A Shortlist of Must See Classic Fighters and Fights for Boxing Collectors

Salvador Sanchez:

The two Danny Lopez fights are clinical beatdowns. The first one is more entertaining as it had more action. Lopez's head was just target practice for Sanchez's right hand. The Wilfredo Gomez is regarded as Sanchez's best win, and although it was a brutal beating, it was still a pretty good fight as Gomez did land his share of shots. Sanchez's last fight was perhaps his most entertaining, and worth watching also to see the great performance of a young Azumah Nelson.

Matthew Franklin (Saad Muhammad):

A very exciting action fighter, and excellent light-heavyweight, Saad has been described as being the perfect television fighter. His most exciting fight in my opinion was his first fight with Marvin Johnson. Nigel Collins would later list it as his #1 fight he ever covered, and note that Marvin and Matthew each only made $2,500 for the fight. Gross pay. His rematch with Marvin Johnson was also a very exciting fight, with a dramatic ending. I would rank that as his third most exciting fight. 2nd would be his rematch with Yaqui Lopez (their first fight was a pretty good fight too). Fourth would be the fight with Richie Kates. I definitely recommend these fights for people that like to see brutal fights, but with technique and skills as well. Saad wasn't a sloppy puncher and fighter like a number of great action fighters.

Naseem Hamed:

Hamed's been criticized quite a bit, some of it is just, but some unfairly in my view. He did beat the titleholders of the "Big 4" at 126 and some other contenders as well, some of them in entertaining fashion. His best win was over long-time IBF champ Tom Johnson. If you can stand Hamed's mugging and clowning, then watch his domination of WBO featherweight titleholder Steve Robinson. Hamed's two most fan-friendly fights were the 4 round battles with Kevin Kelley and Augie Sanchez.

Roberto Duran:

Duran could do just about anything in the ring. His best performance was the first fight with Ray Leonard, and it was a good action fight as well. Definitely worth watching. His best performance at lightweight was probably the rubber match with Esteban Dejesus, although the 2nd fight was more fan-friendly. Duran was very patient and methodical in the 3rd fight, and slowly broke Dejesus down. You also get to see Duran's slickness and tricks. The bout with Iran Barkley was an excellent close battle, and his beatings of Carlos Palomino and Davey Moore are definitely worth watching.

 

............One more shoutout for Raging B()ll's list of fights. Even if you have no immediate plans to buy anything, you should check it out just for fun, if he's game to share it. I've never seen a list that comes close to comparing to it. You feel like a kid in a candy store looking at all that stuff. Bill Cayton probably orders from him.


Here's a few more of my favorites........

Bobby Chacon: First and foremost is the epic fourth fight with Limon. I've never seen a better fight. To see what Bobby was like when he was young, look up the Danny Lopez fight. He was slick, slippery, and had the boundless exuberance of youth on his side. Terrific performance. He just tore Lopez apart. His Second fight with Boza-Edwards was his last great peformance on the championship level, and it was 1983's fight of the year.


Alexis Arguello: I would recommend fights in different wieght classes to see how he'd changed and aged a bit, but always gracefully. His gut-check win over Ruben Olivares is superb; great artistry and exciting action. The same goes for either the first or second Escalera fight, though I prefer the second. One look at Escalera's face after the fight shows the impact Alexis' blows were having. Brutal. Arguello was synonymous with grace, patience, and intelligence to go along with his deadly skills, and they were on display against the youth and toughness of the underrated Mancini. The nationwide audience turned the TV off that day knowing they'd seen a special fighter give a truly virtuoso performance.

 

Some of my favorites action fights...and I won't give you the spoilers


Aaron Pryor Vs DuJuan Johnson (You'll see what Pryor was all about. He was in your face no matter what could be thrown to him.)


Bill Caveman Lee vs Johnny LoCicero (The mini Foreman-Lyle, a thrilling ending to a thrilling fight)


Arturo Gatti vs Ivan Robinson I & II, Micky Ward I, II, III, Wilson Rodriguez & Gabriel Ruelas (Gatti is the best crowd pleaser ever: he's a human punching bag, he's got balls, he never gives up and he's dangerous when hurt)


Edwin Rosario vs Loreto Garza (The single worst beating I saw in my life)

 

not that this is the point of this thread, but he did give up once, in what happened to be the most important fight of his career.

Sugar Ray Robinson - For chilling finishes

vs Randy Turpin II - Just a point in it on the score cards, with a bad cut, Robinson releases a fussilade of punches to get his man outta there.

vs Jake LaMotta VI - The fight ebbs and flows until in a brutal 13th round where Robinson hammers Jake to a bloody pulp.

vs Gene Fullmer II - Robinson is getting outhustled by the younger, stronger Fullmer until Robinson catches Gene with one of the most picture perfect punches in history.

 

I`ll just list great fights rather than great fighters but most of my fights will involve great fighters....

ERIK MORALES v
Marco Antonio Barrera 1
Wayne McCullouch
Manny Pacquiao 1
(Thats morales the warrior)

ERIK MORALES v
Daniel Zaragoza
Marco Antonio Barrera 2
Paulie Ayala
(Thats morales the boxer, well mainly, he cant help himself, he just loves a scrap)


MUHAMMAD ALI v
Joe Frazier 1
George Foreman
Joe Frazier 3
(Ali the legend in wars)

MUHAMMAD ALI v
George Chuvalo 1
Cleveland Williams
Ernie Terrell
(Ali in his prime, too good to have to get into wars)

There are too many, I`ll post later, bed time for me.

:-((

 

Which Carlos Monzon fights would you recommend? I've only seen his fight with Napoles. Are there any specific fights where he is at his best?

 

..........If you can find it, check out Monzon against Briscoe in thei second fight. He was as sharp as I've seen him in that one. The first Benvenuti fight was excellent too.

 

Evander Holyfield

vs Bert Cooper
vs Michael Dokes
vs Riddick Bowe I

 

Marciano vs
Walcott I
Charles I and II(Well highlights of I lol)
Moore and Louis. I suppose you can thown in the amazing finish of Layne as well.

Louis vs
Schemling 1 and 2.
Conn I
Walcott I and II
Marciano
Farr
Godney I and II
Ramage

Gans vs Nelson I
Ritchie vs Rivers lightweight title
Dempsey vs Tunney I and II, Firpo and Carp. And Willard

Jack Johnson vs Jess Willard. Amazing fight imo.

 

Thanks for that. I'll try track it down!