By Matteo Alderson
It’s hard to rank fights because like most things, especially in boxing it’s subjective, but here is the list of greatest knock down drag out wars in the last fifteen years. Now there were some prerequisites for making the list. First the bout had to end in a knockout and both participants had to have been knocked down or seriously hurt to the point to where the referee ruled a standing 8-count or stopped the bout. Also, the historical relevance of the bout is important and affects the fights overall ranking. Yes, it’s great to see two club fighters go to war, but nothing can compare to two-world class pugilist engaged in fistic Armageddon. If you have any comments or if you feel like I have failed to include a particular fight, please post it as a comment. Come on people I want some feedback.
1. May 7, 2005: Jose Luis Castillo 52-6-1 (46KOs) vs. Diego Corrales 39-2 (32KOs)
Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo were the two top lightweights in the world and engaged in ten rounds of breath taking action. Corrales won the early rounds, but began to wilt under Castillo’s constant methodical pressure. Then in the 10th Corrales was floored and got up at the count of nine. Most observers thought that it was the beginning of the end as Castillo put Corrales down a second time, but as Corrales got up he spit out his mouthpiece and got an extra couple of precious seconds to recover. The referee knew his strategy and rightfully deducted a point from the already wounded warrior. At that moment after two knockdowns in a fairly even fight, Diego knew that he couldn’t win a decision and in the back of his mind that he had to knock Castillo out. The extra rest helped him find that precious reservoir of energy to get up from the second knockdown and knock Castillo out in what I believe is probably one of the ten greatest fights in boxing history. No one has really talked about it, but Diego’s experience at the world class level enabled him to come out with the victory because instead of jumping up like Zab Judah did against Kostya Tszyu he took the eight count on both knockdowns and even had enough wits to spit out his mouth piece which enabled him to earn a victory in one of boxing most memorable fights.
2. February 8, 1995: Nigel Benn 39-2 (32KOs) vs. Gerald McClellan 31-2 (29KOs)
Gerald McClellan is the reigning WBC Middleweight Champ and after winning the title by knockout over Julian The Hawk Jackson, he scores three first round knockouts in three title defenses and most experts feel that the move up in weight will increase his power and stamina. Nigel Benn is the WBC 168 pound champ having made six defenses of the title. Nigel has a reputation of being a brutal slugger with a suspect chin, but during the course of his reign as Super Middleweight Champ he has matured and has developed subtle boxing skills. Gerald hits Benn early in the first and knocks him out of the ring, but as his countrymen cheer him on, Benn fights back and the action is furious. Benn goes down again in the 8th, but he gets up and after landing some punches in the tenth McClellan goes down. He gets up and shakes his head and then decides to stay down for the ten count. Moments later Gerald collapses into a coma and is never the same again. Nigel Benn didn’t suffer major injuries, but he also left something in the ring that night and is subsequently upset by Sugar Boy Malinga one year later.
3. March 13, 1993: Humberto Gonzalez 36-1(28KOs) vs. Michael Carbajal 27-0 (15KOs)
Carbajal is the IBF 108 pound titlist having made six defense of the title. Carbajal was an Olympic silver medallist in 1988 and is tall for his weight class and surprisingly likes to rumble instead of using his height and reach advantage. Humberto is considered the Mike Tyson of the Junior Flyweights and is making his 5ht defense of his second reign as the WBC Light-Flyweight title. Surprisingly Humberto realizes that he can outbox Carbajal from the outside and land his straight left. He knocks Carbajal down in the 1st and the 5th. Carbajal is as much as a warrior as anybody that’s ever laced up a pair of gloves and behind on the scorecards, bleeding from his right eye, he knocks Chiquita out in the seventh to partially unify the 108-pound title. The victory helps Michael achieve his dream of being the first fighter under featherweight to earn a million dollars for a fight, which he receives for the rematch with Chiquita. The fight is chosen as Ring Magazines fight of the year.
4. December 2, 2000: Felix Trinidad 38-0 (32KOs) vs. Fernando Vargas 20-0 (18KOs)
Felix Trinidad just recently moved up to 154 pounds where he captured the WBA title in a decision win against 1996 Gold Medallist David Reid. Tito had made 15 defenses of his Welterweight title, but moved up after his controversial victory over Oscar De La Hoya. Fernando Vargas is young, cocky, and undefeated. The year before the match, he beat Ike Quartey and Winky Wright. As with most Trinidad opponents El Feroz doesn’t know what hits him when Tito lands his hook in the first. Vargas is knocked down twice, but some how survives and fights his way back into the fight and rocks Trinidad on numerous occasions through out the fight and knocks the Puerto Rican juggernaut down in the fifth. Tito turns it up and starches Vargas in the twelfth round. Tito goes on to win a portion of the Middleweight title while Vargas is never the same and looks lackluster in subsequent performances.
