The 5 Greatest Wins in the History of Boxing?

Mine is quite different from yours, a bit more mainstream I'd say. It's not just the win but when the win occurred, when the loser was the hottest thing out there, the most recognizable name in the sport. These are highly meaningful wins.

Hagler over Hearns
Douglas over Tyson
Foreman over Frazier
Ali over Foreman
Flowers over Greb for the title.


and in my own personal view either Sandoval-Chandler or Hearns-Duran. I don't know which was more shocking.

 

Wow, top five? In terms of historical importance or from an unlikely winner or just a huge fight? Some of each for me are......

Schmelling vs. Louis both one and two.

Ali vs. Liston

Ali vs. Foreman

Douglas vs. Tyson

Corrales vs. Castillo I

 

Mcgrain you already know I'm not big a leonard fan but you really think Duran beating leonard was that big a deal at the time? Leonard only had one defense so how could he already be top five welterweight?

 

I don't believe these are great wins. I see them as *******ised wins where the inferior fighter won. Leonard clowned Duran for a reason, a far greater win in my opinion.

 

Why is it a better win if the favorite wins than if the underdog wins? Especially considering both were at their best when the underdog won.

 

My boxing knowlede doesn't go back as far as most on the classic forum....but I'd like to list the five most miraculous wins that I've seen....i.e. wins that were in significant fights and weren't really supposed to happen.....I hope it's ok with you McGrain.

Julio Cesar Chavez KO12 Meldrick Taylor
Meldrick Taylor was emerging as the unlikely star of the 1984 olympic team. Breland, Tate, Biggs, Tillman, and Whitaker had lost, but Taylor was a champion and was looking more impressive with each fight. Chavez was a great pressure fighter with plenty of good wins in lower weight classes, but Taylor was a different story. Taylor had everything needed to put an end to Chavez' long winning streak. Chavez followed his fight plan impecably through the offensive firestorm that Taylor unleashed, and delivered a spectacular comeback KO in a unificaton match.

Roberto Duran W12 Iran Barkley
Iran Barkley had just stopped Thomas Hearns, a fighter who had easily defeated Duran, to win the WBC middleweight title. Duran's comeback was seen as being kind of like George Foreman's....a sideshow act of sorts. The fact that Duran was getting a title shot was chaulked off to his marquee name being lucrative for the promoters. The comebacking Duran merely raised a few eyebrows when he weighed in well under the middleweight limit, but the effort that he put forth was possibly the most technically sound one that I've ever seen. Duran relied completely on ring savy and was so effective that he had Barkley reeling from shots that he didn't see coming on several occasions.

Julian Jackson KO2 Terry Norris
Jackson was given little chance against the rising TV network star....and after Norris carried the first round with relative ease, it seemed as though the general consensus was right on target....we were going to see the crowning of a new champion in a dominating performance. But Jackson had other ideas....he stayed with his plan and it payed off in spades.

Erik Morales W12 Manny Pacquaio
After Pacquaio's fightening destruction of Marco Antonio Barrera and near destruction of Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales seemed to be faced with an almost unwinnable match....especially coming off of his loss to Barrera. Morales fought....well....like Morales. And there was just something about Morales' style that Pacquaio couldn't quite get past. Every time that Pacquaio mounted one of his fierce assaults, Morales would back away, wait for Paquaio to finish, and then press forward with his own attack.

Evander Holyfield KO11 Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson was on the comeback and it would only be a matter of time before he was back atop the heavyweight scene, bringing the sport of boxing to the public eye once again. Evander Holyfield was on the decline, having lost to Bowe and Moorer and having been diagnosed with a heart ailment....he couldn't have had more going against him. Tyson entered the ring the champion and a huge favorite, and even the most dedicated Holyfield fans seemed to fear for him. As it turned out though, Tyson hadn't been significantly tested in years, and a rejuvinated Holyfield provided a test that Tyson wasn't able to pass.

 

These are good picks too Warchild, especailly Jackson-Norris and Taylor Chavez. Taylor looked like a whirlwind in there!

 

duran leanord was one of the greatest fights in boxing history as was frazier over alis you dont know **** if you dont know that

 

Marciano -Walcott 1
Chavez-Taylor 1
Douglas-Tyson
Hagler -Hearns
and a personal favorite was Jorge Castros come from behind KO of John David Jackson