BoxRec

At least to me it seems so. What other light heavy weight fight has created a buzz like this one? Not even during Roy Jones's era....2

Undefeated Ultra Ultra Talented fighters facing off I've never seen anything like this before @ 175lbs

I think it's one of the most relevant fights in modern history. If Kovalev knocks out Ward, or if Ward schools Kovalev, it's going to be up there with 'Marquez KO Pacquiao' as the best win in the modern era.

Not as big as Robinson v Maxim in 1952, Robinson moved up 15lbs in weight to take on Maxim who was a natural light heavy. Ward-Kovalev is not far off though, legitimate elite fight.

IMO, some of the more significant battles in the last 93 years (that's just how far back I felt like going) of the division:

Joe Calzaghe - Bernard Hopkins
Michael Spinks - Dwight Muhammed Qawi
Bob Foster - Vicente Rondon
Archie Moore - Harold Johnson 5
Archie Moore - Joey Maxim 1
Joey Maxim - Sugar Ray Robinson
Joey Maxim - Freddie Mills
Jimmy Bivins - Ezzard Charles 1
Billy Conn - Gus Lesvenich 1
John Henry Lewis - Al Gainer
Maxie Rosenbloom - Adolf Heuser
Tommy Loughran - Mickey Walker
Gene Tunney - Harry Greb 4

I guess Kovalev - Ward is somewhere in the middle of the pack among these fights.

Spinks/ Qawi was the big one from my youth.

The fight itself was so-so though.

I know we're trying to get as excited as we can because this is one of the few great matchups we've gotten this year, but don't go overboard.

The most talked about Light Heavyweight fights I remember were: Archie Moore vs Harold Johnson.... Harold Johnson vs Doug Jones.... Harold Johnson vs Willie Pastrano... Willie Pastrano vs Jose Torres... Jose Torres vs Eddie Cotton (robbery)... Jose Torres vs Dick Tiger... Dick Tiger vs Bob Foster (freakin' brutal)... Antonio Tarver vs Roy Jones 1 and 2... Sergei Kovalev vs Nathan Cleverly... Kovalev vs Hopkins... Kovalev vs Ward.