Andries-Harding 25th Anniversary

[Bodyshot3]

Neither of these two warriors will make any light-heavyweight ATG top 10 list...but to their credit they still gave us a great, utterly compelling and real rollercoaster triology of fights for the WBC title that started in Atlantic City, moved to Melbourne and concluded in Hammersmith, London.

Next month will mark the 25th anniversary of the decisive fight in Hammersmith which Hitman Harding won narrowly on points.

In some ways these fights cemented my love for boxing - two guys going right at it and putting it all on the line - incredibly brave men and although they were both limited the fights they delivered were superb and a great rivalry.

Anyone else enjoy this triology and the very different characters involved and which was the best meeting.....the first when a completely unknown Aussie beach bum stunned Dennis by taking his title or the second when Andries took back the belt Down Under?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Great trilogy, probably better than Gatti/Ward.

[Counter-puncher]

Great trilogy, probably better than Gatti/Ward.

Id say definitely, two classics and a brutal KO > Gatti-Ward, great first fight, meh second, decent third

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Great trilogy, probably better than Gatti/Ward.

Id say definitely, two classics and a brutal KO > Gatti-Ward, great first fight, meh second, decent third

Agreed, all 3 of these were great fights. Gatti/Ward is really overrated overall.

[Counter-puncher]

I saw the third andries-Harding fight again a few weeks ago, it was more brutal than I remembered, I remembered it as being less of a ridiculous brawl than the first one but it was every bit as tough.

[bollox]

A great rivalry and trilogy. Both Dennis and Jeff have been through some hard times and last I read, Harding was on the straight and narrow. Hopefully Andries is also doing ok

[jas80s]

I remember watching the first fight on network TV on a weekend afternoon if memory serves, still one of the best fights I have ever seen.

Good lord do I miss the days when fighters really had to fight their asses off to get anywhere in boxing....Might not have been the best for them, but it was awesome for the fans..

[littlepug]

great fights and their styles meshed perfectly

[Bodyshot3]

Cheers fellas...glad that I am not alone in thinking this was a great rivalry that delivered some of the best action of that era:TU:

The first fight for me was a huge battle; Harding's conditioning, resilience and sheer desire to make the most of his unexpected chance was something else and although I wanted Dennis to win I could not help admiring Jeff.

Harding and hs team apparently came to London for the 'decider' with a clear plan to box and move much more and not allow Dennis to drag them into another all-out war.

But as Counter-Puncher noted...whilst not as ferocious as the first two encounters....they both ended-up testing their willingness to win.

Jeff's love of a drink caused him a great deal of heartache - he was a wild lad before he started boxing - but I think he's doing ok these days.

[handsofstone]

Watched all 3 fights for 1st time recently and they were all excellent,1st fight especially,rematch was pretty conclusive for Andries but the 3rd fight couldve gone either way

[Bodyshot3]

Watched all 3 fights for 1st time recently and they were all excellent,1st fight especially,rematch was pretty conclusive for Andries but the 3rd fight couldve gone either way

They're all top fights and as littlepug mentioned the styles and attitudes of these two guys meshed too perfection.

Dennis had some big wins in his career....beating the fancied Tony Sibson, Bobby Czyz and seeing of Guy Waters in another fight Down Under as well...but being the only guy to stop Harding and in Australia was probably the best.

Thinking about Harding, I guess the general consensus that he was good champ rather ever great and he's somewhat defined by the Andries fights and the loss to Mike McCallum; although he was not disgraced that night.

Personally, I thought beating Christophe Tiozzo in France may well have been Jeff's best night. Tiozzo was far from shabby!

[Counter-puncher]

McCallum really rolled back the years there, with hindsight you can see Hardings straight forward style, much like Watsons years earlier, was made for McCallum. Still, he had to call on all his fortitude and nous having bounced hundreds of punches off Harding and realised he wasn't getting him out, the last three of four rounds were a great example of veteran skills and pure stick-to-it from Mike, because Harding was throwing at him the whole way

[Counter-puncher]

He couldn't miss with the uppercut, as I recall