Classic fights I've watched recently

[BoxBuzz]

He didn't... If you actually scored the fight round by round Holmes won it...

It was a super sloppy fight that made Larry look bad.... He wasn't in real solid condition and it gave you a notion that was going to carry over into future fights... I think complacency set in for him and that's why Micheal Spinks beat him.

So it's best to ACTUALLY SCORE THE FIGHT ROUND BY ROUND? That's some out of the squared circle thinkin' right there Hoss. I'm going to get the word out about how important is to ACTUALLY score each round.

Such a simple and straightforward idea....yet it Went right over most everyone's head........until today.

Gotta admit, it's a good strategy when scoring a fight.



ok...on the more sober side.......We've probably all seen a few fights where the fella who won more than half the rounds, STILL has his arse handed to him, and outclassed.

However.....it's a game....and the one with the most rounds justifiably wins the boxing match. Though it doesnt always mean he won the fight.

I scored both the fight and the boxing match slightly in Holmes Favor......

[Kalan]

That's why we have a 10-point scoring system instead of a 5-point scoring system.... The reason the system was developed is, what if you lose the first 9 rounds 9-10.... but win the 10th round 10-0??? .... Your corner says, "You need a KO to win; punch non-stop for 3 minutes or until he's unconscious."

So you come out and land your first swing and down he goes... He drags himself up at nine... and the referee spends 10 seconds checking to see if he's okay...calls time and has the doctor look at him... when the fight resumes you miss 2 big swings but deck him for an 8-count with a savage left hook... He's a little tottery but ref allows him to continue.. you immediately floor him for another 8-count... When the fight resumes he grabs you and holds on for 10 seconds while the referee uses all his strength to break the clinch... You drive him around the ring under a hail of punches and drop him for a 4th time.... It becomes Patterson-Johansson 1 eventually and you drop him 7 times... He never lands a punch in that round and you land 32, including 7 knockdown shots...

In theory you should win the fight... It's at least an 8-point round technically, but a couple points need to be added for dominance... I also don't think you should have to pound somebody to that great extreme to get a 10-0 round.

[Syntax Error]

Just watched Floyd Patterson against Cut and Shoot, Texas finest Roy Harris.

Starts off a competetive fight. Harris puts Patterson down.
Patterson gets on top and gives Harris a bit of a beating til it gets stopped.

Watched a lot of Patterson lately. He gets put down a lot, but looks fresh as a daisy a lot of the time he gets back up.

Read a lot of articles around this time August 58.

A lot of the boxing press and public are really pushing for a Patterson-SRR fight. Likely that Floyd would of been a huge favourite.
At this time Pattersons hand speed is being talked about as one of the best of all time.
Cus doesn’t want the fight as he doesn’t want Patterson feasting on blown up middleweights.

In hindsight. What a fight it could of been.

Patterson would have literally killed Robinson had they fought circa 1959.

SRR would have been way too small & way too old to be fighting someone as young, quick & powerful as Patterson.

[DrDuke]

Tomasz Adamek vs Steve Cunningham 1.

A great war with back and forth action. Cunningham was a bit better overall, but Adamek was taking everything from Steve good, while dropping Cunningham for 3 times. So Adamek won that pretty fair.

[SenorPipino]

Just watched Floyd Patterson against Cut and Shoot, Texas finest Roy Harris.

Starts off a competetive fight. Harris puts Patterson down.
Patterson gets on top and gives Harris a bit of a beating til it gets stopped.

Watched a lot of Patterson lately. He gets put down a lot, but looks fresh as a daisy a lot of the time he gets back up.

Read a lot of articles around this time August 58.

A lot of the boxing press and public are really pushing for a Patterson-SRR fight. Likely that Floyd would of been a huge favourite.
At this time Pattersons hand speed is being talked about as one of the best of all time.
Cus doesn’t want the fight as he doesn’t want Patterson feasting on blown up middleweights.

In hindsight. What a fight it could of been.

Patterson would have literally killed Robinson had they fought circa 1959.

SRR would have been way too small & way too old to be fighting someone as young, quick & powerful as Patterson.

I can't imagine that such talk was serious.

By the late 1950s, Robinson would have been nearing 40, with his best years behind him.

