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EVIL~! alkeiper

History of Boxing's Heavyweight Championship

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The 1960s kicked off with Sweden's Ingemar Johansson coming off an impressive KO victory of Floyd Patterson. Patterson received a rematch in June, and knocked out Johansson in the fifth round to regain his heavyweight crown. Patterson became the first fighter to hold the heavyweight title twice. In March of next year, Patterson and Johansson fought for a third time.

 

 

Coming off the KO victory, Patterson met undefeated Tom McNeely and KO'd him in the fourth round. 1962 saw Patterson step into the ring against Sonny Liston.

 

 

One year later Patterson received a rematch against Sonny Liston. He fared better, this time lasting 2:10 in the first round! Liston looked invincible as he stepped in against Cassius Clay in Miami.

 

Liston quitting on his stool was certainly a huge shock. Stunning yet was Cassius Clay's post-fight announcement that he changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Ali was a brash, obnoxious, loud braggart. Without a doubt he was the greatest trash talker the sports world had seen.

 

Unfortunately, it took fifteen months before Ali would step in the ring again. He accepted a rematch against Sonny Liston. For whatever reason, the WBA took offense and stripped Ali of their crown. The WBA conferred the title on Ernie Terrell after he defeated Eddie Machen. Terrell then defended that version against George Chuvalo and Doug Jones, both via unanimous decision. We'll leave the WBA version there and come back to it later.

 

Ali fought Liston in Lewiston, Maine in front of a small crowd.

 

 

The fight was a fiasco in every way possible. Did Liston take a dive? I doubt it, I think there was legitimate confusion about the knockdown count. Liston did not want to rise with Ali standing and taunting right above him.

 

Ali took on a more active schedule following the fight. He KO'd Floyd Patterson in twelve rounds, defeated George Chuvalo by unanimous decision, TKO'd Henry Cooper in a bloody fight, KO'd Brian London, and TKO'd Karl Mildenberger. In November of '66, Ali fought Cleveland Williams. By some accounts, Williams landed as few as three punches the entire fight.

 

Ali-London

 

Ali-Williams

 

In 1967, Ali fought WBA champion Ernie Terrell. Terrell decided to taunt Ali pre-fight by referring to him as Cassius Clay. Ali laid a tremendous beating on Ernie Terrell, carrying him over fifteen rounds just to punish him. Ali won a lopsided decision.

 

 

Ali fought once more, KO'ing Zora Folley in seven rounds. A month later, Ali refused induction into the U.S. Armed Forces. Ali was stripped of his boxing license, and he would not fight again for three years.

 

The heavyweight championship was thrown for a loop. The NYSAC recognized Joe Frazier after he defeated Buster Mathis by 11th round TKO. Fazier had scored a KO victory over George Chuvalo, who had gone the distance with both Ali and Ernie Terrell. The WBA meanwhile sanctioned an eight man tournament. Jimmy Ellis defeated Leotis Martin, Oscar Bonavena and Jerry Quarry to win the vacant title. Ellis defended the title in Sept. 1968 against Floyd Patterson, winning via decision.

 

Frazier for his part defended successfully against Manuel Ramos, Bonavena and Dave Zyglewicz. And while not for the undisputed crown, Frazier fought Jerry Quarry in a fight awarded "Fight of the Year" honors by Ring Magazine in 1969. As the decade came to a close, Ali officially announced his retirement to allow an impending fight between Frazier and Ellis to crown an undisputed world champion.

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I don't think Liston took a dive either. His quitting on the stool during Clay-Liston says it all to me. He was scared, and sometimes fighters go down or quit on the stool when they're scared. It happens.

 

Unfortunately this decade is when the sanctioning body madness began to rear its head, but all that said, boxing needs another Ali. Ali vs. Williams is Ali at his best.

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I fear boxing will never see another heavyweight as good as Ali. These days, if someone Ali's size showed athletic talent they would immediately get shuffled onto their school's football or basketball program. The only way a good American heavyweight may emerge is if they come off the streets into a gym as a way to avoid a life in prison.

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The 1970s were perhaps the best decade in heavyweight boxing history. Some of the best fighters in the division, and the best fights in the division. It featured an epic trilogy and some shocking upsets. The decade however also saw the rise of the alphabet soup filth that lingers to this day.

