Has a fighter ever landed a more important punch...

[jamesmcdonnell]

Jersey Joe Walcott was well ahead against Rocky Marciano until Rock caught him in the 13th round of their first fight. Who knows how things might have changed for Marciano had he not pulled that punch out of the bag.

That's the first one that came to my head when I read the opening post.

Good call indeed. For one thing, he wouldn't have had the big -0 at the end of his record as Walcott was well ahead on points.

[J]

Nigel benns hail mary vs Jamaican Anthony Logan.

Benn was all but done and stumbling around facing a heavy defeat, when some how found a big swinging left from his toes that nearly decapitated Logan.

Think it was for the commonwealth title and if he had lost you could have seen the benn hype machine being derailed at the very least put back by a year or two, a KO2 loss doesnt do much for the career, instead as we know he went on to have one of the best careers in british boxing.

Logan meanwhile had one further fight of note, losing on points to a green Chris Eubank before fading into obscurity.

Yeah THAT PUNCH is probably as important as Audleys I would say, Benn may never have got near the world title had he lost that fight..who knows....probaly worth around 5-10 million that punch in the great scheme of things?

the other one that springs to mind is thompson against rothman, to a much lesser extent as it got him a fight with Haye and a big payday and we know what happened there..

[jessi]

froch ko taylor 12th round 2m 50s

[Twinkle Toes]

Surprised no one has mentioned Eubank/Watson.

That Eubank uppercut...well nothing more needs to be said.

[rhino222]

carl thompson v sebastian rothman.......

[oliverfennell]

in all fairness - as much as that punch turned things around for Audley.

Does anybody really believe he would have packed it in if he didn't land that punch?

Wishfull thinking. Certainly would not have followed the Audley path he has been plodding.

Maybe not, but I think the best he could have hoped for would have been a role as a "name opponent" for the rising domestic prospects.

[oliverfennell]

Agree with tonyevs, it's wishful thinking that Audrey would have packed it in. He would have whipped out the "injured arm" reasoning straight away and continued to walk boxing through the muck.

The Bonecrusher punch was also more important in terms of how it turned his career around at that point. You can clearly measure the follow up.You can't with A-Farces...yet.

Come back in two years time with the same thread and you will get a clear outcome to your post, oliverfennell.

Again, my question is not concerning how Harrison will fare against Haye, or in the rest of his career. As I said, even if he gets knocked out in seconds against Haye, it doesn't change a thing about how important that one punch against Sprott was in terms of what it gained him, versus what he stood to lose if he hadn't landed it.

[oliverfennell]

OK. Final offer from me....!

George Foreman KO 10 Michael Moorer

1) Foreman was trailing on points at the time
2) It was a single-punch KO - from memory Moorer went down like he'd been shot
3) If he'd lost he would certainly have retired at that point given his age
4) He captured two belts not one (WBA and IBF)
5) He went on to make a successful defence (something I can't envisage Harrison managing, even if he somehow manages to get past Haye) and won two further fights despite being stripped of those titles

That is a very good one, in terms of my original positing - i.e. staring retirement in the face and salvaging not only the fight but also the career, as well as winning a world title, with one punch.

I'd still say the "before and after" gap was bigger with Harrison, though, given Foreman's legacy was already secured, he was widely expected to lose anyway, and such a loss wouldn't have harmed his reputation.

[oliverfennell]

I won't delve into the long history of one-punch career turnarounds that put Harrison's into its proper perspective, such as Jersey Joe Walcott's against Ezzard Charles, but I will cite Carl Thompson's one-punch finish of Sebastiaan Rothmann as much more inspiring in this country, particularly as Rothmann had licked all his previous British opponents in style and because Thompson looked all through as a fighter. More than that, Thompson outlasted Haye a fight later, and rumour has it that Harrison's own mother is laying odds against her son doing the same.

Thompson-Rothmann is one of my all-time favourite fights and knockouts. It's not much of an exaggeration to compare it to Castro-JD Jackson. People were crying out for the fight to be stopped in Rothmann's favour, and then...

