Cancelled! - Fights We Never Got To See

Good thread this, anyone got anymore?

 

John L Sullivan v George Godfrey (world coloured champion) was scheduled, fighters in the ring and ready to fight, but prevented by the Police.

 

Robinson / Lamotta 15

 

The "This is it" card in 1980. by MAPS. was cancelled amidsts scandle. Among the fights were:
Eddie M.Muhammed-Matt Saad Mohammad
Jeff Chandler-Lupe Pintor
Thomas Hearns-Wilfred Benitez
Another involving Cooney. &
Sanchez-Pedroza?
Would have been best card in history.

 

"Bombardier" Billy Wells vs Jack Johnson was scheduled but never happened

 

Fighting Harada vs Jesus Pimental 1968
Alan Rudkin vs Pascual Perez 1964

 

Would n't be as one sided as you think. I agree about Nelson winning though.

 

Joe Bugner v Gerry Cooney 1981. Bugner may well have had a chance here.

 

Never knew that Holmes-Ali was earmarked for '77.

 

Riddick Bowe vs Tommy Morrison was all set to be announced, then literally the day before Newman suddenly came out and said Bowe-Holyfield III was set instead. Some kind of deal was rumoured, that saw Morrison get Lewis instead.

In similar vein, Tommy Morrison vs Herbie Hide was all set to go before the financial backer fell through at the last minute. They were going to fight in China. Yes, I know.

Lewis had a free choice of fighting either Lionel Butler, Joe Hipp or Frans Botha in 1995. He went for Butler.

Foreman-Moorer II was heavily expected for 1995...then 1996...then 1997 even. Judging from reports at the time, most insiders felt that Foreman was stringing along Moorer something fierce with last-minute contract disputes and financial demands to make it happen.

Henry Akinwande was supposed to fight Holyfield in early '98 but a week before was diagnosed with a hepatitis infection. Then he was supposed to be Lewis's mandated WBA defence in early 2000, but I think either had an illness or got injured and King slotted Ruiz into place instead.

Ray Mercer was due to fight Golota in early '97, but suffered a neck injury in training then missed the whole of 1997 (and all his momentum from the Holyfield, Lewis and Witherspoon fights) due to a hepatitis infection as well.

King intended for Rahman to make the defence of his heavyweight titles in 2001 against either David Izon, or Brian Nielsen.

 

I was looking forward to that one.

 

Does anyone know when Cerdan/Lamotta II was penciled in for? And where the bout was suppost to be taking place?

 

It was due to happen somewhere in the U.S.A. About a year after the first one. Then Marcel died,did n't he ?

 

Yeah he died in a plane crash on the way to USA for the rematch, 5 or so months after his first fight with Lamotta. I just wasn't sure when/where the second fight was suppost to take place!

 

You think it's ******ed for them to favour Tyson in 1991, i'll tell you why I think it's perfectly reasonable.

1. Strategic/technique reasons:

Holy: Around '91 he was very easy to drag into a brawl and this would play perfectly into Tyson's style, just look at his tough wars with Cooper, Dokes, Foreman & Stewart.
Whereas in '96 Holyfield was at his best from a technical perspective thanks to Tommy Brooks, he countered Tyson's predictable, singular, telegraphed right hands and opted to constantly grapple & out-muscle Tyson rather than brawling with him.

Tyson: In '91 he showed quality headmovement for periods against Ruddock and also some nice combinations, this was practically absent by '96 (& what little headmovement he did do looked slow & ****). It is also vital to mention that in '91 Tyson possessed a great, debilitating body-attack (Holyfield is vulnerable to powerful body punching), whereas he was basically a mindless headhunter in '96, who looked for one big punch (a terrible strategy against the titanium-chinned Holy) & had awful, ragged defense. Trainers should be noted, in '91 Tyson was trained by Giachetti who could offer solid advice in the corner, especially important when times got tough, while in '96 he was trained by incompetent fool Jay Bright.

2. Physical reasons:

Holy: Indeed young Holyfield had better stamina, speed, footwork & reflexes in '91, but he was physically far more suited for facing Tyson in '96. By then he was heavier, stronger, more durable and more powerful. These attributes were needed to absorb Tyson's power-punches and manhandle him in the frequent grappling initiated by himself. Also Holy became flat-footed as he aged, he incorporated ramming headbutts into his arsenal.

Tyson: In '91 he was supremely conditioned for 12 rounds of brutal war, this conditioning also meant better durability and recuperative abilities. I'd confidently pick Tyson to be the strongest in '91 too.
For Holyfield I in '96 he was the worst conditioned he would be until 2001. This meant he only had a mere 5 rounds of stamina before gassing.

3. Mental reasons:

Holy: Although always fighting with the mentality of a warrior, Evander was mentally even stronger in '96. After losing the titles to Moorer in '94, he was very determined to become a 3rd time HW Champion against the odds.

Tyson: In '91 Tyson was mentally well-prepared by Giachetti for grueling wars as seen against Ruddock. His mental preparation for a rough, tough fights can be seen as he walked through bombs (Ruddock I & II) & traded big lowblows in Ruddock II (in contrast he could barely handle one lowblow in round 6 against Holy & offered no retaliation to it or the butts). In addition, Tyson had big respect for Holy then as a great fighter, so he wouldn't have underestimated him. In '96 Tyson subscribed to the common belief that Holy was shot & washed-up, thus he expected a 1st round walk in the park. This is clearly what he was prepared for; just look at his get up in round 6, gassed & hurt, to become a punching bag with no will to win. In won't have helped him mentally coming back to his corner in a tough battle, to find the Don King useless circus of fools either. The mentally ill-prepared Tyson was evidently extremely frustrated & helpless to counter the dirty tactics of Holy in rounds 6 & 7, which focused on powerful ramming headbutts.

4. Experience reasons:

Holy: In the 4 years from '92-'96 Evander's Heavyweight experience increased at an incredible rate. He'd had 12 hard rounds with Holmes, 10 hard rounds with Mercer and 32 rounds of brutal war with Bowe, plus 29 rounds with others.

Tyson: Due to his 4 year layoff (including 3.5 years rotting in prison), Tyson had only fought the equivalent of 6 full rounds in the 4 years leading up to Holyfield I, meaning he was rusted-to-****.