Single best performance in the ring...

I agree that it was Duran's performance, but IMO it wasn't one of the top 5 performances I've seen in large part because he just wasn't quite as dominant as others have been over other great fighters.

Ali-Foreman
Hagler-Hearns
Foreman-Frazier I
Pacquiao-Barrera I
Jones Jr-Toney

Those were my greatest performances that I've seen. Duran-Leonard would probably be number 7 if I extended the list.

 

lol

no softer than it looked in any other fight

because of his opponent.

 

James Douglas vs Tyson. Proof that any fighter can be beaten and made to look ordinary by a guy with the right game plan, motivation and measure of ability, especially if that fighter is complacent enough to believe his own hype.

 

Great shout on JT/RJJ. Man did RJJ clown him.

You will NEVER see an ELITE talent like JT get so embarrassingly schooled like that again in your lifetime. Just does not happen that often.

 

Again, Jimmy Thunders ended matters with Crawford Grimsley in 3 seconds plus a 10 second count. He never get hit. None of these performances mentioned above comes close to that.

 

Given that Donald Curry was regarded by many as the best p4p fighter in the world and was being lined up to fight Marvin Hagler, Lloyd Honeyghan's performance was amazing. He wasn't given a chance but from the first bell he bullied, battered, out-speeded and out-skilled Curry. He said before the fight he was going to "smash his face in" and he did just that.

 

nelson v fenech 2 springs to mind.
looking back you can say it wasnt a great a victory as it seemed at the time, as fenech declined after (lost next fight too by ko)
but, at the time, it was a huge shock and fenech had a prime tyson like reputation among the lower weights.....especially considering the point of nelsons career when it was looking like he was sliding.
for me at the time it was a magical thing. one of those fights i can look at that fascinated me at the time (i was a huge nelson fan) and cemented a love of watching boxing in me for life.

 

buchanan vs puduano for the formers boxing display and giving away a stone.best display of boxing ever.
duran beating leonard the first time.hagler walking down hearns.
hearns display of punching vs cuevas and granite chinned duran.
all good

 

Tall fighters take note or how note to fight a guy 7 inches shorter !

A few years later the same Tucker was struggling with another dwarf, Orlin Norris.

 

But Tucker was a crack addict and a shadow of his legendary self....

 

lomechenko vs walters was a good performance Walters was proven feather, he was great at cutting the ring off and he has a solid jab alongside good power
he was supposed to be the guy to give lomechenko his toughest fight. instead lomechenko gave the fans a boxing lesson
we should also consider peps win other saddler one of the best boxing performances

 

probably the boxing performance in terms how one sided it was Floyd vs canelo might be a good pick

 

I'd throw Hagler-Mugabi into the mix ... IIRC, Mugabi came into the fight with a strong chance to upset Marvin, and was seen as too strong for a guy who, though champ, was probably just past the peak of his career. I watched Hagler just systematically wear down, demoralize and eventually dismantle an opponent who was at that point undefeated with a string of ferocious KO victories. Mugabi was never quite the same fighter afterwards, and the toll it took on Hagler was what convinced Leonard to take a shot at the MW titie; he wasn't a young man anymore, and had to reach into reserves like never before to win.

 

Ali vs Cleveland Williams. Ali was a great fighter but in this fight, he was at his absolute best. I am not saying Williams was a great fighter but he was a very good fighter. The speed and accuracy of Ali was remarkable.