Classic fights I've watched recently

[handsofstone]

Oscar De La Hoya vs Julio Cesar Chavez 1+2


De La Hoya stops Chavez in the 4th due to cut on the eye in the 1st fight, seemed to be a right hand in the 1st that opened up the cut, Chavez face was a bloody mess and the doctor had a look before allowing it to continue, De La Hoya chose to box in the next couple of rounds allowing the eye not to bleed too much before opening up on Chavez in the 4th bursting the cut back open, then it was stopped by the ref, apparently Chavez had suffered the cut a few days before the fight and it went undetected going into the fight

Chavez retired on his stool after the 9th in the rematch, he was way behind on the cards, De La Hoya too young and fresh and was able to outbox and outfight Chavez, JCC did have some success when Oscar chose to stand and trade but when De La Hoya used his legs and jab, Chavez was ineffective, then in about the 7th De La Hoya turned up the heat and was landing solid shots before Chavez quit with a mouth injury

[Flump]

Riddick Bowe vs Andrew Golota 1+2

Golota was an absolute headcase, imagine getting yourself DQd twice for repeated low blows in fights you were in the lead of? The 1st fight he was boxing the ears off Bowe, staggered him but got 3 points deducted for repeated low blows before getting disqualified in the 7th for doing it again, most will remember the riots that followed, probably the worst that ive seen. Lou Duva collapsed it was pure mayhem

The rematch is probably one of the best HW contests of all time, Golota puts Bowe in thr 2nd and batters him around the ring seemingly just one clean shot from finishing him off before blatantly headbutting Bowe and getting a point deducted then Bowe puts Golota down before Andrew gets another deduction for a low blow, then he puts Bowe down again and goes on batter Bowe senseless for the next couple of rounds,Bowe's legs were gone but Golota ends up getting himself thrown out again for a 3 punch combo downstairs to Riddick

Incredible behaviour from Golota, I could understand if he was way behind on the cards, taking heavy shots and getting frustrated but to do it when your ahead TWICE is beggers belief

Great fights though,the rematch especially is epic

Hate and abhor conspiracy theories - especially when boxing related - but Golota's behaviour is so utterly bizarre and you do kind of wonder why a guy on the brink of such big wins suddenly does this stuff?

It is is the last thing he needed to do and he had absolutely no reason to do this either; so why blatantly foul like that and leave the ref no choice?

Golota was (and is) generally considered to be a fruitcake but largely after these fights with Bowe; so I wonder what gives?

There was a pattern through his career though, he bit Samson Pouah in a fight that he was having tough moments in, the quit job against Grant when he was ahead, the alleged panic attack before the Lewis fight before he got blasted, the quit job in the Tyson fight when, while he was losing, he was still live in.

Just somebody who sometimes when it gets tough goes a bit haywire. Shame because he definitely had the tools.

[Keko]

Johnny Tapia vs Danny Romero

[Counter-puncher]

Johnny Tapia vs Danny Romero

nice fight, very smart performance by Tapia in that one

[Bodyshot3]

Defintely something not wired correctly up in that head of his

Very true and Flump has given some good examples of his oddness too.

I always thought that Golota - despite being DQ-eed twice - pretty much ended Big Daddy's willingness to be a top prize fighter.

Riddick had well-documented issues of his own but Golota inflicted something more telling; namely the type of hammerings in the ring Bowe did not want to take any longer and creating doubts about what he had left in the tank.

They're a couple of mad, bad and great heavyweight fights though.

[handsofstone]

Floyd Mayweather vs Zab Judah


Poo fight I thought, Mayweather gets a lot of credit for adapting to Judah, he did struggle with Zab's speed at 1st but once Judah stopped throwing punches Mayweather took over without much fuss after about the 4th, I thought the shot that Judah put Mayweather down with in the 2nd should've been scored a KD. a little right hook landed,also the ring riot in the 10th probably should've got Mayweather DQd since Roger stormed the ring 1st, close but comfortable for Mayweather

[handsofstone]

Larry Holmes vs Muhammad Ali

Its the 1st time ive seen it all the way through, I was never the biggest fan of Ali's style post exile but by this stage he was even more flat than usual and it was clear he was finished, he'd been out for a couple of years and Holmes was just too big,fresh and strong for him and by the end he was landing at will, it was hard to watch and it was a good call by Dundee to pull him out, there was a spell in the 7th when Ali started dancing on his toes and shooting the jab out for once and I'm sure at the time his fans would've been hoping for a Foreman like turnaround but Holmes landed some hurtful shots at the end of the round to put Ali back in his place, probably one of the easiest nights of Holmes career

[handsofstone]

