Top 10 Best Fights In Each Decade ?

Do you want an ordered list?

 

Nearly done. Will post shortly.

 

Ok, first stab at it from 1950s-2000s.

Some great fights I’ve missed off and not happy with the order in a few cases. Could easily change the fights and order.

1950s:

1. Archie Moore v Yvon Durelle 1
2. Carmen Basilio v Tony DeMarco 2
3. Rocky Marciano v Jersey Joe Walcott 1
4. Sugar Ray Robinson v Jake LaMotta 6
5. Carmen Basilio v Sugar Ray Robinson 1
6. Carmen Basilio v Tony DeMarco 1
7. Virgil Akins v Tony DeMarco 1
8. Kid Gavilan v Gil Turner
9. Johnny Bratton v Charley Fusari
10. Carmen Basilio v Johnny Saxton 2

1960s:

1. Chartchai Chionoi v Efren Torres 1
2. Fighting Harada v Eder Jofre 1
3. Vicente Saldivar v Howard Winstone 2
4. Jose Becerra v Alphonse Halimi 2
5. Eder Jofre v Jose Medel 1
6. Emile Griffith v Benny Paret 3
7. Sugar Ramos v Davey Moore
8. Gene Fullmer v Benny Paret
9. Floyd Patterson v George Chuvalo
10. Cassius Clay v Doug Jones

1970s:

1. Alexis Arguello v Alfredo Escalera 2
2. Matthew Franklin v Marvin Johnson 1
3. Victor Galindez v Richie Kates 1
4. Mando Ramos v Sugar Ramos
5. Muhammad Ali-Frazier 1
6. Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier 3
7. Matthew Franklin v Marvin Johnson 2
8. Larry Holmes v Ken Norton
9. Ruben Olivares v Tatsuyoshi Kanazawa 2
10. George Foreman v Ron Lyle

1980s:

1. Aaron Pryor v Alexis Arguello 1
2. Bobby Chacon v Rafael Limon 4
3. Saad Muhammad-Lopez 2
4. Bobby Chacon v Cornelius Boza-Edwards 2
5. Wilfredo Gomez v Lupe Pintor
6. Roberto Duran v Iran Barkley
   
7. Salvador Sanchez v Azumah Nelson
8. Sugar Ray Leonard v Thomas Hearns 1
9. Roberto Duran v Sugar Ray Leonard 1
10. Jung Koo Chang v Tatsuo Tokashiki

1990s:

1. Marco Antonio Barrera v Kennedy McKinney
2. James Toney v Mike McCallum
3. Arturo Gatti v Wilson Rodriguez
4. Kennedy McKinney v Welcome Ncita 1
5. Michael Carbajal v Chiquita Gonzalez 1
6. Saman Sorjaturong v Chiquita Gonzalez
7. Sun Kil Moon v Nana Konadu 1
8. Ivan Robinson v Arturo Gatti 1
9. Riddick Bowe v Evander Holyfield 1
10. Chris Eubank v Nigel Benn 1

2000s:

1. Erik Morales v Marco Antonio Barrera 1
2. Felix Trinidad v Fernando Vargas
3. Diego Corrales v Jose Luis Castillo 1
4. Israel Vasquez v Rafael Marquez 3
5. Juan Manuel Marquez v Juan Diaz 1
6. Erik Morales v Manny Pacquiao 1
7. Mickey Ward v Arturo Gatti 1
8. Julio Cesar Gonzalez v Julian Letterlough
9. Israel Vasquez v Rafael Marquez 2
10. Oscar Larios v Israel Vasquez 2

 

Thanks man! I might make some tweaks.

And 1940s is hard because so little of it is on film relative to the subsequent decades. Having a go at 2010s now so will post that in a bit.

Should also say that these are my favourites rather than a fully objective order. And realised that Hagler/Hearns didn’t even make my top 10 of the 80s, which is obviously historically ‘wrong’.

 

I can’t envision a 1980s list that doesn’t include Leonard-Hearns I. To me that fight had everything — so many shifts of momentum and real drama that played out in front of our eyes.

