The 100 greatest title fights of all time (The Ring, 1996)

Yeah, the order of some of the fights is bizarre. I understand that Chacon-Limon historically isn’t as significant as some of the other higher fights on the list but the action in that one means it should be much, much higher.

 

If this list was revised today with a further 28 years of world title fights to choose from, which fights would be added to the list and which would make way for them?

There are some obvious ones that would have to go on there, like Moralws-Barrera 1 and Corrales-Castillo 1 - those would be absolute certainties. Some of the more recent fights that The Ring selected to perhaps make up the numbers like Gerald McClellan v Julian Jackson in 1993, Jorge Castro v John David Jackson in 1994 and Vince Pettway v Simon Brown in 1995 would probably not make it onto an updated list, I reckon.

 

Worth noting that there are no fights listed that ended in tragedy, so no place for fights like Griffith-Paret 3, Ramos-Moore or Mancini-Kim. Personally, I can understand that but in terms of action in the build up to the fateful ending, those three are arguably more deserving of a place than some others listed.

 

Ah yes, I remember listening to both of those two fights on the wireless! What memories…

 

I understand that point of view but that’s more about Pryor and how he is viewed historically rather than the quality of the fight, which, as you say was terrific.

Also, just to say that I’m factoring everything into my own assessment of it, like:
-the historical status of it - it was one established all-time great and reigning lineal world champion going for history by attempting to become the first man to win world titles in a 4th weight division by going up against a younger, unbeaten puncher who had dethroned the dominant force in his own weight class;
-the atmosphere in the arena and anticipation was electric in Miami, which was Arguello’s home from home at the time, making him the sentimental favourite
-the contrasting personalities of the two fighters, with the classy and gentlemanly Arguello going up against the loud and abrasive Pryor;
-the fight itself, which lived up to the hype with its sustained back and forth action and ebbs and flows in momentum, coupled with the high level of technical boxing on display that showed that Pryor was more than just a search and destroy fighter and that Arguello, despite being perhaps near the end, had one last great performance in him;
-and yes, the controversy, which really came to light in the aftermath, in its way adds to the legend of an already great event and fight.

Everybody would call Corrales-Castillo one of the greatest fights of all time and that had the mouthpiece controversy that many felt gave Corrales the opportunity to recover and take ultimate victory. I’ve heard some people say it takes the shine off Corrales’ victory but it doesn’t remove the spectacle that everyone had witnessed up to that point, so I don’t see why it would be different with a fight as great as Pryor-Arguello 1 either.

But, yeah, Panama Lewis was a real POS, no argument from me. Pryor was culpable too but I think the blame lays squarely with Lewis. And I guess we’ll never know what would have happened had it been water that Pryor was drinking. The way he upped his level at the start of the 14th suggests he may not have been able to manage the finish the way he did, but we’ll never know. Hard to believe both fighters are gone now, too.

 

A few obvious omissions up to 1996 that I think warranted inclusion somewhere:

-Fighting Harada W15 Eder Jofre, 1965
-Ruben Olivares TKO14 Kazuyoshi Kanazawa, 1971
-Victor Galindez KO15 Ritchie Kates , 1976
-Cornelius Boza-Edwards W15 Rafael Limon, 1981
-Salvador Sanchez TKO8 Wilfredo Gomez, 1981
-Jose Luis Ramirez TKO4 Edwin Rosario, 1984
-James Toney D12 Mike McCallum, 1991

Had the whole of 1996 been included then Holyfield-Tyson 1 would have almost certainly made it in but the list appeared in the issue prior to the fight taking place. I’m pretty sure Barrera-McKinney, which had already taken place, was probably excluded from consideration based on it being for the WBO title, which The Ring didn’t recognise at the time.