Trevor Berbick vs Muhammad Ali


Considering Ali wasn't far away from 40, had been retired 2 years and in his last fight had suffered the worst beating of his career and only stoppage loss against Holmes, it wasn't too bad a showing, even more so considering he was already showing symptoms of Parkinsons, lets be honest he was never in the fight and was 2nd best on everything but he did have more success against Berbick than he did against Holmes, fair enough Berbick was no Holmes but he was a future world champ and a top HW of the day so although Ali shouldn't have been near a ring his performance deserves some credit

Poo fight though and really Berbick despite being the better man should've won more decisively IMO

Also listening to Ali talk in the ring afterwards is heartbreaking, its clear theres something wrong with him, already slow and slurred, how he was allowed to fight was a disgrace, make his performance all the more admirable

[evrenb]

Trevor Berbick vs Muhammad Ali


Considering Ali wasn't far away from 40, had been retired 2 years and in his last fight had suffered the worst beating of his career and only stoppage loss against Holmes, it wasn't too bad a showing, even more so considering he was already showing symptoms of Parkinsons, lets be honest he was never in the fight and was 2nd best on everything but he did have more success against Berbick than he did against Holmes, fair enough Berbick was no Holmes but he was a future world champ and a top HW of the day so although Ali shouldn't have been near a ring his performance deserves some credit

Poo fight though and really Berbick despite being the better man should've won more decisively IMO

Also listening to Ali talk in the ring afterwards is heartbreaking, its clear theres something wrong with him, already slow and slurred, how he was allowed to fight was a disgrace, make his performance all the more admirable

A fantastic post

[handsofstone]

Wilfred Benitez vs Roberto Duran

Wasn't a classic, not a lot of real quality punches landed by either man but Benitez was a clear deserved winner, on the occasions when Duran was able to get inside he couldn't really get off effectively and Benitez was able to nullify him pretty easily and done a good job of picking Duran off

[elmersalsa]

Wilfred Benitez vs Roberto Duran

Wasn't a classic, not a lot of real quality punches landed by either man but Benitez was a clear deserved winner, on the occasions when Duran was able to get inside he couldn't really get off effectively and Benitez was able to nullify him pretty easily and done a good job of picking Duran off

I just saw the fight last night and the same Sugar Ray Leonard and Carlos Palomino were saying from the get go by round 2 that The Hands of Stone didn't had it. He was lounging too much his punches. They weren't quick nor hurting. The Radar was in control and too relaxed. I think Duran rushed too quickly for a title fight in a weight class too large for him. He looked TOTALLY FLAT in this fight, worse than the two previous fights he had the year before. Benitez was much more quicker at 154lbs than Duran. Benitez ironically was even stronger than Duran on the inside fighting where it was Duran's terrain. Duran simply just didn't have it. Does that mean that Benitez always beat Duran at any weight class? I think not.

It was Benitez' last great win. He somehow went off the cliff after losing to The Hitman. Duran was considered finished with no fire. The fire it's gone! Some reporter said that. Then, he had a reincarnation by winning two more world titles against bigger guys than he. Remarkable!

[handsofstone]

Marvin Hagler vs Roberto Duran


Good fight, close fight although Hagler was the clear winner Duran had his moments, a lot more than he had against Benitez which I just watched the other day, 1st few rounds were close until the 6th when Hagler turned righty and had a lot of success and had his best round of the fight,he then pulled away from then on but Duran did come on again in the championship rounds when Hagler seemed to tire a little but Hagler had a good last round to seal the deal

[davie]

Marvin Hagler vs Roberto Duran


Good fight, close fight although Hagler was the clear winner Duran had his moments, a lot more than he had against Benitez which I just watched the other day, 1st few rounds were close until the 6th when Hagler turned righty and had a lot of success and had his best round of the fight,he then pulled away from then on but Duran did come on again in the championship rounds when Hagler seemed to tire a little but Hagler had a good last round to seal the deal

Really appreciate that Duran performance and think it was one of his best, certainly that I have watched, even in defeat.

I would imagine if I was watching it then, if you asked me if a former lightweight could hold his own vs Hagler, I'd have laughed at you

[handsofstone]

Marvin Hagler vs Roberto Duran


Good fight, close fight although Hagler was the clear winner Duran had his moments, a lot more than he had against Benitez which I just watched the other day, 1st few rounds were close until the 6th when Hagler turned righty and had a lot of success and had his best round of the fight,he then pulled away from then on but Duran did come on again in the championship rounds when Hagler seemed to tire a little but Hagler had a good last round to seal the deal

Really appreciate that Duran performance and think it was one of his best, certainly that I have watched, even in defeat.