He was losing to Fullmer and Basilio around then. He had been stopped by Maxim for the light heavy title years earlier.

I don't believe it would be remotely competitive.

Patterson was far from the strongest or biggest heavyweight and was notoriously chinny, but that wouldn't have mattered against the smaller, aging Robinson.

Patterson would have won in a breeze.

[hhaehre]

He didn't... If you actually scored the fight round by round Holmes won it...

Still think Larry lost it by a few rounds, but it's one of those fights that become a lot closer when scored round by round as opposed to just assessing it as a whole. When I first saw the Holmes-Whiterspoon fight I felt certain that Tim won it, but when I later scored it round by round I gave it to Holmes by a point.

[DrDuke]

Donovan Ruddock vs Phil Jackson.

Ruddock was pressuring Jackson from the beginning, looking for the openings for his left hand and he was able to find them from time to time. At the end of the 3rd Ruddock countered Jackson's jab with a hybrid hook sending Phil down. The 4th started with the same Ruddock's pressure and aggression, but Jackson tried to fight back. Then Ruddock landed a quick left hook, Jackson was down on the knee and decided not to get up.

[sweetviolenturge]

I just watched the Ali - Ron Lyle fight today for the first time in a couple of years.
It has a special place in my heart as it was the very first fight that piqued my interest in the sport back when I was 13 years old. My own father was never much of a sports fan that I recall so I'd never been exposed to boxing at home. But, the night of Ali Lyle I happened to be over at a friends house waiting for his mother to give us a ride to go see a movie at a local theater. And, while waiting I became interested in what my friend's father was watching. Which was the pre-fight build up by Howard Cosell.
I remember being captivated by Ali's bombastic personality but became sympathetic to Lyle's backstory so I was hoping he'd win. Unfortunately, just before the fight was set to begin it was time to go see the movie. I don't even remember what it was because I just kept thinking about the fight as I was watching it & wondering who was winning. I recall being disappointed when I discovered that Ali won & telling myself that I would make a point of watching the next time that Ali fought on TV.
Which, I did. But, it wasn't until a year later that Ali fought on network television as his two subsequent title defenses vs Joe Bugner & Joe Frazier were closed-circuit TV fights. So, it wasn't until Ali defended vs Jean Pierre Coopman that I got to see my first boxing match.
And, I became hooked immediately & the rest is history.

[handsofstone]

Larry Holmes vs Ray Mercer


42 year old Holmes puts a bit of a schooling on the unbeaten Olympic Gold medallist Mercer via UD, good fight actually Holmes was excellent, old man'd the plodding Mercer all night, Mercer did seem to hurt Holmes with a jab in the 1st and I think Holmes hurt Mercer right at the end of the 2nd, after that both men seemed to take each others shots well enough and they were loading up all night, it was a dirty fight, lot of holding and use of the arms and elbows, Steve Smoger done a pretty dreadful job of keeping them in check

Holmes was able to outjab Mercer and smash him with right hands, Mercer always come forward but with no thought and Holmes kept things simple and now and again would open Mercer up, deserved win for Holmes

[DrDuke]

Bowe vs Holyfield 3

I just love that fight, it was probably the most dramatic chapter of Bowe-Holyfield trilogy. Holyfield started wise with moving and finding right angles for the attack, but then in the 2nd round he switched to brawling with Bowe inside. It could sound as a silly tactics, but Holyfield was more successful, than Bowe. However, something was happening to Evander, he was fading. The 5th was terrible for Holyfield, he could barely stand on his feet. Allegedly he suffered hepatitis before the fight, probably he didn't regain his shape fully after curing from the disease. So it looked like, Holyfield realised between rounds 5 and 6, that he was in a very bad situation, it was do or die for him and he came out aggressive in the 6th dropping Bowe for the first time in his career. It was a short left hook in the brutal exchange. Riddick did a good job of surviving after that, but maybe with luckily having Holyfield punched himself out after trying to finish Bowe. The 7th was better for Evander and in the 8th he continued having success, he landed some good shots and decided to develop that. Yet Holyfield did it not in the smartest way, he came on Bowe swinging hooks chin first and Riddick caught him with brutal right hand. Evander was in the terrible knockdown, he could barely step forward after Cortez' commands, the ref could have stopped that right there. But the fight continued to the immediate end, when Bowe rushed on barely standing Holyfield sending him down for the second and the final time.

