BoxRec

Ambling Alp II wrote:Doesn't matter where a fighter starts his career, it matters if he had naturally grown in weight was used to it, and still in his prime.

Anyway, there are some great wins listed here. Here are a few more:

Ali over Frazier in their 3rd fight. Great action in extreme heat.
Benitez W15 over Cervantes. Benitez was only 17 years old.
Leonard TKo 8 Duran. Feeling he had no chance to win, Duran forced to quit.
Walcott KO7 Charles. Walcott wins the title in his 5th try at the age of 37 with a lefthook out of nowhere.
LaMotta KO 15 Dauthuille. Behind, LaMotta rallies for Ko in the final seconds to save his title.
Weaver KO 15 Tate. Well behind on points, Weaver knocks out Tate to win the title.

Griffith was obviously not as effective at Middle as he was at Welter. Chavez lost a lot by the time he got past 135. Still great wins. Just not the very top.

Here are my top10 greatest wins in boxing history:

1. Joe Frazier W15 Muhammad Ali I: In the most anticipated fight of all time, Frazier and Ali gave the world a fight of the ages. Their contrast personalities and boxing styles is what made this fight of March 8, 1971 Monday night so special. Not to mention that extraordinary left hook that dropped Ali in round 15 when both of them were very exhausted, and to top it off, Ali got up like a champion. Ali proved to be a great fighter that night and won lots of respect from the press. But Frazier was the BETTER MAN and won the biggest fight of the 20th century.

2. Roberto Duran W15 Sugar Ray Leonard I: It was the biggest and still is the most anticipated fight of all time, outside the heavyweights. Another fight of different styles and personalities, an African American superstar vs the Latin American and Hispanic hero. Duran was not going to be denied in that night in Montreal and showed the world that he is indeed an all time great. It was Duran's greatest win in which he showed all his boxing abilities.

3. Bob Fitzsimmons KO14 James J. Corbett: Outweighted by 17 pounds, at only 167lbs, to Corbett's 184, Ruby at age 36, became the first middleweight champion to become heavyweight king. This is not the great Roy Jones, Jr win over goofy John Ruiz. This win was a classical win. One of the best of all time! It was a "Solar Plexus Punch" that paralyzed Corbett until the count of 10. That is why I rank Fitzsimmons in the top 15 greatest fighters ever.

4. Wilfred Benitez W15 Antonio Cervantes: How could a seventeen year old boy beat a grown man in his prime? Easily, Benitez, gave Cervantes a boxing lesson that he would never forget, becoming the youngest fighter in boxing history to become world champion. A feat that probably will never be duplicated.

5. Roberto Duran W12 Iran Barkley: I mean, is there any win like it? A man that is considered WASHED UP and FINISHED, at 37, has his last hurrah when he defeated a younger, taller, stronger, and faster opponent that just came off a big win stopping the great Thomas Hearns in 3 rounds. The pace was incredible for both fighters. Both fighters fought their hearts out. It was unbelievable how Duran went toe to toe with a natural middleweight. In fact, he was almost knocked out in round 6 by a perfect left hook by Iran. If "No Mas" was his downfall, here in this fight, Duran made up for it with COJONES!!!...This to me, got to put Manos de Piedra in the top 5 greatest fighters ever. He belongs in the Mt. Rushmore of Boxing.

6. Sugar Ray Leonard TKO14 Thomas Hearns I: The most anticipated fight after Duran vs Leonard I, outside the heavyweights. Two CHAMPIONS in their prime gave us probably the best fight ever. To me, the best fight that I have ever seen. A see saw battle. Back and forth. Puncher turned boxer. Boxer turned puncher. Leonard tired, and with an eye almost shut, and behind in the scorecards, rallied and stopped the fearsome Hitman. It was Sugar Ray's FINEST HOUR.

7. Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman: The second most anticipated fight in boxing history took place in Kinshasa, Zaire of all places. Ali at 32, had a strategy called "The Rope a Dope" and exhausted the big puncher Big George that just came of destroying the great Joe Frazier and Ken Norton in less than four rounds. Ali Bombaye! This became Ali's greatest triumph and placed him in the all time top 10 greatest fighters ever.

