New guy around here folks, been lurking for a little while after the all-consuming interest I had in boxing in my teenage years re-surfaced a few months ago. Back then all the UK's biggest fights were live on terrestrial TV and my interest kind of waned after they were moved to satellite TV and I couldn't watch boxing anymore. So, in short I'm looking to expand my collection of fights. I've found a site that does single fights on DVD, better than career sets for starting out. Apart from the obvious The Ring fight of the year list, where else might I be able to find, for instance, a 'top ten fights of 2008?' sort of list? Did The Ring ever set out top tens, or just choose their favourite fight? I'm primarily interested in 1970 onwards for now. Of course I'm happy to take other recommendations on must-see fights from the last number of years. Good to be here, I look forward to taking part. :thumbsup
Welcome. 1982 is a great place to start. Like you, I like to have my own copy of great fights, but they can also be seen on youtube. Check out this article. '82 is a classic year and 80 thru 85 is a great era. http://www.eastsideboxing.com/day2203.html
Wow, '82 had its share of great fights. I've been looking for good channels on Youtube and found a few, not sure if other people have recommendations... In the UK during the 90s we used to have broadcast the likes of Hamed, Eubank, Benn, Collins and so on before they moved over to Sky TV. But little from the US was shown, so even though you'd be familiar with people like Trinidad, Whittaker etc, there was no way to actually get to see these guys in action. One of my quests with Youtube and the DVD sites is to make up for the fighters we would miss out on. Thanks for the link!
[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Magazine_fights_of_the_year[/ame] Here are some that I disagree with, or other fights that are "must-sees" that weren't FOTY. 1977: Matthew Saad Muhammad-Marvin Johnson 1. That was a better fight than Foreman-Young. 1978: Bruce Curry-Monroe Brooks would be my choice for Fight of the Year. Matthew Saad Muhammad-Richie Kates was a great fight too, and so was Larry Holmes-Ken Norton. 1979: I prefer Matthew Saad Muhammad-Marvin Johnson 2. 1980: No disagreement, but Roberto Duran-Sugar Ray Leonard 1 was a hell of a fight. 1981: William "Caveman" Lee-John Cicero is a classic. 1986: Marvin Hagler-John Mugabi is a must-watch, as is Evander Holyfield-Dwight Muhammad Qawi 1. Haven't seen Cruz-McGuigan. 1988: Simon Brown-Tyrone Trice 1 is a must-watch. Haven't seen Lopez-Lockridge 1 to compare. 1989: No disagreement. Evander Holyfield-Michael Dokes was a great HW fight. I felt it was the best HW fight of the 80s for action. 1991: Agree with Quiroga-Akeem, but James Toney-Mike McCallum 1 was an excellent fight. Terrific skills as well as very good action. 1992: Michael Moorer-Bert Cooper is a wild HW brawl. Kennedy McKinney-Welcome Ncita 1 is a terrific fight, and the 11th round is one of the greatest rounds in boxing history IMO. Kevin Kelley-Troy Dorsey was the best fight I can remember on USA's Tuesday Night Fights. I don't know what I'd choose for FOTY. 1993: Riddick Bowe-Evander Holyfield 2 was a terrific HW title fight. Agree with Carbajal-Gonzalez 1 though. 1994: Frankie Randall-Julio Cesar Chavez 1 is a must-watch. Chavez's first official loss, and an excellent fight anyway. 1995: Vincent Pettway-Simon Brown. This fight is crazy. Back and forth KDs, fouls, and an unforgettable ending. The third Bowe-Holyfield fight was also very good IMO, as was Alejandro Gonzalez-Kevin Kelley. Nigel Benn-Gerald McClellan is a tragic fight, but it was a great one too. 1996: I really thought Holyfield-Tyson 1 was a poor choice for FOTY. Marco Antonio Barrera-Kennedy McKinney was a much better fight. Riddick Bowe-Andrew Golota 2 was insane. Frankie Liles-Tim Littles 2 is one of the best 168 lb. fights ever. Kevin Kelley-Derrick Gainer 1 was a hell of a fight. Arturo Gatti-Wilson Rodriguez was great. 1997: I liked Naseem Hamed-Kevin Kelley the best of the fights I can remember at this moment for this year. 1999: Derrick Jefferson-Maurice Harris was a wild and very exciting HW fight, with a highlight reel KO to finish it off. Haven't really seen Ayala-Tapia in entirety. 2000: Agree with Barrera-Morales 1, but Felix Trinidad-Fernando Vargas is one of my favorite fights of all-time. Vargas also had a very good bout with Ike Quartey. Shane Mosley-Oscar De La Hoya 1 was an excellent fight between two great fighters who were really sharp that night. Micky Ward-Shea Neary was a very good fight. 2002: Agree with Ward-Gatti 1. Oscar De La Hoya-Fernando Vargas had almost all you could ask for. A real grudge match, great atmosphere, good action and shifts in momentum, and a definitive conclusion. 2003: My choice for FOTY would've either been Alex Arthur-Michael Gomez or James Toney-Vasilly Jirov. Lennox Lewis-Vitali Klitschko was sloppy, but entertaining. 2005: No arguments with FOTY, Corrales-Castillo 1 is my favorite fight of all-time. Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Torres was actually a better fight IMO than Cotto's classic with Antonio Margarito. It just didn't have the significance or the atmosphere. Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao 1 was really good too. 2006: Sergei Liakhovich-Lamon Brewster is the best HW fight of this century IMO. Not sure if I'd pick it for FOTY though. Sith-Monishpour was great. 2007: Kelly Pavlik-Jermaine Taylor 1 is the best MW fight of this century IMO. Fernando Montiel-Luis Melendez was a really good fight. Vazquez-Marquez 2 deserved it though.
pretty solid picks there mate but i would disagree with your '86 pick as Holys war with Qawi was a far far better scrap than hagler-mugabi
Good call. I like this fight better than Lopez-Lockridge I. I just think it's a better fight, plus it has a cleaner outcome. I felt Lockridge deserved the decision in the first Lopez fight, not to mention Lopez got 16 seconds when knocked down in the 8th round.
You mean Foreman-Young, TS? JThat was FOTY in 1977, so just checking. Some other fights that are worth checking out... 1994: Lee-Onizuka (it's youtubed), Toney-Williams 1995: Both Merqui Sosa-Prince Charles Williams fights 2001: Dorin-Balbi I 2006: Agree with the choice (Sith-Monshipour is probably my favorite fight), but Moore-Macklin was pretty incredible, too.
I know Foreman won "Comeback & KO" awards of the year for 1994, but James Toney's 12 rd. KO over Charles Williams MUST be runner up in the KO dept.... MR.BILL I got my "Toney-Williams" rolling.... NOTE: How drained was Williams at 168?
There were a lot of boxing great fights of the Year. try to check this out, some great fights and knock outs. courtesy of bardovision: <object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nLNrijQdU9E?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nLNrijQdU9E?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>
