Fighters you disliked at first that grew on you.

A few guys.

Joe Calzaghe
Lennox Lewis
Erik Morales
Bernard Hopkins

 

Yori boy campas

 

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.

 

Hopkins got more boring the longer he stuck around, it was the opposite for me

 

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

 

Tyson Fury - The USS Cunningham Fight was REED's 1st Time Seeing Fury Live...




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

 

'Fimo is Doing the OPPOSITE for REED...




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

 

Yup. Same here.

I was a huge Hopkins fan in his prime. I lost fandom for him over the years.

 

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.

 

Roy

Loved the last 6 or 7 fights of his career

 

Canelo

 

He won you over with the berlanga and munguia fights ?

 

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.

 

Nah, he won me over by getting humbled by Bivol.

 

Same. I love it when cherry picking backfires.

I cannot wait to see Tank lose.

 

Tbf a big part of it for me was taking a good year or so away from ESB echo chambers.