mickey1975 wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025, 13:38
I was at Hatton v Kostya and Calzaghe v Lacey. Khan v Prescott was memorable, too, I've never known an arena go silent as quick.
I was at Khan V prescott too, sat behind a load of his fans and they we're not best pleased so I made a sharp exit
Bernard Dunne vs. Ricardo Cordoba for me. Had everything.
World title fight, hometown fighter, created a great atmosphere (Ireland had won the rugby that day as well, think the Six Nations? So the place was buzzing).
The fight itself had numerous knockdowns, a bad cut, and back-and-forth shifts in momentum.
steve689 wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025, 19:36
Bernard Dunne vs. Ricardo Cordoba for me. Had everything.
World title fight, hometown fighter, created a great atmosphere (Ireland had won the rugby that day as well, think the Six Nations? So the place was buzzing).
The fight itself had numerous knockdowns, a bad cut, and back-and-forth shifts in momentum.
I bet that was crazy. I followed Dunne's career from early doors & remember the shocker against Kiko. I read that Martinez bet his entire purse on a 1st round KO. Ballsy fornicating move if true.
Cordoba was a very good fighter. I really didn't expect Dunne to win. It must have been mental in there that night.
As for the Rugby, you'd beaten Wales away 15-17 to win the Grand Slam with a very late Drop Goal
Some proper piss ups on the streets of Dublin that weekend.
Barry McGuigen winning the world title against Eusebio Perdroza loftus road was an amazing night. The whole country watched that one. I was standing down ringside next to good old Frank Bruno shouting instructions ( frank, not me )
One of the most memorable other ones was Nigel Benn nearly getting knocked out by Anthony Logan before coming back from the brink, the whole Royal Albert Hall was up on its feet. Benn had been flattening everyone, and suddenly it looked like it was all gonna come off the rails. Somehow I was ringside next to Simon Euan Smith of BN ( I had a local press pass, no TV that night as there was a dispute ) he was a pretty stoic individual: I think he was the only person who remained seated
Best fight I ever saw live was Dec Spelman v Ellis Zorro. Never going to be a big fight but it was genuinely brilliant. I was biased, my father in law had sponsored Dec and we were all rooting for him, and he lost, but it was the best fight I’ve seen live.
It was so good Thomas Hauser wrote an article on it in Boxing News.
steve689 wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025, 19:36
Bernard Dunne vs. Ricardo Cordoba for me. Had everything.
World title fight, hometown fighter, created a great atmosphere (Ireland had won the rugby that day as well, think the Six Nations? So the place was buzzing).
The fight itself had numerous knockdowns, a bad cut, and back-and-forth shifts in momentum.
I bet that was crazy. I followed Dunne's career from early doors & remember the shocker against Kiko. I read that Martinez bet his entire purse on a 1st round KO. Ballsy fornicating move if true.
Cordoba was a very good fighter. I really didn't expect Dunne to win. It must have been mental in there that night.
As for the Rugby, you'd beaten Wales away 15-17 to win the Grand Slam with a very late Drop Goal
Some proper piss ups on the streets of Dublin that weekend.
I went to see Bernard dunne against Martinez. Only Ireland fight ever been To. Met Emanuel Steward in the hotel afterwards
That’s about as good as it gets for me. I was also at Warrington - Galahad but the less said about that the better.
I was also there the night both Galahad & Harper got knocked out in the Sheffield arena. That was weird. Just complete silence apart from about 10 people celebrating on both occasions.
A lad behind me won the best part of a grand by having £20 on both away fighters to win by knockout. He didn’t even follow the sport. He just did it for a bit of fun.
Beterbiev vs Yarde
Haye vs Chisora
Froch vs Groves 2
Froch vs Kessler 2
Nothing especially jaw-dropping. The best fights of my time being a boxing fan, like say Joshua vs Klitschko, which was a real barnburner, sold out before I was able to get tickets.
Best fighter I ever saw was Usyk stopping Dubois, but it was not a classic fight or anything. I was glad to be there and got excited, though
Last edited by Cyclops on 28 Dec 2025, 12:05, edited 1 time in total.
mickey1975 wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025, 13:38
I was at Hatton v Kostya and Calzaghe v Lacey. Khan v Prescott was memorable, too, I've never known an arena go silent as quick.
