Top Ten Best Fighters of All-Time?

Oct 15, 2008
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Who would you guys say the scariest fighter of all time was? I think Probert was the best but I would be willing to bet guys would rather fight him than Kocur. Going Kocur could end careers, I dont think anyone has as many KOs as he does in history

Dave Brown hands down.

Im surprised he didnt kill someone tbh.
 

Cotton

Registered User
May 13, 2013
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Chara? What? He's a terrible fighter who gets by on size alone. He has the balance of a newborn fawn.

Also, Colton Orr is not a technically good fighter, but he swings for the fences, and often connects. His chin-up style leaves him open though.

Not enough Joey Kocur on this list. The guy would throw HEAVY punches.

Another is Steve Macintyre. Guy is a beast.

My second cousin fought Lyndon Byers, Cam Neely too, a career-enforcer who is about 6'2 and 230. His cousin, my father, was a trained and ranked middleweight who fought out of Hamilton in the 70's, which one do you think wouldn't fight the other? (In my family that wasn't uncommon either). As someone who's grown up around fighting, was trained to be a fighter and did a little myself I can tell you these are hockey brawlers, none of them are technically-good fighters, less we see them in a ring there is no way to truly judge.

That being said, Twist would be in my top three... he knew how to throw his weight.
 

WildcatMapleLeafs28

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Jun 30, 2009
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My second cousin fought Lyndon Byers, Cam Neely too, a career-enforcer who is about 6'2 and 230. His cousin, my father, was a trained and ranked middleweight who fought out of Hamilton in the 70's, which one do you think wouldn't fight the other? (In my family that wasn't uncommon either). As someone who's grown up around fighting, was trained to be a fighter and did a little myself I can tell you these are hockey brawlers, none of them are technically-good fighters, less we see them in a ring there is no way to truly judge.

That being said, Twist would be in my top three... he knew how to throw his weight.

Craig Coxe wasn't bad technically.

And just for the record , they're not all bad technically. Like you mention, there's no way of telling if they're not in the ring. Not true. They are indeed not in a ring and adapted to the surroundings and factors(ice).
 

Cotton

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May 13, 2013
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who's ur cousin?

Jacques Mailhot

Craig Coxe wasn't bad technically.

And just for the record , they're not all bad technically. Like you mention, there's no way of telling if they're not in the ring. Not true. They are indeed not in a ring and adapted to the surroundings and factors(ice).

I'd love to see a video illustrating your point, of good fighting technique in an NHL enforcer. I have no doubt some of them could probably put on some mits and know what they're doing, and considering the surrounding factor it's impressive... what they do manage because a square fighter is more reliant on muscle then his body, you think Brown flexed his knee to add pop? no, Did Probert rely on timing? hell no. These are scrappers, and I like them the way they are and I respect them for what they do, but when someone point out a lack of technique relating to Colton Orr? I had to say something.
 

Lion Hound

@JoeTucc26
Mar 12, 2007
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Jacques Mailhot



I'd love to see a video illustrating your point, of good fighting technique in an NHL enforcer. I have no doubt some of them could probably put on some mits and know what they're doing, and considering the surrounding factor it's impressive... what they do manage because a square fighter is more reliant on muscle then his body, you think Brown flexed his knee to add pop? no, Did Probert rely on timing? hell no. These are scrappers, and I like them the way they are and I respect them for what they do, but when someone point out a lack of technique relating to Colton Orr? I had to say something.

Jaques was a legend. My cousin and he also tangoed once or twice.
 

lastcupever75

Phive cups PA.
May 14, 2009
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Jacques Mailhot



I'd love to see a video illustrating your point, of good fighting technique in an NHL enforcer. I have no doubt some of them could probably put on some mits and know what they're doing, and considering the surrounding factor it's impressive... what they do manage because a square fighter is more reliant on muscle then his body, you think Brown flexed his knee to add pop? no, Did Probert rely on timing? hell no. These are scrappers, and I like them the way they are and I respect them for what they do, but when someone point out a lack of technique relating to Colton Orr? I had to say something.


nice

i remember the name
 

David Bruce Banner

Nude Cabdriver Ban
Mar 25, 2008
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Who would you guys say the scariest fighter of all time was? I think Probert was the best but I would be willing to bet guys would rather fight him than Kocur. Going Kocur could end careers, I dont think anyone has as many KOs as he does in history

Off the top of my head, some other guys reputed to have "heavy hands"

B. Wilson
Fotiu
Cairns
Fraser
Ewen
 

Reinhart

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Jun 13, 2011
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This thread needs more Tim Hunter. He was a huge reason why the Flames became competitive against the Oilers. Oilers were more skilled AND tougher than Calgary - with guys like Semenko literally having their way with anyone on Calgary's roster. Hunter came in, and turned the tides, and allowed Calgary to play more aggressive against the Oilers. Calgary has had lots of really great fighters - McCarthy, McGrattan, Grimson, Goddard, etc., but none were as effective as Tim Hunter.

Also, he was a work-out freak - at the time when players would smoke between periods and come to camp to get into shape. He not only was one of the best fighters in history (imo), but his impact on the Flames was gigantic. The Oilers would have undoubtedly kept beating up on the Flames during their dynasty period if it wasn't for Tim.