 

Title claimants Joe Frazier and Jimmy Ellis met to decide the undisputed championship at Madison Square Garden in Febuary of 1970. Frazier was undefeated at 24-0 with knockouts. Ellis was 27-5, but undefeated since 1964.

 

 

Frazier won via fifth round TKO. He next battled light heavyweight champion Bob Foster. Foster was riding a streak of twenty consecutive victories, including 19 by KO.

 

 

Meanwhile, Muhammad Ali had regained his boxing license and would eventually have his conviction overturned in the U.S. Supreme Court. Ali KO'd Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena, setting the stage for "The Fight of the Century." Both Frazier and Ali entered this fight with undefeated records.

 

 

With Frazier's victory, he truly earned the right to the title of undisputed champion. Frazier next racked up TKO victories over Terry Daniels and Ron Stander. In January of 1973, Frazier stepped in against an undefeated heavyweight named George Foreman.

 

 

Next up, Jose Roman.

 

 

Ken Norton meanwhile had scored a stunning decision victory over Muhammad Ali. Despite losing a rematch, he scored the next title fight against Foreman.

 

 

At this point, Foreman had needed less than five rounds to dispatch his last three opponents, two of whom landed in boxing's Hall of Fame. This was probably Muhammad Ali's finest hour.

 

 

Ali's first defense came against Chuck Wepner, the Bayonne Bleeder. Wepner's ability to hang on until the last round, and his ninth round knockdown of Ali, earned him a bit of notoriety. It inspired the Rocky series and earned Wepner himself a big boxer/wrestler match against Andre the Giant. Here's the final round.

 

 

Ali defeated Ron Lyle and Joe Bugner, setting the stage for a rematch with Joe Frazier. Ali had defeated Frazier via unanimous decision in 1974 while Foreman held the heavyweight crown. This fight became known as the "Thrilla In Manilla." It won Fight of the Year for 1975, and in 1996 Ring Magazine named it the greatest title fight of all time.

 

 

Ali followed up the Frazier war with victories over Jean-Pierre Coopman, Jimmy Young and Richard Dunn. In June of 1976, he engaged in the boxer/wrestler fiasco with Antonio Inoki. Some contribute the damage Inoki did to Ali's legs to shortening Ali's career. Here's the fight along with Andre/Wepner.

 

Inoki-Ali

 

Wepner-Andre

 

Next Ali fought Ken Norton for the third time. Norton had upset Ali in a 1973 bout, breaking his jaw in the process. Ali won a rematch. Their third fight was for the heavyweight crown.

 

 

Many observers felt that Ali received a gift decision in this bout. Nevertheless, Ali soldiered on, defeating Alfredo Evangelista and Ernie Shavers by decision in 1977. In 1978, Ali squared off with 1976 olympic gold medalist Leon Spinks. Spinks was fighting only his eighth pro fight with a record of 6-0-1. Spinks' only name fighter on his resume was Scott LeDoux, whom he fought to a draw. Spinks however prevailed in a split decision and claimed the heavyweight crown.

 

At this point politics reared its ugly head. The big money fight for Spinks was obviously a rematch with Ali. The WBC (and Don King) however felt Ken Norton was the #1 contender and deserved a title bout. In reality, King had the television rights if Spinks/Norton occured, but not Spinks/Ali. The WBC stripped Leon Spinks of the title for choosing an Ali rematch, and instead sanctioned awarded the title to Ken Norton. Norton's first fight came against Larry Holmes. White not a legitimate title fight, the fifteen round turned out to be one of the greatest rounds in boxing history. Fast forward to 2:22 for the fifteenth.

 

 

Holmes won via split decision, all three judges having the margin decided by just a single point. Muhammad Ali meanwhile easily defeated Leon Spinks in a rematch via unanimous decision in the fifteenth round. Holmes defended his version of the crown against Alfredo Evangelista (KO 7), Ossie Ocasio (TKO 7), Mike Weaver (TKO 12) and Ernie Shavers (TKO 11). The WBA meanwhile sanctioned a fight between John Tate and Gerrie Coetzee for their version, with Tate winning a 15 round decision.

 

At the end of the decade, Holmes looked to have the stronger claim to the crown. As the 1980s dawned, Holmes looked for a fight with former champion Muhammad Ali while Tate prepared to defend against 21-9 Mike Weaver.