I would imagine if I was watching it then, if you asked me if a former lightweight could hold his own vs Hagler, I'd have laughed at you

Yeah I agree it was a terrific effort from Duran, as you said going in a lot of people must have been thinking Hagler was gonna destroy him, Duran was able to hold his own comfortably on the inside, he was an excellent inside fighter but he just couldn't sustain his pressure for long spells and Hagler was able to get his own shots off from the outside

[elmersalsa]

Marvin Hagler vs Roberto Duran


Good fight, close fight although Hagler was the clear winner Duran had his moments, a lot more than he had against Benitez which I just watched the other day, 1st few rounds were close until the 6th when Hagler turned righty and had a lot of success and had his best round of the fight,he then pulled away from then on but Duran did come on again in the championship rounds when Hagler seemed to tire a little but Hagler had a good last round to seal the deal

Really appreciate that Duran performance and think it was one of his best, certainly that I have watched, even in defeat.

I would imagine if I was watching it then, if you asked me if a former lightweight could hold his own vs Hagler, I'd have laughed at you

Yeah I agree it was a terrific effort from Duran, as you said going in a lot of people must have been thinking Hagler was gonna destroy him, Duran was able to hold his own comfortably on the inside, he was an excellent inside fighter but he just couldn't sustain his pressure for long spells and Hagler was able to get his own shots off from the outside

Great effort by the Hands of Stone. But, the weight, the weight was really Duran's biggest enemy here. He didn't had the necessary speed to counter Marvelous. Marvelous was faster and much stronger at the end. This is another example of the bigger great fighter beats the smaller great man.

Hats off to Marvelous. He got a lot criticism of why he didn't blow out a blown lightweight. But, I think this fight made Marvelous if you think about it. He had to come from behind in the scorecards to beat the Hands of Stone. Like a great champion, he applied the pressure and solved the problem. A great win nonetheless.

[handsofstone]

Tommy Hearns vs Wilfred Benitez

Great performance from Hearns, he was never really troubled by Benitez at all, he scored a KD in the 5th with a right hand but Benitez wasn't badly hurt, Benitez was credited with a KD too later on but it was more of a balance issue that sent Tommy down, I thought the deduction Hearns got for holding and hitting in the 4th was harsh too, even though I'm still not sure why 1 judge had it a draw, I doubt I gave Benitez 3 rounds, I'm not sure if Hearns injured the right hand as he never threw it a lot instead concentrating more on quick jabs and hooks whilst always circling to the left, Benitez did show some cute defensive moves and made Hearns miss a lot too but he just never got his own punches off

[elmersalsa]

Tommy Hearns vs Wilfred Benitez

Great performance from Hearns, he was never really troubled by Benitez at all, he scored a KD in the 5th with a right hand but Benitez wasn't badly hurt, Benitez was credited with a KD too later on but it was more of a balance issue that sent Tommy down, I thought the deduction Hearns got for holding and hitting in the 4th was harsh too, even though I'm still not sure why 1 judge had it a draw, I doubt I gave Benitez 3 rounds, I'm not sure if Hearns injured the right hand as he never threw it a lot instead concentrating more on quick jabs and hooks whilst always circling to the left, Benitez did show some cute defensive moves and made Hearns miss a lot too but he just never got his own punches off

It was the great Thomas Hearns most underrated win. He broke his hand somewhere around the 8th or 9th round, but kept his composure and boxed beautifully with the jab. The Radar couldn't get inside. Hearns would not let him. To beat Tommy, you got to apply extra amount of unbelievable pressure. There's no other way. You ain't gonna outbox him, that's for sure.

I think he beat the great Wilfred Benitez better than Sugar Ray did. Hearns proved that he could also box. He outboxed a master boxer in Benitez.

Great technical fight in my view.

[handsofstone]

Frank Bruno vs Oliver McCall


Apart from a torrid last round for Bruno he was excellent, a very composed performance from him, it was his jab that won it for him, it was key and he outjabbed McCall from the start and his right hand was class too, I think he even rocked McCall with it in the 1st, he never tired either which a lot of people thought he would, I thought hr showed great ring generalship that night, all those years as being a nearly man gave him the experience to go in there with a dangerous puncher like McCall

Feeble defence from McCall TBF, he just gave up the title without much fuss, even when he was letting his hands go there was no thought in what he was doing

[handsofstone]

Evander Holyfield vs James "Buster" Douglas


Holyfield was in terrific shape that night as opposed to Douglas who had ballooned since taking the title from Tyson, Holyfield was quick out of the traps getting inside and working away, even outjabbing Douglas who only landed one meaningful shot in the 3 rounds it lasted, a decent right hand tagged Holyfield before Evander put him down with a cracking right hand just as Buster missed with an uppercut, sweet KO from Holyfield

[elmersalsa]

Evander Holyfield vs James "Buster" Douglas


Holyfield was in terrific shape that night as opposed to Douglas who had ballooned since taking the title from Tyson, Holyfield was quick out of the traps getting inside and working away, even outjabbing Douglas who only landed one meaningful shot in the 3 rounds it lasted, a decent right hand tagged Holyfield before Evander put him down with a cracking right hand just as Buster missed with an uppercut, sweet KO from Holyfield

It was Buster Douglas irresponsibility to train for that fight. That uppercut that Buster threw was as lazy as it can be.