[oogiebe]

I just watched the Ali - Ron Lyle fight today for the first time in a couple of years.
It has a special place in my heart as it was the very first fight that piqued my interest in the sport back when I was 13 years old. My own father was never much of a sports fan that I recall so I'd never been exposed to boxing at home. But, the night of Ali Lyle I happened to be over at a friends house waiting for his mother to give us a ride to go see a movie at a local theater. And, while waiting I became interested in what my friend's father was watching. Which was the pre-fight build up by Howard Cosell.
I remember being captivated by Ali's bombastic personality but became sympathetic to Lyle's backstory so I was hoping he'd win. Unfortunately, just before the fight was set to begin it was time to go see the movie. I don't even remember what it was because I just kept thinking about the fight as I was watching it & wondering who was winning. I recall being disappointed when I discovered that Ali won & telling myself that I would make a point of watching the next time that Ali fought on TV.
Which, I did. But, it wasn't until a year later that Ali fought on network television as his two subsequent title defenses vs Joe Bugner & Joe Frazier were closed-circuit TV fights. So, it wasn't until Ali defended vs Jean Pierre Coopman that I got to see my first boxing match.
And, I became hooked immediately & the rest is history.

I agree it was an entertaining fight! Had a bit of drama as Lyle decided he was a boxer rather than a puncher. The end (as I remember having watched it live) was Lyle was a round ahead at the time of the stoppage which Ali kinda got the ref overly concerned. I.E. premature stoppage. Lyle was POUNDED by Shavers and came back to KO the big bomber, so I felt Lyle could've continued rather easily as Ali wasn't a puncher by any measure.

[oogiebe]

Bowe vs Holyfield 3

I just love that fight, it was probably the most dramatic chapter of Bowe-Holyfield trilogy. Holyfield started wise with moving and finding right angles for the attack, but then in the 2nd round he switched to brawling with Bowe inside. It could sound as a silly tactics, but Holyfield was more successful, than Bowe. However, something was happening to Evander, he was fading. The 5th was terrible for Holyfield, he could barely stand on his feet. Allegedly he suffered hepatitis before the fight, probably he didn't regain his shape fully after curing from the disease. So it looked like, Holyfield realised between rounds 5 and 6, that he was in a very bad situation, it was do or die for him and he came out aggressive in the 6th dropping Bowe for the first time in his career. It was a short left hook in the brutal exchange. Riddick did a good job of surviving after that, but maybe with luckily having Holyfield punched himself out after trying to finish Bowe. The 7th was better for Evander and in the 8th he continued having success, he landed some good shots and decided to develop that. Yet Holyfield did it not in the smartest way, he came on Bowe swinging hooks chin first and Riddick caught him with brutal right hand. Evander was in the terrible knockdown, he could barely step forward after Cortez' commands, the ref could have stopped that right there. But the fight continued to the immediate end, when Bowe rushed on barely standing Holyfield sending him down for the second and the final time.

That freakin' fight had it all! I may even watch it again!

[sweetviolenturge]

I just watched the Ali - Ron Lyle fight today for the first time in a couple of years.
It has a special place in my heart as it was the very first fight that piqued my interest in the sport back when I was 13 years old. My own father was never much of a sports fan that I recall so I'd never been exposed to boxing at home. But, the night of Ali Lyle I happened to be over at a friends house waiting for his mother to give us a ride to go see a movie at a local theater. And, while waiting I became interested in what my friend's father was watching. Which was the pre-fight build up by Howard Cosell.
I remember being captivated by Ali's bombastic personality but became sympathetic to Lyle's backstory so I was hoping he'd win. Unfortunately, just before the fight was set to begin it was time to go see the movie. I don't even remember what it was because I just kept thinking about the fight as I was watching it & wondering who was winning. I recall being disappointed when I discovered that Ali won & telling myself that I would make a point of watching the next time that Ali fought on TV.
Which, I did. But, it wasn't until a year later that Ali fought on network television as his two subsequent title defenses vs Joe Bugner & Joe Frazier were closed-circuit TV fights. So, it wasn't until Ali defended vs Jean Pierre Coopman that I got to see my first boxing match.
And, I became hooked immediately & the rest is history.

