I dont mean the richest fight because obviously it would be a recent fight without doubt as the money is at an all time high & it just gets higher as time goes on, Im talking hype, importance, 1 that will never be forgotten & that future non-hwt fights will be compared to, superstar vs superstar & obviously it had to have been a good fight otherwise it would be remembered as a flop. My vote goes to..... LEONARD v HAGLER - 1987 Ps. I know this should have happened in 82 or 83 rather than 87 but this was for unofficial (later to be made official) boxer of the 80s, this was to determine who was the best H2H of the fab 4, this was well & truly the ultimate fight between 2 already legendary boxers. For me... this was thee biggest little mans fight in history. The actual result of the fight made it even more historical than it would have been, it was a rare moment not just in boxing but in sport. :thumbsup
I'd say Leonard-Duran I (well, Duran-Leonard I). It was for the linear welterweight crown, two of the biggest names in boxing at the time, and more importantly it was the fighter who had been recognized as the P4P king for about 5 years facing the man many felt would soon become the P4P king to decide who was the best in the world at the moment. Contrasting images, contrasting styles, contrasting personalities, Duran's looking for his greatest acheivement and Leonard looking to disprove his "pretty boy" image. I think Leonard-Hagler had bigger hype among the media, but this fight had more importance. H.M to Leonard-Hearns, Robinson-LaMotta, and Trinidad-De La Hoya. Amongst boxing fans more so than the general public, Whitaker -Chavez was very likely the most important fight of the 90's, and Chavez-Taylor was big as well.
Excellent calls :good Id throw in DLH Hopkins & DLH Mayweather too as Oscar was going for the undisputed (Hopkins was a league above Sturm who I thought beat Oscar anyway) 6 weight record breaking championship & Floyd was going for his 5th weight title vs Oscar. Ps. I regard Oscar as a 5 weight champ, not 6, for reasons stated above. :thumbsup
Well, pretty much every fight Oscar had past about '96 was a big event. It's Oscar De La Hoya. Hopkins-De La Hoya and Mayweather-De La Hoya were both huge because all 3 were quite big stars at the time, and in both situations it was the P4P king taking on the $$$ King. I regard Oscar as a 4 weight champ, because I don't really count the WBO belt as a legit title, plus each division (Jr. Light and Middle) had a true champion, linear at 130lbs and unified at 160lbs. I don't put much crediblity into Oscar's 6-division champion claim. He proved himself the best at 135, 140, 147, 154 at some point, but never at 130 or 160.
The American perspective sometimes skews things. Besides Leonard-Duran, Sanchez-Gomez & Monzon-Napoles had a lot of interest.
some which haven't been named: 1. Greb-Walker (two great stars of their era) 2. Leonard-Tendler 3. Armstrong-Ross (again two great stars of era) 4. Robinson-Turpin (drew 61,000) 5. Robinson-Basilio
130 - only had 2 fights, 1 against a WBO nobody who he picked the title from 135 - probably best 140 - beat linear champ, but Randal was considered number 1, 147 - linear (controversally), unified (controversally), lost to another champ (controversally) 154 - lost (controversally) against a 0-1-2 fighter, didnt face the best (winky wright) 160 - got a gift belt bot stopped by the real champ 4 weight champ at best, never cleaned out or proved himself the undisputed No1 at any weight
In this topic, its worth asking, was None-HW boxing ever particularly lucrative pre-80s? The Fab 4 seem to have escalate these divisions to higher popularity. Before then Robinson was a massive draw but outside of him there doesnt seem to have been the popularity we had in the 80s and today
Leonard Duran 1 was perfect timing....Chavez/Taylor was built up pretty good....Leonard/Hagler and Hagler/Hearns
