May-Pac Historically the Most Important for 35 years?

[Carbo]

I just wonder.

If Pacquaio wins, he will find his way into literally everyone's top 15 of all time, almost everyone's top ten, and some people's top 5.

If Mayweather wins, he probably won't go quite as high, but it would certainly secure his place in that elite group of fighters which transcend their generations and enter into the argument for all-time pound for pound. Again, it's likely most would put him top 20.

Now, I'm trying to think back to the mega fights I remember, and I'm just trying to think of the last time a fight had this historical significance. Obviously some have been mega events, and others have been important for the legacy of specific boxers, but when was the last time a fight could have this impact on all-time standings?

My guess, off the top of my head, is Hagler - Leonard.

[veriton]

all depends if manny is a drug cheat or not. the more he tries to get out of doing the tests, the more he implicates himself whether he is guilty or not.

[MightyWarrior]

Arguello v Pryor 1 I'd say, with the legendary Explosive thin man moving up to create history with a record number of world titles at different weights ( at the time ) And you could say he'd beaten even more great fighters than PacMan in doing so.
And in a much tougher era,with the weight divisions not so diluted by the 4 titles on offer these days.

The anticipation was greater too, as you had two seemingly unbeatable knockout artists meeting, and you KNEW both were going to create an explosive event. It was always going to be fight of the year, if not decade, even with the fab four around at the same time.

But with Mayweather, there's always the strong possibility he's going to box to a boring safetly first points win.

Hearns/Leonard 1 was a bigger event too.

[Carbo]

Arguello v Pryor 1 I'd say, with the legendary Explosive thin man moving up to create history with a record number of world titles at different weights ( at the time ) And you could say he'd beaten even more great fighters than PacMan in doing so.
And in a much tougher era,with the weight divisions not so diluted by the 4 titles on offer these days.

The anticipation was greater too, as you had two seemingly unbeatable knockout artists meeting, and you KNEW both were going to create an explosive event. It was always going to be fight of the year, if not decade, even with the fab four around at the same time.

But with Mayweather, there's always the strong possibility he's going to box to a boring safetly first points win.

Hearns/Leonard 1 was a bigger event too.

Well, that's what I mean. All these are in the early eighties. Good shouts, but if this is the most historically important match this then, it's a grand event indeed.

[TerribleTerry]

Despite both matches leading to relatively tepid encounters, I would have thought that both Pernell Whitaker v Julio Caesar Chavez and Oscar De La Hoya v Felix Trinidad would have been deemed to be as historically significant as Pac Man v PBF, if not more so..

[veriton]

way too late of course, but lewis v tyson has to be up there

[levi billups]

it's perhaps a sign of the times that back in the 80s there were so many more of these landmark boxing events (Holmes-Cooney, Hagler-Leonard, Leonard-Hearns 1, Arguello-Pryor etc) when the whole sporting world sat up and took notice. Would Mayweather-Pacman have the same resonance had it been fought in the 80s? i doubt it, but boxing really needs this fight to happen to keep the sport in the forefront of people's consciousness in this decade.

Back to the mince pies.

[m1kee50]

I think the #1 vs the #2 is significant when it happens in one weightclass, let alone in a p4p sense.
Also I think that RJJ-Ruiz was important due to where RJJ began his career. But in terms of two fighters of such a high quality coming together at the peaks of their careers... not in the recent past IMO.

This is from computerranks thread in Current Scene... Archie Moore features prominently

20 highest rated bouts ever:

