BoxRec

Boxings rivalries. Which were your top 10 favorites? A listing of many of them.


1. Muhammad Ali against Joe Frazier.


2. Muhammad Ali against Ken Norton.


3. Evander Holyfield against Riddick Bowe.


4. Sugar Ray Robinson against Jake LaMotta.


5. Sandy Saddler against Willie Pep.


6. Esteban Dejesus against Roberto Duran.


7. Floyd Patterson against Ingemar Johansson.


8. Tony Zale against Rocky Graziano.


9. Barney Ross against Jimmy McLarnin.


10. Sugar Ray Leonard against Roberto Duran.


11. Antonio Tarver against Roy Jones Jr..


12. Manny Pacquiao against Erik Morales.


13. Marcos Antonio Barrera against Erik Morales.


14. Arturo Gatti against Mickey Ward.


15. Emile Griffith against Benny Paret.


16. Humberto Gonzales against Michael Carbajal.


17. Israel Vazquez against Rafael Marquez.


18. Jeff Harding against Dennis Andries.





What were your top 10 rivalries?


Why?

I would like to add
Dennis Andries v Jeff Harding
James Toney v Mike McCallum
Vicente Saldivar v Howard Winstone
Tony Lopez v Juan Molina
Roberto Duran v Esteban DeJesus
Rocky Marciano v Ezzard Charles
Jersey Joe v Ezzard Charles
Edwin Rosario v Jose Luis Ramirez
Bobby Chacon v Rafael Limon
Bobby Chacon v Cornelius Boza Edwards
Bobby Chacon v Ruben Olivares
Chris Eubank v Nigel Benn
Chris Eubank v Michael Watson
Joe Louis v Billy Conn
Miguel Cotto v Antonio Margarito
Lloyd Honeyghan v Jorge Vaca
Terry Norris v Luis Santana
Terry Norris v Simon Brown

........ok, I realise now that all I'm doing is listing people who fought each other more than once :(
I'm sure some would say that there must be at least 1 won apiece to qualify as a rivalry, whatever.

EDIT : apologies to OP, I missed that you listed Duran/DeJesus and Andries/Harding

My personal favorite rivalries that I've had the pleasure of seeing.

1. Rafael Marquez vs Israel Vazquez
2. Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales
3. Arturo Gatti vs Micky Ward
4. Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez
5. Evander Holyfield vs Riddick Bowe
6. Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier
7. Jose Luis Castillo vs Diego Corrales (I was gutted when the 3rd fight was cancelled)

Those are the only ones that spring to mind right now.

I tend not to listen to any of the pre-fight theatrics, but when there's such an intense rivalry I'll often the dialogue between the two fighters intriguing.
I loved it that Manny and Marquez had a karaoke contest and both claimed victory, almost a bitterly as in their ring efforts.

Lenny Cravats wrote:I tend not to listen to any of the pre-fight theatrics, but when there's such an intense rivalry I'll often the dialogue between the two fighters intriguing.
I loved it that Manny and Marquez had a karaoke contest and both claimed victory, almost a bitterly as in their ring efforts.

I didn't even know about that.

There have been a lot of good ones mentioned.
How about these:

Griffith-Benvenuti
Robinson-Fullmer
Robinson-Turpin
Robinson-Basilio
Canzoneri-McLarnin

Ike Williams - Bob Montgomery
Bob Montgomery - Beau jack
Arturo Gatti - Micky Ward
Archie Moore - Jimmy Bivins
Marco Antonio Berrera - Eric Morales
Israel Vasquez - Rafael Marquez
Matt Franklin - Marvin Johnson
Bennie Briscoe - Cyclone Hart
Irish Bob Murphy - Jake LaMotta
John Henry Lewis - Al Ettore