Fighters with no excuses

Has there ever been a fighter who didn't make excuses after a loss or a bad performance? There can't be many, if any

 

Only one example to go off obviously but Hamed was humble and gave Barrera his props after losing.

I would have said Tyson (with the exception of the Holyfield rematch) but he's been going on about the count in the Douglas fight recently which is annoying.

 

Ramitez after the Josh Taylor loss. At least in the interviews i saw he didnt complain about the ref, the judges and even magnanimously accepted Taylor's 'mindgames' explanation for the prefight needle

 

Tyson also complained about his knee in the Williams fight, and blamed poor preparation in the Lewis bout.

In Holy I he was very gracious

 

"I Don't Wanna Make Excuses, BUT....."





REED

 

Michael Spinks - 1 Loss, No Excuses...Even ADMITTED to Being Scared Afterwards...

"Fear was Knocking On My Door Bigtime"...

Extremely Rare to See THAT Level of Humility and CANDOR in an All-Time Great Fighter...





REED

 

I see the agenda here. To lessen the shame the torn shoulder, blister socks, winning gloves senator crampacquiao brings to himself with each new excuse

 

Pac's Mobility Has NEVER Looked More Limited, But REED Attributes it to Being 42 and PED Free, Rather Than Cramps...



REED

 

Crampacquiao

 

Did Ken Norton Sr. ever make any excuses

 

Would thinking you won a close fight which went against you count as an "excuse"? I can think of a few fighters who didn't really accept close decision losses but at the same time had no problem accepting the result when they were clearly beaten.

 

If the Fight was LEGIT Close and Could've Went Either Way, REED Doesn't Think it Should Count...

For Example, Shawn Porter's Ol' Man Harps on Kell Brook's "Holding" to this Day, as Why Shawn Lost...But REED Scored it 9-3 (8-4 @ WORST) for Brook and the Level of Holding was Definitely EXAGGERATED on Kenny Porter's Behalf...



REED

 

You gotta realize that ego and a certain level of arrogance drives great athletes. A symptom of that ego is the irrational belief that you're incapable of being beaten cleanly. There had to be SOMETHING holding you back.

That's why I think many of the biggest excuse makers are the greats. I guess for just the "good" fighters it's easier to accept defeat, but it's hard for a great athlete to wrap their heads around losing.

 

Yeah this happens quite often. I remember Holyfield having zero problems with the decision in the first Lewis fight. "He doesn't get paid to judge, he gets paid to fight, they just did their jobs " blah blah

Few years later and he's on the short end of a decision and big surprise he sang a different tune.

Micky Ward was a good exception to that though. I believe it was FNF when Kellerman was telling the story about some fan coming up to Micky Ward after a close decision victory (possibly Augustus?) and saying something like "That was great, i think you won the fight!". Ward replied to the guy "What fight were you watching?"

 

Yeah I think the same. For example Froch never seemed to accept he really lost to Kessler ("if it was in the UK I would have won..." etc). I actually thought he lost close but clear, but I guess there's an argument. At the same time he took the Ward loss on the chin and admits he was second-best, even when he had an avenue for self-delusion with the two close 115-113 cards. I even remember him saying something along the lines of "no way it was that close".

 

Excellent post.

As irritating as excuse making is, it seems that it is directly related to the type of mentality that you need to become great

 

Whats dangerous is when it becomes delusion - I'm talking to you, Wilder.

"I lost my focus and didn't train as hard as I should have" is a typical excuse.

"I lost because of my outfit, the ref, my corner spiking the water, and my opponent loading his gloves" is sign of mental illness.

 

I remember a time when Chavez was considered to be a good sportsman, who seemed to be gracious after fights towards his opposition. But it just turns out that he was a gracious winner. As soon as he started losing...

 

Wilder's the Absolute WORST Case Scenario...

Delusions of Grandeur are Par for the Course, as You've Stated, But Even in a Loss There Has to Be a Level of ADMISSION of What YOU Could've Done Differently YOURSELF...

There's Been NONE Of That in Wilder's Case and Worse, He Hired a Certified YES MAN That He KO'ed in the 1st Fucking Round, to Work his Corner for Fury 3...WHOtheFUCK Does THAT???!!!...

Wilder Needs HONESTY from His Corner to Have a Prayer of Beating Fury, But He Chose an EGO STROKER Instead...





REED

 

Seriously, Wilder Hiring Malik Scott is Like Tyson Hiring Marvis Frazier to Work His Corner After the Buster Douglas Fight...

Absurd and Nonsensical AF!!!...

The FUCK Can a Guy You DESTROYED "Teach" You???...



REED

 

Dont really agree woth you reed. A lot of great trainers were shitty-average fighters. Now, i dont know anything about Scott as a trainer, but hin getting wasted by wilder doesn't means he's a poor one

Still, i get your point that its a weord choixe

 

Wilder actually has a remote chance now, as it seems Fury is just an inconsistent trainer.

Wilder and Fury deserve each other. Both a trainwrecks.

 

In Principle, You’re Correct…

Manny Steward Obviously COULDN’T Beat Tommy Hearns in a Fight, Yet He Built Him from Scratch…

REED Can Even See the Value of Hiring a Guy You Had a COMPETITIVE Fight w/to Work Your Corner, ala, Gatti and Ward…

But Hiring a Guy You Wiped Your Ass w/???That Reeks of DESPERATION On The Part of the Fighter in REED’s Opinion…

Again, What is Marvis Frazier Gonna Teach Mike Tyson??? What is Pipino Cuevas Gonna Teach Tommy Hearns???





REED

 

wilder didnt even wipe his ass with malik "80-72" scott. scott just laid down on a glancing shot

 

Ruben Olivares is extremely upfront and frank about his losses.

 

I totally understand why boxers so frequently use excuses. In team sports like basketball/football/baseball, you can always strengthen your team in the off-season.

In individual sports such as tennis or golf, how often are the top players expected to win the tournaments? Even the greatest players ever don’t win the majority of the tournaments they’re in. Boxing is totally different, the top boxers have very few losses. They need to have that self belief, so when they lose a big fight, it’s understandable that they will cling to an excuse to keep the belief that they’re still the best.

It’s still funny though when you get some ridiculous excuses, like George Foreman after Zaire.

 

I heard no excuses from Roman gonzalez

 

I think Glen Johnson is the poster boy for this thread.

 

Doesn't quit fit the threat but Richie Woodhall won a MD over Glenn Catley and in the post fight interview at the ring Woodhall said that he thought he lost the fight and Catley won. This was going out live on TV. I can't really recall too many winning fighters doing that. Ohara Davies after his fight vs Miguel Vasquez was raising Vasquez hand referring to him as the winner in a fight which was a clear robbery but a couple of days later he changed his tune and was saying he thought he won the fight.