12.12.04 – By Coach Tim Walker – Last weekend I had the opportunity to watch Rocky One, Two and Three over again. It got me to thinking about how creative Rocky’s nickname is “Rocky ‘The Italian Stallion’ Balboa”. Now that is cool. What guy wouldn’t want to grow being called the Italian Stallion or Boom Boom Mancini or The Greatest of All Time? Having a name like that would be a real chick magnet and would probably make most guys think twice about getting in an argument with you.
Say you’re at a picnic and someone yells out “Hey Boom-Boom what do you want to drink?” Of course the ladies immediately want to know why you are called Boom-Boom. Say it with me “Chi-ck Mag-net. Or you’re at a house party and tempers flare for some ungodly reason. At that very moment the party host says, “Hey John, get Iron Mike and the Executioner from the back room to come handle this.” Hearing that it wouldn’t matter how pissed the party poopers were. They would probably straighten out their act.
Great boxing nicknames should role off the tongue and are usually associated with some dominating characteristic of the boxer. Here is my top 25 best boxing nicknames either fiction or real. Feel free to add a few that you know as well.
1. “Iron” Mike Tyson (The sound of that name made men into boys at one point.)
2. “The Greatest” Muhammed Ali (Set the standard of boxing brilliance.)
3. Rocky “The Italian Stallion” Balboa (Chick magnet name if there ever was one.)
4. James “Bonecrusher” Smith (Hard to argue with the seriousness of that name.)
5. Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini (Hello ladies.)
6. Apollo “The Count of Monte Fisto” Creed (Long name but you gotta admit it’s still great.)
7. Laila “She Be Stinging” Ali (Yeah it’s a knockoff but it’s still good.)
8. Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns (His punches usually resembled a snipers work.)
9. Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran (Not many could stand up to his fists for long.)
10. Roberto “No Mas” Duran (Two nicknames, totally opposite, totally known.)
11. Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (Would have eclipsed many greats if he wasn’t jailed.)
12. Pernell “Sweat Pea” Whitaker (Excellent metaphor for his small stature but sweat boxing style.)
13. “Smokin” Joe Frazier (cough, cough, cough, LOL)
14. “The Brown Bomber” Joe Louis (Cool dude with a great name.)
15. Lew “The Living Death” Jenkins (Creepy, creepy, creepy!)
16. “Jersey Joe” Walcott (Great, great name.)
17. “Butterbean” Eric Esche (Reminds me of the guy Robin Williams boxed in the Popeye movie.)
18. “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler (Chick magnet name for certain.)
19. Hector “Macho” Camacho (How can this name not be a chick magnet.)
20. John “The Beast” Mugabi (Say this with an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent.)
21. Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza (I probably should have this name up much higher.)
22. Sam “The Boston Tar Baby” Langford (I laugh every time I hear this name.)
23. Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis (I think he got this name sparring.)
24. “Sugar” Ray Robinson (Simple yet memorable.)
25. James “Lights Out” Toney (As brilliant and focused as his name suggests.)
25. Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (Making history as we speak.)
Honorable Mention: “The Black Assassin” Stanley Ketchel, Chuck “The Bayonne Bleeder” Wepner, Michael “Dynamite” Dokes, Jake LaMotta “The Raging Bull” and Q “The Talker” Walker.
Have fun with this one guys.