 

1950s
#01: Archie Moore vs Yvonne Durrele
#02: Carmen Basilio vs Tony DeMarco II
#03: Rocky Marciano vs Jersey Joe Walcott I
#04: Jimmy Carter vs. Art Aragon II
#05: Rocky Marciano vs Archie Moore
#06: Kid Gavilan v Gil Turner
#07: Gene Fullmer vs Carmen Basilio I
#08: Ray Robinson vs Carmen Basilio II
#09: Carmen Basilio vs Sugar Ray Robinson I
#10: Kid Gavilan vs Johnny Bratton III

1960s
#01: Gaspar Ortega vs Benny Paret I
#02. Gaspar Ortega vs Charley Scott I
#03: Chartchai Chionoi va Efren Torres I
#04: Emile Griffith vs Benny Paret III
#05: Fighting Harada vs Eder Jofre I
#06: Sugar Ramos vs Davey Moore
#07: Dick Tiger vs Henry Hank
#08: Eder Jofre va Jose Medel I
#09: Floyd Patterson vs George Chuvalo
#10: Jose Becerra vs Alphonse Halimi II

1970s
#01: Bobby Chacon vs Danny Lopez
#02: Saad Muhammad vs Pops I
#03. Saad Muhammad vs Pops II
#04: Carlos Palomino vs Davey Boy Green
#05: Saad Muhammad vs Richie Kates
#06: Victor Galindez vs Richie Kates I
#07: Danny Lopez vs Mike Ayala
#08. Ruben Olivares vs Kanazawa II
#09: Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier III
#10: Mando Ramos v Sugar Ramos

1980s
#01: Bobby Chacon vs Bazooka Limon IV
#02: Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Arguello I
#03: Saad Muhammad vs Yaqui Lopez II
#04: Bobby Chacon vs Boza-Edwards II
#05: Roberto Duran vs Iran Barkley
#06: Roberto Duran vs Sugar Ray Leonard I
#07: Jung Koo Chang vs Tatsuo Tokashiki
#08: Wilfredo Gomez vs Lupe Pintor
#09: Gabriel Bernal vs Antoine Montero
#10: Charlie Magri vs Elencio Mercades

1990s
#01: Kevin Kelley vs Troy Dorsey
#02: Julio Cesar Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor I
#03: James Toney v Mike McCallum I
#04: Arturo Gatti vs Wilson Rodriguez
#05: Riddick Bowe vs Andrew Golota II
#06: Kennedy McKinney vs Welcome Ncita I
#07: Jorge Paez vs Troy Dorsey I
#08: Robert Quiroga vs Akeem Anifowoshe
#09: Sung-Kil Moon vs Nana Konadu I
#10: Jeff Fenech vs Marcos Villasana

2000s
#01: Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera I
#02: Israel Vasquez v Rafael Marquez III
#03: Diego Corrales v Jose Luis Castillo I
#04: Juan Manuel Marquez v Juan Diaz I
#05: Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito I
#06: Mahyar Monshipour vs Sithchatchawal
#07: Mickey Ward vs Arturo Gatti I
#08: Erik Morales vs Manny Pacquiao I
#09: Felix Trinidad vs Fernando Vargas
#10: Julio Cesar Gonzalez vs Letterlough

2010s
#01: Orlando Salido vs Fransisco Vargas
#02: Juan Manuel Marquez vs Pacquiao IV
#03: Katsunari Takayuma vs Rodriguez Jr.
#04: Chocolatito vs Sor Rungvisai I
#05: Giovanni Segura vs Hernan Marquez
#06: Akira Yaegashi vs Porpramook
#07: Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura
#08: Adrian Hernandez vs Poorpramook I
#09: Brandon Rios vs Mike Alvarado I
#10: Naoya Inoue vs Nonito Donaire I

2020-22
#01: Juan Estrada vs Cuadras II
#02: Juan Estrada vs Chocolatito II
#03: Jose Zepeda vs Ivan Barrynchyk
#04: Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos
#05: Brandon Figueroa vs Stephen Fulton
#06: Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder II
#07: Efetobor Apochi vs Brandon Glanton
#08: Emanuel Navarrete vs Christopher Diaz
#09: Sam Eggington vs Bilel Jkitou
#10: Emanuel Navarrete vs Joet Gonzalez

 

2010s:

1. Orlando Salido v Francisco Vargas
2. Juan Manuel Marquez v Manny Pacquiao 4
3. Francisco Vargas v Takeshi Maura
4. Akira Yaegashi v Pornsawan Porpramook
5. Roman Gonzalez v Juan Estrada 1
6. Orlando Salido v Terdsak Kokietgym
7. Brandon Rios v Mike Alvarado 1
8. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai v Roman Gonzalez 1
9. Naoya Inoue v Nonito Donaire 1
10. Orlando Salido v Juan Manuel Lopez 2

 

It’s all a matter of taste. To me the first fight unfolded like a play in five acts. Here’s my account from summer of 2020 in the What Fights Did You Watch Today/Scorecard thread:

Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns I, on Sept. 16, 1981, at Caesars Palace Outdoor Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, to unify the WBC and WBA welterweight championships.

Leonard, 30-1 (20), is 25 years old and weighs 146 pounds. Hearns, 32-0 (30), is 22 and comes in a 145. Hearns has an enormous 8-inch reach advantage at 78 1/2 inches.

