Imagine you get the chance, to choose one fight (Queensbury Rules) in the history of boxing, where you can get access to the full fight footage. Which fight would you choose? I know its hard to choose from the countless unfilmed great fights from the 1880s - 1940s, but If I had to decide on 1 fight, it would be the Charles vs. Moore III or the Greb vs. Tunney I fight. Very hard to choose between those two for me. First, we have the two best Light-Heavyweights going at it in a great competitive fight to settle once and for all who the better man is. In their 3rd fight, they fought at a very high pace and both had their moments. It seems like this was a very dramatic fight with the shift in momentum in the eight, and its so unfortunate we have no footage of this fight. I would've loved to see these two battle it out in their primes. Especially since we never really saw a clear footage or Charles in his prime. On the other hand we got the Greb vs. Tunney fight. Arguably the best middleweight boxer of all time against an ATG LHW. Both fought well in the first 10 rounds. Tunney gassed out in the last third of the fight and Greb overwhelmed him. Greb beat him up bad, and Tunney was a bloody mess. He bled out of his mouth, nose and was cut on his eyebrows. If I had to choose one, I would go with the Greb vs. Tunney fight. It was a great and very brutal fight, but the biggest argument for me is the fact, that we dont have a single fight of Greb on film. In Greb's long career, I think this is his best win. Even though he likely wasn't in his prime, he fought very well in this fight and showcased his skillset good enough, to make this the fight that I would choose, of having the full fight footage. This is my pick. Which fight would you guys choose from the 1880s - 1940s?
It predates film, but since this thread is a hypothetical, probably one of Sullivan's bouts from his prime. I don't know of any other films that would have greater historical significance than seeing the guy who essentially founded our sport.
Did he have any pro MQR fights? Modern boxing is so much a product of Sullivan's marketing genius and willingness to promote gloved rules, IMO. And his style helped, too. I don't know as much about Mace as I ought, but I suspect Sullivan's antics in the Gilded Age were really what made boxing.
He toured the US in 1870s and had MOQ fights. Sure he is overshadowed now by the amazing charismatic Irishman; but Mace was arguably the first worldwide superstar sportsman, who could show up somewhere near you and show what he had. And he made a penny or two with clever marketing building on his fame, with the sort of boxing show, the authorities could tolerate.
One of Fitzsimmons finest fights - against Ruhlin, Sharkey II, Maher II or Dempsey. Or Fitzsimmons vs Jeffries II.
I will start by saying that it would be criminal to waste the opportunity on a fighter that we already have film of. You might even want to put your own personal preferences aside, and think of the greater good. From a historical standpoint, it would be most useful to see one of the three Jack's, i.e. Sullivan, Dempsey and McAuliffe. That would definitely fill a gap in our knowledge. now if I get two, then it would be very tempting to pick a Greb fight.
I kinda like Tunney because we know he's quality and we've seen him in action. Therefore you'd get a measuring stick on how good Greb really was.
Great premise but nigh impossible to choose without a good deal of thought. Flavour it up with the best possible filming technology so it can be watched in perfect picture. sound and analysed to the nth degree. Given his fan base and the existence of no film, Greg could possibly be the most popular choice. As a fan of Johnson, for one, I might’ve opted for his fight v a younger, more green Langford which might or might not tell us how it might’ve gone if they fought several years later. We can all pick one, right? We can discuss amongst ourselves so as to not double up and we should have enough to cover at least several of most most people’s top choices and trade later.
In a Twilight Zone-esque plot twist, @janitor succumbs to temptation and uses up his wish on Greb/Tunney. Three months after @janitor gets his prize, some random guy discovers a second copy of Greb/Tunney in his basement.
