Boxing has a rich and storied history. It has brought us personalities such as Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Sugar Ray Robinson to name a few. There’s also this generation’s brash Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the powerful Manny Pacquiao.
As we all know, Mayweather and Pacquiao are set to finally face off this weekend. We have a complete preview of that fight here. In the meantime, get set for the Fight of the Century with this close look at the 10 greatest fights in boxing history.
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Top 10 Fights in Boxing History
10. Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson
[sc:Other240banner ]The upcoming Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight isn’t the first time HBO and Showtime came together to co-produce a huge pay-per-view event. They did it before with Lennox Lewis (HBO) defending his title against Tyson (Showtime).
The fight generated then-record Pay-Per-View (PPV) revenue and buys. Tyson, proclaiming he’d eat Lewis’ children probably helped, but trash talk was all he could muster. Lewis ended the one-sided affair in the eighth round.
9. Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns
Undisputed middleweight champion Marvin Hagler put his belt on the line against young up-and-comer Thomas Hearns in an epic match dubbed “The War.” The contest was a back-and-forth scrap from bell to bell with huge momentum swings. Both fighters landed crushing blows on each other.
The first round of Hagler-Hearns is considered one of the greatest rounds in boxing history. Hagler was hurt by a devastating Hearns right hand. But the champ would continue to push forward to land his own punishing punches. The fight would eventually end in the third with the southpaw Hagler landing a storm of right hooks on a tiring and battered Hearns.
The bout was widely considered the pinnacle of Hagler’s career and established him as one of the greatest middleweights of all time.
8. Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling
When Max Schmeling knocked out Joe Louis in 1936, Adolf Hitler proclaimed the victory as proof of German superiority. The Nazis were claiming that a black man could never defeat their superhuman of a boxer.
Schmeling himself distanced himself from such propaganda. But it didn’t help that the Americans mostly despised him for his German roots. By the time the rematch came, he threw only two punches before being knocked out by Louis in the first round. Schmeling spent 10 days in the hospital afterwards.
7. Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield II
Evander Holyfield came out of retirement, won a couple of fights in unimpressive fashion and was knocked out by Riddick Bowe in their third match against each other. Tyson’s promoter at the time, Don King, saw Holyfield as a washed-up fighter to pad Tyson’s record and was installed as a 25-to-1 underdog.
Nothing came as planned. Holyfield proved to be a tougher opponent than expected. He sent Tyson stumbling all over the ring in the tenth round and came back to end the fight in the eleventh.
A rematch was soon set seven months later. It, too, didn’t go according to plan. The fight became one of the most bizarre fights in history after Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear not once but twice. The second time tore out a piece of Holyfield’s ear. Tyson was disqualified and a melee ensued.
6. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier
Of course Muhammad Ali needs to be a part of this list. The man who “floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee” displayed the remarkable speed and power that led to his undefeated 31-0 record with 25 knockouts. Joe Frazier was also undefeated heading into this fight, sporting a 26-0 slate, 23 by knockout.
Frazier outboxed Ali for much of the bout, and emerged as the undisputed world heavyweight champion of the world. But all it did was spark one of boxing’s most storied rivalries of all-time. The two would meet twice more before they were through.
5. Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao
Oscar De La Hoya was looking for a farewell tour of super fights before his eventual retirement. A rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. was off the table after Mayweather’s sudden “retirement.” Ricky Hatton rejected the offer of a fight, and Miguel Cotto (De La Hoya’s other opponent in mind) lost his bout against Antonio Margarito; thus opening the doors for Manny Pacquiao.
The fight was viewed as a gross mismatch with the Golden Boy being the bigger and stronger fighter. But that theory would be proven wrong when Pacquiao used his speed and power to force De La Hoya to quit on the stool entering the ninth round. The victory paved the way for Pacquiao to become a pound-for-pound and pay-per-view superstar.
4. Micky Ward vs. Arturo Gatti I
Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti entered the ring as two of the toughest men in all of boxing. Each possessed the grit and will to keep grinding deep into a fight even while taking punishment.
Ward and Gatti didn’t disappoint. While Gatti was the better boxer for most of the bout with his mobility and speed, Ward would find success pushing forward and forcing a “phone booth fight.”
The tables would turn in an epic Round 9, widely considered as the best in all of boxing. Ward dropped Gatti with a left to the body just 20 seconds into the round. Just when all hope seemed lost, Gatti fired back and what ensued was a back-and-forth battle of will.
Ward eventually won the decision and two more amazing fights between the two followed. But it would not have been possible without this fight.
3. Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Oscar De La Hoya was Bob Arum’s “Golden Boy” back in his heyday. But “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather was slowly gaining some steam as a fledgling star. The fight was preceded by HBO’s debut of their 24/7 series, taking a look inside each fighter’s camps.
De La Hoya remained mostly reserved and composed during the build up to the fight. Mayweather upped his trash talk and antics, going as far as bringing a chicken labelled as “Golden Girl” to a press conference. The fight was relatively close from the start. But Mayweather, like he always does, started to adapt well before capturing a split decision win.
Mayweather vs. De La Hoya was then the biggest pay-per-view of all time with 2,400,000 pay-per-view buys, beating the previous record of 1.99 million by Holyfield-Tyson II.
2. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III
The Thrilla in Manila!
Of course every great boxing rivalry is fought multiple times. Ali defeated Frazier in their rematch to set up a highly-anticipated, blockbuster rubber match. The third bout between the two heavyweights was held in the Philippines dubbed as the “Thrilla in Manilla.”
The Thrilla lived on as one of the greatest fights of all time. If you’re curious as to what death feels like, just ask Ali, who called it the closest to death as he’d ever been. The two beat the hell out of each other; and before the start of the 15th round Frazier’s corner threw in the towel, just moments before Ali asked his corner to cut his gloves off and surrender the fight.
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao
Finally. That’s the perfect word to describe this upcoming fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. After years of ducking each other through contract negotiations and whatnot, the two finally settled their differences to give fans the fight of the millennium.
Even before everything has been settled in the ring, the fight has already been dubbed as the greatest of all time. Why not? The best two boxers of the past two decades, not to mention the top two pound-for-pound fighters, combine for one mega bout.
It’ll be interesting to see if Mayweather’s genius can work around Pacquiao’s sheer ferocity. But mark this as the best bout to take place for a very very long time.
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