Trinidad. His hype was so enormous in the early boxing message board days that I was a detractor, just to oppose his annoying groupies. But nowadays I'd consider myself a Trinidad fan. No PR fighter since him has been on his level.
Hopkins was the first one that came to mind for me. Disliked him heavily for a lot of his career, but looking back he was a hell of a boxer. I can appreciate him a lot more now.
JM Marquez - As a Prince Naseem Hamed Lover, REED Disliked Marquez Fans CLOUT CHASING His Way to Prominence @ Prince's Expense... Surviving Round 1 vs Pacquiao is Where RESPECT Started Outweighing REED's Dislike for Marquez Though....& By the Time he KO'ed Juan Diaz in Houston (REED was In Attendance), the JM Marquez Fandom was Official.... REED
Dwight Muhammad Qawi - TORTURED Saad Muhammad Twice and the Short Bastard SMILED Devilishly As he Did It...REED Instantly & Easily Disliked Qawi...Being on a Collision Course w/Michael Spinks Didn't Help Either... But Over Time, REED Grew to Respect How Consistently EFFECTIVE Qawi Was for Such a Short Limbed Fighter...He Was Never NOT The Shorter Guy in a Fight REED Saw & Usually By a GOOD Margin.... Very Underrated Defense and Jab, for Such an Aggressive Fighter... REED
Holy fuck. How couldn't you like qawi. Guy was so happy beating these top guys. Was a joy to see. And that bobbing and weaving was made in heaven
For me it was lennox. Hated him after the holy fights, but the botha and grant beatings made me a huge fan
I would add, and this will be shocking to yall, as a kid I didn't like Duran. My dad was a HUGE Leonard fan, so naturally as a child who didn't know any better I didn't fuck with RD. When I became a hardcore, obviously my perspective greatly changed.
I meant more in a retrospective way, looking back at his prime fights and appreciating the skills. No doubt though, he was ugly as hell in his later years.
Can't think of anyone notable. Normally it's the opposite for me. Like a fighter, then slowly starting losing respect form them or just find things that start to annoy me.
This happened with me for Hopkins but especially with Mayweather I still watching highlights of him, but I so sick of his shit that I was rooting against him in most of his late fights.