8. Salvador Sanchez TKO8 Wilfredo Gomez: Probably in Latin America, there has not ever been a more anticipated fight between two great champions in their prime. One Mexican and the other Puerto Rican made it greater in this rivalry. Sanchez took Bazooka apart bit by bit. A awesome display of complete endurance and skill. Gomez showed lots of heart, even though he had a swollen eye, the other was completely shut, broken cheekbones and wilted. Sanchez became national hero by beating a man that was beating Mexicans boxers for a long time. "Mexico tiene un Salvador" said the cover of The Ring in Spanish. Meaning, "Mexico has a Saviour".....It was Sanchez' greatest performance.

9. Marvin Hagler TKO3 Thomas Hearns: Probably I will never see a fight like it, and probably you won't either. The Hitman and the Marvelous traded blows at terrific pace in which became the 3 greatest first rounds of a fight, all time. Hagler with a gash in his forehead, almost lost his title by a cut. He became one of the greatest middleweights in history with this win. He was not just great, he was Marvelous!!!

10. Jersey Joe Walcott KO7 Ezzard Charles: Walcott was already beaten by Charles twice. And the third fight in Pittsburgh, PA looked like it was not going to be different. A great left uppercut put "The Cincinnati Cobra" to sleep until the count of 1000. Walcott became the oldest fighter in history, at 37 years old, to win the world heavyweight crown for the first time.

Honorary Mention:

Julio Cesar Chavez TKO12 Meldrick Taylor....Two seconds away from greatness, Taylor is stopped.
Floyd Patterson KO3 Ingemar Johansson II....Patterson, embarrassed the first time, became the first man ever to recapture the world heavyweight crown.
Joe Louis KO1 Max Schmeling II...One of boxing's greatest performances....Germany surrenders.
George Foreman TKO2 Joe Frazier I...."Down goes Frazuh!", "Down goes Frazuh!", "Down goes Frazuh!"

Not exactly sure how this list is being compiled---Significance? Excitement?

But whatever. No list would be complete with Foreman-Lyle in January 1976. If it was staged for a movie, everyone would shake their heads and say "No real fight could every look like that!"
Rocky vs Creed come to life.

Another in the honorary mention in my list would be Holyfield TKO11 Tyson I. It was a great win and upset.

SenorPipino wrote:Not exactly sure how this list is being compiled---Significance? Excitement?

But whatever. No list would be complete with Foreman-Lyle in January 1976. If it was staged for a movie, everyone would shake their heads and say "No real fight could every look like that!"
Rocky vs Creed come to life.

I think everyone has their own criteria in this thread.

One thing that I have noticed is that we seem to pick and choose fights where one our favorite guys won.
There are at least 6 fights chosen where someone chose a fight where the winner of that particular fight lost the series to that opponent, but none of the opponents' wins are listed by that person.

For example, Langford over Wills is listed, none of Wills wins are listed and he won the majority of their fights.
There is also:
Greb-Tunney I (Greb won)
Duran-Leonard I (Duran won)
Pep-Saddler II (Pep won)
Frazier-Ali I (Frazier won)
Robinson-Fullmer II (Robinson won)

My top 3 would be

Frazier/Ali 1
Duran/Leonard 1
Leonard/Hearns 1

That was an excellent list.

I think Walcott's KO over Charles was pretty big, esepcially after losing to him twice. Douglas upsetting Tyson was a huge win. whitaker's master performance against against Chavez also comes to mind ( though he was robbed and given a draw. )

curry vs honeyghan,i know the cobra was struggling making the weight,but it was still don curry,the best p4p fighter in the world at the time,honeyghan didn't just nick a decision he destroyed him,curry was never the same again

curry vs honeyghan,i know the cobra was struggling making the weight,but it was still don curry,the best p4p fighter in the world at the time,honeyghan didn't just nick a decision he destroyed him,curry was never the same again

Hmm....I don't see a list from Il Duce.... It looked like the "list" contained one fight.
And....I don't get how that qualifies......other than it being Il Duce's happiest moment of a lifetime.

A great fighter in his prime...beating an over the hill champion....just does not seem "great". It just seems "expected". Just a nature moment really.

