The Most Important Rounds in Heavyweight History

crooked nose · Post by **crooked nose** » 19 Apr 2004, 14:59

What specific rounds do you feel had the greatest impact on the history of the division? I would choose these:
Louis-Conn I, rd. 13 - Conn gets caught after building a lead over the Brown Bomber.
Clay-Liston I, rd. 5 - Clay's is almost blind from a substance in his eyes, but Liston can't capitalize. Throws in the towel a round later.
Tunney-Dempsey II, rd. 7 - "Long Count". Tunney survives, defends title.
Young-Foreman, rd. 7 - Foreman outboxed thru six. Finally nails Young, who is out on his feet. Young survives with slipping, clinching and moving. Foreman is spent, knocked down in 12th, loses, sees God, retires. No rematch with Ali, no showdown with Holmes.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 19 Apr 2004, 15:25

Good rounds, o ye one of the Bent Schnozzola.

Just off the top of my head, I would add:

- Marciano/Charles I: Whichever round (I think it was the 7th or the 8th) of the first fight where Charles caught an elbow in the throat.

- Ali/Frazier I, round 15: IIRC the fight was basically even on 2 of the 3 cards going into the 15th.

- Weaver/Tate, round 15: not quite up there with the ithers, but still one of the more memorable turnarounds in title fights in HW history.

Marciano Frazier · Post by **Marciano Frazier** » 19 Apr 2004, 21:35

Dempsey-Willard round 1, the round in which Dempsey broke Willard's face to bits and dropped him seven times in the most brutal round I have ever witnessed

Dempsey-Firpo round 1, probably the greatest single action round in history, with 9 knockdowns, one of them being Dempsey flying out of the ring

Louis-Schmeling round 1, the most hyped up fight politically ever, coming down to one devastating round in which Louis utterly wiped Schmeling out and broke a vertebrae.

Marciano-Walcott I- the 13th round, in which Marciano, desperately behind on the scorecards, lands the mother of all KO punches and takes the heavyweight title

Marciano-Charles II- the 8th round, after Marciano's nose was split open with a shot that many claim was actually an elbow after missing an uppercut, and his cornermen covered his nose in a Pinocchio-like bandage so he could come out for the 8th and win a desperate knockout.

Ali-Frazier I, round 15, the last round of the Fight of the Century, in which Frazier secured the victory with a crushing knockdown of Ali.

Ali-Foreman, round 8, the round in which Ali pulled off a truly amazing upset over a young, fiery George Foreman.

Tyson-Douglas round 10, the final round of the greatest upset in the history of boxing.

Foreman-Moorer round 10, the round in which Foreman broke the record for the oldest heavyweight champion in history.

crooked nose · Post by **crooked nose** » 20 Apr 2004, 01:06

Some additions:
Douglas-Tyson - The question is, what's the critical round? I think 9. Douglas decked, almost counted out in 8th. Everyone thinks, well, Buster gave a good account of himself but now Tyson's going to get the job done. Instead, Douglas comes out for 9 and smacks Tyson around. The KO in the 10th was anticlimax.

Holmes-Shavers II, rd. 7 - Earnie finally lands the big one, and I mean the BIG one. A right that would have decapitated a healthy rhinoceros. But, Holmes pulls his stubborn ass off the canvas, shakes off the cobwebs and goes on to defend his title.

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 20 Apr 2004, 18:30

..although braddock was worn down from a steady beating by joe louis, the eighth round in which louis knocked him out and made louis champion..and began that long career had huge a boxing and sociological impact.

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 20 Apr 2004, 18:45

Here are some pretty important ones right here:

TheRiverCityHippy · Post by **TheRiverCityHippy** » 20 Apr 2004, 22:22

first time he was down in his career.
the louis schmelling fight (II)has got to be the biggest round because boxing transcended sport that night into politics, and high stakes politics at that.
poor old max was portrayed as the archtypical nazi while in truth he was just the opposite.
in fact he was made to join the paratroops at over thirty years of age and sent to the frontline as punishment for continuing to hang around with his jewish friends.
the nazi hierachy viewed him with suspicion. they had reason to because max was a fervent anti nazi, but at the same time a proud german.

THE DANCING MASTER · Post by **THE DANCING MASTER** » 21 Apr 2004, 22:37

I think the 5th round of the second Johansson-Patterson fight where Floyd regained the title deserves mention since it marked the first time anyone had regained the heavyweight crown. If you remember or have ever seen the tape, Patterson hit Ingo so hard with a left hook that Johansson was out like a light for quite a while and his leg was twitching. Probably Floyd's finest moment. :)

saad · Post by **saad** » 21 Apr 2004, 23:32

Michael Bentt-Tommy Morrison round 1

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 23 Apr 2004, 17:25

Round 15 Holmes v Norton. I think it was all on the last, and Holmes put to rest his reputation as a quitter by outpunching Norton to win the title.
One of the great heavyweight rounds too.

