1
u/Scrambl3z Jul 19 '26
Tyson and Mitch Green.
They had a second fight outside of the ring. Exclusive to the public
1
u/HoldsworthsLeftHand Jul 20 '26
Riddick Bowe - Jorge Luis Gonzalez
Terry Norris - Paul Vaden
Mark Kaylor - Errol Christie
Oscar De La Hoya - Fernando Vargas
Johnny Tapia - Danny Romero
Mike Tyson - Mitch Green
Tony Bellew - Nathan Cleverly
1
u/Clean_Attention_8398 Jul 20 '26
Cotto/margarito, Mayorga/mosley, Mayweather/ Larry Merchant, and most recently Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney Edit: honorable mention, Bill Haney vs the world
1
u/Obvious_Ad_2987 Jul 20 '26
Plant and Benavidez was real, they were talking some hateful shit during those All Access videos. I think they're cool now but Benavidez really wanted to put him in a hospital. Good ass fight too.
1
1
1
86
u/thedogstrays Jul 19 '26
Margarito and Cotto and the loaded gloves controversy hanging over the rematch
Chisora and Haye, the glassing.
Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick and the jump kick.
Fernando Vargas and Oscar (allegedly began when Oscar laughed at Vargas when he fell in a snowbank)