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*