Boxing nicknames are awesome. No other soprt has nicknames that are nearly as cool. The only really cool basketball name I like is "The Answer" for Allen Iverson. In baseball, I always liked Mike "Laser" Lansing, but only when said with a Joile Quebecois accent (Le Grande Orange is also pretty good, for Rusty Staub).

Here are my top ten boxing nicknames.

10. The Motor City Cobra = Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns. The problem here is that most people know him as the Hitman, but the other nickname is cooler.

9. Manos de Piedra (Hands of Stone) = Roberto Duran. Better in Spanish than English.

8. "Iron" Mike Tyson. Simple, pure and destructive.

7. "Baby-faced Assassin" = Marco Antonio Barrera. Cute, clever, and accurate.

6. "Prince" Naseem Hamed. A perfect nickname for an arrogant midget without a drop of royal blood, who happens to be one of the most entertaining fighters ever.

5. "Sweet Pea" = Pernell Whitaker. A slick, funny nickname for a defensive master.

4. "El Matador" = Ricardo Mayorga. A great nickname for a Nicaraguan fighter more bull than matador.

3. "The Ol' Mongoose" = Archie Moore. What a strange, bizarre nickname indeed.

2. "The Louisville Lip" = Muhammad Ali. A great nickname for a man better known as "The Greatest."

1. "The Manassa Mauler" = Jack Dempsey. The absolute perfect nickname. Geography, perfect description and alliteration, and no other nickname to usurp it. It refers to his fighting, not his mouth. And it just sounds better than #2. Really, it doesn't get better than this.

Incidentally, the worst boxing nickname of all time is "The Golden Boy" for Oscar de la Hoya. I invite you all to comment, add , criticize, discuss nicknames from other sports, etc.