Wilfred Gomez vs Lupe Pintor. This was 122 lb version of Thrilla in Manila. Both fighters left something in the ring that night. Gomez shone brightest this night while Lupe so courageous in defeat.
15th round of Ali-Shavers was probably Ali's last great moment. Fought really well in those last three minutes, and had Shavers badly hurt by the bell. Made more impressive by the fact that this was after getting his bell rung in the 2nd and hurt as well in the previous two rounds.
Oh yes! Love those two. Just like Manila like you say, no losers. Both covered themselves in glory. Huge Pintor fan. Actually found a Lupe Pintor "El Indio" shirt online and bought it.
One of my favorite fights. I had Earnie winning 9 rds. He hit Ali with right hands they ENTIRE fight that I believe hurt Ali badly. A brutal beating really. Shavers greatest night. He'd wait for Ali to move into position and throw short compact rights that had more power than any I ever saw. Ali should never have been allowed to fight again after this beating.
OK, so I engaged in a bit of hyperbole, not unheard of on this site ... his 25-0 record with 25 KOs was impressive enough to give him a title shot, no?
No doubt. However I'm pretty sure I read in one of the Dempsey auto-bios he said the shot that took out Sharkey was the last great punch of his career ..
I've often thought of the veteran against the young upcoming turk and proving he still had that one spark left in him. With that in mind I think of: Eddie Machen v Jerry Quarry Bob Baker v George Chuvalo Jack 'Kid' Berg v Tippy Larkin Rodolfo Martinez v Mike Ayala Howard Davis v Meldrick Taylor
Louis vs Walcott is an excellent example of the trap Louis set & Walcott walked into, he got cocky & stayed in the pocket too long....Louis was the best power/counter pucher ever. Duran who was a natural 135 lber showing his brilliance against Hagler & especially Barkley the trap & the KD
Ernie got his shots in, and Ali took a lot of abuse. But I still had Ali outboxing and outworking him in a lot of rounds to shade it on my card. The last round sealed the deal for me.