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George Foreman and Ron Lyle fought one of the most exciting heavyweight fights ever in the 1970s. Their kind of cartoon, bombs-away, big heavyweight fighting wouldn't be seen again until Derrick Jefferson-Mo Harris on HBO in the late 90s.

 

Holmes was knocked down by Shavers and got up and came back to win. Plenty of other heavyweights agreed with Holmes that Earnie Shavers was the hardest puncher they ever faced. That happened a few times with Holmes, getting off the canvas to win. I've never really understood how people have been bored by him. He wasn't as flashy as his champion bookends, Ali and Tyson, but he was really good. His jab was probably the best ever in the division, the guy was tough as shit, and he could knock people out. And, he wasnt some kind of dull professor kind of champ either. Holmes had a middle school education and could always be counted on to say or do something stupid ( and entertaining). We'll get to see some more in Al's next episode.

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One of the problems with Holmes that we'll see next time is that he fought conservatively, much like Lennox Lewis. It wins, but it doesn't create excitement. Holmes/Ali we'll see is an example. Ali just has nothing in the tank at all, but Holmes won't go after him. He just keeps pawing and easily winning rounds.

 

Maybe after the series we'll hit upon the contenders. Ernie Shavers was a hell of a puncher. Bob Satterfield had tremendous power in the early '50s, but didn't have a strong chin.

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Holmes had trained with and admired Ali, he didn't want to hurt him. And he would have if he had gone all out. Ali had no business fighting Holmes or even Trevor Berbick afterwards.

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Holmes had a middle school education and could always be counted on to say or do something stupid ( and entertaining).

 

dropkickoffalimousine.gif

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Exactly. How can a guy that jumps off a limo to attack a fellow competitor from a (crudely) organized sport not be a national hero in America?

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Guest Agent of Oblivion

Foreman/Lyle is my favorite fight ever. I've posted the whole thing a few times on here. I'll edit some more 70's goodness in here when I get inclined.

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Unfortunately we never got to see a prime George Foreman. That turned out well in the end, but me, I wonder. I wish Foreman would've been able to fight Holmes during a mythical Foreman prime.

 

It would be great to do a series of videos and discussion about that triumvirate of boxing manhood and that tag-along fruitcake Leonard when this is all done.

 

 

 

 

Obviously I am referring to Duran/Hagler/Hearns. I will undertake that project.

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Hey guys, I remember watching a documentary long ago about how sour people were about Ali's reign as champion, right after he KO'd Liston with what many people still question if it was still a phantom punch and just in general how he was dominating his opponents up until this fight. I can't remember it right now, but is it really as important for the history of his reign? I know some of the boxing historians here will know more about it and be able to explain it to me.

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Leornard the Fruitcake: Stopped Hearns in the championship rounds (12-15, then) and made Duran quit. Flashy smile, though.

Duran - The aforementioned quitter.

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Hey guys, I remember watching a documentary long ago about how sour people were about Ali's reign as champion, right after he KO'd Liston with what many people still question if it was still a phantom punch and just in general how he was dominating his opponents up until this fight. I can't remember it right now, but is it really as important for the history of his reign? I know some of the boxing historians here will know more about it and be able to explain it to me.

Oh certainly, Ali was a polarizing figure in the 1960s. He was almost without question the most controversial sports personality of the 1960s. I'm not certain what the question is though here. Was it just the Liston fight in question, or is there something else there?

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Oops, I went of and made no sense like I usually do, so I'll try to phrase it better. There's a fight that came at a pivotal point of Ali's first reign where the public was starting to grow tired of him and how dominant he was. I forget the fighters name, but he took him to a decision... and I think the journalists said he was never knocked down in the fight or his professional career. Is the fight as important as the documentary portrays it to be?

 

Sorry, I just can't remember the other boxer's name.

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Oops, I went of and made no sense like I usually do, so I'll try to phrase it better. There's a fight that came at a pivotal point of Ali's first reign where the public was starting to grow tired of him and how dominant he was. I forget the fighters name, but he took him to a decision... and I think the journalists said he was never knocked down in the fight or his professional career. Is the fight as important as the documentary portrays it to be?

 

Sorry, I just can't remember the other boxer's name.

