I am interested in ancient boxing history, so I want to ask. I don't think I have seen as much as half of the Fitz-Corbett, Johnson-Jeffries, and Johnson-Willard fights, but I have seen quite a bit. Enough I think to make a judgment. Is your criteria elastic enough to include these fights? For example, in Johnson=Jeffries I have seen rounds 1, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15. Not half, but I think enough to judge. It is one of the pivotal fights in boxing history. What sayist thou?
1. Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns 2. Micky Ward vs. Arturo Gatti 1 3. Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor 1 4. James “Buster” Douglas vs. Mike Tyson 5. Joe Frazier vs. Muhammed Ali 1 6. Roberto Duran vs. Sugar Ray Leonard 1 7. Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Marvin Hagler 8. Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Jake Lamotta 6 9. Rocky Marciano vs. Jersey Joe Walcott 1 10. Muhammed Ali vs. George Foreman 11. Muhammed Ali vs. Joe Frazier 3 12. Larry Holmes vs. Ken Norton 13. Alexis Arguello vs. Ray Mancini 14. Muhammed Ali vs. Sonny Liston 1 15. Roberto Duran vs. Iran Barkley 16. Arturo Gatti vs. Wilson Rodriguez 17. Aaron Pryor vs. Alexis Arguello 1 18. Felix Trinidad vs. Oscar De La Hoya 19. Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson 1 20. Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns 1 21. Arturo Gatti vs. Gabriel Ruelas 22. Max Schmeling vs. Joe Louis 1 23. Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield 1 24. Vinny Pazienza vs. Greg Haugen 1 25. Barry McGuigan vs. Eusebio Pedroza
Amos-San 1) Matthew Saad Muhammad - Marvin Johnson 1 2) Wilfred Benitez vs Thomas Hearns 3) Soo Hwan Hong – Hector Carrasquilla 4) Ruben Olivares – Kazuyoshi Kanazawa 2 5) Harold Johnson – Ezzard Charles 6) Wilfred Benitez vs Antonio Cervantes 7) Marco Antonio Barrera - Erik Morales 1 8) George Foreman – Michael Moorer 9) Matthew Saad Muhammad – Yaqui Lopez 2 10) Evander Holyfield – Dwight Qawi 1 11) Sugar Ray Robinson – Gene Fullmer 2 12) Shane Mosley – Oscar De La Hoya 1 13) Erik Morales – Manny Pacquiao 1 14) Eddie Gregory vs Marvin Johnson 15) Chan Hee Park – Shoji Oguma 3 16) Masao Ohba - Chartchai Chionoi 17) Muhammad Ali – George Foreman 18) Evander Holyfield – Mike Tyson 2 19) Chris Eubank – Michael Watson 2 20) Sugar Ray Leonard – Marvin Hagler 21) Chan Hee Park - Miguel Canto 1 22) Ernesto Marcel – Antonio Gomez 23) Archie Moore – Yvon Durelle 1 24) Lupe Pintor – Alberto Davila 2 25) Chris Eubank - Carl Thompson 1
1. Marvin Hagler vs Tommy Hearns 2. Joe Frazier vs Muhammad Ali 1 3. Arturo Gatti vs Mickey Ward 1 4. Roberto Duran vs Ray Leonard 1 5. Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier 3 6. Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Arguello 1 7. Jersey Joe Walcott vs Ezzard Charles 3 8. Riddick Bowe vs Evander Holyfield I 9. Lennox Lewis vs Vitali Klitschko 10. George Foreman vs Ron Lyle 11. Chris Eubank vs Nigel Benn I 12. Fighting Harada vs Eder Jofre I 13. Ricky Hatton vs Kostya Tszyu 14. Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera I 15. Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton 16. Julio Cesar Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor I 17. Naoya Inoue vs Nonito Donaire 18. Israel Vasquez vs Rafael Marquez III 19. Jack Dempsey vs Jess Willard 20. Riddick Bowe vs Evander Holyfield III 21. Rocky Marciano-Joe Walcott I 22. Ike Ibeabuchi vs. Mafaufau Sita 23. Ray Mancini vs. Bobby Chacon 24. Evander Holyfield vs Michael Dokes 25. Max Schmeling vs. Joe Louis I
I totally understand what you're getting at here. I'm still mostly inclined to stick to my guns on the 50% minimum threshold, however. And the reason for this is mainly because I want this list to be composed of fights that every boxing fan should "experience" - regardless of already knowing the outcome. But you do make a valid point. Let me give this some more thought, I'll definitely consider it. I picked 50% arbitrarily, to be sure. I had also considered a minimum threshold of 40% and 33%. I wasn't sure where to land, and the reason I ultimately settled on 50 is because I think half a fight gives you enough to "experience it". But who's to say that 33% isn't enough? After all, Johnson-Jeffries does fit the bill and the spirit of what I'm looking for. What does everyone think about this? What, in your mind, makes a reasonable minimum rounds available for it to be something you can properly "experience"?
NOTES TO SELF.... 1. lufcrazy 2. Jel 3. TheAnatolian 4. PhillyPhan69 5. Jester 6. George Crowcroft 7. roughdiamond 8. Chuck Norris 9. mrkoolkevin 10. William Walker 11. Saintpat 12. Geogre Crowcroft 13. Crazy Horse 23 14. Jack Catterall 15. lookatcurryman 16. HDmexiqtioner 17. rusty74 18. Jersey City Boxing Fan 19. Amos-san 20. matthew135
Do I get the “Alice spot” in your Brady Bunch board of contributors again, or is it too early to tell? (G)
I think the percentage rule could vary from fight to fight. Some fights are so defined by a single epic round that it's not necessary to see the whole thing to know that the rest of the fight was great. Some fights experience so many dramatic ebbs and flows(like Foreman vs. Lyle) that it necessary since each round differs so greatly from the previous. On the other hand, other fights are so repetitive, either because they are dull or because they are exciting, that technically watching the whole thing does not become absolutely necessary. An example of this would be the Patterson-Chuvalo fight. Now, I love this fight, and always watch the whole thing because I love getting the whole experience, but technically you wouldn't have to watch every round to get the idea of the fight. Within four rounds the action-paced pace becomes clear and common-place, but nonetheless exciting. Plus this fight does have rounds 5 & 6 missing in the film, and although I would love to see those two rounds, I feel they were probably similar to the previous and following ones. Depending on the fight you have, it may take 50% or more for it to qualify. The more exciting and/ original a fight is, the more you need to see of it(like the Graziano-Zale fights, which experienced so many dramatic and brutal ups and downs). The duller or more repetitive a fight is, the less you need to see of it. For instance, Terrell's fights w/ Eddie Machen and Doug Jones wouldn't require the 50% because there were few memorable developments, and in addition to that, were not good fights anyway. On the other hand, Spinks vs. Burnett, as brutal and memorable as it was, was fought at such an insane yet repetitive pace that I don't believe it would require the 50% to make the list, but rather a 33% or something like that.
