Who has the best victory of all time? Poll Added

The question is hard to answer due to the qualitative differences in the criteria of a "great victory". Perhaps breaking the question down into subcategories would be of help, and then comparing the results against each other. For example, Schmeling vs Louis I and Douglas vs Tyson are great victories as they were shocking upsets. Duran vs Leonard I, Greb vs Tunney I, and Whitaker vs Chavez are great because they enriched the legacy of the victor in a way few fights can.

 

Donaire against Montiel by all accounts of people on this website.

 

Duran - Barkley

The greatest individual performance in boxing imo.

 

ali v foreman
buster d. v tyson
leanard v hearns
leanard v hagler
what is hopkin,s win doing in there

 

duran wasn,t a real under dog.leonard 1

 

Ali vs Foreman
Tunney vs Dempsey
Duran vs Leonard
Sal Sanchez vs Gomez
Leonard vs Hearns

 

Louis vs Schmelling II deserves a mention.

If Billy Conn had beaten Joe Louis, that would have been No. 1.

 

1. armstrong ross
2. duran leonard

clear top two for me because there are no excuses for the losers, then throw in some novel circumstances, supreme performances, and the high esteem the four fighters are held in!

3. greb tunney

a shame we can't actually watch this one... still, tunney's only loss, and greb was at least ten pounds lighter, both fighters up there on the all-time great list. tunney went on to figure out greb... only makes this victory greater for me.

4. ali foreman
5. frazier ali

you can always say that foreman was limited, but ali was the underdog at the time and the knock out was emphatic. for fight of the century you can say that ali was rusty, but the greatness he would go on to show during the rest of his comeback, coupled with frazier's convincing performance, make this a great win.

 

wow i'm one of only four people who voted for armstrong ross!?

 

Ali over Foreman was a huge upset and a huge win over an aging, past his prime Ali. Douglas over Tyson was a bigger upset, but I think Ali's win over Foreman was more significant. Ali past his prime beat a prime, undefeated powerhouse like Foreman while I don't remember a past his prime Tyson beating anyone significant.

 

Ali over Foreman...

 

Better quality opponent? No contest.

For me the circumstances 4 Duran-Barkely make it, imo, his greatest win.

37 years old, former LW & 5'7 up against a big, 6'1 hard hitting MW in his prime, who recently beat Hearns.
Duran couldnt stay outside, he had to engage Iran up close & he did.
He took huge shots but just kept on going, even KDing Iran in the 11th.
I love that fight.