The most famous round in the UK is Ali(Clay) v Cooper 1 - round 4. 'Enry almost knocks Ali cold with a left hook, but the bell comes to his rescue as he staggers up. Long standing myth on how long the time between rounds was, but years later Dundee admits he tore Ali's glove to give him a bit more time to recover.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 24 Apr 2004, 08:42

One that hasn't been mentioned yet which I feel is one of the most important rounds and fights in Boxing history is the 15th and final round of-

Jack Johnson WTKO15 Jim Jefferies World Heavyweight Title.

It was held on the 4th July 1910 Independence Day, the most Americain of all days.

Jim Jeffereis was possibly the first real 'Great White Hope' whom was called out of a 6 year retirment to rid the world of the 'evil' Jack Johnson and to finally wipe that 'yellow smile' off the black Champions face.

'White' 1910 America wanted the Heavyweight Title 'back'.

Johnson gave The Boilermaker a slow beating and stopped him with relative ease in the 15th round.

There was then as a direct result of the fight a wave of racial hatred that swept across the USA that I've read resulted in about 12 deaths and many more stabbings and beatings.

I think I'm right in saying that the Government banned the showing of the film of this fight for a number of years (or at least tried to).

If Jefferies had been allowed to stay retired on his farm, he not Rocky Marciano would have been the 1st Heavyweight Champion to retire undefeated.

These are the reasons why I think the 15th round of this fight is so important, even if the reasons are at times very unpleasant.

Richie Aprille rules · Post by **Richie Aprille rules** » 24 Apr 2004, 12:35

If I had to choose one and only one, my pick would be Frazier-Ali I, Rd 15.

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 24 Apr 2004, 12:37

kayojoe.....yes..that's a big one. which leads me to another, which is in a different way a major round...round one of the braddock/louis fight. when the bell rang joe louis became the first black heavyweight to come out and challenge for the title. one major reason for the long drought was the white public's dislike of jack johnson, who didn't play the role of the "good colored boy" they virtually demanded at the time.

..which also leads to...round one of the louis/farr fight...the first time a black fighter came out to defend his title since jack johnson did so.

neither is as dramatic as the others we've posted but in a less obvious way are at least of some significance.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 25 Apr 2004, 08:01

Jaclem wrote:kayojoe.....yes..that's a big one. which leads me to another, which is in a different way a major round...round one of the braddock/louis fight. when the bell rang joe louis became the first black heavyweight to come out and challenge for the title. one major reason for the long drought was the white public's dislike of jack johnson, who didn't play the role of the "good colored boy" they virtually demanded at the time.

..which also leads to...round one of the louis/farr fight...the first time a black fighter came out to defend his title since jack johnson did so.

neither is as dramatic as the others we've posted but in a less obvious way are at least of some significance.

That's right Jaclem.

Also because of 'White' Americas hatred of Jack Johnson when Joe Louis came along his management team gave him strict intructions to NEVER been seen in public dating white women and NEVER celebrate beating a white opponent, just return to your corner.

I think it's at times very interesting how the history of Boxing is so closely linked to social, racial and political issues.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 28 Apr 2004, 12:25

KOJOE90 wrote:I think it's at times very interesting how the history of Boxing is so closely linked to social, racial and political issues.

Not just boxing - sport in general. Look at the '36 Berlin Olympics, for instance. Or the black power protest by U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith and Juan Carlos at the '68 Mexico City games. Or the deadly attack by Palestinian terrorists at the '72 Munich Olympics, etc., etc.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 28 Apr 2004, 12:37

Eric the Viking wrote:
KOJOE90 wrote:I think it's at times very interesting how the history of Boxing is so closely linked to social, racial and political issues.
Not just boxing - sport in general. Look at the '36 Berlin Olympics, for instance. Or the black power protest by U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith and Juan Carlos at the '68 Mexico City games. Or the deadly attack by Palestinian terrorists at the '72 Munich Olympics, etc., etc.

Absolutley.

People say Sport and politics should be kept apart but that's easier said than done, even if you think they should.

Of course at the 68 Olympics Big George waved his little Americain flag after winning Gold. IMO I don't think he was making a concious political statement but I wonder how his team mates felt?

Am I right in thinking that Tommie Smith and Juan Carlos where sent home after thier salute?

crooked nose · Post by **crooked nose** » 28 Apr 2004, 13:34

Yes, they were sent home. Those were volatile times. At the same time the Olympics were taking place in Mexico City, demonstrators were being shot down in the streets.

A particular fight or round can take on greater significance because of the political background. Joe Louis made an emphatic statement by clobbering Max in one. The live radio feed back to Deutschland was cut off rather than let the volk hear the Ubermensch being beaten by the Amerikanische schwartze.
And there were surely plenty of Ali-haters who savored the 15th rd. knockdown by Frazier. Smokin' Joe had become the honorary standard bearer of the hawk establishment (a role he didn't want).