Which destruction was the most awe-inspiring?

Terry McGovern vs Pedlar Palmer.

That was a turning point in history.

The day that the one round wrecking machines arived on the scene.

 

Frazier vs Foster for me. Frazier looked invincible, even if Foster was rather inferior as a heavyweight.

The great left to the body, left to the jaw combination that knocked Foster out he also threw and landed flush (both) in the 2nd round against Ali, 1971. Nothing happened although Ali held on. And therein lies the difference between a great lightheavyweight and a great heavyweight.

 

Louis vs Nathan Mann also comes to mind. That right uppercut/left hook was fantastic.

 

Louis vs Schmeling II. Brutal, serene, economical and utterly devestating- all at the same time. Quite simply one of the finest performances by any Heavyweight from any era.

 

A man who tells it like it is

:good

 

Of the matchups on this list, Hearns vs Duran stands out.

Dempsey was incredible against Willard, but Jess was 37 years old and had been inactive for three years.

Schmeling was already past his prime when he knocked Louis out. The most amazing thing to me about Louis/Schmeling II is that Louis couldn't put him down and out to stay. Max displayed Willard's guts in that one.

Patterson had been blasted out by Ingo, and decked numerous times, so the outcome of Floyd's bouts with Liston were predictable.

Like Dempsey with Willard, Ali was astonishing against Williams. But the Big Cat had been seen getting blasted out by Liston twice when he was much younger and in far better condition.

Foreman vs Frazier makes sense in hindsight, but at the time it was shocking to most of the viewing public. But Smoke had very nearly lost in a similar manner the first time he faced Bonavena, so there was some precedent to indicate the potential in favor of a Foreman blowout.

Tyson's demolition of Mike Spinks didn't shock anybody I knew at the time. As was the case with Liston/Patterson, it's striking how many people accurately predicted the nature of this outcome. Once Tyson dropped him with that right to the body, it became apparent Spinks wouldn't be able to last, granite chin or not.

Hearns/Duran stands alone. Nobody was ever able to dispatch Duran in that manner before or since. There was nothing in Duran's history to suggest that Tommy could bomb him out the way he did Cuevas. Roberto had sustained a couple of flash knockdowns against DeJesus, and nearly suffered another early one in the Buchanan fight. Aside from these isolated instances though, it seemed as though Duran had never even come close to being buckled, let alone knocked silly. Nor was El Cholo near the end of the line (as Sean O'Grady subsequently proved to be when Ganigan bombed him out).

 

Talk about revisionist history. Nobody knew that was going to happen. That was one of the most anticipated matches in boxing history and up to that time shattered all records for a promotion. It was being compared to Ali-Frazier 1 in which you had two undefeated heavyweights of contrasting styles facing one another for the sports greatest prize. The writers and pundits were split right down the middle as to who would win that fight. Anyone who says "they knew that would happen" is full of spit. Nothing in Spink's record ever suggested that he would go out like that and for people who say he looked scared in the ringwalk just look at all of his other ringwalks, he always had that weird nervous look and then came and knocked the **** out of the other guy. I understand its become vogue to bash Tyson's accomplishments but please. That fight was one of the few times that the top two undefeated pound for pound fighters faced each other for the heavyweight championship.

 

Toney - Barkley!

 

I'll say Hearns vs Duran, Duran was considered a great fighter and Hearns just beat him fair and square, very one sided fight in rd. 1 and in round 2 we all know how it went, that right hand of Hearns seemed like a freaking rocket.

 

Hearns v Duran for me too. Let's think about this for a second. We are talking about Roberto Duran, "Manos de Piedra", a fearsome, snarling, relentless warrior with exceptional defensive skills, endless stamina and a chin made of solid titanium. He is generally recognised as one of the greatest fighters of all time and had just gone 15 hard rounds with one of the best middleweights of all time in Marvin Hagler. Tommy Hearns hurt him with almost every punch he threw and dropped him 3 times, with the last leaving him convulsing and face down on the canvas.

Nobody before or since did that to Roberto Duran. It was as shocking as it was unexpected.

 

I remember most people - the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY actually - were picking Tyson to win.
And most of them were saying "Tyson, early".

So, I think Duodenum is being fairly accurate.

Of course, Spinks was given a better chance than others had been given against Tyson, to spring an upset, or put up a good fight, but all the smart money was still saying "Tyson early KO".
Most the experts were saying "too big, too fast, too strong, he's gonna overpower him". That's not revisionism.

0f course, no one was saying 91 seconds, they figured Spinks might be able to run for 3 or 4 rounds, but an early rounds blast-out was a common prediction.

And I dont think Spinks was considered in the top 2 pound-for-pound fighters at that time. I might be wrong. KO magazine used to do top 12 pound-for-pound. I think Chavez, Holyfield, and others would be placed above him.

That's not to take anything away from Tyson. I think Spinks was a very good heavyweight. And I actually thought he might give Tyson his toughest fight, or even beat him.

 

Then again, this was the prediction on any Tyson fight, including Holyfield, Lewis et al. Tyson has always done better in predicted outcomes than in actual fights. For the Spinks fight, those predictions were spot on of course. But there were some people who thought Spinks could win - and if not that, he was given the best chance of all fighters in the division. That should count for something. Remember that he had never lost.

 

I say Hearns-Duran too. I'd say "frightening" or "chilling" as well as "awe-inspiring".

 

In some cases, writers and pundits did have an interest in playing up whatever chance Spinks may have had. It was supposed that Cooney would break him in half, and Spinks prevailed in surprising fashion. I was hoping he would likewise succeed over Tyson, but every boxing fan I knew at the time, who was thinking with the head and not the heart, figured it could be Liston/Patterson all over again. I expected Spinks to at least try employing the lateral movement he used against Qawi in unifying the LHW honors. But he tried taking on Tyson the way Patterson did Liston, and wound up on the short end of the same result.

Paid prognosticators may have gone on record saying different things about the projected outcome, but rank and file fans I remember at the time were largely in agreement about Tyson winning early.