Stick it to ‘em: Some the greatest taunts ever seen in sports

For some it's a show of confidence, for others it’s unsportsmanlike conduct. Wherever you land on the matter, there’s no getting around the fact taunting (or sledging) can really play into the theatre of a match-up.

Sometimes they're clever, sometimes they're brutal, and sometimes they're just downright bizarre. Let’s look at some of the most memorable taunts we’ve encountered in sports over the years.

Coming into his first major fight as an underdog in 2015, Fury used every chance he got to make the fight about himself and diminish Klitchsko’s role. And to prove he wasn’t threatened by the Ukrainian Heavyweight, he even sang a song for him at their first press conference, a delicate rendition of ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings’ no less.

Emerging victorious, he also repeated this at the end of the fight, this time choosing Aerosmith’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’ and dedicating it to his wife while Klitschko and his team stood around deflated.

Not quite the same as the others on this list, but nonetheless notable, former Clippers owner Donald Sterling had unorthodox methods of trying to inspire his own players. Back in 2011 he was heard berating point guard Baron Davis from his courtside seats during games.

"Why are you in the game?" Sterling was said to have shouted. "Why did you take that shot? You're out of shape!". Ouch.

For those who didn’t know, taunting (or sledging) is actually a big part of cricket (especially for Australians). And there are hundreds of examples to choose from but we’ll just go with a classic line paceman Dennis Lillie used to throw around to unnerve his opponents.

"I can see why you are batting so badly, you’ve got some s**t on the end of your bat," Lillee would tell the batsman.
At this point, the batsman would usually flip his bat over and examine the end, to which Lillee would respond, "Wrong end mate."

Terrell Owens backed himself to come up with the big moments, so much so the WR used to carry around a sharpie in his sock on the field just to sign off on his triumphs in real-time. The biggest moment came when he signed his touchdown ball and handed it to his financial adviser – a man who just happened to be sitting in the box of Shawn Springs, the man Owens had just flattened for the touchdown.

Boston fans were desperate to win the 1986 World Series that they pulled out all the stops, heckling the right fielder with their relentless ‘Daaa-rylll’ chant. A chant so harsh that it was immortalized in The Simpsons. Strawberry was unfazed though and won the series with the Mets that year.

Lionel Messi may be one of the most respected football players of all time but even he’s not above ‘unsportsmanlike’ behavior, as we saw at last year’s World Cup. Soon after scoring a penalty to put Argentina 2-0 ahead, he stopped in front of the Netherlands dugout and cupped his hands around his ears.

The gesture was reportedly toward outspoken Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, who said before the game that his team would look to take advantage of Messi’s perceived lack of work rate off the ball.

While we’re on the Argentinian soccer team, we have to mention Emi Martinez who has developed a serious reputation as a pot stirrer. The world saw this first hand in 2021 at the Cope America in 2021. With Argentina and Colombia facing off in a penalty shootout during their semi-final clash, Martinez could be heard giving the Colombian defender some less than encouraging words in Spanish.

“You’re nervous, huh? You’re laughing but you’re nervous,” he started as Mina put the ball on the spot. “Yeah, yeah. You’re nervous. You’re nervous. Hey, look. See how I know where you’ll shoot. And then I’ll save it. I’m eating you up, brother. I’m eating you up, brother.” It worked a treat, it seems, as Martinez made a crucial save.

Back when Tiger Woods was something of an upstart and the majors were just starting to roll in, there was an air of confidence around him that you don’t see too often on the PGA tour. In winning his fifth major in 2000, Tiger gave us one of his most iconic celebrations as he pointed and followed his ball as sank a birdie on the first playoff hole.

A picture paints a thousand words, and there’s no question that this iconic image says more than we ever could. Shouting ‘Get up and fight, sucker’ to a flattened-out Liston was the cherry on top for this historic match-up. Ali was the top dog, mentally and physically. 

Before the NFL brought in taunting penalties, they were rife with disrespectful taunts – especially post-touchdown. Chad Johnson was the king of the celebration in the early-mid 2000s in the NFL. One of his most disrespectful showings would have to be the flamboyant River Dance jig he dusted off in 2005. 

Image Credit: YouTube @NFL Films

Michael Jordan knew he was the best and had no problem letting everyone know. On this occasion, he dialed it up to 11. Dikembe Mutombo was known for his finger wag taunt and after dunking on the Hawk’s center, MJ couldn’t help but give him a taste of his own medicine. No words!

Controversy has long swirled around Babe Ruth's called shot – the height of arrogance (see also confidence) in baseball. While it certainly looks like he was indicating where his ball would go, some say he was pointing at the Cubs dugout, others say he was gesturing to the pitcher. In any case, there's no disputing that he followed his second point (after a swing-and-miss on the first one) with a towering 440-plus foot home run that helped fuel the Yankees to victory. 

Of course, we have to have the most notorious trash-talker in the game. There’s plenty to choose from; do we go for the funniest, the weirdest, the cockiest, or the most brutal? We’ve tried to cover them all with this pre-match assault on Eddie Alvarez.

“I’m going to toy with this man. I will rearrange his facial structure. His wife and kids won’t recognize him again. His friends will know he’s not the same after this contest. You’re never, ever going to be the same. Your kids are going to beg ‘daddy, please don’t go again!”

Have we missed any pearlers? Let us know – we're all ears!