Favourite 'movement vs. pressure' fights

Cotto vs. Margarito: Cotto wasn't always a mover in his career but the sheer pressure from Margarito forced him to constantly be on the backfoot in this fight. Cotto dominated the early rounds but then Margarito came back late on, gradually wearing Cotto down with body punches and eventually getting the stoppage. A great fight, although one which has possibly been tarnished because of the handwraps claims.

Judah vs. Baldomir: Another fight which had two very different patterns. In the early rounds, the hand speed and movement was too much for Baldomir but in the 7th round, Judah took a punch to the chin and it was downhill from there. Baldomir stalked his man and eventually earned the win of his career, in a fun fight.

Ali vs. Frazier I: Probably the ultimate example, I think. Ali wasn't as fleet footed as he had been earlier in his career but he showed good movement in the early rounds. The problem for him was, he was against Joe Frazier. I can't think of one fighter who was as good as he was, when it came to cutting the ring off. He didn't allow Ali to move constantly, he kept up with the pressure and the body punches slowed Ali down greatly. Later in the fight, Frazier landed a great left hook to seal Ali's fate and take away his unbeaten record.

Calderon vs. Segura I: This was Cotto vs. Margarito in a lower weight division. Puerto Rico vs. Mexico, movement vs. pressure and ultimately the same result. Calderon, a mover all his career unlike Cotto, got off to a good start and Segura just couldn't touch him. Later in the fight, the body punches started taking their toll and that's when Segura started to dominate the fight, shortly before getting the stoppage.



Four quite random fights there but all followed the same pattern inside the ring. Ultimately, the pressure fighter won these bouts. Whenever you get a mover and a pressure fighter together, there are high expectations for a good bout and rightly so. I don't think any other stylistic match up has produced the drama that these bouts have over the years.

Any other suggestions?

 

Mayweather vs. Hatton is a very good shout. A different result to the ones I mentioned but still a good fight.

Mayweather vs. Castillo I would be another.

Camacho vs. Chavez too.