1. Danny Lopez vs Mike Ayala 2. Matthew Franklin vs Marvin Johnson I 3. Evander Holyfield vs Michael Dokes 4. Paul Banke vs Daniel Zaragoza II 5. Mando Ramos vs Sugar Ramos 6. Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier III 7. Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton 8. Bob Foster vs Chris Finnegan 9. Mike Rossman vs Victor Galindez I 10. Orlando Canizales vs Seabrooks I 11. Micky Ward vs Arturo Gatti I 12. Ray Leonard vs Tommy Hearns I 13. Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera I 14. Bobby Chacon vs Rafael Limon IV 15. Fidel Bassa vs Dave McAuley I 16. Jung Koo Chang vs Katsuo Tokashiki 17. Jose Luis Ramirez vs Edwin Rosario II 18. Koichi Wajima vs Oscar Albarado I 19. Kusuo Eguchi vs Katsuaki Eguchi 20. Riddick Bowe vs Evander Holyfield I 21. Salvador Sanchez vs Wilfredo Gomez 22. Jeff Fenech vs Azumah Nelson I 23. Roberto Duran vs Esteban De Jesus II 24. Alexis Arguello vs Alfredo Escalera II 25. Evander Holyfield vs Dwight Qawi I
HA HA! I'm worse than NC, which as I understand stopped counting like 48 hours ago. But I assure you, every vote will be counted, double-checked, and triple-checked when I do get around to it. I suppose I should first settle on an official deadline.
Love it, very interesting, some great lists here already, will get on this straight away. Must see fights, I have my list of spectacular fights that I usually recommend to newbies to boxing or casuals for historic, war etc reasons. But I also recommend fights to showcase a boxers ability in general Dempsey's positioning, Ray Leonard's footwork, Holyfield's defence for causing shots to glance, Lamotta's toughness, Tyson's KO's , Wayne McCullough's reilience. Will try to incorporate this to make a 25 must watch fight list.
A few on your list you have the losers in the winners place. Just at a glance these three anyways. Winners first
TheLegSnatcher 1. Bobby Chacon Vs Rafael Limon IV 2. Bobby Chacon Vs Cornelius Boza-Edwards II 3. Matthew Franklin Vs Marvin Johnson I 4. Larry Holmes Vs Ken Norton 5. Roberto Duran Vs Sugar Ray Leonard I 6. Roberto Duran Vs Iran Barkley 7. Rafael Limon Vs Rolando Navarette I 8. Riddick Bowe Vs Evander Holyfield I 9. Aaron Pryor Vs Alexis Arguello I 10. Evander Holyfield Vs Dwight Muhammad Qawi I 11. George Foreman Vs Ron Lyle 12. Marvin Hagler Vs Thomas Hearns 13. Jose Luis Ramirez Vs Edwin Rosario II 14. Tony Lopez Vs Rocky Lockridge I 15. Sung-Kil Moon Vs Nana Yaw Konadu I 16. Salvador Sanchez Vs Azumah Nelson 17. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai Vs Roman Gonzalez I 18. Charley Scott Vs Gaspar Ortega I 19. Hideyuki Ohashi Vs Jum Hwan Choi 20. Jung-Koo Chang Vs Katsuo Tokashiki 21. Archie Moore Vs Yvon Durelle I 22. Sugar Ray Robinson Vs Jake LaMotta VI 23. Muhammad Ali Vs Joe Frazier III 24. James Toney Vs Vassiliy Jirov 25. Ray Mancini Vs Arturo Frias
I thought this was gonna be easier than it was, tough work, wife and kids nearly left me over the amount of boxing I've been watching. Sorry it's heavyweight top heavy but I was going for must watch fights that I'd recommend as much watch fights to casuals, newbies and boxing elites, rather than greatest fights. So about half great, half historical or a display of skills. All entertaining fights though as every boxing match is entertaining. A few that didn't make the cut Michael Gomez (Michael Armstrong) vs Alex Arthur, back from the brink underdog victory and great fight. Don't think Gomez was ever top 10 even though he beat top 10 Arthur? Boxing organisations can't beat them. Micky Ward vs Shea Neary two warriors go to war till one gets hurt, don't think Neary was ever top 10. Mike Tyson vs Julius Francis, historical/comical confidence must of been sky high with a sponsor on the sole of his boots. Last but not least the technical war between Tony Mosco vs Jimmy Smith.