[Deserter]

OK. Final offer from me....!

George Foreman KO 10 Michael Moorer

1) Foreman was trailing on points at the time
2) It was a single-punch KO - from memory Moorer went down like he'd been shot
3) If he'd lost he would certainly have retired at that point given his age
4) He captured two belts not one (WBA and IBF)
5) He went on to make a successful defence (something I can't envisage Harrison managing, even if he somehow manages to get past Haye) and won two further fights despite being stripped of those titles

That is a very good one, in terms of my original positing - i.e. staring retirement in the face and salvaging not only the fight but also the career, as well as winning a world title, with one punch.

I'd still say the "before and after" gap was bigger with Harrison, though, given Foreman's legacy was already secured, he was widely expected to lose anyway, and such a loss wouldn't have harmed his reputation.

I think that's fair comment Oliver. The only thing I'd add is that so much is going to be dependent on Harrison's showing against Haye i.e. if he's blown away in a couple of rounds, I think your contention will lose a lot of its power from a historical perspective. If he wins, however, I think you're right in that there won't have been a better example.

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

I have never seen it but maybe Rocky Marciano vs Jersey Joe Walcott. By all accounts, Jersey Joe won every round and was giving Marciano a complete boxing lesson until that famous punch by Marciano which won the title for him has took on a legend of it's own.

If Marciano would have lost that first fight against Walcott - more than likely he would have drifted into obscurity.

[bennie]

As Carlos says, Rocky needed a knockout to win but history has never really been kind to the Rock when it comes to his underrated boxing ability and defence. He is usually dismissed as a small, strong, face-first heavy who got lucky against an old Louis and an old Walcott. However, he could actually have salvaged a draw with Walcott and thus secured a rematch, in the days when fighters fought each other many times. The scores after 12 rounds read 8-4, 7-4-1 and 7-5.

[n1ebf]

Surprised no one has mentioned Eubank/Watson.

That Eubank uppercut...well nothing more needs to be said.

exactly.

[bennie]

Surprised no one has mentioned Eubank/Watson.

That Eubank uppercut...well nothing more needs to be said.

exactly.

...but Watson got up and carried on fighting.

[Twinkle Toes]

He got up Bennie, but i'd call it trying to survive rather than fighting - Watson didn't throw a single punch after Eubank put him down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvh9-xr0gOQ

Not pleasant viewing when we know the aftermath, but blimey, what a right hand Watson put on Eubank to drop him, and then Eubank landing that uppercut.

Anyway I don't want to derail the thread away from what Harrison achieved, it was a good punch, but most important EVER?

Not a chance D

[THEBUTCH]

The Bonecrusher win and particularly the Foreman punch have to rank higher in terms of importance. Foreman's made the sort of history (immediately...<- that's in there for you, Olly!) Audley will never achieve.

[frankwarrenfan]

I won't delve into the long history of one-punch career turnarounds that put Harrison's into its proper perspective, such as Jersey Joe Walcott's against Ezzard Charles, but I will cite Carl Thompson's one-punch finish of Sebastiaan Rothmann as much more inspiring in this country, particularly as Rothmann had licked all his previous British opponents in style and because Thompson looked all through as a fighter. More than that, Thompson outlasted Haye a fight later, and rumour has it that Harrison's own mother is laying odds against her son doing the same.

Thompson-Rothmann is one of my all-time favourite fights and knockouts. It's not much of an exaggeration to compare it to Castro-JD Jackson. People were crying out for the fight to be stopped in Rothmann's favour, and then...

just watched the end of the thompson-rothman fight on youtube and i'm a bit surprised it was close to being stopped.

although he was pinned against the ropes and clearly tired, carl was still managing to slip some of rothman's punches and firing back as well and when he moved away from the ropes his legs were still pretty solid.

anyway, amazing ko that followed, one of the best i've ever seen.