I was at Khan V prescott too, sat behind a load of his fans and they we're not best pleased so I made a sharp exit
i was at kevin mitchell v michael katsidis at upton park that went pretty quiet when he got stopped
mickey1975 wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025, 13:38
I was at Hatton v Kostya and Calzaghe v Lacey. Khan v Prescott was memorable, too, I've never known an arena go silent as quick.
I was at Khan V prescott too, sat behind a load of his fans and they we're not best pleased so I made a sharp exit
i was at kevin mitchell v michael katsidis at upton park that went pretty quiet when he got stopped
I was at that, too. I wasn't especially invested in Mitchell anyway but yeah, a sudden swing from jubilant excitement to dejected silence. Very grim.
Watching Joe Joyce get stopped by Zhang was another one where the atmosphere became almost funereal afterwards.
I would have to say the two best,evenly matched fights,purely for the sheer excitement and incredible toughness,Live-is Shea Nearly vs Mickey Ward in 2000 and a few years later,Carl Thompson vs Sebastian Rothemann. Honorable mentions,Michael Sprott vs Pele Reid and David Haye vs Carl Thompson.
Benn v Mclellan 1995 is probably the best, but it's hard retrospectively to have enjoyed it. More recently Leon McKenzie LTKO9 v Cello Renda springs to mind as one I thought was unbelievable as it unfolded in front of me.
mickey1975 wrote: ↑24 Dec 2025, 13:38
I was at Hatton v Kostya and Calzaghe v Lacey. Khan v Prescott was memorable, too, I've never known an arena go silent as quick.
If you wanted silence you should have gone to see Fury v Parker.
dickbelden2 wrote: ↑28 Dec 2025, 15:37
HEARNS VS LEONARD 1---ALSO HOLMES VS COONEY !
i'm envious
I don’t think anyone’s gonna top these two
Such big fights that the results lead the world news reports the next day, I remember listening to the radio for the Leonard fight result in the early hours.
I went to the Hammersmith Odeon to watch Holmes Cooney via satellite live on the big screen
Taansend wrote: ↑23 Dec 2025, 04:38
I was just thinking about this the other day. I've been to loads of fights & enjoyed some great nights but I don't think I've ever been at a classic back & forth war.
I suppose the one closest was Lewis v Klitschko but I felt Lennox was in control by the time the stoppage came.
Benn v Lou Gent was great fun because of the E'd up & coked up South London fans singing the whole way through. Gent had a go but Benn was just toying with him.
Kirkland Laing winning the Euro title against Antoine Fernandez was very special. The Frenchman was meant to be destined for World honours while Laing had recently been KO'd by Buck Smith. But Kirkland fucked him up in 2 rounds.
In the US I have seen Loma, B-Hop, Danny Garcia, Linares, Malignaggi, Alimkhanuly, Ramirez & others but the atmosphere rarely adds up.
Other fights, like Laing vs. Fernandez, were always exciting because no one expected Laing to win like that. But of course, the atmosphere of the fights wasn’t always as good as the fights themselves. Now I don’t bet anymore, I started reading about their bonuses on , where you can also get a lot of emotions. I just started following the best fights. Like Usik, Joshua and others.
Who's been at a proper tear up?
I was at many fights, including the Klitschko fight. I also made many bets and won many, because Klitschko was undefeated, and that was his strength, control over the fight. However, if we talk about classic fights, one of the most emotional impressions for me was the fight between Holyfield and Lewis.
Kessler vs Calzaghe. I enjoyed the finals of the commonwealth games though. Not the best fight but a great atmosphere. Friendly. I can't remember sweet Caroline either
Erik Morales v Marco Antonio Barrera 1
Lennox Lewis v Michael Grant
Roy Jones Jr v Clinton Woods
Roy Jones Jr v John Ruiz
Antonio Margarito v Miguel Cotto 1
Joe Calzaghe v Roy Jones Jr
Marco Huck v Denis Lebedev
Toshiaki Nishioka v Rafael Marquez
Miguel Cotto v Antonio Margarito 2
Andre Ward v Sergei Kovalev 1
Vasyl Lomachenko v Nicholas Walters
Jesse Rodriguez v Juan Estrada
Vergil Ortiz Jr v Erickson Lubin
levi billups wrote: ↑28 Dec 2025, 12:30
Benn v Mclellan 1995 is probably the best, but it's hard retrospectively to have enjoyed it. More recently Leon McKenzie LTKO9 v Cello Renda springs to mind as one I thought was unbelievable as it unfolded in front of me.
i'm envious