Just rewatching Matt Franklin/Saad Muhammad v Marvin Johnson from 1977 and 1979 and got to thinking about whether there was a better pair of fights between two fighters. What in your view are the definitive 2 fight, 3 fight and 4 fight series in boxing history? Simple premise, you can only choose one of each. Here are my picks: 2 fight series: Franklin-Johnson 3 fight series: Ali-Frazier 4 fight series: Vasquez-Marquez
2 fight, Johnson vs Saad 3 fight, Barrera vs Morales 4 fight, Pac vs Marquez Every fight there is a classic
Off the top of my head 2 fights Arguello vs Escalera 3 Fights Saldivar vs Winstone 4 Fights Undecided: Emile Griffith vs Luis Manuel Rodriguez Or Betulio Gonzalez vs Shoji Oguma edit: ok only 1...give me Gonzalez vs Oguma
2: Boza- Chacon 3: Ali- Frazier 4: Marquez-Vasquez* *- Their fourth fight may have been a throwaway, and it's true that Chacon-Limon IV is the greatest fight I've ever seen, but the action across the four fights of Vasquez-Marquez is superior overall to the four of Chacon-Limon.
Wow - I’d managed to temporarily forget about Arguello-Escalera. That muddies the waters on my own choice of best two fight series!
can’t really go wrong with either choice (+ several others). Personally I enjoyed Saad vs Lopez more than Saad vs Johnson but there has not been a bad selection so far in this thread. Great fights to remember and revisit. Cool thread
Oh mate! You’ve pulled out another two fight gem that had slipped my mind. I’m definitely rethinking my own choice on this at the moment!
EDIT: Missread this as Basilio-DeMarco. Not that Basilio-Fullmer is a bad choice by any means but Basilio-DeMarco might be my favourite pair of fights ever.
I agree about Vasquez-Marquez for consistent quality over Chacon-Limon. Both great choices either way. I did think about Boza-Chacon but felt that while their second was a great, great fight (possibly the best full 12 round fight ever) their first didn’t quite hit the heights. One of those rare examples where the sequel is better than the original. Still, a rock solid choice regardless.