When you think of boxing and "The Executioner" you'd typically think of Bernard Hopkins, the Middleweight who went be the intimidating and daunting sounding name. Surprisingly however Hopkins isn't the only man with the "Executioner" moniker, another man using the name is little known Russian Heavyweight Sedrak Agagulyan.
It's fair to say that when we think of executioners we think dangerous, devastating and the sort of person who would have a few KO's on their record, unfortunately for Agagulyan he has completed failed to live up to his nickname and instead of being intimidating he has pretty much been a Russian whipping boy.
With a record of 1-27-1 it may well be fair to describe Agagulyan as the least effective "executioner" in the history of boxing.
Courtesy of http://www.boxer-hisataka.com/
It's not too often that I find myself giggling like a little school girl a fighters nickname but that's exactly what I did when I found out about Japanese fighter Hiroyuki Hisataka.
Later this month Hisataka travels to Argentina to face Omar Andres Narvaez for the WBO Super Flyweight world title. Before then however I will be giggling at the man known as the "Sexy Soldier".
Whilst I, as a red blooded male, will admit that Hisataka is a rather good looking chap I'd have never imagined a fighter calling themselves a "Sexy Soldier", especially not all over his own website as Hisataka does (http://www.boxer-hisataka.com/).
Although I'll admit I'm a fan of Narvaez and have followed him pretty intensively over the last few years I'll admit I think he's on the slide and it'd be amazing if Hisataka did beat him
"Luke, I am your father!"
Some nicknames make sense. The popular "Zurdo" nickname used by a lot of Mexicans for example, means simply "southpaw" (or "lefty") others however leave us wondering why a fighter has been given a particular name.
One man who's nickname has confused us is that of Heavyweight stalwart Denis Bakhtov, known to some as "Darth Vader".
The Kazakhstan born Russian fighter who has fought more than 40 times since turning professional in 1999 doesn't look like the type of guy you'd see at a Star Wars convention however that may well be where his name comes from.
Another theory we have is that Bakhtov has a son called Luke and likes to use the "Luke, I am your father" line.
We'll admit it, we're not sure.
The experienced fighter, who has faced a genuine who's who of Heavyweight boxing, will be looking for win #37 in just a few days as he takes on novice Vladimir Goncharov. If Bakhtov has the darkside in him don't be too shocked if he stops his upstart opponent early on.
Courtesy of boxrec.com
Although it seems like a life time ago Rocky 4 was almost a foretelling of what was to come in the boxing world. Prior to Ivan Drago, Rocky's rival in the movie, there was little really to make people think about Russian boxers taking over the boxing world.
Whilst the movie was fictional, it hasn't stopped the Russians (and Eastern Europeans in general) from making a mark on the boxing with a number of top fighters coming from Russia. One such fighter is Denis Grachev (13-1-1, 8) who has genuinely started to make his name in recent years.
Aged 30 Grachev first came to prominence in kick boxing where he compiled and excellent record and claimed various world titles. Since then however Grachev has turned his hand to both MMA and boxing.
It's as a boxer than Grachev has achieved major international fame thanks to televised fights from the US, Canada and Monaco which has seen him beating Zsolt Erdei and Ismayl Sillakh whilst suffering a controversial loss to former world champion Lucien Bute.
Despite his achievement in the ring, Grachev is probably getting more recognition for his new nickname, "Drago's Son" a name clearly taken from the aforementioned Rocky 4 character.
Courtesy of Boxrec.com
If a name could sum up a fighter I doubt many would want the moniker given to Filipino journeyman Rodel Tejares (20-27-4, 5) who is known to many simply as "Hard Worker".
We're not sure why Tejares got his name though we've got 2 separate theories:
1-Tejares is a fighter who is always in the gym and always ready to fight. His record of 50 fights in 9 years is pretty impressive so it's a theory that could be right
2-Tejares is very limited and just tries incredibly hard every time he's in the ring. Win or lose Tejares works hard. To us this theory seems more likely, though it's possible that there is a different reason all together.
Although Tejares is all but unknown in the West he has faced a genuine who's who in the East including Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Kompayak Porpramook, Tepparith Kokietgym, Xiong Zhao Zhong, Merlito Sabillo, Pornsawan Porpramook and Denkaosan Kaovichit (all former or current world champions) often giving a solid account of himself despite suffering numerous defeats.
Aged 28 Tejares is a fighter who has now suffered 8 losses in his last 9 bouts, including 3 by stoppage and it's unlikely his fortunes will turn around. Unfortunately with the punishment he's being forced to take it's likely that his career won't last much, though the "Hard Worker" will likely manage to find another career somewhere, you know, with his hard work!
Courtesy of Glenn Tam (Youtube)
In the past we've stuck to only really using male fighters in this section of the site though we managed to stumble on a name this week that just made us smile. Lady Love Sampiton.
Yes Lady Love.
Lady Love Sampiton (0-1) is a young female Filipino fighter who made her debut in August of 2012 when he was stopped by Jessebelle Pagaduan. The two women fight in a rematch this coming weekend (and we'd be shocked if Sampiton manages to score her first victory). Whilst we're not expecting her to win we will be cheering her on.
Although we're sure that "Lady Love" wasn't her birth name we do love the name and feel it belongs to be on weirdboxing!
We've really got to say thank you to Glenn Tam for the video below which shows Sampiton v Pagaduan I.
