THE Greatest Wins In History???

Frazier - Ali I: monumental win for Frazier
SRL - Hagler has to be up there, too. I remember at the time, the whole sports world stopped for this fight, with Leonard coming back after years to fight the unstoppable pfp king Hagler. Whether it was really a draw or a win for Leonard is another story, but it is a big peice of boxing history.

 

1. Johnson-Burns
2. Johnson-Jeffreies
3. Louis-Schmelling 2
4. Duran-Leonard 1.
5. Ali-Frazier 1.

All huge, massive fights that brought the Earth together as fight fans. There was rioting, and dancing in the streets for the 1st three victories. The 4th proved that 2 Welterweights could outshine the HWs or the NFL, the NBA or MLB. The 5th saw battling armies call truces on Fightnight. Because the Earth stopped when Ali fought.

 

I'd probably agree with the Duran/Leonard I option. Not only a HUGE win historically, but one of the best performances there is on film. Period.

Armstrong over Ross was a very good win, but gets diminished when taking into account Ross's state at the time of the fight.

 

Frazier beating Muhammad Ali

 

I am a MASSIVE Duran fan, but I loved Leonard's performance that night. Balls, heart and guts, speed vs. speed, power vs. power, the two juggernauts of the Sport fighting for the Championship of each other.

 

Marvin Hagler TKO3 Thomas Hearns
Muhammad Ali KO8 George Foreman
Manny Pacquiao TKO11 Marco Barrera

May not be the greatest wins in boxing history, but they're pretty damn great to me..

 

He showed all of that, while Duran showed the much better skills and workrate, through the first 12 rounds at least.

 

Ali over Foreman.
Big George was going to destroy an already too old Ali.
Even ALi's entourage tought he was going to the slaughter.

 

And Joe Louis looked unstoppable that night in Yankee Stadium in 1938. Thomas Hearns looked unstoppable against Pipino Cuevas and Roberto Duran. Roberto Duran looked unstoppable against Ray Leonard and the third Esteban Dejesus fight. Floyd Mayweather looked unstoppable against Diego Corrales and Arturo Gatti. Julio Cesar Chavez looked unstoppable against Edwin Rosario.

Ali was more hittable against Frazier and Foreman than Williams, because Ali was older by then, and Frazier and Foreman were much better than the literally shot Williams by then.

The level of opposition does matter, because a certain style of fighter can make a great fighter look invincible, especially if that great fighter has brought his "A" game that night. A 1966-67 Ali would most likely have an easier time with the aforementioned than he did in the 70s, but he'd still probably take some leather. He's facing too good of opposition and made too many technicial errors not to.

 

Ray Leonard beats Marvin Hagler after coming out of retirement.

 

Regarding the performance, the opponent, and the other intangibles (naturally bigger man, performance past prime, etc)

The greatest win I can think of is Duran-Leonard I. Stepping up 12lbs from your best weight and clearly beating the #2 all-time welterweight IMO (certainly top 5) is a greater single-fight achievement than any other I know of.

BTW, a thread in the classic forum a while ago addressed this and I believe it is true. SRL fought his usual fight against Duran in their first meeting. He fought the same way he fought Benitez, Hearns, any of his prime performances really, Duran simply proved to be his superior. Leonard hardly ever fought like he did in their 2nd fight, that was not his style. Leonard was pretty much at his best and Duran clearly beat him.

 

Bradock beating Bear
dont know the year. I guess that would be 1 of the biggest upsets in boxing history...Greatest win?

 

True. Duran 2 and Hagler are the only fights I can think of when he spent that much time dancing on his toes and using the ring so much.

When he usually used movement, it was more flat-footed. He would circle his opponent, but not with as much distance, around the perimiter of the ring.