What fights have reputations as being the most exciting of all time??

Some that spring to mind-

Foreman-Lyle
Dempsey-Firpo
Ali-Frazier III

Others?

 

How about...?

Holmes-Norton
Hagler-Hearns
Saad-Kates
Saad-Johnson 1 & 2
Saad-Lopez 1 & 2
Harding-Andries 1
Chacon-Limon 4
Pryor-Arguello 1

 

Dude Hagler / Hearns

everythings 2nd best

 

Uh no dude

I've been to peewee boxing tournaments watching kids I've trained go at it for 3 rounds and seen more action than Hagler/Hearns. Its all in the perception

Outside of the peewee fights, the best I ever saw was Carlos Palomino vs Dave "Boy" Green - Wembley Arena 1977. Ring Magazine had it as runner-up for fight of the year - should have been fight of the year but Ring gave it to Young/Foreman - dunno why

 

Interesting to see the second mentioned instead of the first.

 

Here are my picks:

Hagler vs Hearns (the most action packed short fight you're ever likely to see)
Holmes vs Norton
Pryor vs Arguello
Lewis Briggs
Leonard vs Benitez
Foreman vs Lyle
Benn vs Barkley
Frazier vs Ellis I
Ali vs Frazier I & III
Holyfield vs Bowe I
Mercer vs Witherspoon
Ali vs Norton II
Tyson vs Ruddock II
Holyfield vs Dokes
Leonard vs Duran I

 

Duran-Barkley. Going into round 11, one would have expected Duran to hit the deck, not Barkely. Pryor-Arguello I cemented The Hawk's place as an ATG.

Pryor-Cervantes and Pryor-DuJuan Johnson were pretty electric.

Patterson-Johansson III. A single punch either way, from either participant could decide it. This rivalry was unpredictable enough to be extended further. If Ingo had gotten a shot at Liston and prevailed, Patterson-Johansson IV may have been sheer chaos.

 

Great shout, defo the best fight of the trilogy. High octane action. :good

I'm probably one of the biggest Patterson fans on this website. He remains an underappreciated fighter, despite all that he managed to achieve above his natural fighting weight (the only glaring deficiency was his chin).

 

Schmeling and Marciano were able to put Louis down and out completely enough that he needed assistance to get back up. Leotis Martin rendered Liston virtually comatose. Patterson himself sent Ingo into oblivious slumber when regaining his title. But the only two times a referee counted ten over Patterson, Floyd was getting back to his feet, and would have beaten the sort of slower count which Blue Lewis got against Ali, or the one Buster Douglas received against Tyson.

Sure, Patterson could be stunned and dropped, but nobody ever succeeded in keeping him there for long. Floyd was a real example of the virtues of maintaining great conditioning. (Amazing, how overlooked it is that no unsuccessful challenger for Patterson's crown was ever able to last the distance with him.) His chin may have been shaky, but he showed how keeping in excellent shape can allow one to rebound from such a deficit.

 

Meldrick Taylor vs Julio Cesar Chavez I. One of the most exciting fights and I was on the edge of my seat towards the later rounds. Real good action

 

My personal fav`s are...

morales v barrera 1
ali v frazier 3
hagler v hearns
leonard v duran 1
ali v frazier 1
arguello v pryor 1 & 2
barrera v mckinney
morales v pacquiao 1
corrales v castillo 1

Ps. A few fights that make alot of peoples lists but I personally think are overrated (but still ok) are....
Foreman v lyle & naseem v kelley (both very sloppy, amatuerish)
Gatti v ward 1 (great rd 9 but the rest is nothing special)

I liked morales v McCullouch better than those 3 & that 1 narrowly missed my list.

 

Yes, Im also 1 of the few who think that the 2nd arguello pryor fight was at least as good as the 1st fight although I put both on my list.

The 1st fight was a great back & forth battle until the stoppage but I liked the 2nd because alexis got floored in rd 1 & everybody thought, thats it, I knew he was done then he comes blazing back & wins a few rds himself making it a war before getting ko`d in the 10th.

Reminds me of morales arguello does in so many ways, thats why I liked both.

 

I never really understood what the big deal is about Norton-Holmes. Same for any of the Ali-Norton fights mentioned.

Sure, they were nice fights, interesting from a technical perspective.... but exciting?


I will say Louis vs Galento. Hard punches landed, two knockdowns, Louis taking control after a messy start.

 

Zale-Graziano III
Moore-Durelle

That first round of Moorer-Cooper rivalled Hagler-Hearns.

 

Gatti v Ward I has never been mentioned yet. Rightly so, its the most overrated fight of all time.