Classic fights I've watched recently

[handsofstone]

Bernard Hopkins vs Howard Eastman

[pound per pound]

Hopkins vs Smith. Instant classic.

[handsofstone]

Howard Eastman vs Scott Dann

[handsofstone]

Steve Collins vs Chris Eubank 1+2

Collins was the deserved winner in both fights especially the rematch when Eubank done even less work than usual whereas Collins was busier than usual,the 1st fight was closer with both men scoring knockdowns but again Eubank just not busy enough and Collins just wanted it more,driving himself forward and pushing out the punches,Eubank showed some nice glimpses and he always looks sharp but needs a kick up the arse to get going

[Keko]

George Foreman vs Alex Stewart great and close fight!
The real war it was.

[handsofstone]

Howard Winstone vs Lennie Williams

[elmersalsa]

Howard Winstone vs Lennie Williams

I would love to see more Howard Winstone's fights. I like his three fights with the great Vicente Saldivar.

[handsofstone]

Herol Graham vs Vinny Pazienza

[TheGoods]

Gomez v Bognar II

[handsofstone]

Howard Winstone vs Lennie Williams

I would love to see more Howard Winstone's fights. I like his three fights with the great Vicente Saldivar.

Yeah 3 cracking fights,Saldivar could fight

[Keko]

Ezra Sellers vs Carl Thompson
Alex Stewart vs Ezra Sellers

[davie]

Thomas Hearns vs Alphonso Hayman, Harold Weston, Bruce Curry and Jose Figueroa.

Perhaps not classics, but a good insight into the promising early career of a great fighter

Tommy Hearns vs Luis Primera, Randy Shields and Pablo Baez
Can't believe 6 people managed to stop Shields, he was one tough kid. Took some cracking punishment for Hearns for 12 rounds

[handsofstone]

Roberto Duran vs Estaban De Jesus 1,2+3

All competitive fights for the most part,De Jesus wins the 1st fight on a 10 round decision,putting Duran down with a big left hook in the opener,De Jesus put Duran down in the 1st with a left hook again in the rematch before Duran broke him down,put De Jesus down in the 8th with a right hand to the head according to the commentary but I reckon it was the left hook to the body just before that done the damage,Duran finished things in the 11th with the right hand over the top,the rubber match was close too with Duran in the lead before putting De Jesus down in the 12 with a big right hand out of nowhere before bludgeoning De Jesus on the ropes with quality finishing instints,the ref letting De Jesus take more punishment than necessary

De Jesus a good fighter though,not afraid to try and fight his way out of trouble when Duran brought the heat,also looked to box at times,not a million miles apart in styles to Duran or maybe Roberto just made him stand his ground,good fights though

[elmersalsa]

Roberto Duran vs Estaban De Jesus 1,2+3

All competitive fights for the most part,De Jesus wins the 1st fight on a 10 round decision,putting Duran down with a big left hook in the opener,De Jesus put Duran down in the 1st with a left hook again in the rematch before Duran broke him down,put De Jesus down in the 8th with a right hand to the head according to the commentary but I reckon it was the left hook to the body just before that done the damage,Duran finished things in the 11th with the right hand over the top,the rubber match was close too with Duran in the lead before putting De Jesus down in the 12 with a big right hand out of nowhere before bludgeoning De Jesus on the ropes with quality finishing instints,the ref letting De Jesus take more punishment than necessary

De Jesus a good fighter though,not afraid to try and fight his way out of trouble when Duran brought the heat,also looked to box at times,not a million miles apart in styles to Duran or maybe Roberto just made him stand his ground,good fights though

The great Roberto Duran at his very best. He was a perfect fighting machine! Especially, from the 1972-80 era

[handsofstone]

Lennox Lewis vs Shannon Briggs

[handsofstone]

Evander Holyfield vs Alex Stewart 1+2

[elmersalsa]

I saw Fighting Harada vs Johnny Famechon I and II fights last week.

