So thought I would compile a list of some... and see if anyone else has others to contribute...
1. Probably the most well-known boxer to mix it up in street fights wherever he went was none other than "The Great" John L. Sullivan who said "I can lick any son of a bitch in the house!" and there is much evidence for his street brawls as there is his boxing matches. One of the more well known instances was when Sullivan was in upstate New York in the little town of Mount Clemens, and apparently the fight started over a local hardass named George Roessel (who happened to be Michigan's champion boxer) slapping a woman. That was in September of 1882. It must be noted, also, that in the lead up to the Sullivan/Corbett fight the champion's training camp was at Mount Clemens, where Sullivan spent many long hours in the "healing mineral waters" of the region.
2. Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Holmes in 1981 had previously defeated Berbick in a world title fight, and Berbick publically challenged Holmes to a rematch saying that Holmes was a coward for refusing a rematch. What happened next stunned even the most veteran of boxing reporters as Holmes punched, kicked, and even leaped off of a car to get after Berbick. Even in a street brawl, Holmes owned Berbick's ass.
3. Mickey Walker and Harry Greb. The Human Windmill, had just beaten Walker over fifteen rounds in defense of the middleweight title. It was a competitive and close fight, and the Toy Bulldog believed he had been robbed. Just hours after the battle, Walker came looking for Greb in a local saloon and all hell broke loose. Police would intervene, but according to everyone present (except Walker) it seemed that Greb won the street brawl as well.
4. Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. Prior to their rematch, the two men sat down to be interviewed by Howard Cosell in the ABC Wide World of Sports studio. What started off as a simple interview, quickly escelated into a free for all after Muhammad Ali called Frazier "ignorant"... even Ali's brother Rudy got involved... and the two men hit the floor and had to be seperated by security. Both men were fined by the NYSAC for this little fiasco. Some have said that it was a far more interesting 'fight' than the rematch was.
5. Mike Tyson and Mitch 'Blood' Green. Some years before Tyson had won a rather wide unaminous decision over Green and was now the heavyweight champion of the world. Green, on the other hand, following his loss to Tyson seemed to have a complete mental breakdown and was arrested multiple times for domestic violence, grand theft auto and even robberies. So on that autumn night in 1988, Green heard through the grapevine that Tyson was in the neighborhood and Green decided to teach Tyson a lesson for his life turning to crap. The fight, which only lasted for a minute, wound up being front page news across the world and for a time there was much interest in a rematch--- however, Green had to first fight a top ten contender to be re-ranked as he had been inactive for a long time. Green, refused to do so, and it wasn't before long he was tasered and arrested by a group of cops during a traffic incident and Green was ranting and raving how Tyson and Don King were cowards.
6. Dereck Chisora and David Haye. In the press conference following Klitschko/Chisora, David Haye crashed the conference and soon things went ballistic. Clearly this little showdown was much bigger and more exciting than the Chisora/Klitschko bout was--- and it was only a matter of time before Haye and Chisora would have their own meeting in the ring (that Haye won on kayo).
7. Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson. In the presser leading up to their showdown, Tyson was at his promoting best, when he attacked 'The Lion' and even bit his leg. Tyson then went on a wildly crazed rant at the paparazzi famously saying (among other things) "I'll fornicate you til you love me faggot!"... unfortunately for Tyson, his performance at the presser did not live up to the hype of the actual contest. However, because of this press event, it sold the fight as the biggest moneymaker of all time.
8. Jem Mace and Bartholomew Gorman. The English boxing marvel had just disappointed tens of thousands, when he objected to certain rules and conditions set forth by Joe Coburn and refused to defend the world title. There was many statements that Mace was a coward, and even a song was written saying that Mace was a coward for not facing the Irish-American Coburn. But there was another issue (also) that Mace never contemplated. Being called "The Gypsy", and having a brother who married into Romany people, there was the belief that Mace was a true gypsy man--- and because he refused to fight Coburn this was a slap in the face to the whole culture. The result was the "King of The Gypsies" Bartley Gorman (the first) challenging Mace to a street fight--- to which Mace had no choice but to accept. Though the fight was broken up by police, in the decades to come Mace would say in his prime only two men ever gave him serious problems: Bob Brettle and his 'temple tickler' punch, and Bartley Gorman and his 'ox-dropper' punch.
9. Tommy Burns and Klondike Mike Mahoney. Little Noah Brusso, was on the run from authorities. He had accidentially killed a man in a boxing match, and headed to Chicago. There he won a gold claim in a poker game, and decided to check for himself what waited for him in the Yukon. Apparently not much, other than an ass kicking. Little did Brusso (who changed his name to Burns) know, was that in this region of the world lived a man who was as legendary as Paul Bunyon, and who terrorised the mining camps across Alaska and Canada. When the crazed lumberjack/miner learned that Burns was a professional fighter, he challenged Burns to a "lumberjack match" where kicks were allowed. Burns for the first few rounds gotten his ass handed to him, and was even downed by a solar plexus kick in the third. Somehow, someway, Burns managed to rally back and beat Klondike Mike Mahoney and earned the savage man's respect.
