By Tom Donelson
Every champion has that one night that doesn’t define his career but shows him at his best. Joe Louis' 2 minute obliteration of Max Schmeling was Louis at his best. In those two minutes, Louis landed some fifty punches, left hooks to the body and straight right hands to the head. The German fighter suffered broken ribs as a result of the shellacking received at the hands of Louis. This fight did more than define Louis; it made him a legend.
For many fight fans, the fights that define Joe Frazier were his trilogy with Ali. Before his battles with Ali, there was his demolition of Jimmy Ellis. Ellis was the recognized champion, having made it through an elimination tournament to determine Ali's successor. The former Ali training partner used his boxing skills and underestimated right hand to prevail. Frazier chose not to participate in the tournament and went on his own elimination round robin by beating Buster Mathias and Jerry Quarry. Frazier was the recognized world champ by the state of New York. At the end of the 60’s, New York was the center of the boxing world and its recognition of Frazier weakened Ellis's case as the undisputed world champion.
When these two warriors met, Ellis was the underdog. For the for the first round, Ellis boxing skills dominated the action. Ellis nailed Frazier with left jabs and his sneaky right. The second round was not much different, or at least for the first 2 minutes and 45 seconds. Ellis kept Frazier in the middle of the ring but while Ellis appeared in control, this was deceiving. Frazier bobbing and weaving made him a difficult target to hit and none of Ellis punch fail to slow down Frazier down. Frazier forced Ellis to work every second of the round and the real question was how long could Ellis keep up this pace? The answer came quickly. Frazier nailed Ellis with a vicious left hook to the body as the round ended. Ellis won the round but that left hook won the fight.
Ellis came out strong in the opening stanza of the third round but halfway through the round, a Frazier left hook stunned Ellis and Ellis retreated to the ropes. It was a miracle that Ellis survived the hook, but the fight was essentially over. Over the next four and half minutes, Frazier walloped Ellis with a combination of his feared left hook along with some overhand rights and uppercuts. Ellis would go down twice in the fourth round. The Ellis corner stopped the fight in between the fourth and fifth round. This was vintage Frazier and Joe would stun the world a year later when he upset Ali during their first fight in boxing's greatest moment. This night showed the world what a great fighter Frazier really was.
Mike Tyson's greatest moment was his 90 seconds destruction of Michael Spinks. Spinks was one of boxing's best pound for pound fighters over the past 30 years and his upset of Holmes as well as his defeat of the giant Gerry Cooney showed that he was a legitimate heavyweight. The twenty two year old Tyson demonstrated fierce ferocity going into this fight. Spinks appeared frozen as he looked across the ring at Tyson and understood that his fate was sealed. Tyson jabbed, hooked and his peek a boo defense made him nearly impossible for Spinks to hit him back. Tyson's speed and power was at it's peak. Tyson would never be better and on this night, he showed what he could have been. For that one night, Tyson was Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis rolled up in one and his career would never reach this apex again.
In Houston Astrodome, Muhammad Ali fought a past his prime, Cleveland Williams. Williams was a powerful puncher, but was approaching the end of his career when he faced Ali. Ali danced and moved while using Williams as a prop for this moment. He jabbed and his lead right hand landed at will. Williams looked more like a punching bag as he hit the canvas repeatedly in the three rounds of the fight. Ali did his shuffle and entertained the crowd. For this brief nine minutes, Ali showed the boxing world why he was considered the greatest. He was never touched and at the age of 25, his speed match most welterweights.
Frazier's defeat of Ellis and Ali's embarrassment of Williams showed these fighters at their very best. Tyson never matched his destruction of Spinks but he did have a successful career. It was a career destined for greatness, but Tyson had to be satisfied with being very good. Ali, Louis and Frazier would match those great fights with even-greater moments in their careers. Louis would come back to beat Billy Conn. Ali and Frazier would engaged in three historical fights and Ali would upset George Foreman to cement his own greatness. These four fights showed all of these fighters at their very heights and proved that every great fighter has a night that shows them at their best.