What are the most exciting HW championship fights in history? In my opinion, In no particular order Thrilla in Manila Rumble in the jungle Ali vs Frazier 1 Lewis vs Klitschko Evander Holyfield vs Riddick Bowe 1 Douglas vs Tyson Lewis vs Holyfield 2 Jack Dempsey vs Luis Firpo Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton
Sorry never read the question as well as I should have and your list is pretty good. Moore - Foreman had an exciting ending if nothing else.
Agree with everything but Holy-Lewis 2. It was tactical fight from two great HW's. I have watched recently both fights and the 1st fight was much more entertaining as Lewis was very, very active in first rounds and threw everything but a kitchen sink on Holyfield. Lewis was careful in the 2nd fight, and Holy was ageing and couldn't fight in the same pace as he did in late 80's. Good fight, great skills but not that entertaining.
Interesting opinion. I thought the first fight was boring and monotonous except for the brief flurries started by Holyfield. Everything about that fight was weird, Lewis came in with mile high trunks and was very cautious only throwing mostly a pawing jab and some rights. Holyfield was only fighting 30 seconds of every round. Lewis won big but they robbed it from him. In my opinion, the second fight was where Holyfield looked very good, about as good as when he knocked out Tyson. Lewis took more chances because he didn't want to leave it to the judges so what we got was a high intensity barnburner of a fight. I always viewed the second fight as being vastly superior to the first one.
Good picks, probably as good as you'll get, but you can't really define the most exciting without factoring in the absence of the drama of watching the fight without knowing the result.eg Johnson v Jeffries was probably enthralling for the first 8 rounds or so, before Jeff's admirers realized he had no chance,and the atmosphere when Dempsey walked into the giant Willard and landed that first left hook must have been electric.Ditto Louis v Schmeling 2,Galento v Louis,Johnson v Willard. We now watch these fight with the benefit of hindsight because we know the result,even to who lands what and in which round, but if we were viewing them as they unfolded it would be a different ball game. Maybe the most competitive would have been a better title?
I often read some opinions that both fights were boring. That's bull****. They were very exciting compared to one-sided borefest like Lewis-Tua. Lewis became cautious in the later rounds, in the first 5 rounds he tried to bomb Holyfield out, but that tactics failed, though gave him early lead (4-1 in rounds). However, the judges somehow saw it differently. Second match was more tactical but it was very competitive. And yes, those Lewis' red trunks were so ridiculously high it's almost unbelievable. Every Holyfield's punch below the chest would have counted as low blow:yep
Ali - Frazier 1 & 3 Ali-Foreman (Purely from a tactical viewpoint) Ali-Liston I Holmes-Norton Bowe-Holyfield I
I really like that Brewster--Liakhovich fight Sanders--Vitali is another one. Weaver--Tate is another.
The third Patterson vs. Johanson is worth mentioning. Both men down - Johanson close to win back the title.
Although for the lightly regarded WBO title, the slugfest between Moorer and Cooper was really exciting.
