Best fight of 1986

1986 was one of the best years and one of the best boxing years too.....from my perspective in Britain.

It has to be the Barry McGuigan-Cruz titanic collision in the Las Vegas midday desert heat. It was an epic worlds collide fight. The heroic McGuigan fought like an early settler and collapsed in the last minute and that 10-7 finish lost him his title

 

The late great Richard M Murrieta wouldve loved this thread

 

Yep, if he’d stayed on his feet he would have won and even if he’d been knocked down only once, he’d have retained his title by a majority draw.

 

Hagler Mugabi is my favorite on this list. Great great fight.

 

Not the single best, but want to mention this one:

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Came here to post this one.

I was there live. I’ve seen literally hundreds of fights in person including tons of champions/contenders/top guys, and this is far and away the best I’ve witnessed in person. A test of skill and will, give and take, ebb and flow.

Ironically, I was talking about this one (among many others) with my dentist just this afternoon. He’s making me a mouthpiece as I’m working my way up to some light sparring and he’s a boxing fan from back in the day and turns out Evander was one of his favorites — and he mentioned this fight as being one that thrilled him and his schoolboy buddies who got together to watch it.

You can argue a lot of good ones on OP’s list, but to me this one takes the cake.

 

I can't imagine what it was like seeing this fight live. To this day, It's probably the best/ most significant cruiserweight fight ever.

 

Tyson destroying Berbick to became the youngest heavyweight champ ever. A history making fight with a record that many of us won’t ever see broken in our lifetimes. Nothing in 86 can come close to the drama an the hype surrounding that bout an Tyson became a global superstar after that fight

 

Mugabi-Hagler

 

When did he die? Didn't know that.

 

For me it's Holyfield/Qawi 1.

It's the only fight on that list that was evenly fought for all 15 rounds at the highest level in regards to heart, skill, will.

They both landed 1100+ punches on eachother which is insane for Cruiserweight sized fighters.

 

Now I wonder whose channel that is?

I might have to agree, though McCallum - Jackson is probably the one closest to my heart.

 

Agreed. We all crammed in the local pub to see McGuigan beat Pedroza and thought he would be a champ for a long time. He was massively popular and a big personality, all over the TV. When he lost to Cruz i was shocked but put it down to the heat. He moved to 130 but for me was never the same again. Didnt see it on the list but Kaylor/ Graham was a great fight in '86 too, really signalled the bombers arrival for me.

 

I remember this one. Honeyghan wasnt given much of a chance but he was really dialled in, you could see it in his eyes. We didnt get too many great fights on TV in the UK (outside of Bruno or McGuigan) but this was a belter....Good shout!