[J]

I won't delve into the long history of one-punch career turnarounds that put Harrison's into its proper perspective, such as Jersey Joe Walcott's against Ezzard Charles, but I will cite Carl Thompson's one-punch finish of Sebastiaan Rothmann as much more inspiring in this country, particularly as Rothmann had licked all his previous British opponents in style and because Thompson looked all through as a fighter. More than that, Thompson outlasted Haye a fight later, and rumour has it that Harrison's own mother is laying odds against her son doing the same.

Thompson-Rothmann is one of my all-time favourite fights and knockouts. It's not much of an exaggeration to compare it to Castro-JD Jackson. People were crying out for the fight to be stopped in Rothmann's favour, and then...

just watched the end of the thompson-rothman fight on youtube and i'm a bit surprised it was close to being stopped.

although he was pinned against the ropes and clearly tired, carl was still managing to slip some of rothman's punches and firing back as well and when he moved away from the ropes his legs were still pretty solid.

anyway, amazing ko that followed, one of the best i've ever seen.

i urge you all to look up benn logan. even better.

[orbtastic]

He seemed to do the same against Bell too, great KO.

[bennie]

He got up Bennie, but i'd call it trying to survive rather than fighting - Watson didn't throw a single punch after Eubank put him down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvh9-xr0gOQ

Not pleasant viewing when we know the aftermath, but blimey, what a right hand Watson put on Eubank to drop him, and then Eubank landing that uppercut.

Anyway I don't want to derail the thread away from what Harrison achieved, it was a good punch, but most important EVER?

Not a chance D

It was a great shot from Eubank, who proved he was a proper fighter. We now know that Watson was let down, of course, and the punch landed on him is important when you consider the changes that have resulted from it.

[frankwarrenfan]

yep, benn's ko of logan was sensational

[THEBUTCH]

Benn-logan and Thompson-Rothman knockouts were both incredible, but by different routes. Benn's was two rounds of mayhem, getting battered from one side of the ring to the other and then in a fog heaved two absolute bombs, the first missed by a mile, he recoiled and landed the 2nd.

Thomspon was an epic slog and he kept hanging in there, contstantly looking for the pay off, but taking a lot of punishment, until he finally landed his haymaker.

[tonyevs]

He got up Bennie, but i'd call it trying to survive rather than fighting - Watson didn't throw a single punch after Eubank put him down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvh9-xr0gOQ

Not pleasant viewing when we know the aftermath, but blimey, what a right hand Watson put on Eubank to drop him, and then Eubank landing that uppercut.

Anyway I don't want to derail the thread away from what Harrison achieved, it was a good punch, but most important EVER?

Not a chance D

Just viewing that finish again :( ... I know you can never seriously say what punch did the terrible damage ... but how Michaels head whip-lashed as he hit the floor - I`d guess it was that more than the upper-cut that sent him on his way down there.

I had not viewed that fight for a very long time. Both guys really did give their all that night ...

[J]

watched a watson documentary (he really is an incredible man) and its pretty much a given by the quacks that actually it was the whiplash that caused the brain to move so much causing the damage...

[oliverfennell]

I won't delve into the long history of one-punch career turnarounds that put Harrison's into its proper perspective, such as Jersey Joe Walcott's against Ezzard Charles, but I will cite Carl Thompson's one-punch finish of Sebastiaan Rothmann as much more inspiring in this country, particularly as Rothmann had licked all his previous British opponents in style and because Thompson looked all through as a fighter. More than that, Thompson outlasted Haye a fight later, and rumour has it that Harrison's own mother is laying odds against her son doing the same.

Thompson-Rothmann is one of my all-time favourite fights and knockouts. It's not much of an exaggeration to compare it to Castro-JD Jackson. People were crying out for the fight to be stopped in Rothmann's favour, and then...

just watched the end of the thompson-rothman fight on youtube and i'm a bit surprised it was close to being stopped.

although he was pinned against the ropes and clearly tired, carl was still managing to slip some of rothman's punches and firing back as well and when he moved away from the ropes his legs were still pretty solid.

anyway, amazing ko that followed, one of the best i've ever seen.

It wasn't just because of the moments immediately preceding that, it's because over the course of the fight Thompson took a lot, and it really did look like Rothmann was about to apply the finishing touches, with Thompson sagging.