Wes Mathews boxed off season to keep in shape...hence..."ironman" ....when I grew up in the 50s and 60s the biggest sports in the country were baseball and boxing..Boxers were front page news...not so much nowadays...great thing I learned boxing as a kid was to roll with a punch...how to handle contact and counter...you can see that in Dame's game....he uses his body well absorbing contact
I'll never forget watching Cassius Clay knockout Sonny Liston with my dad...my dad swore that punch couldn't have crushed a grape...I knew he hit him and cleaned his clock...Sonny Liston was a scary dude
I don't recall that every being an element of Wes' nickname. "Ironman" referred to his durability (prior to the Achilles!) and playing every game.
Wes talked alot about his boxing keeping him strong enough to stay on the court..I translated that as being what made him an "ironman" ...not why he got the nickname