I also saw the Lionel Rose vs Fighting Harada fight

[Bodyshot3]

Steve Collins vs Chris Eubank 1+2

Collins was the deserved winner in both fights especially the rematch when Eubank done even less work than usual whereas Collins was busier than usual,the 1st fight was closer with both men scoring knockdowns but again Eubank just not busy enough and Collins just wanted it more,driving himself forward and pushing out the punches,Eubank showed some nice glimpses and he always looks sharp but needs a kick up the arse to get going

Collins always gets such a rough time on the history board - "slow, predictable, ducked Joe, only faced guys ready to be taken" etc - but he fought precisely the right kind of fight to beat Eubank twice over and showed plenty of nous in doing so.

He made Eubank box every minute of every round in both of these fights and although lots of stuff was blocked or did not score; it was the right tactic because Eubank hated having to fight a full three minutes and at any kind of tempo.

Crucially, Collins used sustained pressure rather than lunging in/throwing too wildly and paced himself rather than burning up energy like Benn did in his first meeting with Eubank.

I loved the Collins roundable that was on Sky years ago when he discussed these fights with Eubank; he was frank about the fact that Eubank had the more talent but then went on to explain that he had the better plan and had the determination to execute it.

[handsofstone]

Carl Thompson vs Chris Eubank 1+2

2 superb battles fought at a ferocious pace which is unusual for Eubank,1st fight Thompson won on points but Eubank had him down and rocked several times in the fight which was a surprise considering Chris was having his 1st fight at Cruiser since moving up from SMW,couldnt believe it when Eubank had Thompson reeling and just stood there and let Thompson recover,maybe he thought Carl was playing possum but he was hurt definitely and it maybe cost Eubank in the end

I liked the rematch even better,both guys went straight at it landing big shots from the start,it was just a shame Eubank's eye closed again and it had to be stopped,with the shots both guys were throwing and landing,a KO could easily have came for either man

[davie]

I saw Fighting Harada vs Johnny Famechon I and II fights last week.

I also saw the Lionel Rose vs Fighting Harada fight

Elmer, you appear to be quite the Harada fan.
I've just posted the Rudkin fight and wondered what other scraps you could recommend?
Searching the forum, you seem to have watched them all, which was your favourite?

[elmersalsa]

I saw Fighting Harada vs Johnny Famechon I and II fights last week.

I also saw the Lionel Rose vs Fighting Harada fight

Elmer, you appear to be quite the Harada fan.
I've just posted the Rudkin fight and wondered what other scraps you could recommend?
Searching the forum, you seem to have watched them all, which was your favourite?

Well, my favorite great Fighting Harada fight was his first fight with Flyweight World Champion Pone Kinpetch. I must see fight.

You should also see his two fights with Johnny Famechon. The first fight, Harada was outright robbeb. He should have been triple crown world champion that night. The second fight, well, Famechon a French born Australian, outboxed Harada and sent Harada out of the ring in round 14th. It was Famechon's greatest performance in my view. Two true champions that night.

Mostly all of Harada's fights available on videotape are entertaining scraps. He was always in great shape, strong, fast hands and feet and had incredible endurance and stamina and will to win. He came to fight. The only thing he didn't had was a KO punch. He could also be outbox with the left jab. But, he could make for it because he could take a good shot. He was definitely the best fighter ever to come out from the Far East until the great Manny Pacquiao came into the scene. He is definitely Japan's greatest fighter.

[handsofstone]

Steve Collins vs Nigel Benn 1+2

1st fight was stopped in the 4th after Benn fell and twisted his ankle whilst swinging at Collins,never good to see a fight end like that,it was closely contested,both men came flying out the traps straight away and started laying ring into each other,the work was messy though,with a lots of missed punches from both men,it reminded me of those scraps from the 40s and 50s where both men just stood slugging but it lacked real quality

The rematch started in the same vein before Collins took over in about the 4th and was landing some heavy shots on Benn who started looking ragged and was retired by his corner after the 6th,i thought Nigel was probably up after 3,he had a good 3rd round before Collins took the play away in the 4th,still I thought it was strange to hear Benn's corner threaten to pull him after 1 more round,maybe they should've told him to stop the rot and not let Collins get on top,still Benn looked dejected by the end and it probably did look the right call but I do wonder if his corner maybe took his confidence away a little and had him believing that he was getting beat up after 4 rounds??

