BoxRec

In 1911 Jack Johnson defeated catch wrestling champions Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt and Ad Santel all on the same night, and was reported to have been stinking drunk while doing it.

Jack Dempsey knocked out wrestler Ed “Strangler” Lewis in a mixed match between Boxing and Wrestling champions held at Chicago’s Comiskey park in 1924, breaking the grappling legend’s jaw in four places as he rained down punch after punch on the helpless matman.

Sugar Ray Robinson knocked out the infamous Judo Gene LeBelle during a disagreement on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood in 1959.

Carlos Monzon, another middleweight knocked wrestling champion Bruno Sammartino out cold in a streetfight, breaking his jaw and putting him in the hospital for three weeks.

Featherweight boxer Ruben Navarro KO’d Martial Arts legend Bruce Lee in .55 seconds back in 1969 on a Hong Kong movie set, causing the “Little Dragon” to postpone film shooting for three weeks.
That fight, which is on film and was posted on YouTube, was completely one sided despite Lee outweighing the Boxer by 15 pounds.

Speaking of Kickboxer Joe Lewis, let’s not forget that he was knocked flat out cold by Boxer Eddie Neilson, and also again by Boxer Lou Phillips even quicker in 1972.

Everyone remembers Thomas Hearns’ exhibition knockouts of Chuck Norris and Bill “Superfoot” Wallace in 1988.

Boxer Butterbean Esch KO’d MMA pioneer and world class wrestler Dan Severn with a shot to the mouth, suffering only cuts to his right hand from Severn’s protruding teeth.

K-1 great Andy Hug lost a mixed match to long retired boxer Duane Bobick only days after Bobick suffered the amputation of two fingers from an industrial accident.
Hug had to be carried out on a stretcher, and his game was forever affected by the KO.

Another K-1 star, Branko Cikatic was beaten senseless by retired Boxing champion Leon Spinks in Las Vegas in 1994 after walking across a hotel floor which Spinks has just finished mopping.
Cikatic required 34 stitches to close the facial wounds he’d suffered in the beating.

In 1997, Kickboxing champion Johnny Catherine, called by many the greatest Kickboxer in history, insulted former Heavyweight title challenger Jean Pierre Coopman while vacationing in Île de la Réunion. Coopman became enraged when Catherine kicked at him and beat the kickboxer unconscious with his boxing skills. Then, as the Kickboxing king lay motionless on the ground, Coopman fetched a small sword from his hotel room and cut off Catherine’s leg below the knee and carried it away like a trophy, muttering Belgium obscenities about how only woman kick in fights.
Catherine bled out from the wound and died at the scene, yet Coopman was pardoned by the French government for his role in Belgium history.

Another K-1 legend, and the man who along with Peter Aerts is regarded as the best K-1 heavyweight ever, Ernesto Hoost was crushed twice by a boxing football player named Robert Sapp in two seperate fights actually held under Hoost’s own house rules.
In both fights, the totally untrained Sapp, who’s background in fighting consisted of a four week course in Boxing, was able to brutally KO his opponent, making this one the hardest to believe among all the matches I’ve listed, without a doubt.

Expug wrote:Robinson never kod Lebell in the street.
They used to work out together in the gym, but Streetfight ?Ive never heard it.
Some of that other stuff looks like urban legend also.

Johnny Catherine was a former French kickboxing champion.

In 1997, Catherine was the world's top lightweight kickboxer.

On 27 December 2004, Catherine was murdered in the French territory of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. According to police, a gang of youths attacked him with a sword and a baseball bat. His body was hacked at and sliced into by his attackers, until they finally chopped off his leg below the knee and carried it away, "like a trophy", one police officer said. The motive behind the attack on Catherine is not currently known.

oliverfennell wrote:Butterbean knocked out wrestler Bart Gunn in a legit fight at Wrestlemania XV.

On the losing side, the biggest of them all - Antonio Inoki outpointing Muhammad Ali, and I think either Gorilla Monsoon beat him too, or Ali pulled out of the fight (can't remember).

Another K-1 star, Branko Cikatic was beaten senseless by retired Boxing champion Leon Spinks in Las Vegas in 1994 after walking across a hotel floor which Spinks has just finished mopping.

HomicideHenry wrote:Dempsey vs. Luttrell was a legit fight with Dempsey knocking Luttrell through the ropes at age 45 like he done to Luis Firpo ages before. It was a boxing match exhibition. RING magazine called the 'fight' a disgrace.

Never heard of Gene LeBell "The Man of 1,000 Holds" ever fighting Ray Robinson, but at his website he talks of him facing a boxer in a match and won via choke out or something to that affect.

Ali-Inoki was a legit match, as Ali refused to do a 'worked' match. Inoki was incredibly afraid of having Ali punching him, so he laid on his back and kicked Ali in the legs or would crab walk and kick Ali. The fight was declared a draw (how I dont know considering Ali landed 2 punches the whole 15 rounds). Inoki also had matches with Wepner, Mildenberger and with Leon Spinks---as well as with a Judo medal winner. I guess in ways Inoki is the 'father' of MMA fights.

Andre The Giant vs Chuck Wepner was a work. Ali vs Monsoon was just a skit that lasted all of 10 seconds (Ali throws a jab, Monsoon puts him in an airplane spin, drops him, Ali runs out of the ring). Butterbean vs Bart Gunn was legit, though the whole boxing tournament Vince McMahon done until Wrestlemania was worked at times as some of the wrestlers were unwilling to hit one another (such as The Godfather).

Bob Sapp was originally an NFL player, then fought in TOUGHMAN contests beating the likes of "Fridge" Perry and then did K-1 beating Ernesto Hoost and a few others, also a supposed match between him and Mike Tyson was going to happen but Tyson pulled out.

Phil Baroni "The New York Badass" also started out in the TOUGHMAN contests and then made the move to the UFC.

Probably the 'best' of the boxer/wrestler fighters was former NCAA and Olympian Danny Hodge who was an amateur boxer/wrestler and then became a pro boxer and had some success as a LHW and then became a pro wrestler and would engage in some boxing matches with his fellow wrestlers.

Also, Tony Halme "The Viking" was arguably the best pro wrestler who became a boxer, as his best win was against Iran Barkley, when Barkley was in his later years and campaigning as a HW.

seattledirk wrote:

Featherweight boxer Ruben Navarro KO’d Martial Arts legend Bruce Lee in 55 seconds back in 1969 on a Hong Kong movie set, causing the “Little Dragon” to postpone film shooting for three weeks.

That fight, which is on film and was posted on YouTube, was completely one sided despite Lee outweighing the Boxer by 15 pounds.

Controversial wrote:

seattledirk wrote:

Featherweight boxer Ruben Navarro KO’d Martial Arts legend Bruce Lee in 55 seconds back in 1969 on a Hong Kong movie set, causing the “Little Dragon” to postpone film shooting for three weeks.

That fight, which is on film and was posted on YouTube, was completely one sided despite Lee outweighing the Boxer by 15 pounds.

Is this true? I can't find any footage of this on Youtube and nothing about it on the web. Does anyone have this on film or know anymore about it?

Dempsey vs. Luttrell was a legit fight with Dempsey knocking Luttrell through the ropes at age 45 like he done to Luis Firpo ages before. It was a boxing match exhibition. RING magazine called the 'fight' a disgrace.