your 10 Greatest Heavyweight Fights of All Time

[Hustle]

List your 10 greatest heavyweight fights ever:

1/. Ali v Frazier (1)
2/. Holyfield v Bowe (1)
3/. Holmes v Norton
4/. Quarry v Frazier (1)
5/. Ali v Frazier (3)
6/. Holyfield v Tyson (1)
7/. Bowe v Golota (2)
8/. Brewster v Liakhovich
9/. Foreman v Lyle
10/. Tyson v Douglas

I would add

Lewis vs Vitali
Joshua vs Wladimir
Fury vs Wilder 3

[The Old LefHook]

Holmes/Clay
Holyfield/Douglas
Foreman/Braxton
Vlad/Puritty
Vlad/Corrie Sanders
Vlad/Brewster
Lewis/Rahman
Lewis/Atomic Bull
Clay/Liston II
Holyfield/Valuev

And those are just the moderns!!

[Willow The Wisp]

- - More like some of the sorriest fights in history. I suppose you can be excused for buying into the myth of Ali instead of the reality that the first three rounds he ran like a cat set afire with no place to go. Liston had trained on whiskey after seeing his dismal performances vs bloody Henry Cooper and Doug Jones. All the $$$ was on the early KO that he avoided, so feather for his cap, but Liston had thrown his arm out of socket lurching for KOs, so young Clay manages to climb into the fight whereupon Liston is told to quit the fight since new bets had been placed on his stoppage.

Non-dominating Cards here, a perfect draw at the stoppage: referee: Barney Felix 57-57 | Gus Jacobson 58-56 | Bunny Lovett 56-58

You really should watch this fight again. Mercer a thug accused of trying to throw fights muscles Lar around who has to hang on to the ropes continuously because his legs are so shot. When Mercer traps him he blitchslaps repeatedly to humiliate him. Two more unlikable fighters cannot be found and I doubt the venue was even 1/3rd full. At one point Mercer chokes him near unconscious and had the ref not pulled him off, Lar would've needed Emergency services to revive him.

The other fights are great viewing, I'd sub Big Dummy/Golota 1/2 where Big Dummy gets his dirty bully comeuppance in the most appropriate way possible. Lotta underrated comedy in that fight!

Lol. Often, as absurd as you try to be, you're not entirely wrong either. Take it as a compliment, take it as a critique, but take it take it take it.

[Willow The Wisp]

10. Lewis vs Klitschko - Definitely a solid number 10 pick. This is a textbook example of how the course of a fight can change with just one punch. This all started as a seemingly inevitable changing of the guard. Then suddenly it became a race against the clock for Klitschko to try (and fail) to put Lennox away before the doctor decided that the gnarly cut above his eye was too high a risk to allow him to continue. That really put me on the edge of my seat the first time I watched that.

9. Fury vs Wilder 3 - I’ve seen some people call this a sloppy fight with the knockdowns being the only reason this match is talked about. While the knockdowns are fantastic, they’re also accompanied by plenty of other memorable shots and lots of heart and determination by both competitors. This is one of those fights I consider proof for why you shouldn’t immediately write off or dismiss any matchup, cause it might just surprise you. Maybe it’s that surpassing of expectations or I’m still coming down off the high this fight gave me, but I believe this will go down as a classic. However, only time will tell.

8. Holmes vs Norton - I was originally not going to include this, but after rewatching the highlights, I realized how moronic that would’ve been. Given how much these two were influenced by Ali and Frazier respectively, this fight was almost like Ali vs Frazier 3.5. However, it’s probably thanks to the distinctions between Holmes and Norton’s styles and their mentors’ styles that this fight felt fresh and entirely new. Given how much of a captivating back and forth contest this was, it feels disappointing that this never spun off into a trilogy of its own. Just imagine what a second or third fight would’ve been like if they were both still bringing their A game.

7. Louis vs Conn - I will admit that the amount of Joe Louis fights I’ve seen is pretty limited. But even if I watched every one of them, I somehow doubt any of them are going to surpass this one. There is no shortage of power punches in this fight, I can tell you that much. Honestly, the amount of punishment both guys dished out and absorbed was quite the spectacle. I wonder if their second fight is even half as good?