Great win for Collins though,he's a rock,1 of the toughest men around

[handsofstone]

Iran Barkley vs Tommy Hearns 1+2


Both excellent fights for different reasons,Barkley won both,1st fight by 3rd round KO and the rematch by SD, 1st fight Hearns was in total control,busting Barkley up who was already bleeding heavily by the 2nd round then in the 3rd he tagged Hearns with a right hand,put him down,Tommy got up but he was gone but the ref let it continue and Iran followed up with a barrage and put him down again with the right hand but Hearns never really recovered from the 1st KD and probably shouldn't have been allowed to continue after going down 1st time,big upset

Hearns started off the rematch sharp too whipping in they spiteful left hands to the body,then gradually Barkley started to stamp his authority on the fight,spending most of the time with his head on Hearns chest whilst both men slugged it out,Hearns maybe could've made it easier if he tried to box more but at that stage of his career his legs maybe would've let him down,Hearns never let the right hand go as much as usual so I'm not sure if he injured it,he was throwing it sparingly but not a lot,fair play to Barkley though I thought he was the rightful winner ,he put Hearns down in the 4th,this time with the left hook and he took some full blooded shots from Hearns and they just bounced off of him,great fight fought at a very high pace from start to finish

[davie]

I saw Fighting Harada vs Johnny Famechon I and II fights last week.

I also saw the Lionel Rose vs Fighting Harada fight

Elmer, you appear to be quite the Harada fan.
I've just posted the Rudkin fight and wondered what other scraps you could recommend?
Searching the forum, you seem to have watched them all, which was your favourite?

Well, my favorite great Fighting Harada fight was his first fight with Flyweight World Champion Pone Kinpetch. I must see fight.

You should also see his two fights with Johnny Famechon. The first fight, Harada was outright robbeb. He should have been triple crown world champion that night. The second fight, well, Famechon a French born Australian, outboxed Harada and sent Harada out of the ring in round 14th. It was Famechon's greatest performance in my view. Two true champions that night.

Mostly all of Harada's fights available on videotape are entertaining scraps. He was always in great shape, strong, fast hands and feet and had incredible endurance and stamina and will to win. He came to fight. The only thing he didn't had was a KO punch. He could also be outbox with the left jab. But, he could make for it because he could take a good shot. He was definitely the best fighter ever to come out from the Far East until the great Manny Pacquiao came into the scene. He is definitely Japan's greatest fighter.

Just watched that Rudkin fight. He was a pleasure to watch and I think I'll find me some time to watch on or 2 more.

A determined little bugger

[handsofstone]

Julio Cesar Chavez vs Frankie Randall 1,2+3

1st 2 fights were excellent, I thought Randall was superb in both of them,i cant see how he won only by SD in the 1st fight,apart from the fact that he had Chavez down in the 11th and JCC had 2 points deducted for low blows,Randall not only outboxed Chavez but outfought him and was more thn willing to stand his ground and trade with Chavez

Chavez won the rematch by and 8 round TD after he was cut on the forehead after an accidental headclash,which Randall was deducted a point for despite the ref ruling it accidental, still Randall might have still done enough to be ahead at that point even with the deduction,give Chavez credit though for taking the fight to Randall and never giving up,Chavez actually had a decent spell of getting on his toes and outboxing Randall before the fight was stopped

The 3rd fight was 10 year after their 2nd and both men were clearly past it and Chavez won a 10 round decision in a competitive if uneventful fight where both men were shadows of their former selves,althought there was a few fun exchanges at times