Tony Canzoneri's win over Kid Chocolate is definitely up there. I think Pancho Villa's win over Jimmy Wilde could also be considered.
No doubt I've missed some obvious ones but here's mine in chronological order and with some additional honourable mentions: 1910 - Johnson TKO15 Jeffries 1922 - Greb W15 Tunney 1938 - Armstrong W15 Ross 1938 - Armstrong W15 Ambers 1948 - Charles KO8 Moore 1948 - Saddler W15 Pep 1949 - Pep W15 Saddler 1949 - Robinson W15 Gavilan 1951 - Turpin W15 Robinson 1964 - Ali TKO7 Liston 1965 - Harada W15 Jofre 1971 - Frazier W15 Ali 1976 - Benitez W15 Cervantes 1980 - Duran W15 Leonard 1981 - Sanchez KO8 Gomez 1981 - Leonard TKO14 Hearns 1985 - Hagler KO3 Hearns 1987 - Leonard W12 Hagler 1990 - Douglas KO10 Tyson 1993 - Carbajal KO7 Gonzalez Some other contenders: 1925 - Greb W15 Walker 1936 - Schmeling KO12 Louis 1938 - Louis KO1 Schmeling 1939 - Ambers W15 Armstrong 1941 - Louis KO13 Conn 1951 - Robinson TKO13 LaMotta 1968 - Foster KO4 Tiger 1973 - Foreman KO2 Frazier 1977 - Zarate KO4 Zamora 1978 - Gomez KO5 Zarate 1996 - Holyfield TKO11 Tyson
Speaking of missing obvious ones... 1974 - Ali KO8 Foreman It was so obvious I missed it off both lists!
Neat list. I'd suggest Turpin beating Robinson as one, Fitz beating Corbett, Langford beating Wills, Burley beating Moore, Lloyd Marshal beating Ezzard Charles, Frazier beating Ali, Ezzard beating Louis, Wilde beating Pal Moore, McGovern beating Frank Erne. Not saying they are locks or anything, just some I'd seriously consider
Good list. I wasn't really understanding La Motta's win over Robinson being in some lists. A good win but not one of the 20 best, IMO. Even without the 16lb weight difference. Turpin's win was impressive. Good mention of the Benitez - Cervantes win, don't think it had been mentioned before. I'd add Charles-Burley to your contenders list. And perhaps Langford-Gans
No order Greb vs tunney Tunney vs dempsey Ali vs foreman Schmeling vs louis Louis vs baer Ali vs liston La motta vs Robinson Leonard vs hagler Joe maxim vs robinson Charles vs moorer Frazier vs ali Hagler vs hearns Duran vs leonard Holyfield vs Tyson Foreman vs Moore Lewis vs vitaly Bowe vs holyfield Joshua vs klitscho Jones vs ruiz Tarver vs jones
I think if you are going to include Arguello-Olivares then you’ve got to include Herrera-Olivares I. Olivares was a much better fighter at bantamweight, in his prime and Herrera was far more dominant than Arguello. Perhaps even Hafey-Olivares I too. Not taking a dump on the Arguello-Olivares choice by any means as it was a great win.
Not so much into the calling an old champ being beaten by a fresher challenger one of the greatest victories... See: Corbett v Sullivan, Willard v Johnson, Dempsey v Willard, Marciano v Louis, Tarver v Jones... etc. Those seem more like inevitabilities.
Armstrong is always given way too much credit for the Garcia draw (and the Ambers loss). A couple of things about this fight. It wasnt the clear robbery its made out to be (neither of those fights were). There were, apparently, vocal and passionate arguments on both sides, some feeling that Armstrong won and others feeling Garcia won. Furthermore, it was duly noted by many observers that Armstrong, much like he did against Ambers, fouled continually throughout the fight. He was warned twice and had two rounds taken away on fouls. In a ten round fight thats a big detriment. Armstong is often given loads of credit for his aggression in these fights but his headbutts, elbows, low blows, shoving, etc are often overlooked and often, I believe, scored. They certainly helped him in keeping these bigger fighters under control which should have been taken into account then and now. It was in the Ambers fight at least and everyone always acts as if that was a robbery. It wasnt in. If the law in New York had been different, allowing for DQs Armstrong would have certainly been either DQd or forced to fight a different fight. Finally, while its often said that had Armstrong won this fight (Garcia) he would have held four of the eight titles thats not entirely true. First and foremost the MW title was fractured at this time and Garcia was only recognized as champion in two states. In fact California only recognized him shortly before this fight in order to ad some luster to the promotion. NY recognized Garcia as champion but they didnt recognize this fight as a title fight. As for having four of the 8 titles Armstrong had already relinquished the FW title by this point and lost the LW title to Ambers. Indeed he would have lost the WW title to Ambers as well but in order for Ambers to get his rematch he was forced to sign a contract saying that even though both fighters were under the WW limit Armstrong's WW title would not be at stake. So had Armstrong won this fight he would have only been recognized as champion in California and that would have been viewed with a lot of skepticism given that it was only a ten rounder, the title was in dispute, and California had only jumped on that band wagon at a late date. Finally, a little more bloom comes off the rose when you understand that Garcia, while having some tenuous claim to the MW title was really only a welterweight who had puffed himself up to a small middleweight because he had been unable to take Armstrong's WW title in their initial meeting. So I wouldnt put that fight anywhere near the top of a greatest wins in history list.
Foreman v Moorer w out a doubt! Dempsey v Willard Louis KO v Schmeling Marciano v Walcott 1 Patterson v Ingo 2 Are just a few I’d add.
