BoxRec

1. One of my favorites display of heart was Gomez vs. Sanchez. Wow Gomez was taking a brutal beating and his eyes were practically shut and he kept coming forward trying to make it a fight. He lost to a superior fighter but the display of heart will never be forgotten.

2. “El Salsero” Escalera vs. Arguello. (the first fight) Escalera was getting a beating and was being outbox by a superior boxer, his lip was torn to a million pieces, but wow he just kept fighting the only way he knew how. Never saw fear in his eyes. Very impressive.

3. Gotti vs. Ward. Even though I consider them class C fighter, but they display tremendous amount of heart in the trilogy fights.

4. Trinidad vs. Vargas. I think that Vargas show a lot of heart after that first round, because he got caught with a vicious left hook and he was really hurt and still he made it a fight until the 12. To me that show a lot of heart on his part.

Feel free to add your favorites.

Mustafa Hamsho for his first fight with Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1981. Hamsho was cut to pieces by the fifth round, blood streaming into his eyes and Hagler hitting him with everything but the corner stool. Commentator Ray Leonard was suggesting they stop the fight from about round six, yet Hamsho still soldiered on. By the tenth, both eyes were swollen, the bridge of his nose was cut, he had blood coming from his mouth, and there were two cuts under and over each eye. Hamsho kept on coming forward until his legs were no longer under him - the fight ended with Marvelous Marvin pounding away at Hamsho and knocking him all around the ring until the referee stepped in.

Carlos Monzon for his second fight with Rodrigo Valdez in 1977. This may seem a strange one... But I admire Monzon more for this performance than any other. Valdez was a real beast in the ring... The only man to stop Bennie Briscoe. He was possibly the hardest hitting middleweight of all time, with a granite chin, good skills and fast hands to match. Monzon was now past his prime... He'd been living in the fast lane, travelling, drinking, smoking, clubbing... And he hadn't fought in over a year, the last time being a hard fought battle with this very same man, Valdez.
Rodrigo started fast and floored King Carlos in the second round with an overhand right that would have knocked out just about anybody else. Monzon dropped to his hands and was up in about half a second. Valdez continued to take the fight to Monzon, but the champion, knowing what he needed to do to win, stepped up the pace and really punished Valdez. He poured it on in the late rounds, hitting the Columbian with all he had, and secured the decision. That's a real champion, folks. Monzon knew what he had to do to keep his crown, so he did it, no matter how fearsome and hard punching stood the man in front.

Archie Moore-Yvonne Durelle.

Castillo v. Corrales I

Bowe v. Holyfield I

Barrera v. McKinney

Alvarez v. Lopez

J. Gonzalez v. J. Letterlough

well the closest i have seen to a fighter getting knocked out then coming back and winning was archie moore in the 1st round vs durelle. today, that fight would have stopped immediately. how moore survived that round i will never know

others


corrales-castillo I- round 10 still puts me in awe every time i see it

lamotta-dauthille- o man i love this, i love how lamotta cons him in with his playing possum tactics then hammers away at dauthille until finally putting him away with only 13 seconds left. lamotta far behind on points

ward vs gatti fights- all 3 fights both fighters showed incredible heart


holmes vs norton- they both fought that last round all on heart alone


marciano vs walcott- marciano getting floored then having to fight 3 rounds blind and take flush shots from jersey joe and down on points with his face cut to shreds needing a knockout to win, he lands his suzie Q

louis vs conn- louis fought threw horrible dehydration vs a HOF master boxer. many people dont know he was dehydrated. louis handlers wanted him to come in under 200 so the press wouldnt say he was taking advantage of conn. so louis the day before totally dried himself out losing too much weight. he felt lathargic the entire fight, but found the heart to comeback and knock conn out

holyfield vs bowe- holyfield took huge punishment in this fight, had incredible heart lasting and finishing strong

charles vs marciano I- charles showed the greatest display of courage and heart in his career this fight. charles took punch after punch in the championdship rounds now complete worn down and he was just in survival mode. but he hung on without even going down taking tremendous punishment. IMO he did it because he wanted to earn the respect he unfairly never got before this fight.


frazier vs ali I and III- both fighter showed as much heart as anyone in history in both of these fights. frazier poured out everything he had in his body in that first fight, and unfortunetely because of this grueling fight, he was never the same again.


primo carnera vs max baer- primo took incredible punishment like i have never seen and somehow hung on for 11 rounds. he got up every time after 11 knockdowns when most men would have layed down


jess willard vs jack dempsey- jess willard showed possibly the greatest heart in history by non only surviving the 1st round after the worst beating in history, but fought on broken ribs, busted nose, broken jaw in 12 different faces, basically every bone in his face was broken and he still fought on. now thats a tough bastard.


vitali klitschko vs chris bryd- i love the way vitali in his first world title attempt after throughly dominating bryd and well ahead on points only needing to stay on his feet the last 2 rounds vs the light hitting bryd quit on his stool because of a rotator cuff. now thats heart .

i mean just in case vitali didnt know, a 40 year old holyfield fought on 11 of the last 12 rounds with a torn rotator cuff against chris bryd and though he lost, he finished the fight. and evander was losing when he decided to continue on.

carmen basillio and gene fullmer show some amazing display of heart through there careers. both fought with injuries that would make u puke if u seen them. basillio fought on 10 of the last 15 rounds with his eye completley shut, u couldnt even see it.


sugar ray leonard showed amazing heart in first duran and hearns fights

...no arguments or additions to the fights mentioned here.

but....louis did dry out to come in under 200 for his fight with conn, but it was his idea and not his trainers, who objected. it was joe himself who didn't want to sound so much heavier than his smaller foe. he wrote this in his own autobio, and was quoted in other books about him and said the same thing. plus, i read a newspaper interview some time ago that was written shortly after the fight and one of his handlers said the same thing.

still ....you've got to give conn credit for his great performance in that one....though i am one who thinks the conn"mistake" of standing to punch it out over done. i think joe just caught up with him as conn's legs were going, partly from the bad body beating he took in the early rounds.

okay....so even if the mistake is as rash as some think it is....everybody by that time knew that you just did not make a mistake against the bomber. if he couldn't force one he'd wait...and wait...and in less time than it takes to blink he unloaded. super fast, super hard hands.

Zaragoza vs. Banke from the Great Western Forum.

First, second or third meeting between Zaragoza & Banke from the Great Western Forum?

I take it you mean the second, where Banke comes from behind to stop The Mouse?

Classic, much overlooked trilogy, anyway. Great choice!

I think it took a lot of heart to go on when your nose has been made into mush as Marciano's was in one of his bouts with Charles. Could anyone imagine one of today's heavyweights taking such punishment, without the ref jumping in?