6. Ali vs Liston - This one really needs no introduction. Ali dominating a world-class champion with his slickness and swift physicality on its own was enough to make this a memorable fight. But then we get to see him prove his tenacity and ring iq when he temporarily suffered blindness for one round. Not every great fight has to have numerous knockdowns or off the charts punch output. Sometimes, all it takes to make an enduring classic is seeing a legend at his peak, helped by a sprinkling of extra drama of course.

5. Tua vs Ibeabuchi - It’s a shame that this fight’s record for most punches thrown in a heavyweight match has been surpassed by Kownacki vs Areola. I haven’t seen KvA yet, but I doubt it’s more entertaining than Tua vs Ibeabuchi. Thing is, I’ve only really seen this fight in its entirety once, but its relentless pace has made such an impression on me that I still feel comfortable putting it this high on my list. This fight is a major example out of many on how much of wild ride the 90s heavyweight era was. Personally, I think Tua should’ve been given the decision, at least from what I could remember.

4. Holmes vs Mercer - Whilst Foreman vs Moorer has more historical significance, Holmes vs Mercer is still my favorite example of an old legend beating a younger, dangerous warrior. Larry had never been more charismatic and likable than he was that night as the underdog. He truly seemed to channel Ali during that fight what with his taunting of Mercer from the corner and calling out the commentators. And the way the initially pro-Mercer crowd eventually begins cheering for Holmes upon being so inspired by his performance was like something you’d see in a movie!

3. Ali vs Frazier 3 - Yet another fight that need not even be described, it’s so iconic. I honestly do believe Ali when he supposedly described this fight as the closest thing to hell; it was apparently hot enough that day to feel like a trip through the underworld’s seven circles. And they fought a war in those conditions! Between Frazier’s swollen face by the end of the fight and Ali collapsing from exhaustion after Frazier’s team quit in the corner, you have to wonder how these guys put themselves through so much punishment.

2. Foreman vs Lyle - Whenever I talk about hypothetical matchups between two big punchers with unreal power, I always reference this fight. Every fight I see that involves the competitors scoring back and forth knockdowns on each other repeatedly, I call it “Foreman/Lyle-esqe”. There’s damn good reason why this fight is universally considered a classic, must see. Even though there’s no title involved, both men still had something to prove; they needed to show who’s the baddest mother****er around. One of the best aspects of this besides the toe to toe action and the knockdowns was Foreman proving that he could overcome adversity when he needed to. Only the snobbiest of boxing purists won’t get any enjoyment from this slugfest, otherwise this is every fight fan’s dream come true. So much action packed into just five rounds.

1. Bowe vs Holyfield Trilogy - A legendary rivalry. I think there are two things we should be thankful for regarding this fight: 1) Holyfield obviously having a chip on his shoulder. 2) Holyfield being the right type of opponent to motivate and bring out the best in Bowe.
The first one is so action packed and it really deserves its glowing status and reputation. But the others are also soooo good! The second one obviously has the heated after the bell exchanges, the crazy fan man, and Holyfield becoming the fourth man to regain the heavyweight title. There’s also the added treats of Bowe using his jab more often and putting up a surprisingly good fight despite not being in shape. And the third one surpassed the other two in terms of how brutal it was; I wonder if anyone at the time expected to see Bowe getting knocked down for the first time or Holyfield getting TKO’d for the first time?

Flickergrab98. Great post. Where did this guy go?

[QueensburyRules]

Flickergrab98. Great post. Where did this guy go?

- - Lotta ol' guys wif one foot in the bucket post here.

Young guys rave on NonStop.

[Willow The Wisp]

- - Lotta ol' guys wif one foot in the bucket post here.

Young guys rave on NonStop.

Millennial history erasure?

[Flickergrab98]

I miss this thread

[Slugfester]

To me Ali/Frazier was a much overrated fight ffor enjoyment. I just watched it again the other night. I have seen a hundred fights I enjoyed more. In this case people may confuse its historical significance with great viewing. I found it OK and it was very significant at the time.

[Slugfester]

One letter was pretty funny by someone called Lefhook. Is this guy dumb or just a comedian? I assume the latter. He had Holyfield/Valuev on there. I couldn't stop laughing.

[Flickergrab98]

One letter was pretty funny by someone called Lefhook. Is this guy dumb or just a comedian? I assume the latter. He had Holyfield/Valuev on there. I couldn't stop laughing.

What got me the most was Holmes vs. Ali. How much a raging hate boner for Ali do you need to have in order to list that as one of your favs?