5. February 3, 1996: Marco Antonio Barrera 39-0 (28KOs) vs. Kennedy McKinney 28-1-1 (17KOs)
Marco is a young 22 year-old slugger with an undefeated 39-0 record. He is tough and coming off an impressive win against former champ Eddie Cook while Kennedy recently lost his title in a close fight to Vayani Bungu. Still the King is considered one of the top five Junior-Featherweights in the world, having made five defenses of his 122-pound title against good opposition. Barrera is the favorite, but McKinney is the proven comedy, having been a legitimate world champion and a Gold Medallist in the 88 games. This was a war, Barrera dominates early and hurts McKinney early with his left hook to the liver, but the King’s big right hands have Barrera seriously hurt in the middle rounds. Then Barrera turns it on and starts to seriously punish McKinney, dropping him in the 8th, and 9th round but not until Kennedy scores a flash knockdown of his own in the 11th. The referee finally stops it in the twelfth after Barrera drops Kennedy two more times. As soon as the fight is stopped, the referee tells Kennedy that he “fought the most courageous fight that I have ever seen son.” The success of the bout has a positive impact on the entire sport because it was such a great fight that HBO really starts to think about seriously investing in the lower weight classes because they were so thrilled that their first installment of HBO’s Boxing After Dark had been such a success. Also, after the fight Ring Magazine does a special on the greatest fights in the history of the Great Western Forum where the bout took place and the L.A. Times calls the fight the “greatest fight in the history of Forum Boxing.” I’ve been to a lot of great fights, Holyfield-Bowe I, Morales-Barrera I, Gonzalez-Sorjaturang, and the Barrera-McKinney fight is the best fight that I have ever witnessed.
6. 1997 Kevin Kelly-Naseem Hamed: Naseem goes down like a Yo-Yo and comes back to KO the Flushing Flash in his American debut.
7. 1996 Arturo Gatti-Wilson Rodriguez: Arturo comes back from a severely swollen eye and a knock down to KO Angel and save his title in Boxing After Dark's second telecast.
8. 1995 Vincent Pettway-Simon Brown: Ebb and flow through out with Pettway going down a couple of times before he knocks Brown out with a single counter left hook. Afterward Simon lies on the ground unconsciously throwing jabs from his back.
9. 1992 Michael Moorer-Bert Cooper: The 90s version of Lyle-Foreman with Moorer getting up from two knockdowns to knock Cooper out in the fifth.
10. 1996 Frank Liles-Tim Littles: Franky avenges his lone defeat. Both fighters hit the canvas. It’s a weird bout with time keeping and officiating problems. Surprisingly these two boxers turned it into a back alley brawl that the prize ring almost couldn’t contain. Liles stopped Tim in the 3rd.
11. 1995 Humberto Gonzalaz-Saman Sorjaturong: Almost a replay of the first Carbajal fight. Gonzalez goes down in the second, but takes command and knocks Saman down in the fifth and sixth rounds. The Ref thinks about stopping the bout because the Thai Lander’s eye is severely swollen. Saman comes out for the 7th and starches Chiquita. Gonzalez never fights again and the Thai fighter goes on to make 10 defenses of the title.
12. 2003 Acelino Freitas-Jorge Barrios: Acelino is knocked down in the 8th and on queer street in the 11th when he goes down again. The Brazilian is also given a little extra time to recover when the referee allows him to put his mouthpiece back in a situation similar to the Castillo-Corrales fight. Freitas gets up and then clocks Barrios with a right in the same round and the Argentinean drops like a sack of potatoes. Barrios gets up, but is in bad shape and the bout is stopped in the 12th round.
13. Diego Corrales-Joel Casamayor: Corrales goes to war with the 1992 Cuban Gold Medallist and is knocked down twice, but also manages to put Joel on the canvas and has him seriously hurt when the doctor stops the fight in the sixth due to the fact that Diego is spitting out too much blood. I never agreed with the stoppage.
14. 1995 Riddick Bowe-Evander Holyfield III: The big boys go to war and Evander almost has Riddick out, but runs out of gas and can’t finish him. Bowe stops Holyfield in the 8th in the last bout of their unforgettable trilogy.
15. 1992 Kennedy McKinney-Welcome Ncita: Kennedy is out on his feet and behind on points in the 11th when he takes a knee after absorbing some punishing blows. Then when the African champion thinks he has McKinney right where he wants him, the King throws a right hand off the ropes and knocks the tough African out cold to win the IBF 122 pound title. Kennedy’s manager says, “They could have counted to twenty.”
16. 1991 Michael Watson-Chris Eubank: Watson drops Eubank for the first time in his career, but when he goes into to finish him he gets caught with an uppercut is almost knocked out. Even though he is ahead on all score cards, Watson is hardly able to come out for the 12th where he is rescued by the referee. Moments later, Watson collapses and suffers major brain injuries.
17. 1995 Tommy Morrison-Razor Ruddock: Two big punchers with two great left hooks, Morrison goes down twice and is on the verge of getting stopped in the fifth when he lands a left hook that almost decapitates Ruddock. Incredibly the Razor gets up, but the referee stops the fight when Tommy throws pity-pat punches while Ruddock is against the ropes. I like Morrison, but there were only a few seconds left on the clock and with Tommy’s stamina problems, the Razor would have had him for dinner the very next round if the bout hadn’t taken place in Morrison’s hometown.
18. 1993 Terry Norris-Troy Waters: Norris was considered one of the top three fighters in the world and hadn’t really been challenged or even hurt since his loss to Julian Jackson and shockingly is badly rocked and dropped by the tough Aussie. The two fighters go to war and Norris stops Troy in the 3rd.
19. 2004 Felix Trinidad-Ricardo Mayorga: Yes it may be a little too one sided, but the significance of the bout along with the festival type atmosphere and the macho tactics of Mayorga turn the fight into a classic, with Ricardo rocking Tito a couple of times and even scoring a flash knockdown before wilting under Trinidad’s bombs.
NOTES:
I would have included Gatti-Ruelas, but Arturo was never officially knocked down thus the bout does not meet the specified criteria. Corrales-Castillo is one of the greatest fights of all time, but in my mind it can’t compare with an Ali-Frazier I or the first Leonard-Hearns bout because those bouts changed the course of boxing history forever.