By Simon “Silent” Allen: Many skills are needed to succeed in art of boxing. A good jab, defence, speed agility and stamina and so on but a nickname is not one of them. Yet no boxer worth their weight is without one and a look through the annals of the sports history shows just how diverse these monikers can be from the intimidating to the outright hilarious.
Many fighters nick names carry a description of their fighting style, they function as a source of advertisement to fans and other parties as an example of what is expected from this fighter in the ring. Take “The Will o’ the Wisp” Willie Pep a fighter known in his day as an a great defensive and elusive fighter. Even going so far as to win a round without throwing a punch. Another fighter with a nick name that accurately described his fighting style was “The Human Punching Bag” Joe Grim. Joe is one of the most defeated boxers in all of fight history losing almost as many fights as he has appeared in often being beaten all over the ring and hitting the canvas at regular intervals. Joe fought both Jack Johnson and Bob Fitzsimmons but neither was able to knock him out. Indeed his only KO losses arrived at the end of his career but for a long time Joe could boast “I’m Joe Grim and no man can knock me out.”
Other names are designed to strike fear into the opponents as well as help sell fights, take “Violent” Elmer Ray a heavyweight contender from 1935 – 1949. Not only did he KO most of his opponents he fought he also participated in 51 Battle Royales winning all 51 of them, brutal ten men in a ring fights where the winner was the man left standing “Violent” indeed suits Elmer Ray to a tee. Others with terror inducing nicknames include “Hatchet Man” Curtis Shepard who knocked out 32 opponents including Joey Maxim’s only KO loss, and “The Beast” John Mugabi junior middleweight champion and 39 KO’s from 42 fights.
Another way of nicknames usage was to signify where a fighter was from and their origins these were often punctuated with an adjective describing each fighter, “The Manassa Mauler” Jack Dempsey a description that exactly describes Dempsey’s fighting prowess. “The Cincinnati Cobra” Ezzard Charles and “The Fargo Express” Billy Petrolle all give a description of their fighting style and origins. Alliterative nick names were also used “Jersey Joe” Joe Walcott and “The Bronx Bull” Jake Lamotta being among the many used over the years.
While these nicknames serve their purposes showcasing a fighters abilities, personalities and beginnings. Some appear to be ill thought up or lost in translation. For instance Darnell “Ding a Ling” Wilson whose nick name although meant to be i believe a euphemism for ringing someones bells conjures up different pictures to most people. Henry “Sugar Poo” Buchanan is another fighter who hasn’t quite grasped the point of a nick name. Willie “The Worm” Monroe doesn’t quite strike fear into his opponents or galvanize fight fans either.
Some nick names are used by more than one person Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and Ricky “Hitman” Hatton being examples. No nick name however has been more used than the eponymous “Sugar” first used by Ray Robinson and then borrowed by Ray Leonard and Shane Mosley respectfully, and many other poor imitation fighters along the way.
Some boxers overtime earn other nicknames as their careers progress, usually because of their actions and personalities than through necessary boxing ability. “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather Jr so called because of his ability to come through fights with hardly an damage became “Money” Mayweather Jr mainly to do with his love for money and the amount of Pay Per Views he creates. “The Louisville Lip” Cassius Clay became “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali for his actions in and out of the ring and his phenomenal personality.
The subject of boxing nick names is endless and intriguing, as each generation of boxing stars comes to the fore they bring with them names that will stand the test of time. My love for boxing would be slightly diminished without the great ring names that have evolved with their respected fighters. Every fight fan has a favourite and every young boy or girl who wants to be a boxer is dreaming them up and let’s be honest who hasn’t imagined what your nick name would be. Boxing is all the better with the character and diversity these names bring to the sport.
Copyright 19/03/12
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