I was thinking about Pone Kingpetch getting flattened in one round by Hiro Ebihara and remembered that not only did he win the immediate rematch on points but it was the second time he achieved this after getting battered in his preceding fight with Fighting Harada and then turning the tables in the rematch. It showed remarkable will on Kingpetch’s part that he was able to not only recover from those potentially career-ending KOs but to get straight back on the horse each time and actually master the opponent, particularly when they are ATGs. It got me thinking about other examples at world championship level where a champion has experienced a potentially devastating KO defeat to come back and beat their conquerer and by outboxing them too. I’m sure there must be lots of examples so which ones, aside from the aforementioned, have impressed you the most?
Lewis - Rahman never gets old, Lewis got flattened by Rahman but put on a masterclass in the immediate rematch.
Floyd Patterson vs Ingo 2 and 3. Willie Pep avenged his KO4 defeat at the fists of Sandy Saddler in their rematch, then Sandy won the next two.
Ruben Olivares was stopped by Chucho Castillo and then won the rematch which was actually the third fight of their trilogy. The same situation applies to Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano. Zale lost his belt via KO in their second belt and won it back by stoppage in their third meeting.
Fighting Harada wasn't a world champion when Jose Medel KO'd him, but he was by the time he won their rematch.
Good shout - I’d forgotten that one. Norris did the smart thing the second time around and used his superior boxing skills to get the win. He didn’t have the punch or the chin to take out Brown in a war.
Victor Galindez vs Mike Rossman. Victor lost by TKO and his title the first time around and then reclaimed the title in the rematch when Rossman retired in his corner.
The Blob? “Beware of the blob, it creeps And leaps and glides and slides Across the floor…..” Only about 6’ tall in reality and carrying about 283 lbs. What an abomination.