I wish Buster would have trained hard just like he did with Iron Mike. I am not saying that The Real Deal would have not win the fight, but, it would have been a hell of a fight.

[handsofstone]

Evander Holyfield vs James "Buster" Douglas


Holyfield was in terrific shape that night as opposed to Douglas who had ballooned since taking the title from Tyson, Holyfield was quick out of the traps getting inside and working away, even outjabbing Douglas who only landed one meaningful shot in the 3 rounds it lasted, a decent right hand tagged Holyfield before Evander put him down with a cracking right hand just as Buster missed with an uppercut, sweet KO from Holyfield

It was Buster Douglas irresponsibility to train for that fight. That uppercut that Buster threw was as lazy as it can be.

I wish Buster would have trained hard just like he did with Iron Mike. I am not saying that The Real Deal would have not win the fight, but, it would have been a hell of a fight.

Yeah it seemed Douglas was only able to dreg up all his resources for 1 great performance, after that it was all downhill, still I think if both guys turn up primed, Holyfield still wins convincingly

[handsofstone]

Evander Holyfield vs George Foreman


Despite the one sidedness of Holyfield's win I still enjoyed it,he looked great again, obviously Foreman was even more plodding and slower than he was in his prime but Holyfield did look really sharp again, boxed a clever fight, his jab was fast and accurate and he showed great accuracy on the inside too, landing plenty of right hands and left hooks then getting out of he way of Foreman's clubbing shots, Evander hurt Foreman a couple of times too, especially in the 9th where if he had another minute he might have stopped George

I imagine watching it live might have been fun, never knowing if Foreman can land clean and shift the tide, credible effort from the 42 year old Foreman but Holyfield was excellent

[handsofstone]

Evander Holyfield vs Larry Holmes


Good effort from the 42 year old Holmes, better than Foreman's effort against Holyfield the year before, Evander couldn't hurt Larry the way he hurt George and he finished strongly I thought, no doubt Holyfield was the clear winner, he won a lot of the earlier rounds handily , I was surprised to see Holmes choose to go to the ropes for the 1st 6 rounds, I thought he would've tried to establish his jab early and try and keep Holyfield on the outside but he allowed Holyfield to come in close as batter away as Holmes tried to counter, for some reason Holyfield's corner told him to keep Larry in the centre of the ring and that didn't suit Evander and it allowed Holmes to have more success later on

Decent watch though

[Bodyshot3]

Frank Bruno vs Oliver McCall

Apart from a torrid last round for Bruno he was excellent, a very composed performance from him, it was his jab that won it for him, it was key and he outjabbed McCall from the start and his right hand was class too, I think he even rocked McCall with it in the 1st, he never tired either which a lot of people thought he would, I thought hr showed great ring generalship that night, all those years as being a nearly man gave him the experience to go in there with a dangerous puncher like McCall

Feeble defence from McCall TBF, he just gave up the title without much fuss, even when he was letting his hands go there was no thought in what he was doing

Definitely the big fight night Frank finally, finally showed he could actually execute/follow a decent gameplan

Kept himself calm/focussed without loading-up and running the tank dry too early - check.

Constantly pumped out a good, solid jab to score points and which kept McCall off him and dissuaded him from stepping in - check.

And yup, grabbed and spoiled at exactly the right times so he did not get backed-up (terminal for Frank) and whacked - that box ticked as well.

The ideal performance came very late in the day for Frank and lady luck gave him the erratic McCall; but it was still a qaulity performance from someone who never, ever stopped trying.

[handsofstone]

Larry Holmes vs Gerry Cooney


Cooney fought a good fight and it was a brave effort, there wasn't a lot in for the majority of the rounds and I would say he was the main aggressor but it was Holmes power which was the difference, once Gerry's left eye started to close from the 6th onwards, Larry was able to land they big right hands and in the end it was too much, Holmes had Cooney down in the 2nd with a class right hand which stumbled Cooney to the ground but Gerry recovered well and probably took the next round, he had his success with left hooks to head and body and he worked the body well although he lost a point for a low blow, Holmes jab wasn't as effective as ive seen it most other times, he mainly used it to set up the right cross

Cooney was spent by the 13th though, eye fully closed and tired from being past the 8th for the 1st time and Holmes opened him up and his corner stepped in after Cooney fell into the ropes, good call as Cooney had nothing left and there was no need for anymore