Your top 5 of greatest victories in boxing?

Marciano round 13

 

Good question! I mentioned this in the other thread but I do regret counting some robberies and not others. I did that because once I got near the bottom I was struggling to think of good wins. I would change it if I went back and did it again. Now assuming I didn't get rid of robberies why would I pick Chang vs Zapata 1? Because that was Zapata at his best. He still impresses a lot in that fight and Chang beat him while not being able to train properly if I recall correctly.

 

Exactly. Zapata at his best and prime Chang at his worst. And Zapata still could only edge out a gift decision.

 

#5/4: Schmeling vs Louis 1
#4/5: Frazier vs Ali 1
#03: Harada vs Jofre 1
#02: Pep vs Saddler 2
#01: Duran vs Leonard 1

 

I like that Harada vs Jofre is up there

 

Harada is greater than Pacquiao in my book.

 

I wouldn't go that far but he's pretty darn great. Second greatest Asian boxer p4p all time sounds right to me off the top of my head.

 

I base it on primarily two things. First, Harada at his best weight was unbeatable - just like Duran at lightweight, Robinson at welterweight, etc. Kingpetch II was a bad decision, and there are other shenanigans that went on in that bout. (TLDR: Don't fight in Bangkok if you are a foreigner.) In contrast, Pacquiao never looked untouchable at any weight. Second, I don't see anyone on Pacquiao's ledger as good as Jofre. Pacquiao perhaps has more quality wins, but even that's a lot closer than one thinks.

 

I think it's Pacquiao because of his insane weight jumping and also his longevity is way better than Harada. I do agree that Pacquiao never beat anyone as good as Jofre but Pacquiao beats Harada in depth of resume. I think their notable wins looks something like this:

Fighting Harada:
A young Hiroyuki Ebihara
A prime Pone Kingpetch x2 (Harada got robbed in the second fight)
Eder Jofre x2
Alan Rudkin
Jose Medal
Bernardo Carabello
Antonio Herrera
Johnny Famechon (Harada got robbed)

Manny Pacquiao:
Chatchai Sasakul
Lehlo Ledwaba
Marco Antonio Barrera x2
Erik Morales x2
Oscar Larios
Juan Manuel Marquez x2
The corpse of Oscar De La Hoya
Ricky Hatton
Miguel Cotto
Antonio Margarito
Past prime Shane Mosley
Timothy Bradley x3 (Pacquiao got robbed the first fight)
Jessie Vargas
Lucas Martin Matthysse
Adrien Broner
Keith Thurman

 

Yep, nailed it.

 

Yup. It's a difference in judging criteria, and those differences are in principle incapable of being bridged. But even with such differences in criteria, we can debate civilly and with respect, which is what endeared me to this forum!

 

No particular order -

Frazier v Ali 1971
Ali v Foreman 1974
Duran v Leonard 1980
Hagler v Hearns 1985
Leonard v Hearns 1981

 

Agreed. It's between those two for greatest Asian fighter ever imo - but what really takes it for Harada is that not only did he make the jump from elite fly to elite bantam, but he was badly robbed imo of being the only lineal champion at 112, 118 & 126. That is one of the craziest achievements ever imo, and then he has the insane resume.

 

Exactly. Younger fans today sometimes don't understand how meaningful winning titles meant in eras when there was one belt and eight weights and a deeper pool of fighters.

 

Duran - Leonard
Ali - Foreman
Frazier -Ali
Duran -Barkley
Locche -Fuji