That sounds like the George Chuvalo fight. Chuvalo was a tough fighter. I indeed can not find a single instance of a Chuvalo knockdown. His only TKO losses were to Joe Frazier and George Foreman. I can't speak to its ultimate importance, but I believe it was a significant fight.

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The 1980s kicked off with Larry Holmes scoring knockout victories over Lorenzo Zanon, Leroy Jones and Scott LeDoux. In October, Muhammad Ali returned from retirement to challenge Larry Holmes for the heavyweight championship. Ali was a shot fighter. Whether Howard Cosell was shot is your call.

 

 

How dominant was Holmes in this fight? He won every single round on every single scorecard up to the stoppage. With the victory, Holmes earned the lineal heavyweight championship. 1981 saw Holmes defeat Trevor Berbick (W 15), Leon Spinks (TKO 3) and Renaldo Snipes (TKO 11).

 

In 1982, Holmes fought the newest "Great White Hope," Gerry Cooney. While a punchline now, Cooney had won his last three fights over Jimmy Young, Ron Lyle and Ken Norton, all by early stoppage.

 

 

Cooney for his part barely fought the rest of his career. Next up was the title defense that drove Howard Cosell away from boxing. Holmes fought a relatively untalented but granite jawed journeyman named Randall "Tex" Cobb. Cobb made a name for himself by TKO'ing Ernie Shavers in 1979. Shavers was the hardest striker in boxing but punched himself out on Cobb. Despite subsequent losses to Michael Dokes and Ken Norton, Cobb was tabbed for a heavyweight title shot.

 

 

One judge scored a single round for Cobb. Otherwise it was all Holmes. Told of Cosell's abandonment of boxing, Cobb responded, "If I eliminate heart disease, if I walk on water, if I come up with a cure for crippled kids, I can't imagine a greater gift to mankind."

 

1983 saw Holmes defend against Lucien Rodriguez, Tim Witherspoon, Scott Frank and Marvin Frazier. Holmes defended just once in 1984, against James "Bonecrusher" Smith. 1985 saw Holmes defend against David Bey and Carl Williams before stepping in against light heavyweight champion Michael Spinks. Holmes was 48-0 (you'll recall Rocky Marciano retired at 49-0). Spinks was 27-0.

 

 

Spinks won a close unanimous decision. The following April, Spinks took a rematch in a split decision. The heavyweight championship really fell apart at this point. Spinks seemed rarely interested in fighting top contenders and held recognition from none of the three major boxing organizations. He defeated Steffen Tangstad later in the year, and Gerry Cooney in 1987.

 

We are going to skip over the alphabet soup from 1979-85, with one exception. In March of 1980, John Tate defended the WBA crown against Mike Weaver. Trailing after 14 rounds, Weaver needed a KO to win.

 

 

Most of you no doubt are familiar with the Mike Tyson story. With the heavyweight title scene a mess, promoters set about unifying the heavyweight title. Tyson stepped in first against Trevor Berbick.

 

 

Tyson added the WBA version with a decision victory over Bonecrusher Smith. He defended the WBA/WBC crown against Pinklon Thomas, and a unanimous decision over Tony Tucker added the IBF crown. Tyson defended the unified crown with KO victories over Tyrell Biggs, Larry Holmes and Tony Tubbs. Finally, Tyson landed a fight with the lineal champion, Michael Spinks. Both fighters entered undefeated.

 

 

A quick word on Spinks' legacy. Spinks never lost as a light heavyweight, and beat one of the greatest heavyweights in Larry Holmes. He was an all-time great, just a poor match for Tyson. Tyson in 1989 knocked out Frank Bruno, and then stepped in against Carl Williams.

 

 

The 1980s ended with Mike Tyson looking like the most dominant champion in boxing history. Tyson was fast running out of serious challengers. As 1990 dawned, Tyson prepared to travel to Tokyo to battle a journeyman named James "Buster" Douglas. A big match with Evander Holyfield surely loomed afterward.

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Holmes vs. Cooney was a great fight. I said I didn't like Holmes, and that's true. But Holmes was an all-time great.

 

I get no enjoyment out of the Cobb fight...Cosell's reasons for quitting were due to the Duk Koo Kim death and I totally understand that. The guy who refereed that Mancini-Kim fight killed himself a year later. If Cosell felt that way he shouldn't have went to Houston, because he ruined the fight.