Gun Hero=Soldier, right?
Some names are obviously not real despite them being a fighters "fighting" name. One such name is the excellent, yet obscure, Gun Hero (2-3).
Although genuinely unknown outside of his homeland of Indonesia, Gun Hero has actually managed to fit a 50 rounds in to his professional career that started back in April 2011.
On his professional debut Mr Hero out gunned (see what I did there?) Hofifi Arjat over 12 rounds for the Indonesia Boxing Commission Super Bantamweight title.
Sadly Hero was to lose in his second professional contest as the experienced Arief Blader claimed a decision over 10 rounds in a bout for the Indonesia Boxing Association Super Bantamweight title.
Sadly since starting his career with successive title fights Gun has not fought in a major bout for almost 2 years as he's gone 1-2 in local bouts as his record has become less interesting than his excellent name.
For those wondering, the picture above isn't of Gun Hero but a hero with a gun...
*watches the tumbleweed*
In a sport where you hit each other in an attempt to render your opponent unconscious a nickname can mean a lot, with things such as "Destroyer" being perfectly apt and telling you what a fighter is. Sadly when you're named after a food item things can get a little bit ridiculous and that's what we had in the case of Orhan Delibas (25-2, 10).
Delibas was a former amateur stand out who was seen by many as one of the greatest ever Dutch based amateurs of all time. Although born in Turkey, Delibas forged his reputation in the Netherlands, a country he competed for as an amateur.
As an amateur Delibas was genuinely very good. He claimed a Silver medal at the 1992 Olympic games (beating future professional professional world champions Raul "El Diamante" and Robin Reid along the way) and a Silver medal at the European Championships (beating future professional world champion Bert Schenk along the way).
Following the 1995 World Military Championships Delibas turned professional and ran up a solid record winning his first 22 bouts and claimed the BeNeLux Light Middleweight title before suffering his first loss, a TKO8 loss to Mamadou Thiam in a bout for the European Light Middleweight title.
Sadly for Delibas he found his level just below European level and was again beaten in a European title contest 2 fights later, this time by Roman Karmazin in 3 rounds.
After losing to Karmazin, Delibas appeared to retire from the ring with a record of 23-2 (9) though surprisingly returned to the ring in 2008 for 2 more bouts (both wins) over very limited oppositions.
Sadly for Delibas, despite his amateur credentials and his solid, if unspectacular record, we were never going to include him on weird boxing for anything but his ridiculous nickname of "The Turkish Delight". A nickname that simply made it impossible to take Delibas too seriously despite his very credible skill level.
For those unaware of what Turkish delight's are, they are a type of gel based candy that are sold through out Europe, The British Commonwealth and even in Brazil (though is rarely found in the US). Whilst the nickname may have worked were it not for the candy, it's hard to take a fighter named after sweets too serious, just imagine a fighter's nickname like "Reeses Pieces" or "Chocolate Buttons"...
Movie goers amongst us may think that the only link between boxing and Adam Sandler movie "Happy Gilmore" is Carl Weathers. The actor who featured prominently in the "Rocky" series as "Apollo Creed" and also featured in "Happy Gilmore" (as "Chubbs Peterson"). We'd be wrong thanks to Russian Super Featherweight Evgeny Chuprakov (3-0, 2 at the time of writing).
The young Russian first made his name in his home country as an amateur at the turn of the decade when he fought in a number of low level competitions including the 208 Russian Junior National Championships. Sadly Chuprakov never really made a big splash in the amateurs and turned professional in 2011 aged just 21.
On debut Chuprakov in December 2011 stopped Ivan Varlamov inside 2 rounds before bagging his second win within a week as he out pointed Shavkat Madaminov just 4 days later.
Despite starting his career with 2 wins inside a week Chuprakov has only fought once since December 2011, scoring a 2nd round TKO victory over Suhrobjon Usmonov. He is now expected to return to the ring to face a yet to be announced opponent on January 24th.
Between 1980 and 1997 Oklahoma native Jerry Halstead fought an impressive 105 times recording a remarkable record of 84-19-1-1 (62). As well as the numerous fights he had he also claimed the lightly regarded WAA Super Middleweight world title in 1982 by stopping Ronnie Brown.
Whilst all boxing fans know that the Oklahoma boxing scene is somewhat poor Halstead did decide to extend himself outside of the state borders and in 1986 he tasted true world class as he was stopped by Greg Page, a former WBA Heavyweight champion.
Over the course of the following 11 years Halstead would go on to face Tony Tubbs, James Douglas, Tommy Morrison, Ray Mercer, Alex Stewart, Herbie Hide, Brian Nielsen (See Brian Who?), Jeremy Williams, Ruediger May and current Heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko. In total that was 7 recognised Heavyweight world champions, a European champion and several other top contenders.
Somehow despite his competition and his impressive record (and 17 year long career) Halstead was known by the unflattering name of "Wimpy". What makes it even more amusing is that Halstead looked like a genuine tough guy with an angry face early in his career. Sadly by the time he fought Klitschko in 1997, well into his 30's, the 6'1" Halstead was starting to look a little bloated and a little less mean.
Sadly outside of the ring Halstead has been in trouble with the law with numerous driving offenses including one that sadly killed his wife.
Footage of the Halstead v Klitschko fight, the final bout of Halstead's career, can be seen below thanks to andriyked
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