Greatest wins? Purely on fan energy? Probably Frazier over Ali.....followed by Ali over Foreman and maybe the first Liston fight.

Holyfield over Tyson seemed to have a lot of buzz about it.

I do agree with Whitaker Chavez...save the disgraceful and embarrassing decision.

Braddock over Baer ....probably even higher rated.

Gene T. Over Jack D.

Hagler over Hearns

Duran over Leonard and vice versa

There was a lot of Media Buzz about Barerra over Naz.

The greatest win of all time goes to Archie Moore over Yvonne Durelle....not because of the "what" or the "who" or the "buzz" but the "how". Dear god, Archie was gone....it was the greatest comeback since Lazarus.

All depends on how you define "Great". We know what defines Great for Il Duce.....Too bad he can't be satisfied with the Truly great Win that Frazier had over Il Duce's nemesis. I suppose every official loss and KD that Ali ever had was truly "The Greatest" in terms of his world view.


Oops....I'm repeating myself...I think I chimed in on this before.

I take exception to your umbrage....for all you know my lists are not produced for the normal or typical...but for those who have transcended the average, and have taken flight over the mundane.


However it does warm my heart to know that via my tutelage you have left the Holmes/Ali fight off your list. You see, you are not an immovable object or a static intellect. You have shown your ability to adapt and evolve....within this very thread. Seems you left all your earlier calls off this list.

I'm very proud of your efforts.

1) Schmeling -v- Louis 1 is number one for me. I just can't fathom how huge it must have been for Schmeling to knock out the formidable Joe Louis.

Joe Louis was close to fistic perfection & he was young at the time, so Schmeling deserves all the credit in the world for taking him out.

2) Ali -v- Foreman - Ali told the world he was going to dance & that made sense, as that looked like the only we he could survive, but when Ali realised his legs would not carry him for 15 rounds, he adopted near suicidal tactics & proved not only that he was better than the indestructible Foreman, but tougher too.

...Il....now you are including every fight there ever was......and to think that some people right here on this forum, have accused you of discrimination.

I this case I say nay nay.

Nothing Great about it......Evangalista was thoroughly thrashed....and I'm not sure Ali was as interested in knockouts as he was in beating his opponents about the head and shoulders. Tune ups are a part of the championship existence. Can't wait for you to turn your myopic eye on Joe Louis as you attempt to explain why he might be "average" in the wake of his many bum exchanges.

However...Joe was great...in spite of his many fights that were not all that challenging of the best in him.

I'm starting to suspect that you are just a tiny wee bit, perhaps imperceptibly obsessed with certain minutia that apparently you find as the center of the universe. I can't wait to hear more details on the mating habits of tsetse flies.

Seamus wrote:Some fights that I'll add to the list, many of which I agree with.

1. Hate to have to mention it, but Sandy Saddler's 4th round demolition of Willie Pep. I've never bought into the Saddler had Pep's number myth, simply because there are extenuating circumstances, but in the 1st fight, Saddler did win in shocking fashion.

2.Rubin Carter KO 1 Emile Griffith. Don't think an explanation is really necessary.

3.Jimmy McLarnin KO 1 Young Corbett III. Corbett had a helluva career before and after this landmine in the road.

4.Young Corbett II KO 2 Terry McGovern. Corbett annihilated one of the most feared fighters of his day, and in less than 2 rds !

These four are really good picks. McLarnin is probably an underrated fighter

Ezzard wrote:

Seamus wrote:Some fights that I'll add to the list, many of which I agree with.

1. Hate to have to mention it, but Sandy Saddler's 4th round demolition of Willie Pep. I've never bought into the Saddler had Pep's number myth, simply because there are extenuating circumstances, but in the 1st fight, Saddler did win in shocking fashion.

2.Rubin Carter KO 1 Emile Griffith. Don't think an explanation is really necessary.

3.Jimmy McLarnin KO 1 Young Corbett III. Corbett had a helluva career before and after this landmine in the road.

4.Young Corbett II KO 2 Terry McGovern. Corbett annihilated one of the most feared fighters of his day, and in less than 2 rds !

These four are really good picks. McLarnin is probably an underrated fighter

He undoubtedly is. He could easily be a top 15 fighter.