 

Michael Spinks is another great, just not at heavyweight. There's no way of knowing if he would've been. Didn't fight long enough. But at light heavy, there aren't many better.

 

Tyson v. Berbick and Tyson v. Spinks are two of the greatest things I've ever seen.

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I get no enjoyment out of the Cobb fight...Cosell's reasons for quitting were due to the Duk Koo Kim death and I totally understand that. The guy who refereed that Mancini-Kim fight killed himself a year later. If Cosell felt that way he shouldn't have went to Houston, because he ruined the fight.

 

Great call, and I completely missed the context. The Mancini/Kim fight was Nov. 13, Kim died five days later, and the Holmes/Cobb fight was Nov 26.

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In 1990, Mike Tyson suffered perhaps the most shocking upset in boxing history.

 

 

I kid, I kid.

 

The 1990s kicked off with James "Buster" Douglas challenging Mike Tyson for the heavyweight championship in Tokyo.

 

 

Prior to the fight Evander Holyfield was in line for a shot at the crown. Holyfield had established himself first with a bronze medal in the '84 Olympics, and then as a cruiserweight boxing champion. With Tyson defeated, Holyfield stepped in against new champion Buster Douglas.

 

 

Buster Douglas would not fight again for six years. Holyfield's next challenge came from a great figure in boxing's past, George Foreman. After ten years in retirement, Foreman had returned in 1987 as more of a sideshow act than anything. Foreman's revival turned serious when he scored wins over Bert Cooper and Gerry Cooney. In this fight, Foreman proved he could hang with boxing's elite. Check out round seven.

 

 

Holyfield prevailed by unanimous decision. Holyfield would have next faced the challenge of Mike Tyson, but Tyson was injured in training, and the rape trial posponed the fight entirely. Holyfield instead fought and defeated Bert Cooper, and followed that up with a decision victory over Larry Holmes. (Holmes for his part earned the shot with an upset win over Ray Mercer.) Holyfield next fought undefeated Riddick Bowe.

 

 

Bowe's first defense resulted in a first round knockout of Michael Dokes. He followed that up with a second round TKO of Jesse Ferguson. (Ferguson earned the shot thanks to an upset win over Ray Mercer.) During this time the WBC stripped Riddick Bowe for refusing to defend against Lennox Lewis. Nonetheless, Bowe stepped into the ring for a rematch against Evander Holyfield in November of '93.

 

 

Oh yeah, the fight.

 

 

Though Holyfield defeated Riddick Bowe, he lost his next bout to Michael Moorer in a rather unspirited affair. Michael Moorer had begun his career at light heavyweight and ripped off 26 consecutive KO victories off the bat. He was 34-0 with 30 KO's at the time of the fight. Moorer for his part took his first defense against George Foreman, who had not fought in 17 months since losing to Tommy Morrison. Over twenty years after losing the heavyweight crown however, Foreman made history.

 

 

A great night for boxing, but a bad omen for the title. Foreman showed no intention of defending against the top heavyweight talent. He took a fight against Axel Schulz and won a controversial decision. Before long none of the major boxing organizations recognized him. For the purposes of the lineal championship, Foreman defended against Crawford Grimsley and Lou Savarese before losing to Shannon Briggs. Briggs lost to Lennox Lewis in 1998, thus preserving the lineage.

 

The pieces of the belt meanwhile flew about. Lennox Lewis claimed the WBC version in 1997 when he won a bizarre fight against Oliver McCall, when McCall simply stopped fighting. The highlight of Lewis' claim no doubt was an impressive KO victory over Andrew Golota. Golota had established himself with two DQ losses to Riddick Bowe.

 

 

On the other side of the ledger, Mike Tyson returned and steamrolled his way to two titles. The highlight coming when Tyson beat up some jobber named Bruce Seldon.

 

 

With Tyson knocking out boxing simply with the wind of his missed blows, most assumed that Tyson would make short work of Evander Holyfield. Ring Magazine predicted a first round KO for Tyson.

 

 

Let's skip over the atrocity that was Holyfield-Tyson II. Holyfield followed that up with a TKO over Michael Moorer, and decision win over Vaughn Bean. Finally, Holyfield met up with Lennox Lewis in March of 1999. Holyfield held the WBA and IBF belts, Lennox held the WBC and lineal championships. It was a true unification bout.

 

 

The rematch settled things.

