Every so often, we get a fight between two fighters on the brink: the winner will move on to bigger things, back in contention for a title and bigger purposes; the lower will drop out of the big picture, maybe to fight again but never to be relevant other than as a steppingstone. Everything rides on the outcome of the crossroad fight for both combatants. By definition, these shouldn’t be title fights as one of the participants is already a champion and the other a contender ... and if they’re fighting for a vacant belt then they’re both in contention. Same for rising prospect vs. backsliding veteran — So let’s explore this topic and see how many of these true crossroads showdowns we can fine. I’ll start with a couple: Roberto Duran vs. Pipino Cuevas in early 1983: Cuevas has lost two in a row, dropping his title to Thomas Hearns and then getting upset via decision by Roger Stafford, and he’s been out of the ring for a little more than a year due in part at least to injury. If he beats Duran, he’s in line to challenge for the WBA 147-pound title (which Donald Curry will win a month later fighting Jung Suk Hwang). Duran has won just three of his last six, starting with his ‘No Mas’ loss to Ray Leonard. He’s beaten a few journeyman types (Jimmy Batten, Luigi Minchillo and Nino Gonzales) with a respectable loss to Wilfred Benitez and an embarrassing upset to Kirkland Laing. If he beats Pipino, he lands a shot at Davey Moore’s 154-pound WBA crown. As we know, Duran won this fight and then clobbered Moore to revive his career. Cuevas never made any noise again. Vito Antuofermo vs. Eugene “Cyclone” Hart in March, 1977 Vito can see his career beginning to unravel. After a 36-1-1 start, he has lost two in a row — to German southpaw Frank Wissenbach and to rising contender Ayub Kalule. He wins a bounce-back tuneup against an opponent with a losing record and is matched with Hart in Philadelphia. Hart is 2-2-1 in his last five, retiring on his stool in his most recent bout against Marvin Hagler. A win over Vito probably revitalizes the career of this longtime contender/bridesmaid who has never fought for the middleweight crown. Antuofermo wins by fifth-round TKO and reels off a few more wins (including a victory over Bennie Briscoe) to get a shot at Hugo Corro, where he wins the 160-pound WBA and WBC straps. He stays at or near the top of the division for a while after this, including a draw with Hagler. Hart loses once more and retires. (This one is more of a stretch than the Duran-Cuevas bout, but I think a win over Vito would have gotten Hart in position to at least fight an eliminator of some sort, maybe against Briscoe.) Can you think of any crossroads fights of note?
I hate those fights because I know I'm gonna feel bad for one of those guys. But they are interesting matchups. I feel especially bad if one guy comes into the fight not really in the best shape. What are these guys thinking?
The saddest bouts in boxing truly, i suppose the sacrifice of snuffing one flame is to set another ablaze.
The first time I ever heard that term applied to a fight was magazine coverage of Ron Lyle vs. Joe Bugner. Carl Williams - Bert Cooper How about fights that looked like crossroads fights, but the loser was the guy that actually had more success after the fight? I'm thinking of Mike Tyson - Andrew Golota and Riddick Bowe - Evander Holyfield III.
In what way was Robinson-Armstrong a crossroads fight? Is Sugar Ray pretty much done if he falls to 44-2? And it’s Armstrong’s only loss in a span of about 20 fights, he’s a couple of bouts removed from a win over Sammy Angott and continues to be viable for quite some time. As for Louis-Schmeling I, you might have noticed that Joe did not drop off the face of the earth. Nor would Schmeling have done so had he lost. I hope you’ll read the OP and check the definition.
To be honest, yeah, I didn't read this different take on what a crossroads bout is. Scratch my response I guess.
These type fights are relatively rare — mostly the old warhorse gets thrown in with the young up-and-comer (a la Louis-Marciano) and the torch is usually passed. You don’t see a lot of fights made where it’s do-or-die for both guys. I hope you’ll find some that fit the bill and add them to the thread. I just thought of one that to me is interesting: Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward I. Gatti has been recently dismantled by Oscar de la Hoya after somewhat rebuilding himself coming off a loss to Ivan Robinson. He’s got value to HBO as an action fighter but is he really going anywhere? Can he really get another big payday or title fight again? Not if he loses to Micky. Ward is coming off a loss to Jesse James Leija and that’s his second loss in his last four after the Shea Neary win. He’s a high-profile club fighter basically. So HBO puts them together and we get one of the greatest wars of all time. So they do it again, and again — Ward winning the first fight begat the second and third, which were championship-level paydays and must-see boxing TV that put a real spotlight on both guys. Ward retires after the third fight but Gatti wins the best-of-three and finds himself back on the marquee winning a 140-pound title over Leija and then in a payday event against Floyd Mayweather Jr soon after.
Florentino Fernandez v Joey Giambra Joey was almost 31 and at the tail end of a career where he had dropped from the ratings and had been losing decisions to guys that would have been nowhere near his league a couple of years earlier. Meanwhile, Floro, who had been a hot streaking fighter lost in his bid for the middleweight title against Gene Fullmer and was then stopped by Dick Tiger in 5 rounds. He needed a win to say viable and Joey needed a win to stay alive. End result: Joey stops Floro on cuts in 7 rounds and receives his long-awaited title shot, albeit for the newly created vacant junior middleweight title.
Bit of an obvious one, but what about Braddock against Corn Griffin? Braddock was all but out of the sport by that point, whereas Griffin (somehow) was considered a potential title challenger. Certainly changed the trajectory of both men's careers hugely: Braddock, who was hanging on to his by a thread beforehand, found a new lease of life, while Griffin barely managed to win another fight in his whole career, and soon disappeared into obscurity.
George Foreman vs Jimmy Young, March 17 1977, Foreman could have received a mandatory title shot against Muhammad Ali, he would have had a good case, but he blew it against Jimmy, losing a twelve round decision.
Mike Weaver vs. Stan Ward, early 1979 Weaver is 17-8, treading water at best, and lost to Ward a year earlier for the California state title. He’s shown a bit of promise but also lost to people who you don’t lose to if you’re a real rising prospect. Ward is 10-2-2 with a majority decision loss to Ron Lyle and a split loss to Randy Stephens. He’s also beaten Jeff Merritt and a couple of gatekeeper types like Kevin Isaac and Jody Ballard. He’s the one who people on the Left Coast believe has some promise. They are matched for the USBA heavyweight title in the Forum in Inglewood, California. Weaver wins by ninth-round TKO and two fights later gives Larry Holmes a scare. He goes on to be a staple in the heavyweight scene for the better part of a decade. Ward has a decent career, finishing 21-7-2, but loses the rubber match to Weaver as well as his other step-up fights against Gerrie Coetzee and Greg Page. Never sniffs contention after this fight.
Exactly the opposite of the type fight described in the OP. Czyz went on to win titles in two weight classes after this. I’m talking about fights where the winner has a chance to extend his career and go forward to do something and the loser is relegated to gatekeeper/journeyman/opponent status. Or done completely.
