Ive shown my friends:
Leonard-hearns 1
Barrera-Morales 1
Chico-Castillo 1
Mayorga in his prime just to add a little flavor lol
My best friend is more than a casual fan because of me but he is far from hardcore..
Boxing isnt for everybody
floyd vs baldomir, to show people that anything is possible. everyone though the ww champ would crush floyd and floyd was like "hold my roids, ill show you how its done!" and he overcame the odds and inspired a generation
If it is someone who really knows absolutely nothing about boxing I'd take a very different approach.
People are at their most invested in a sporting match when they know one of the competitors.
They probably won't know people like Naz, or Gatti or Hagler or perhaps even Pacquiao.
They probably know Tyson, but Tyson's fights were either uncompetitive blowouts, boring clinchfests by survivalists, or he lost.
You need someone who is both recognizable and has some sort of cultural lore.
Everybody knows Ali.
So I would pick an Ali fight.
Everybody has heard the phrase "Rumble in the Jungle" or "Rope a Dope" but not everybody knows the full lore around Ali-Foreman. It's like "Luke I am your father" to someone who hadn't seen any Star Wars movies yet. They know the term, but have no context yet.
That makes Rumble perfect for a boxing newbie. It's a dramatic fight, with dramatic commentary that places Ali squarely as the underdog, it is the origin of a couple of popular cultural phrases in most English speaking countries, and it features the greatest triumph of perhaps the most recognizable face in all of sports.
Ali-Foreman. No contest.
Recent fights make far more sense, preferably with knock outs included! I would go for uk stars obviously given people I would talk to more likely British!
Joshua vs Klitschko
Taylor vs Persoon. 2
And one slightly older one..
Froch vs Taylor