 

 

As we leave the 1990s, Lennox Lewis is the undisputed heavyweight champion. No matter what the alphabet organizations say, he is the champ until he either loses or he retires.

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I think after the 2000 episode, I'll open up another post for great non-title heavyweight fights. That'll be an opportunity to post Foreman-Lyle, Bowe-Golota II, Marciano-Louis, and other goodness.

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A little interesting bit of trivia going back to Baer beating Carnera in 1934. The year before, Baer and Carnera fought on the big screen in the movie "The Prizefighter and the Lady". In the film, they fight to a draw. However, Baer sees some of Carnera's fighting style and gets his manager to get him the fight for the championship the following year when Baer drops Carnera 12 times enroute to winning.

 

It's a shame Michael Spinks didn't do more and put out more of an effort, he would have been a very solid threat to Tyson had he pushed himself.

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Guest Agent of Oblivion
Lennox Lewis claimed the WBC version in 1997 when he won a bizarre fight against Oliver McCall, when McCall simply stopped fighting.

 

...and started crying and generally went batshit insane. Let's not forget this.

 

crying2rl.jpg

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What a bizarre stretch for Lewis that was. First he had that McCall fiasco. Then he fought Henry Akinwande in a fight where Akinwande was actually DQ'ed for holding too much. And then a one round KO of Andrew Golota.

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Guest Agent of Oblivion

That Akinwande fight might be the worst fight I ever saw. Worst championship fight, at least.

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Bruce Seldon, pathetic as he often was, did beat the shit out of Joe Hipp on the undercard of Tyson-McNeely. That was brutal.

 

1788562.jpg

 

I think Lewis is underrated now but will move up on all-time lists as the years go by. He was lucky to get Holyfield before he became a complete shell and history will smile on Lewis for being so desperately ducked by Riddick Bowe. The Tyson ko wont mean all that much, but the wins over Ruddock, Morrisson, Briggs, Golota, Botha, Tua, Grant, and Vitali are all going to help his standing.

 

There might not have been a less lucky champ than Lennox Lewis. Bowe completely evaded him (even throwing a championship belt in the garbage can to avoid a fight) and so did Tyson until he was shopworn and needed a big check. His second, and best, run with the title got off to as bad a start as is imaginable with the disgraceful McCall fight (this is extra bad for Lennox because he didnt get to fully make up for the earlier loss to McCall as he would get to with Rachman) and then he defended it against the unrelentingly awful Akinwande. He had to slog through twelve rounds with Zelko Mavrovich as well before he got to Holyfield and a run of credible wins (minus one of the biggest upsets in boxing) that continued until his retirement.

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Guest

The Bowe-Holyfield trilogy was something. Best trilogy of my lifetime, I'd say, but Barrera-Morales runs close with it. There are so few fights worthy of having rematches that I can't see another one happening for quite some time. Guys grab belts after a loss and use them as excuses to avoid coming into contact with guys who have given them the business. Call out guys for weeks while overlooking the guy who cleaned you out. Like Margarito is doing with Williams. That's bitch shit.

 

Holyfield-Lewis I was not a draw in any universe. That fight hurt Lennox's legacy a fair bit. Bad judging decisions always hurt boxing.

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I hope that Holyfield-Lewis 1 ends up in the collective memory like RJJ at the Olympics or Pernell Whitaker's 2 earliest jobs, where most just remember the result as it should have been. Might not be possible, though. That was such a huge fight at the time. It was popular and drew mainstream attention that looked like it might possibly eclipse Tyson's ear-biting thing and Lewis' unfortunate begininnigs for his second title run. I think there was about two million ppv buys. The fight ended up being rather dull but the consolation was there, we had seen a major spectacle and a new undisputed heavyweight champion was gonig to be crowned. Lewis was denied his biggest victory on the biggest stage; boxing took an embarassing hit I don't think it has ever recovered from.

 

Oscar De La Hoya running around the ring a few months later really made 1999 a shitty year for boxing.

 

What happens if 1999 panned out like everybody hoped it was going to? What if Lewis gets the decision against Holyfield- do they still rematch? if that a bigger/more meaningful fight, how much better does Lewis look all-time? if no rematch, does Lewis fight again that year? What if Oscar had chosen to fight Tito down the stretch? Would it even matter with this goddam racket?

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