Examples where fighters being brutally KO'd then won the rematch

Lewis-Rahman is the first thing that comes to mind. :yep

 

Lewis - Rahman still not the domination you looked after but hey.

 

Poster who mentioned Sandy Saddler vs Willie Pep is on the money, thats a good example. The first 2 Graziano vs Zale fights were weird ones as apparently Graziano dominated the first and nearly stopped Zale and then got ko'ed. In the rematch the exact opposite happened. Zale was on top and could have finished rock a couple times before he was dispatched. Both ko's in the 6th too. So i dont know what to think about that as an example for you and how relevant it is to your specific question. I guess it works in a strange way. As far as not seeing them goes i believe complete fight footage is unavailable for the first 2 fights, only clips which have emerged only recently i think.

 

Lewis-McCall anyone? :deal

 

Obviously, we all know that most "revenge" fights didn't end up so well. However, the fact that most boxers doesn't try to avenge those brutal losses can also explain why there are so few exemple of this in history. There where no Khan vs Prescott II, no W. Klitschko vs Sanders, no Kirkland vs Ishida... hell no Hagler-vs Hearns II or Tyson vs Douglas.

 

Ann Sophie Mathis knocked Holly Holm out last year but Holm decisioned Mathis a few weeks back.

 

The best example that I can think of is Jack Dempsey vs Jim Flynn.
Jim Flynn flattens Dempsey in 1917, after only one round.
1918, Dempsey gets his rematch. Knocks out Flynn. In one round. Revenge accomplishment complete.

 

Paul Williams vs Carlos Quintana
I'm going to throw Bute vs Andrade in there since he should have lost the first fight

 

Audley Harrison got KO'd in 3 by Michael Sprott. He avenged that loss 3 years later by 12th round KO.

 

The first seemed to be a fixed fight.

 

Sometimes a fighter honestly just thinks they used the wrong strategy against another.

I think Bute underestimated the power and determination of Froch. His own power was so widely hyped that he probably figured he would win toe to toe exchanges and then got himself rocked and never recovered.

I expect in a rematch Bute would want to box and counter more which given his skill level is a reasonable case for him possibly winning.

I actually think it would be even harder for Froch to win a rematch against Ward, and yet he seems to really want that as well. Just a true champions spirit.

 

To me that second fight was a no contest. McCall just totally lost it mentally. That's not to say that Lewis wasn't expected to win anyway, just that didn't feel we had a game McCall that night or a true fight.

 

Wlad- Brewster