Boxing is a sport that has been around for what seems to be forever. The first documented boxing match was held in the year 1681. Since then, it has become a sport watched and enjoyed by many. Sometimes even people you wouldn’t really think of enjoy watching the sport of boxing.
Nicknames Of Boxers-The Good
Along with every sport and every athlete seems to come a nickname. A Boxer’s nickname should both say something about the boxer and strike fear into the heart of their opponent. There have been some great nicknames in boxing. In my opinion, some examples of great boxing nicknames are: Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy, James “Lights Out” Toney, The Undertaker (Harry Wills), James “Bonecrusher” Smith, and Raging Bull (Jake LaMotta). Now these names definitely make me think “scary”. They also make a statement. The boxer’s nickname “Left Hook” says a pretty obvious statement.
The same rings true for “lights Out”.
The Boxer’s Nicknames, Not their Ability
Please keep in mind, I am not stating anything of these boxer’s ability. I am just pointing out some good boxing nicknames. Of course, there is the other side of the coin, the boxing nicknames that I find truly silly. Unfortunately it seems there are quite a few nicknames put on boxers that are not quite “right” for the boxer, or really even the sport of boxing. Sometimes they just don’t seem to fit, sometimes they are just too much of a mouthful. There are some though that are just downright silly and sometimes even embarrassing. Luckily these names don’t necessarily doom the boxers to a lousy career, as most of them had fantastic boxing careers.
Five Of The Worst Boxing Nicknames in History
1) The Acorn– Earnie Shavers- OK, if I’m a boxer about to enter the ring, I’m pretty sure the nickname “The Acorn” wouldn’t in any way intimidate me. I found out his true nickname was Black Destroyer, which makes me a little uncomfortable, but not intimidated. Uncomfortable because I’m pretty sure there is no boxer named “The White Destroyer” nor would I want one to be. I digress though. The Acorn was a name that Muhammed Ali called him because of his bald head. OK, I guess there are a lot of “acorns” now.
2) Sweet Pea- Pernell Whitaker- When I hear Sweat Pea, my mind automatically pictures the baby in Popeye. So how did this great boxer get such a nonthreatening name? His friends were known to call him Pete. In his amateur days, this turned into “Sweet Pete” chants in the crowd. A local sportswriter in the crowds misheard this as “sweatpea” and after his report in the paper, it just stuck. Poor Pernell.
3) The Sweet Swatter from Sweetwater, Texas- Lew Jenkins-This one is just a mouthful, and I don’t know if sweet belongs in any boxer’s nickname. Sweetwater is where he was from, and that’s about all I could find out about this nickname. Lew Jenkins did have a much more intimidating nickname, but its not as well-known as The Sweet Swatter from Sweetwater. The good nickname was “The Living Death”, now that’s much better.
4) Jerry “Wimpy” Halstead– Jerry Halstead “Wimpy” certainly doesn’t make me quiver with fear. It is said though that he was an amazing boxer and far from wimpy in the ring. I can’t find why they called him”Wimpy”, it just boggles my mind considering his record.
5) John” the quiet man” Ruiz– John Ruiz-When I think of quiet, violent blows to the head are not called to mind. The reason he got his nickname though had nothing to do with his boxing style. When Ruiz’s manager was asking around where John Ruiz was there was a collective “who”? Until finally it was said: “Oh, the quiet man!”. He barely spoke English so he usually stayed “quiet”.
So as you can see you can’t judge a book by its cover, and sometimes you can’t judge a boxer by his nickname.
http://boxing.about.com/od/history/a/nicknames_2.htm
Personal opinion
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://ringsidereport.com/rsr/news.php?readmore=37
