Not a fight I mean at a very least shook their hands or got an autograph. I met Golota he was here in Toronto. They paid him to be at some gym that was opening up. Was signing autographs. This was in 1999 I believe. Also was working some b.s job at some truck tire distributor when I was 21 or so and out of nowhere the douchebag i work for goes hey you watch boxing? This is our buddy, turn around it's George Chuvalo. Was very nice shook his hand. Hands literally like baseball gloves.
A lot of Manchester fighters. All three Hatton's, Michael Brodie and Gomez, Wayne Rigby, Lyndon Arthur. Also, some pros from the Hatton's stable, like Marcus Morrison, Lee Evans, Damian Chambers, Brad Rea. I really want to meet Carl Thompson and Jamie Moore.
Met Carl Thompson when I was working on a magazine stall in Bolton. He came in to buy a copy of Boxing News when he'd just stopped Nicky Piper. Really nice guy. Got him to sign a copy for me and he added "Future World Champion". Which turned out to be accurate. Met Tony Ekubia at the same place when he was Commonwealth light Welter Champion. Very quiet and modest, but had a ridiculous message on his answering machine about being the hardest man who ever lived etc.
Nothing really remarkable. Dirrell was super friendly and took a picture with me. Agbeko was training for his fight with Darchinian and he was real quiet but always very polite. Buddy McGirt was always in and out of the gym I used to work out at and he knew me by face and was always cool. Mayorga was about 3 months away from his fight with Vargas and I just said hello and tapped gloves with him. He was cool. Cory Spinks was cool. Every time I saw him, he was always trying holler at girls that would work out at the gym. Lol
Zab Judah, Mark Breland, Iran Barkley, Junior Jones, Denis Doughlin, Imamu Mayfield. Mayfield i just saw last week. We go to the same barbershop. He picks Crawford over Spence and Shakur over Tank.
Mike Tyson around 1998 in Phoenix Az. I was by myself on the 2nd floor of a pretty fancy nightclub that many NBA guys used to frequent. I was looking down on the dance floor and noticed Mike standing next to me. After a couple seconds I just said what’s up Mike and I remember him pausing for a second holding out his hand and saying “what up playa” as he dapped me up. I was pretty sure he was a little drunk. I actually didn’t even want to speak to Mike but he was right there so I felt I had to say something just out of respect. So it wasn’t like some great moment in my life or anything. On a different night I saw both Allen Iverson and his crew at this club and Lisa Raye the light skinned actress from the movie The Player’s Club. Lisa Raye was definitely eyeing me from the VIP section and THAT, HAS always been a great moment in my life and caused me to have a crush on her for years after.
I met Muhammad Ali at an autograph signing in the mid 90s. He was obviously showing the physical signs of his career but still mentally sharp. Luisito Espinosa used to teach at a boxing gym I trained at. He helped me with some technical stuff. I talked to him about the McKinney fight and he thanked me for knowing about it.
I have a relative and a family friend that knows people at the Wild Card gym and I was lucky to get the chance to visit there for a bit. I’ve met Freddie Roach who is a very chill and friendly guy to talk to. I also had the pleasure to meet fellow Filipinos Brian Viloria and Donnie Nietes and they were the most down to earth people. I do wish I was able to meet the man himself Pacquiao. I know a close a friend that has met him and she’s told me what a wonderful man he is and everything you see in the media is genuine. She was even at Pacquiaos training camp for Spence before that fight fell off.
His KO of Khaokor Galaxy is still a rare sight to see when it comes to delayed reaction to a punch. Shame we never got to see him against Naseem Hamed. That would have been an explosive fight.
Tyson, Barrera, McGuigan, Hatton, Lewis, Calzaghe, Billy Thompson, Clinton Woods, Hamed, Steve Collins, Minter, Conteh, Johnny Nelson, Tua, Witter, Tim Witherspoon off the top of my head.
Pretty much all the top Quebec fighter, especially Pascal and Stevenon. For MMA fighters saw and talked to GSP a thousand times, and Rashad Evans once
I like GSP just seems like a smart guy. Not your average mma meat head. In the early 2000s I started going to an mma gym in my city just to get back in shape. It turned out my coach was a world class muy Thai trainer that worked with several pro mma guys. Like Ortiz, Evans. Then years later I joined a Boxing Gym and one of the coaches who I did mitt work with was a pro fighter that fought many top hw like Klitscho and Ruiz. I didn't even know who he was but was a pretty nice guy and even told me I had a nice left hook. He was being kind I think .
Nah, hes a bit of an idiot. Kind of guy that think hes bright, cause hes surrounded by dummies, but far from a genius. Very cool and kind though
