10. Rocky Balboa
Struggling actor Sylvester Stallone got the idea for ‘Rocky’ while watching Chuck Wepner challenger Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight championship in 1975.
On screen, they morphed into Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed respectively.
No-hoper Rocky lost a close decision in the first fight – more importantly, he got the girl – won the rematch and the films became progressively worse . . .
No matter, ‘Rocky’ was an inspiration to thousands of boxers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maneDG-ILdc
9. Dewey Bozella
“When you haven’t fought for 21 years it’s kind of difficult,” said Bozella by way of explanation after a rather scruffy win on his pro debut.
The reason Bozella hadn’t fought for 21 years?
He was wrongly imprisoned for murder.
His conviction was eventually quashed and at 52, he resumed – and ended – his boxing career with a pro debut on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson 1 in Los Angeles in October, 2011.
Bozella outpointed Larry Hopkins (0-3) over four rounds and said: “Dreams do happen if you never give up hope.”
8. Chris Edwards
Beaten in six of his first seven fights, Edwards went on to win a Lonsdale belt outright and admitted: “I can’t box!
“It’s all about aggression, fitness, and heart with me. That’s all I’ve got.”
Sky Sports’ punch stats showed that nobody threw more punches than Edwards – and he threw them from first bell to last.
He also won the Commonwealth flyweight title before retiring after losing the British title to Kevin Satchell in 2012.
7. Michael Bentt
London-born heavyweight Bentt never planned to go near a boxing ring again after his pro debut ended in a humiliating one-round KO loss in 1989.
Feeling the whole world was laughing at him, Bentt disappeared.
He was terrified when Mickey Duff ran to offer sparring with Gary Mason, found it wasn’t as tough as he imagined it would be and ended up making a comeback.
Bentt put together 10 wins to rise to No 8 in the WBO rankings and when Tommy Morrison was looking for a voluntary defence, Bentt got the call.
He won in just 93 seconds, costing Morrison a huge payday against Lennox Lewis.
Bentt ended up in a coma after losing the belt to Herbie Hide, made a full recovery and went on to become a successful actor.
6. Steve Robinson
It was a real gamble when Cardiff southpaw Robinson gave up his £52 per week job as a storeman at Debenhams to concentrate on his boxing career. After all, he had lost nine of his 23 fights – and he had no intention of earning money by being a journeyman. Robinson fought to win. He was hoping for a shot at the British featherweight title – and then got a phone call in April, 1993 that changed his life.
“I was finishing off pie and chips and was feeling bloated when the ‘phone went. (Trainer) Ronnie (Rush) said: ‘You’ve got a big fight in two days . . ’”
The fight was with John Davison for the WBO title left vacant by Ruben Palacios failing an HIV test.
Not only by Robinson beat Robinson on points in a good fight, he went on to make seven defences before losing the belt to Prince Naseem Hamed.
5. Iran Barkley
‘The Blade’ had photographs of Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard on his bedroom wall. They weren’t his heroes. They were his rivals. He planned to fight them – and beat them – one day.
Barkley felt he had rivals everywhere, he had a “face that wears a permanent what-did-you-say-about-my-mother scowl,” wrote one American magazine, and when he got his shot at Hearns in June, 1988, he was, understandably given his refusal to move his head, a 4/1 underdog to win the WBC middleweight title.
The bookmakers appeared to have got it right. After the second round, the doctor went to Barkley’s corner to examine his swollen, bloody, features. He was cut under his left eyebrow and his mouth was dripping blood.
“You gotta street fight,” Barkley was told before the third – and he went on to blast Hearns out of the ring.
Jeff Ryan wrote in KO magazine: “When is the last time you heard a story about Cinderella having to peer through the blood and think clearly through the pain before getting to wear the glass slipper ?”
Barkley went on to become the only fighter to beat Hearns twice.
4. James ‘Buster’ Douglas
Douglas had fallen apart in a previous world-title challenge against Tony Tucker – and though there were signs Tyson was losing control, Douglas was still given no chance of beating him in Tokyo in January, 1990
He was a 42/1 underdog, but, finding inspiration in his mother’s recent death, Douglas boxed superbly, got off the floor in the eighth and knocked out Tyson in the 10th round.
Douglas spent the next eight months eating and lost his titles to Evander Holyfield.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euZ08eWV4ME&t=1s
3. Johnny Nelson
“Johnny Nelson was useless,” said Brendan Ingle, “and when I say useless I mean useless. He had no confidence, he had nothing going for him and when he got in the ring, he would just run around it.”
Nelson lost his first three pro fights and to keep his spirits up, Ingle told him he would one day win the Central Area cruiserweight championship.
Nelson looked disbelieving, but went on to win the WBO cruiserweight title – and make 13 defences, a record for the 14st 4lbs division since equalled by Marco Huck.
2. Bernard Hopkins
For Hopkins, staying out of prison would have been considered an achievement. The governors at Graterford Prison expected to see plenty of him, but having survived being stabbed twice, Hopkins convinced himself he had been saved for a reason.
His hopes of bettering himself through boxing were dented by defeat on his professional debut, in October, 1988, but he lost only more fight in the next 17 years – to Roy Jones jr – made a record 20 defences of the world middleweight title and at 48, he became the oldest fighter to win a world title, breaking the record he had set two years earlier.
1. James J. Braddock
Better known as ‘The Cinderella Man . . . ‘
Braddock was a light-heavyweight contender, then a journeymen and plagued by hand trouble that stopped him earning in the ring or on the docks, he ended up on welfare relief during the Great Depression.
He came back to boxing, pulled off three good wins and got a shot at heavyweight champion Max Baer in June, 1935.
There were concerns for Braddock’s health ahead of the fight, and he admitted himself he hoped “not to make a fool of myself,” but as it turned out, Braddock capitalised on a complacent champion and won unanimously.
The belt was lost to Joe Louis and Braddock’s story was told in a 2005 film, starring Russell Crowe, him out of Gladiator.