Where does Klitschko vs. Joshua rate among great heavyweight fights?

Firpo wouldn't have lasted 2 rounds with either Wlad or Anthony. He was the singularly least skilled challenger for the heavyweight (or possibly any) title in the history of the sport. I've seen tough man competitors with better balance and delivery. And for all the oohh's and ahhhs from the Classicist, he'd be a small and not particularly strong heavy in today's game. A run of the mill athlete with zero skill.

Dempsey-Firpo was a 'great' fight if you are a fan of Bum Fights or just another garden variety classic ball jockey. Christ Almighty, it's a f*cking affront to rationality.

 

It's right up there with any I've seen. It was a pretty clean fight (unlike Lewis Vitali or Tyson Holyfield) with all the drama you could ask for. Every casual I've spoke to who saw it was pumped.

 

Seamus exhibits his typical fakery.

 

Importance of the event?

A paper title fight in a world of many multiple paper title fights.

Fans knowledge today are as watered down as today's fighters skills.

 

Firpo would probably last two rounds with Joshua and Klitschko. Sturdy dude, good record, 6'3" 220 lbs. He beat Bill Brennan and Jess Willard. Those were top contenders at that time; so he obviously could box a bit. There have been a lot of terrible challengers for the heavyweight title. He wouldn't even be the worst in the last five years. Today he'd be a small heavyweight with average power. But for the time, he was big with a lot of power.

But Firpo isn't what makes that a great fight. What you are missing is that after being knocked out of the ring Dempsey got back inside and laid a ridiculous beat down on Firpo. Tyson's basically the modern day equivalent of Dempsey and people love to watch his one or two round maulings. This fight has all of the appeal of those fights, but with a reversal of momentum and an unusual occurrence.

 

Make no mistake this was important because it signaled a passing of the guard in a fight which also contained very good action. Can't think of many examples of those in the heavyweight division.

 

All of the action took place in 3 of the 11 rounds (Wlad down, Joshua down, Wlad down twice... was it 5, 6, and 11?).

That means 8 rounds were not action packed. And not remotely. Crazy dramatic two round stretch when the momentum crashed to the other side, but even those rounds weren't super intense if not for us knowing it was old Klitschko and an undefeated young buck in there for the storybooks. I rewatched right after and was disappointed that the action on the screen didn't match the drama in my head.

 

an old champ, coming off a loss where he seemed lost, vs a young contender holding partial claim to heavyweight supremacy. that is the context and significance of the fight.
as far as the actual fight goes, if judged strictly by the action, skill level and physical fighting condition, i could come up with more than 15 from just the 90s alone. if you include ones own emotional attachment and bias, then i can come up with many more than that.
it was a good fight, but when measured vs just the last 40 years, it really doesnt stand out... unless its on a personal basis, then that comes down to the individual.

 

Klitschko/Joshua was an excellent heavyweight fight, the rematch will make even more money.....................one of the best heavyweight fights I have seen in years...........

 

It was the best fight in heavyweight history.

 

Firpo beat Brennan in his next to last fight and Willard in his very last fight when he was 117 years old and had declared 4 years earlier that he was already too old for the game. He split a pair with Charley Weinert. That is the extent of his great resume. He was very carefully cultivated by Rickard for the quick dollar. He was a neanderthal, poor man's Gerrie Cooney... except on tape he is laughable, a fearless, strong for his era fighter who showed zero skills and zero interest in attaining any skills.