Celebrities at ringside include Jack Nicholson, Richard Pryor, Burt Reynolds, Wayne Newton and plenty more from Hollywood and the sporting world.

Leonard will end up with an $11M payday and Hearns will gain $8M. The bout will be named Fight of the Year by The Ring.

Odds: Leonard starts out a 7-5 favorite, it moves to 6-5 and according to the Associated Press becomes a 6-5 pick-em by fight day.

Temperature at ringside for first bell in between 98 and 100 degrees. It is said to be as high as 110 under the lights in ring center.

It unfolds as a play in five acts:

Act I, Rounds 1-5: Hearns sets the tone

Round 1: 10-9 Hearns (close) — you can make an argument for an even round here, I guess, but Leonard lands nothing and Hearns gets through with a few jabs while Leonard circles around

Round 2: 10-9 Hearns — The Hit Man lands a couple of rights as well as some jabs; Leonard plants himself in front of Hearns in the last 30 seconds and looks for a way to breach the distance to no avail

Round 3: 10-9 Hearns — The Motor City Cobra becomes more effective against Leonard, landing a nasty right to the head/hook to the body combo late; Leonard still reaching, wings a few wild punches as he tries to solve this puzzle

Round 4: 10-9 Hearns — Some good exchanges as Leonard is really starting to settle down more in front of Hearns, who finishes stronger to take the round

Round 5: 10-9 Hearns — This one is close but Hearns’ jab is the difference; the area around Leonard’s left eye is starting to swell visibly


Act II: Rounds 6-7: Leonard turns slugger

Round 6: Leonard 10-8 — Best remembered for a left hook to the body by Ray that almost cripples Hearns; no knockdown but some severe damage by Leonard

Round 7: Leonard 10-9 — Leonard does some great body work and lands some big rights but not as much damage; Hearns had a good spell early in the round landing a few solid shots so definitely a 1-point round


Act III, Rounds 8-10: Thomas puts on a clinic

Round 8: Hearns 10-9 (close) — Hearns gets on his bicycle and boxes, Ray lands a couple of nice singular shots but Tommy controls the terms of engagement and works well behind the jab for 3 minutes

Round 9: Hearns 10-9 — More of the same, but Hearns finding even more rhythm and Ray just following him around

Round 10: Hearns 10-9 — See the previous two rounds; Leonard’s eye is really puffy and becoming an issue


Act IV, Rounds 11-12: Hearns settles down

Round 11: Hearns 10-9 — Hearns moves and boxes some more for a bit, then shifts tactics and settles down in front of Leonard halfway through and pot-shots Ray to easily win the round

Round 12: Hearns 10-9 — Ray wings wild hooks that miss and Tommy holds his ground to put another round in he bank; Hearns in total command

Act V, Rounds 13-14: You’re blowin’ it, kid

Round 13: Leonard 10-8 — Motivated by those words from Angelo Dundee in the corner, Ray comes out and goes for it; hurts Hearns with a right hand and is all over him, battering him around and across the ring; Hearns falls through the ropes at one point but Davey Pearl, the ref, says it’s a slip; Leonard continues his barrage and gets his knockdown in the final seconds; it all started with a right hand

Round 14: Thomas boxes well for maybe 45 seconds and then Leonard hurts him with another right and Hearns completely loses his legs and slides along the ropes as Ray throws his hands up in victory, but Tommy steadies himself; Ray charges in and swarms all over him to force a stoppage

Result: Leonard TKO 14 at 1:45

My card: Hearns 127-120

Official cards: 124-122, 125-121, 125-122

Of note: This fight started a discussion on the topic of “decisive scoring,” awarding 10-8 rounds without knockdowns for severe damage (if it were up to me, the standard for a round like Round 6 would be 10-8 and one like Round 13 would be 10-7 or, had the first fall through the ropes been counted as a knockdown, even 10-6). The point being, for many, that Leonard had done almost all of the telling damage and lost a lot of rounds that were decided by some innocuous jabs; more decisive scoring started to become the norm after this but as far as I am concerned Hearns was running away with it and wins if he finishes on his feet.

Such a great fight. Crowd of 23,618 paid $50-$500 and got a bargain for every seat.

EDIT: There were two pre-fight training events of interest: 1) Sparring partner Odell Hadley caught Leonard’s left eye with an elbow about two weeks before the bout, causing the damage that would turn into troubling swelling during the fight; 2) Hearns broke sparring partner Marlon Starling’s jaw before the fight — Starling was supposed to headline a card in Hartford, Conn., that would be a live lead-in to the closed circuit being played in the arena but had to pull out due to the injury. Hearns was a bad man.

 

Great job, D!!!

 

Jeez, Lads, superb lists and contris. Well done to all of you.