I agree it was an entertaining fight! Had a bit of drama as Lyle decided he was a boxer rather than a puncher. The end (as I remember having watched it live) was Lyle was a round ahead at the time of the stoppage which Ali kinda got the ref overly concerned. I.E. premature stoppage. Lyle was POUNDED by Shavers and came back to KO the big bomber, so I felt Lyle could've continued rather easily as Ali wasn't a puncher by any measure.

Yeah, the ref was a little quick with the hook in that one IMO. I think Lyle deserved another couple/few seconds to see if he could weather the storm. Even though I doubt whether he could have. While Ali wasn't a big puncher at that point he still had some snap on his punches & likely would have had enough to close the show. Still, Lyle deserved the chance to fight his way out of it.

[DrDuke]

Michael Moorer vs Vassiliy Jirov

Both were declining there, especially Moorer, who was terribly out of shape weighting 247 lbs. Yet it turned out to be a quite interesting fight. Jirov was winning it constantly scoring on slow Moorer. In the 3rd it was an interesting moment: Jirov came in with a body punch and right in this moment there was a clash of the heads. Moorer took a knee pointing on a headbutt, but maybe he was hurt by the body shot and tried to recover pretending he was hurt from the illegal blow in order not to be counted out. The ref fixed a knockdown though. Maybe the ref was unsure in his actions, because he later deducted Jirov a point for headbutting in the moment, when Jirov was a bit leaning on Moorer, which wasn't looking much like a headbutt. In the 9th Moorer tried to fight back more, there was a good exchange, Jirov was caught and went down with a bit late reaction. He stood up quick, but he was on wobbling legs, so the ref stopped it pretty fair and fat happy Michael heavily climbed on the ropes in the corner to celebrate this comeback victory.

[oogiebe]

Yeah, the ref was a little quick with the hook in that one IMO. I think Lyle deserved another couple/few seconds to see if he could weather the storm. Even though I doubt whether he could have. While Ali wasn't a big puncher at that point he still had some snap on his punches & likely would have had enough to close the show. Still, Lyle deserved the chance to fight his way out of it.
[/quote]
Absolutely! Ali really had not only boxers but many referees psyched out and I believe it showed at the end of the fight to your point.

[DrDuke]

Lewis vs Mercer

That was a truly great battle. However, Lewis won it pretty fair, it wasn't even a draw. Lewis out-threw and out-landed Mercer. Mercer only out-landed Lewis in jabs. Lewis landed more hard shots. Mercer performance is kinda overpraised by pro-Ray crowd, which was cheering many of his activities, while not all of them were effective. Mercer provided some noticeable punches on the defence, so those couldn't be taken as scores. It was an even fight in the first 6 rounds with Lewis landing harder shots. From 7 until 9 it was all Lennox. The 10th was close, but Mercer a bit stole an ending. So, it was a hard back and forth battle yet with Lewis winning pretty clear.

[oogiebe]

Lewis vs Mercer

That was a truly great battle. However, Lewis won it pretty fair, it wasn't even a draw. Lewis out-threw and out-landed Mercer. Mercer only out-landed Lewis in jabs. Lewis landed more hard shots. Mercer performance is kinda overpraised by pro-Ray crowd, which was cheering many of his activities, while not all of them were effective. Mercer provided some noticeable punches on the defence, so those couldn't be taken as scores. It was an even fight in the first 6 rounds with Lewis landing harder shots. From 7 until 9 it was all Lennox. The 10th was close, but Mercer a bit stole an ending. So, it was a hard back and forth battle yet with Lewis winning pretty clear.

Agreed. Lewis is my ATG favorite HW, but I really thought he lost. Or at best a draw. I'll have to watch again. Tough freakin' fight!

[DrDuke]

Lewis vs Mercer

That was a truly great battle. However, Lewis won it pretty fair, it wasn't even a draw. Lewis out-threw and out-landed Mercer. Mercer only out-landed Lewis in jabs. Lewis landed more hard shots. Mercer performance is kinda overpraised by pro-Ray crowd, which was cheering many of his activities, while not all of them were effective. Mercer provided some noticeable punches on the defence, so those couldn't be taken as scores. It was an even fight in the first 6 rounds with Lewis landing harder shots. From 7 until 9 it was all Lennox. The 10th was close, but Mercer a bit stole an ending. So, it was a hard back and forth battle yet with Lewis winning pretty clear.

