It isn?t an absolute necessity, but has there ever been a truly great fighter who didn?t have a catchy nickname? Boxing is the last preserve of the nom de guerre, a throwback preserve where guys known as ?Hands of Stone,? the ?Manassas Mauler,? ?Brown Bomber,? ?Brockton Blockbuster? and ?Old Mongoose? are as easily identifiable by their secondary handles as they are for their official listings on birth certificates. Maybe even more so; Sugar Ray Robinson came into this world as Walker Smith, Rocky Marciano as Rocco Marchegiano, Willie Pep as Guglielmo Papaleo.
Perhaps his misfortune of being branded with a common name, one that fails to stand out from the crowd, has contributed to welterweight contender Mike Jones? struggle to gain mainstream acceptance to date. To counteract that, Jones? handlers conducted a contest last year whereby fans could enter suggestions for an official nickname, the winning entry to be picked by Jones himself.
Alas, Jones chose the ?Messiah,? which struck some as blasphemous and was quickly replaced by ?M.J.,? which might have been considered a marginal
