Shortest Heavyweight Title Fights

The setting is the Nynex Arena in Manchester, England. The date is April 18, 1998. Local favorite Herbie Hide is making the first defense of his newly-won WBO world heavyweight title. His opponent that night is American Damon Reed, who made the long trip from Kansas, USA. The result? Hide needed less than a minute to seal the deal. When Hide stopped Reed in 52 seconds that Saturday night, it was the quickest knockout ever in a heavyweight world title fight. Many boxing aficionados believe that Lamon Brewster's 52 second knockout of Andrew Golota is the fastest ever stoppage in a heavyweight title fight. They are mistaken. That distinction officially belongs to Herbie Hide. Yes, the Brewster-Golota and Hide-Reed bouts each lasted 52 seconds, but since Hide-Reed took place before, it claims the #1 spot because it set the record first. Of course, if Brewster stopped Golota in under 52 seconds then their fight would rank historically as the top fastest knockout in heavyweight boxing history. That did not happen. That means Hide-Reed slightly edges Brewster-Golota for the top spot of shortest heavyweight title fight.

It's worth noting that experts and credible sources such as the late Bert Sugar, The Chicago Tribune, and Lamon Brewster himself were incorrect and stated the Brewster-Golota bout holds the dubious honor. Wrong. The real record holder is Hide, a former British titlist of Nigerian descent, and a man who surely is an underrated heavyweight. He should at the very least be given more props and credit for scoring the quickest KO ever in a heavyweight title fight. Much of the problem is ignorance, however. It's not like American boxing fans (those who are left, anyway) pay enough attention to the sports record books to give fighters such as Hide their just due. Hopefully, we real fight fans on this forum, as a whole, can advance the cause of raising awareness for past prizefighters whose feats are long forgotten or even entirely unacknowledged. Here's a former champion who once faced future Hall of Famer Riddick Bowe and, when asked in an interview, Bowe pointed towards Hide as the hardest hitter he faced in his career. Such overall lack of knowledge on fans' part is an outright shame on the sport and surely a reflection of why boxing has lost its sporting and media firepower in the modern professional sports landscape.

Below, a dubious list is presented that, no challenger ever wants to make, but sometimes it just happens.

Fastest heavyweight title fight knockouts (official list):
1. Herbie Hide over Reed in 1998 (52 seconds)
2. Lamon Brewster over Golota in 2005 (52 seconds)
3. Jim Jeffries over Jack Finnegan in 1900 (55 seconds)
4. Michael Dokes over Mike Weaver in 1983 (63 seconds)
5. Tommy Burns over Bill Squires in 1907 (88 seconds)
6. Tommy Burns over Jem Roche in 1908 (88 seconds)
7. Mike Tyson over Michael Spinks in 1988 (91 seconds)
8. Mike Tyson over Carl Williams in 1989 (93 seconds)
9. Michael Bentt over Tommy Morrison in 1993 (93 seconds)
10. Lennox Lewis over Golota in 1997 (95 seconds)

 

Thanks ! Yes, Squires and Burns fought thrice, but each contest ended in a stoppage, not one went the distance. For sure, we could expand this list.

 

I know Vitali got Solis out of there in the first, but the idea is it wasn't as fast as the Brewsters and Hides of the world. Nowhere near. That's why the K2 brothers didn't crack the list.

 

Yes, unfortunately, Golota made the Top 10 twice on the receiving end . But what can you do? Interesting points about Liston and Clay.