In one of our most recent debates on Twitter (@BoxingOpinions1) we asked the fans who they believe are the most "feared" boxers in the world today. This is actually a very tough question to answer in this era... There isn't really anyone with that ferociousness and viciousness inside them to cause the amount of fear that previous fighters have. Think back to the days when Tyson was in his prime, the fear he used to strike into his opponents. He won most fights before he even stepped into the ring. There are only really two guys that I think even come close to that nowadays, and they're the two fighters that most of you picked too.
There were the obvious mentions of the pound-for-pound dominators such as Floyd Mayweather, The Klitschko's and Andre Ward but these guys aren't necessarily feared because people are jumping at the opportunity to fight them. It may be a daunting task when you're actually in the ring with them but people aren't scared to take on these guys.
It's no secret that there are avoided fighters in the boxing world and two of the most well-known avoided men around right now are Lucas Matthysse and Gennady Golovkin. Between them they received 65% of the votes, a massive 40% for Matthysse. So let's go through the reasons why barely anyone wants to take the risk of fighting either of these two men:
Lucas Matthysse
Best Wins: DeMarcus Corley, Humberto Soto, Ajose Olusegun.
Target Men: Danny Garcia, Brandon Rios, Amir Khan.
Considered by many as the most devastating puncher pound-for-pound in the world today, Lucas Matthysse has knocked out 31 of his 33 victims with the majority of them coming in the first few rounds. The 30-year old Argentinian's only two losses have been controversial points decisions to two world class operators in Zab Judah & Devon Alexander, who are both competing in world title fights later this year.
Despite a fan-pleasing style and explosive power, Matthysse has found it difficult to get the big fights he so badly deserves. You get the feeling that his two biggest opportunities came against Judah & Alexander and he was robbed of a bright future in both of those fights. But thankfully, the fan demand for this guy is getting bigger and bigger so if someone steps up, the big world title fights could be just around the corner. There aren't many light-welter or welterweights that I can see lasting 12 with this guy right now, so if he does get those big fights I'm sure he will make the most of them.
Gennady Golovkin
Big Wins: Grzegorz Proksa, Gabriel Rosado.
Target Men: Sergio Martinez, Andre Ward, Peter Quillin.
'GGG' is in a much better position right now than he has previously been in. The 30-year old is finally starting to get the fan base and media coverage he deserves after dominating every single man he has ever shared the ring with. He has knocked out his last 12 opponents and has only been taken the distance three times in his 25-fight career.
His level of opposition has not been as not been as high as Matthysse, but that is through no fault of his own. Despite him being the WBA & IBO middleweight world champion, there aren't many contenders out there asking for a shot at him for the moment. There have been some talented fighters that have stepped up to the plate (Grzegorz Proksa & Gabriel Rosado) but they have both fell short.
Golovkin is a technical master with explosive power and pin-point accuracy. As an amateur he has wins over big names such as Andy Lee, Andre Dirrell and Lucian Bute. He now just needs the opportunity to get big names like this on his professional record.
Other fighters to receive votes: Sergio Martinez, Nonito Donaire, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Adrien Broner, Klitschko Brothers, Floyd Mayweather, Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Ruslan Provodnikov.
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