This one is interesting, though slightly off-topic - I wonder how many games some of these suspensions would go for in today's NHL? Semenko with the punch after the fight was broken up, then Peplinski jumps Semenko after that punch, causing a brawl - and look carefully as Semenko attempts to kick Peplinski!

 

Ohashi_Jouzu*

Registered User
Apr 2, 2007
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Halifax
Tim Hunter is a great addition to the conversation, for the reasons you've outlined. As one of the best AND most prolific fighters at a time when his team was at their franchise peak, I think you can look back at his contribution in terms of his fighting skills AND the degree of positive impact that could be suggested from his team's fortunes in those years of response to the Gretzky/Semenko dynamic in the same division.
 

BlackNgold 84

Known Kellyist
Nov 21, 2011
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I know there has been a few threads on top fighters or top 10. I just got a random question. Was Dave Semenko ever a "dominant" fighter? i mean he looked scary.. he was always chewing gum and looking mean/caveman like. But the videos i see him in he's either talking **** and nothing happens or the fight isn't that impressive. And he was before my time so I didn't grew up with him like some of the other people in here.
 

GMR

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Jul 27, 2013
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Off the top of my head, some other guys reputed to have "heavy hands"

B. Wilson
Fotiu
Cairns
Fraser
Ewen

Fraser would be the only guy there I'd say had scary power. He hurt a lot of fighters with his power.

Wilson and Fotiu are legends, but they didn't have as many KO's or TKO's as Fraser.

Ewen and Cairns were good, but I don't remember them dropping many guys either (other than of course Ewen dropping Probert).


I know there has been a few threads on top fighters or top 10. I just got a random question. Was Dave Semenko ever a "dominant" fighter? i mean he looked scary.. he was always chewing gum and looking mean/caveman like. But the videos i see him in he's either talking **** and nothing happens or the fight isn't that impressive. And he was before my time so I didn't grew up with him like some of the other people in here.

From what I've heard, he got his reputation mostly in the WHL and in his early NHL days. Unfortunately, not much video of his fights is available from those early days. His legend is mostly built on reputation. I rarely see people on hockey fight sites even rank him top 15.
 

stocker

Registered User
Mar 9, 2004
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In your opinion, who are the top ten best fighters of all-time? Here is my personal list:

1. Bob Probert

2. Dave Brown

3. Behn Wilson

4. Larry Playfair

5. Joey Kocur

6. Tony Twist

7. Bob Nystrom

8. Marty McSorley

9. Bob "Battleship" Kelly

10. Donald Brashear


Very good list but you could have 1,000 people do it and have 1,000 diffrent answers.Probert was # 1 Brown and Playfair 2&3 I saw Kelly fight and he was good. Bob Gassoff has to be top 10 as well.Agree with Behn Wilson as well.Love Twist. Kocur was just plain powerful.Hard hard puncher.
 

Joey24

Registered User
Mar 9, 2002
6,192
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New Zealand
Bob Probert
Dave Brown
Derek Boogaard
Joey Kocur
Troy Crowder
Tony Twist
Stu Grimson
Brian McGrattan
Nick Fotiu
John Ferguson

HM's Behn Wilson, Tie Domi, Donald Brashear, Jim McKenzie, Marty McSorley

HM's to some middle and lightweights...
Wendel Clark, Rick Rypien, Stan Jonathan, Wayne Cashman, George McPhee

Hard to put Wendel Clark in the middle weight class when he fought and beat the toughest in the game.
 

IMLACHnME

Registered User
Dec 27, 2013
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0
GTA
I'm a big fan of the old school guys, don't get me wrong, but fighters like Boogaard, MacIntyre, Orr and McGrattan should be on or around this list.

Not to mention old old school guys like Ferguson and Kurtenbach

Glad to see someone mention Ferguson and Kurtenbach. To be fair however, Ted Harris should be mentioned with them. If my recollection of the fight cards is correct, Kurtenbach only won of the various matches he had with Harris.
 

JakeTrippy

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Apr 16, 2014
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Chris Knuckles was the best all time not because he won all of his fights because he didn't but because he truly had NO FEAR and his film proves it!
 

whlscowt

Guest
Sean Cronin "The Barbarian" tuned Crowder a couple times back in the day.
Jimmy Kyte & Tim Hunter had some great ones. Rocky Thompson was another very entertaining fighter.

He easily makes my top 10 list of best fighters of all time. He wasn't the biggest guy, but he was ferocious and a little bit nuts. I still remember that one fight where his face was completely covered in blood and he was smiling because he won.
 

DMR

Registered User
Apr 29, 2010
510
6
This is just stream of consciousness off the top of my head:

Probie (God help you if he got out of his sweater)
Kocur
Twister
Reaper
Ray
McSorley
Domi (I give the guy big points for having brass balls and an iron chin)
Bic Mac
Brown
Semenko (i'll put him in because I do believe his rep was earned. There's a solid fight between him and Probert I tried to embed but was having issue with).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x2O9c1GhGA


My belief is that Chara only appears to be a good fighter because of the era he plays in. I don't believe he deserves to be within a million miles of most guys listed in this thread. Despite his size, he gets wrestled down a fair amount. He's never displayed the ability to be a devastating puncher. I think even a guy like Francois Leroux at 6'6" would absolutely destroy Chara in humiliating fashion. And no way Chara is able to routinely wrestle down guys like Tony Twist, true heavyweight tanks with low centers of gravity.
 

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