The Slaps 1. Micky Ward vs Arturo Gatti I 2. Jack Dempsey vs Jess Willard 3. Riddick Bowe vs Evander Holyfield I 4. Max Schmeling vs Joe Louis I 5. Ray Robinson vs Jake Lamotta VI 6. Roberto Duran vs Ray Leonard I 7. Joe Frazier vs Muhammad Ali I 8. Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera I 9. Shane Mosley vs Oscar de la Hoya I 10. James Douglas vs Mike Tyson 11. Ray Leonard vs Roberto Duran II 12. Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier III 13. Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson I 14. Bernard Dunne vs Ricardo Cordoba 15. Mike Tyson vs Trevor Berbick 16. Andrew Golota vs Chris Byrd 17. Bernard Hopkins vs Felix Trinidad 18. Wayne McCullough vs Yasuei Yakushiji 19. Gene Tunney vs Jack Dempsey II 20. Joe Frazier vs Joe Bugner 21. Manny Pacquiao vs Erik Morales II 22. Julio Cesar Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor 23. Jack Dempsey vs Luis Angel Firpo 24. Sean O'Grady vs Hilmer Kenty 25. Roy Jones Jr vs Vinny Pazienza
I probably left out a few but it's tough trying to slog through them. I'll write up short explanations for my choices later on when I get a chance. Although some don't need any explaning.
I like the Schmeling-Louis 1 shout out. That was a highly entertaining and instructive fight to watch. Absorbing on a few levels.
Yeah an epic tactical technical battle with very different styles. Two best heavyweight boxers of this era imo, pity Schmeling's career got railroaded by politics, we might of had a few more battles between these two. I think the 2nd fight as important as it was for Louis to win, I think it was more of a circus act and I have my doubts whether Schmeling even wanted to be there. Went from the people's champion to number 1 villain on the planet.
Ward vs Gatti I, the greatest war of all time. Dempsey vs Willard, the giant killer the most destructive victory in heavyweight championship history, created myths and legends about the fight and both fighters. Bowe vs Holyfield I, some boxers have that performance of their lives, these two had it in the same fight. Schmelling vs Louis I, two different styles competing in a tactical battle of genius. Great example for people who think old fights are tacticaless. Robinson vs Lamotta VI, who a lot consider the greatest boxer of all time vs who a lot consider the greatest fighter of all time and this was apparently the least entertaining fight between them bar maybe III, imagine we had IV and V to savour. Duran vs Leonard I, great fight and Duran's greatest performance. Frazier vs Ali I, one of the most anticipated fights and rivalries in boxing history and a great match. Morales vs Barrera I, another plain and simple war with contrasting talents on display. Mosley vs de la Hoya I, battle of styles and I disliked Mosley until this fight. Douglas vs Tyson, biggest upset in boxing history, they were even going to strip Douglas of the 3 belts and give them to Tyson, shock was too hard to handle for them. Leonard vs Duran II, Leonard's greatest performance. Ali vs Frazier III, both tired and shot but gave a great display in what is probably the most historic fight. Holyfield vs Tyson I, the most anticipated, and biggest hyped fight in the modern era. Dunne vs Cordoba, two gifted technicians with suspect chins forget everything they learned in boxing school, someone is going down. Tyson vs Berbick, peak Tyson great to watch. Golota vs Byrd, the master of defence vs the technical bully. Peach of a scrap. Hopkins vs Trinidad, simply great with technical variety and a great finish. McCullough vs Yakushiji, could of picked any McCullough fight, but this is non stop for 12 rounds. Wait all McCullough's fights are. Tunney vs Dempsey II, the long count. Frazier vs Bugner, great battle of wills and heart. Pacquiao vs Morales II, just a great battle with amazing skills on display and Pac. Chavez vs Taylor, Taylor was amazing greatest display, maybe controversial but the blindside finish. Dempsey vs Firpo, what everyone wanted to see Dempsey in a war. O'Grady vs Kenty, tit-for-tat amazing exchanges. Jones Jr vs Paz, the great comeback story, no Hollywood ending but it looked like Paz just enjoyed the moment, maybe a little too much.
BlazeBrady 1. Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling II 2. Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman (When We Were Kings) 3. Archie Moore vs Yvon Durrell I 4. Riddick Bowe vs Evander Holyfield I 5. Robert Duran vs Sugar Ray Leonard I 6. Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali I 7. Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier III 8. Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns 9. Larry Holmes vs Earnie Shavers II 10. Rocky Marciano vs Jersey Joe Walcott 11. Floyd Patterson vs Ingemar Johansson II 12. James Buster Douglas vs Mike Tyson 13. Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder I 14. Mike Tyson vs Michael Spinks 15. Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton 16. George Foreman vs. Michael Moore 17. Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo I 18. Jersey Joe Walcott vs Ezzard Charles III 19. Juan Manuel Marquez vs Manny Pacquiao IV 20. Sugar Ray Leonard vs Thomas Hearns I 21. Andy Ruiz Jr vs Anthony Joshua I 22. Sandy Saddler vs Willie Pep IV 23. Julio Cesar Chavez vs Pernell Whittaker 24. Sugar Ray Leonard vs Marvin Hagler 25. Gennady Golovkin vs Canelo Alvarez 1