Toledo, Ohio, July 4, 1919. The sensational nature of Dempsey's upset of Willard brought boxing into the Golden Age of Sports. I feel this event just shades Louis/Schmeling II in terms of impact. Dempsey's ten million in total earnings stood as the world record until Ali finally broke it. (I don't know if anybody's ever adjusted Jack's earnings for inflation, but it wouldn't surprise me if such an adjustment translated into his income still being a record amount.)
That is one that isnt going to be beaten. But Fenech v Nelson II would be a chance at second place. It was absolutely huge with mainstream coverage, And Australias first ever pay per view event via special closed circuit cable television venues.
I would say Louis/SchmelingII was the most important fight period in boxing, and from a non American point of view I would also put at least Jeffries/Johnson above Dempsey/Willard as well....
10 Million dollars? (I think it is equivalent to ten times that amount or approx. $100m in todays dollars) Exactly the reason Dempsey protected his belt with only 5 defenses in 7 years & dodging colored(& even White fghters of the day) . That belt was like a damn diamond mine & Dempsey & his handlers protected it at all costs. Yet his apologists go to all ends to make excuses for this behavior. IT Was simply Business. I think if Firpo had gotten the win he would have had no problem fighting all comers for a substantial fee regardless of color/skills. maybe Wills/Godfrey would have gotten their chance & boxing fans not robbed of some great matchups.
The most historic fight on dutch soil, for the dutch, must have been the Olympic final in 1928, Amsterdam, where Bep van Klaveren beat Victor Perelta. Van Klaveren went on to persue a professional career and became european champion in both the lightweight ( 1931 ) and middleweight division ( 1938 ). We did have a couple of world champions in Regilio Tuur (WBO) who KO'd Kelcie Banks in the olympics, Don Diego Poeder (WBU) and Raymond Joval for some alphabet belts. But none of these fighters ever gained the fame that Bep "the dutch windmill" Van Klaveren did. All in all a pretty meagre score for my little country (that did produce Lucia Rijker in recent years), but I think the dutch are better in muay thai kickboksing and K-1 fighting. Rob Kaman and Ernesto Hoost are prime examples of the many top athletes we have seen from The Netherlands in these disciplines.
I like to go way back , but actually think one of our most remarkable victories on British shores was only in 1995 when Nigel Benn did the almost impossible by stopping Gerald Mclelland in London in that sad and dramatic battle that almost saw the american lose his life.....
The aftermath was a tragedy, McClellan, a true warrior, ended up in a coma for 2 weeks and now lives under 24/7 care of his sisters. A remarkable victory, but a dramatic end of McClellan's career.
watson eubank 2 it changed and whipped the BBBC to set adaquet supervisions....personally i think the BBBC is one of the best bodies in boxing commisions at the moment. takes out any fighters who cant handle themselves and pays for MRI scans and a yearly health check up. for every fighter in the country if they apply.
The BBBoC is THE leading governing body in boxing. Those yearly health checkups and MRI scans are paid for by the sanctioning fees etc. This is why I hate the likes of Frank Warren, snubbing the British title in favour of inter-alphabetty titles, and have much respect for Mick Hennessy. Perhaps if Warren put more fights the BBBoC's way, standards could be improved yet further.
From an Australian point of view the 1985 IBF world super featherweight title fight between defending champ Lester Ellis and veteran Barry Michael was significant. To have a world title fight between two Aussie on home soil was fairly unique. The fact that they were both Victorian fighters, that they grew up together (Ellis once idolising Michael), and that it became a bitter grudge match, only added spice!
Both were British, but I will give them to you, if you have a word with Andrew Symonds, and get him to come home.... Seriously, as has been mentioned, you Aussies had a ton of historic fights, peaking probably with Burns/Johnson.