Agreed. Lewis is my ATG favorite HW, but I really thought he lost. Or at best a draw. I'll have to watch again. Tough freakin' fight!

Yeah, Lewis is also a one of my ATG favourites. He was smart and highly skilled.

[oogiebe]

Lewis vs Mercer

That was a truly great battle. However, Lewis won it pretty fair, it wasn't even a draw. Lewis out-threw and out-landed Mercer. Mercer only out-landed Lewis in jabs. Lewis landed more hard shots. Mercer performance is kinda overpraised by pro-Ray crowd, which was cheering many of his activities, while not all of them were effective. Mercer provided some noticeable punches on the defence, so those couldn't be taken as scores. It was an even fight in the first 6 rounds with Lewis landing harder shots. From 7 until 9 it was all Lennox. The 10th was close, but Mercer a bit stole an ending. So, it was a hard back and forth battle yet with Lewis winning pretty clear.

Agreed. Lewis is my ATG favorite HW, but I really thought he lost. Or at best a draw. I'll have to watch again. Tough freakin' fight!

Yeah, Lewis is also a one of my ATG favourites. He was smart and highly skilled.

The guy lost by KO twice and KO'd both (although McCall had a nervous breakdown). I chuckle when youtube has "Lennox Lewis...all his losses." Must be short. He evolved so well over time!

[DrDuke]

Agreed. Lewis is my ATG favorite HW, but I really thought he lost. Or at best a draw. I'll have to watch again. Tough freakin' fight!

Yeah, Lewis is also a one of my ATG favourites. He was smart and highly skilled.

The guy lost by KO twice and KO'd both (although McCall had a nervous breakdown). I chuckle when youtube has "Lennox Lewis...all his losses." Must be short. He evolved so well over time!

That's true. His first loss made him improve. With Steward he evolved, although sometimes lacked discipline, what cost him a victory vs Rahman, but that loss was brutally avenged. In the result Lewis had an outstanding career.

[oogiebe]

Yeah, Lewis is also a one of my ATG favourites. He was smart and highly skilled.

The guy lost by KO twice and KO'd both (although McCall had a nervous breakdown). I chuckle when youtube has "Lennox Lewis...all his losses." Must be short. He evolved so well over time!

That's true. His first loss made him improve. With Steward he evolved, although sometimes lacked discipline, what cost him a victory vs Rahman, but that loss was brutally avenged. In the result Lewis had an outstanding career.

100%

[PredatorHayds]

Just watched Floyd Patterson against Cut and Shoot, Texas finest Roy Harris.

Starts off a competetive fight. Harris puts Patterson down.
Patterson gets on top and gives Harris a bit of a beating til it gets stopped.

Watched a lot of Patterson lately. He gets put down a lot, but looks fresh as a daisy a lot of the time he gets back up.

Read a lot of articles around this time August 58.

A lot of the boxing press and public are really pushing for a Patterson-SRR fight. Likely that Floyd would of been a huge favourite.
At this time Pattersons hand speed is being talked about as one of the best of all time.
Cus doesn’t want the fight as he doesn’t want Patterson feasting on blown up middleweights.

In hindsight. What a fight it could of been.

Patterson would have literally killed Robinson had they fought circa 1959.

SRR would have been way too small & way too old to be fighting someone as young, quick & powerful as Patterson.

I can't imagine that such talk was serious.

By the late 1950s, Robinson would have been nearing 40, with his best years behind him.

He was losing to Fullmer and Basilio around then. He had been stopped by Maxim for the light heavy title years earlier.

I don't believe it would be remotely competitive.

Patterson was far from the strongest or biggest heavyweight and was notoriously chinny, but that wouldn't have mattered against the smaller, aging Robinson.

Patterson would have won in a breeze.

I’d never heard this fight mentioned before.
But before this fight the press where asking the question repeatedly and quite a lot of it in print.
Managed to find a Cus interview where he said there’s no way the fight happens as Floyd gains nothing for damaging SRR.
I think it’s a mixture of not many opponents for Floyd and the New York press love for SRR.

