14 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Mike Dunn byline.
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by Mike Dunn - There hasn't been as much buzz about a non-heavyweight fight like this for a long time, at least since Oscar De La Hoya took on the unbeaten Felix Trinidad in 1999. Oscar vs. Floyd actually goes beyond that, though. It reminds me of the hype and atmosphere that surrounded Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran for their first encounter in Montreal back in 1980.
It was 40 years ago this week that Muhammad Ali put the heavyweight title on the line against the rugged Canadian George Chuvalo. The bout took place on March 29, 1966 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto and Ali won a lopsided 15-round decision.
Did Sonny Liston throw one or both of his fights with Cassius Clay? A lot of people think so, including boxing insiders. Many others don't believe it. Some think Liston may have thrown the second fight in Lewiston, Maine, but not the first one. In any case, controversy has been a shadow over the two Clay-Liston fights and that shadow remains to this day. Unsatisfactory endings to both bouts — in February of 1964 at Miami Beach and in May of 1965 at Lewiston — have created speculation and cast doubts about the veracity of Liston's performances. In simple terms, this is what happened in the two encounters: Liston lost his title to Clay in the Miami Beach bout when Liston refused to come out of his corner for the seventh round. Liston, who had received a thrashing at the hands of the younger, quicker Clay, claimed that his left shoulder had been injured. In the rematch a year and three months later, Liston went down in the first round from what some referred to as a "phantom punch." It appeared that Liston was able to get up, but chose not to. Clay (then known as Muhammad Ali) was awarded a first-round KO.
The reign of Jimmy Ellis as World Boxing Association heavyweight champion is a testimony to the wonders of Providence.
When Bob Fitzsimmons defended the heavyweight championship of the world against challenger Jim Jeffries on June 9, 1899, at Brooklyn’s Coney Island Athletic Club, Fitz had big advantages in certain key areas.
He was just three days away from his 45th birthday, on the downside of one of the truly remarkable careers the sport of boxing has ever seen. When he entered the ring that was set up in the Montreal Forum that cold December night in 1958, light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore was a 3-1 favorite to turn back the challenge of a strong-armed but crude Canadian fisherman named Yvon Durelle, the pride of Baie-Ste. Anne, New Brunswick. Durelle, the Canadian and British Empire champ, couldn’t match his opponent’s experience or ring longevity, but the 29-year-old challenger was certainly no wallflower. He brought a sturdy 81-20-2 record with him that memorable night and a well earned reputation as one who made up in rugged aggression what he lacked in artistry. In 1953, Durelle won the Canadian light-heavyweight title with a 12-round decision over Gordon Wallace. Four years later, he added the British Empire laurels with a second-round KO of the same Wallace, a boxer whose name appears frequently in Durelle’s record. Durelle had previously held the Canadian middleweight title and had attempted to win the Canadian heavyweight title also, but had been a KO victim to a young slugger named George Chuvalo.
It shouldn’t have ended the way it did. Not at that juncture of their careers. In July of 1927, aspiring heavyweight contender Jack Sharkey should have had his way with former champ Jack Dempsey. He should have either knocked out the aging former champ or at least beat him by decision. He didn’t do either. And because of Sharkey‘s failure, the rematch between Dempsey and Gene Tunney took place that September at Chicago’s Solder Field stadium. The bout between Dempsey and Tunney produced what was to be for many, many years the greatest live gate ever to witness a boxing match, and produced one of the sport’s signature moments, the famed Long Count.
In one sense, Ernie Terrell came along at the perfect time. In another sense, the timing of the angular heavyweight boxer with the long left jab and frustrating if not crowd-pleasing style couldn't have been worse.
It was the summer of 1935 and the stage was set for boxing’s next million-dollar gate. Joe Louis, the promising young knockout puncher from Detroit, had made a name for himself with 23 straight victories and 18 knockouts in just a year‘s campaigning in the ring since winning the Golden Gloves championship. Max Baer, the impressively proportioned heavyweight titleholder from California, had made his 18th win in a row his most convincing, an 11th-round demolition of Italian behemoth Primo Carnera in June of 1934 to lay claim to sport’s richest crown.
British boxing legend Henry Cooper is still remembered for it. More than 41 years after the fact, Cooper remains a beloved figure in his native England and when fans reminisce about old ’Enery, they talk about the potent left hook he landed to the jaw of 21-year-old Cassius Clay. And they talk about what might have been ... On June 18, 1963, the young, brash American Clay entered the ring in venerable Wembley Stadium in London to take on the 29 year-old Cooper, who was a top flight fighter in Europe and the British Empire, but who was not considered by most to be a serious threat to derail Clay’s title ambitions. Cooper had a record of 27-8-1. He was a capable fighter who had won 12 of his previous 13 bouts, the only defeat being a KO loss to the highly regarded American Zora Folley in December of ’61. The Englishman was a long shot to beat Clay, but an upset was not out of the realm of possibility. Cooper wasn’t flashy, but he did possess a left hook that could separate any heavyweight around from his senses. A decision win for the plodding Englishman over the slippery, fast-moving, fast-punching Clay was very unlikely. Cooper would certainly need to knock Clay out to win. But could it be done? Many of Cooper’s countrymen believed it could happen, even though Cooper at 186 pounds weighed 20 pounds less than the cocky American. Cooper, the pride of Bellingham, had won impressively in his previous two outings, knocking out Joe Erskine in nine rounds and Dick Richardson in five rounds in successful defenses of the Commonwealth (British Empire) and British heavyweight titles. Cooper had the punch if he could somehow find Clay’s chin with it.