Great fights before they were great

[palooka]

Does Lennox Lewis v Riddick Bowe in the '88 Olympic finals count?

[elmersalsa]

Does Lennox Lewis v Riddick Bowe in the '88 Olympic finals count?

I think not.

[Flump]

Bonecrusher Smith lost his pro debut against James Broad. (Not great but both were good fighters)

[palooka]

Zamora v Pedroza

[Old bones Ian]

Lloyd Honeyghan knocking out Gianfranco Rosi with one right hand, at the time they were thought of as decent euro level boxers.
They then went on to 26 world title fights, Honeyghan with 9 and Rosi with 17!

[evrenb]

Jimmy Young vs Earnie Shavers I

[wouter]

Ezra Sellers made his debut against Bruce Seldon, who was 5-0.

[cfang]

really good thread, this.

Thanks counter :-)

[Counter-puncher]

Don Curry beat Starling for the USBA and NABF belts in '82 - Marlon about 23 years old, Curry about 21 years old, both were exceptional boxers and very hard hitters even then.

Yeah, they stood.in punching range and chucked a shit-ton of punches at each other, but they were both so good defensively that hardly anything landed.

[Tinnie]

Hearns vs Pryor at the golden gloves?

[sweetsci]

Oliver McCall ruining Bruce Seldon's undefeated record, before either man won belts or even were ranked (to my knowledge), comes to mind.

[Tomasino]

Marvin Hagler vs Sugar Ray Seales early in his career when seales was 22-1-0

[elmersalsa]

Zamora v Pedroza

Alfonso Zamora was already the WBA World Bantamweight Champion when met the future great feather king, Eusebio Pedroza. Pedroza was green at the time, with less than 20 bouts into his career. Zamora gave him a nasty knockout.

[Cholo_cws]

Argentina's Victor Galindez and Jorge Ahumada fought each other several times before they became contenders and challenged for world titles.

[cfang]

Argentina's Victor Galindez and Jorge Ahumada fought each other several times before they became contenders and challenged for world titles.

[Lenny Cravats]

Not greats, but Israel Vasquez beat Oscar Larios early in both mens' careers.

[Seamus]

In his 13th fight, Fighting Harada took a 6 rd decision from Hiroyuki Ebihara who was in his 10th bout.

[orbtastic]

Rafa Marquez lost his pro debut to Victor Rabanales who was former WBC bantam champ and 39-14-2 at the time. That's insane matchmaking for a pro debut?

[elmersalsa]

Rafa Marquez lost his pro debut to Victor Rabanales who was former WBC bantam champ and 39-14-2 at the time. That's insane matchmaking for a pro debut?

Maybe Rafa Marquez' manager didn't like him