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A few weeks ago, Islam Makhachev thrashed Renato Moicano and arguably became the best P2P (pound-for-pound) fighter in UFC’s history. Honestly speaking, I belong to Khabib’s camp and was a little worried about the match outcome.
Anyway, I was seamlessly streaming the fight on Xfinity Internet, and from the first bell, it became evident that Islam would successfully defend his title. And, even though Islam came out victorious, I wasn’t overwhelmed to see the bout as there was no drama, knockdowns, ugly fouls, or blood-lust rivalry.
This series was a quick realization of how great boxing matches were in the past. So, why don’t we reminisce about some of the epic boxing matches that the world has witnessed over the years?
- Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera (November 27th, 2004)
Title(s) on the Line: WBC Super Featherweight Title
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Result: Barrera won by a majority decision
Sometimes, it only takes a single match or a presser for fighters to establish their authority over their rivals. But sometimes, they take it too far and then, a trilogy happens. The same was the case with Erik Morales and Antonio Barrera when they rumbled for the third time in 5 years.
In the previous meetings, both Erik and Barrera had dusted each other once. As the world wanted to know the best among the two quality Mexicans, the fighters had everything at stake. As expected, the two fighters showed no mercy and the fans quickly realized that no love was lost between them.
Both the fighters stood tall till the final bell and it was Barrera who came out victorious. This win for Barrera established him as the WBC super featherweight champion and marked the ending of his famous bout with his Mexican peer; Erik Morales.
Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao (May 2nd, 2015)
Title(s) on the Line: WBA (Unified), WBC, WBO, and The Ring Welterweight Titles
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, USA.
Result: Floyd Mayweather won by unanimous decision.
Even before facing each other in the ring, Mayweather and Pacquiao were already considered the greats of boxing. Mayweather was undefeated while Pacquiao had established himself as the best south-paw fighter of his era.
Besides being the best fighters of their time, their bout reportedly generated around $600 million in revenue, and to this date, it’s the highest-grosser for any boxing match.
As fans had high hopes for this high-profile fight, it rather started a bit slow. Mayweather, being a true defensive artist, blocked Pacquiao’s attack one after the other. In the meanwhile, he successfully jabbed and punched Pacquiao which surely slowed him down in the last rounds of the bout.
With the final bell, it was in the judge's hands to decide a winner and for putting up the ultimate defensive show, Mayweather was declared winner unanimously by all the judges. Nevertheless, both fighters deserve applause for bestowing fans with a true tactical masterpiece in recent history.
- Floyd Mayweather vs Connor McGregor (August 26th, 2017)
Title on the Line: Money Belt – This title was introduced for this specific event.
Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, USA.
Result: Floyd Mayweather knocked out Connor McGregor in the 10th round.
I still remember how absurd it felt to see this match card. How and why would an MMA fighter (Conor) opt to fight one of the greatest boxers of all time; Floyd Mayweather? Well, proving everyone wrong, not only did Conor survive for 10 rounds, but also scared Mayweather by launching some really solid punches in the first few rounds.
However, going after Mayweather cost a lot of stamina and Conor was sitting ducks for Mayweather in the last few rounds. As soon as the 10th round started, Conor had no answers to the barrage of punches by Mayweather.
Standing dizzily against the ropes, the ref handed the match to Mayweather. While Mayweather strengthened his unbeaten streak with another win, Conor was truly praised for his heroic efforts in surviving Mayweather’s wrath for 10 rounds.
- Mike Tyson vs Lennox Lewis (June 8th, 2002)
Title on the Line: WBC, IBF, IBO, and The Ring Heavyweight Titles
Venue: The Pyramid, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Result: Lennox Lewis knocked out Mike Tyson in the 8th round.
Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis had a long-standing rivalry before this fight. And the verbal exchanges in the pre-match conferences only fueled their hostility towards each other. It was evident that both the fighters would go to lengths to take the other to the cleaners.
Starting slowly, Lennox took a few blows in the initial rounds of the bout. In the middle, it seemed that the age had caught up to both fighters as both pushed each other to defend themselves. Little did viewers or Tyson know that Lewis was conserving energy to go all out in the last.
And that is exactly what happened as Tyson couldn’t bear Lewis’ counter and was brutally knocked out in the 8th round of the bout. As Tyson had run the show in the press conferences, a defeat in the main event was surely a humiliating and humbling one. I believe this fight potentially ended his career as we never saw him in his true colors afterwards.
- Joe Frazier vs Muhammad Ali (March 8th, 1971)
Title(s) on the Line: WBA, WBC, The Ring, and Lineal Undisputed Heavyweight Titles.
Venue: Maddison Square Garden, New York, USA.
Result: Joe Frazier won by unanimous decision.
I’ve watched Frazier vs Ali highlights several times, and I believe it was one of the most anticipated match cards ever in the history of boxing. Two undefeated fighters, stepping into the ring to taint the record of others. So, a lot was at stake for them as it simply meant that one of them would leave the ring with a tainted record.
Frazier and Ali put their hearts on the line as both stood tall till the final bell. However, the judges handed over the victory to Frazier as he was well on point with his jabs, hooks, and punches. Ali on the other hand was swift as always but troubled to land any effective counter-attack that might have affected his score. Nevertheless, Ali got his revenge after a few years when he massacred Frazier in their third meet-up, which I’ll discuss next.
Bonus Round: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III
It was the last match of the Frazier and Ali trilogy as both fighters had humbled each other once in their previous meet-ups. None of them had a perfect record now, but both had a point to prove; they were better than the other.
Ali, being Ali, played with Frazier’s mind in the initial rounds of the bout. Ali attacked Frazier verbally and physically which eventually enraged Frazier in the middle rounds as Ali had no answers to his counters.
That being said, Frazier was badly injured by Ali’s accurate punches and his corner requested the ref to stop the fight, eventually handing over a win to Ali by TKO.