[DrDuke]

Holyfield vs Moorer 2

It was a big exclamation mark in this rivalry. However, the first fight could have gone in a similar way, if Holyfield wasn't injured. Btw, I still find that decision for Moorer disputable. So, the rematch. Holyfield began aggressively, he was dictating the pace, but Moorer wasn't backing up, he could have stolen the round eventually by countering Holyfield's left hook with his right hook, what had troubled Evander. The 2nd round it was in the same fashion, the fight was close. In the 3rd Holyfield cornered Moorer, landed some good shots. They had been broken up to check Holyfield's face, as there had been a head-clash during that exchange. The stoppage could have helped Moorer. In the 4th it still was all the same fight, Evander could have won the round with catching Michael on the ropes at the final seconds. Closer to the finish of the 5th there was an exchange, Evander landed a great right uppercut - left hook - right cross combination sending Moorer down. After that big round Evander took a break in the 6th, which continued in the 7th. But then Holyfield landed a combo being almost at the ropes, it did't look very hard, but there were precise punches, Moorer was staggered. Then the battering of Moorer had begun, he was floored for two times in the 7th. Holyfield started the 8th not so fast again with another awakening closer to the end of the round. Moorer was down for another two times then. He was up, but after the round the fight was stopped. It was fair.

[oogiebe]

Holyfield vs Moorer 2

It was a big exclamation mark in this rivalry. However, the first fight could have gone in a similar way, if Holyfield wasn't injured. Btw, I still find that decision for Moorer disputable. So, the rematch. Holyfield began aggressively, he was dictating the pace, but Moorer wasn't backing up, he could have stolen the round eventually by countering Holyfield's left hook with his right hook, what had troubled Evander. The 2nd round it was in the same fashion, the fight was close. In the 3rd Holyfield cornered Moorer, landed some good shots. They had been broken up to check Holyfield's face, as there had been a head-clash during that exchange. The stoppage could have helped Moorer. In the 4th it still was all the same fight, Evander could have won the round with catching Michael on the ropes at the final seconds. Closer to the finish of the 5th there was an exchange, Evander landed a great right uppercut - left hook - right cross combination sending Moorer down. After that big round Evander took a break in the 6th, which continued in the 7th. But then Holyfield landed a combo being almost at the ropes, it did't look very hard, but there were precise punches, Moorer was staggered. Then the battering of Moorer had begun, he was floored for two times in the 7th. Holyfield started the 8th not so fast again with another awakening closer to the end of the round. Moorer was down for another two times then. He was up, but after the round the fight was stopped. It was fair.

We forget about that fight way too often. It was a statement by Real Deal, no doubt.

[DrDuke]

Holyfield vs Moorer 2

It was a big exclamation mark in this rivalry. However, the first fight could have gone in a similar way, if Holyfield wasn't injured. Btw, I still find that decision for Moorer disputable. So, the rematch. Holyfield began aggressively, he was dictating the pace, but Moorer wasn't backing up, he could have stolen the round eventually by countering Holyfield's left hook with his right hook, what had troubled Evander. The 2nd round it was in the same fashion, the fight was close. In the 3rd Holyfield cornered Moorer, landed some good shots. They had been broken up to check Holyfield's face, as there had been a head-clash during that exchange. The stoppage could have helped Moorer. In the 4th it still was all the same fight, Evander could have won the round with catching Michael on the ropes at the final seconds. Closer to the finish of the 5th there was an exchange, Evander landed a great right uppercut - left hook - right cross combination sending Moorer down. After that big round Evander took a break in the 6th, which continued in the 7th. But then Holyfield landed a combo being almost at the ropes, it did't look very hard, but there were precise punches, Moorer was staggered. Then the battering of Moorer had begun, he was floored for two times in the 7th. Holyfield started the 8th not so fast again with another awakening closer to the end of the round. Moorer was down for another two times then. He was up, but after the round the fight was stopped. It was fair.

We forget about that fight way too often. It was a statement by Real Deal, no doubt.

Yes, Holyfield had an excellent game-plan and no worse realisation of it. He wisely found the correct distance for landing on southpaw Michael. After the first knockdown Evander wisely again chose a deceptive break. Great strategy, great display of skills.