Code: Select all

+-------------------+------------+------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------+
| division          | date       | first_name | last_name   | first_name  | last_name   | r_min |
+-------------------+------------+------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------+
| Heavyweight       | 1955-09-21 | Rocky      | Marciano    | Archie      | Moore       | 7,296 | 
|                   | 1955-06-22 | Bobo       | Olson       | Archie      | Moore       | 7,188 | 
| Welterweight      | 1938-11-18 | Young      | Corbett III | Fred        | Apostoli    | 6,801 | 
| Heavyweight       | 1941-06-18 | Billy      | Conn        | Joe         | Louis       | 5,911 | 
| Light Heavyweight | 1952-12-17 | Archie     | Moore       | Joey        | Maxim       | 5,902 | 
| Middleweight      | 1958-03-25 | Carmen     | Basilio     | Sugar Ray   | Robinson    | 5,777 | 
| Middleweight      | 1962-10-23 | Gene       | Fullmer     | Dick        | Tiger       | 5,767 | 
| Middleweight      | 1959-12-04 | Gene       | Fullmer     | Spider      | Webb        | 5,456 | 
| Welterweight      | 1963-03-21 | Emile      | Griffith    | Luis Manuel | Rodriguez   | 5,402 | 
| Middleweight      | 1963-08-10 | Gene       | Fullmer     | Dick        | Tiger       | 5,365 | 
|                   | 1938-01-07 | Freddie    | Steele      | Fred        | Apostoli    | 5,295 | 
| Welterweight      | 1935-05-28 | Jimmy      | McLarnin    | Barney      | Ross        | 5,130 | 
| Welterweight      | 1949-07-11 | Kid        | Gavilan     | Sugar Ray   | Robinson    | 5,123 | 
|                   | 1948-01-13 | Ezzard     | Charles     | Archie      | Moore       | 5,122 | 
| Middleweight      | 1957-09-23 | Carmen     | Basilio     | Sugar Ray   | Robinson    | 5,115 | 
|                   | 1943-08-27 | Henry      | Armstrong   | Sugar Ray   | Robinson    | 4,984 | 
| Lightweight       | 1939-08-22 | Lou        | Ambers      | Henry       | Armstrong   | 4,903 | 
| Welterweight      | 1934-09-17 | Barney     | Ross        | Jimmy       | McLarnin    | 4,881 | 
| Welterweight      | 1963-06-08 | Emile      | Griffith    | Luis Manuel | Rodriguez   | 4,754 | 
| Welterweight      | 1942-07-31 | Sugar Ray  | Robinson    | Sammy       | Angott      | 4,744 | 
+-------------------+------------+------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------+

[hitman_hatton1]

biggest fight since de la hoya-trinidad.

and that was the biggest fight since holyfield-tyson.

which was the biggest fight since leonard-hagler.

lets just say it's a big fight.

[ALI]

De La Hoya v Mayweather was huge, but this is set to break all records. Trouble is, Mayweather will likely stink the joint out with his safety first approach. Its a shame as the whole world will be watching.

A lot of people say Mayweather's got it all, and undoubtedly thats near to the truth, but what he does not have is combination punching, its his pot shotting tactics that make for boaring fights to the cusual boxing fan. This fight may go down as one of the biggest grossing boxing matches ever, but it could also be forgotten about at record speed. Perhaps thats an exageration, the result should be significant, especially if Pac wins, but it wont be remembered as a great fight, Mayweather will make sure of that.

Mayweather, before comming out for the 12th and final round against Judah, said twice to his corner "i want to stop him". Go and watch that twelth round again, his attempt at stopping him was pathetic, he once again proved he cannot throw combinations, and by the halfway point Judah was chasing him around the ring.

Mayweather's a great great talent, but exciting he aint and he'll likely turn this fight into one not to remember. Shame, because a barnstormer of a tear up in a fight of this magnificence would do wonders for boxing right now.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Would love to see Pacman v Mosley, now THAT would be a fight and a half.

[Autobarn]

all these so called superfights of this millennium are the biggest fight ever, the most important fight ever - until the next one. worth pointing out that nowadays, due to matching fighters from different weights, it's usually a size mismatch, or it's a case of the bigger guy being drained. seldom are these fights thrilling, and often they are one sided. these are hardly leonard-hearns or bowe-holyfield calibre fights. the best fights are happening on a smaller canvas.

[Chris W 1982]

Surely DLH and Mayweather was the last big fight???

Before that??? How did Hopkins/DLH do box office wise? that was plugged massively.