My Top Ten greatest wins of alltime...

First topic message reminder :

Always think the best wins are when you're not only beating a top fighter but a reputation as well...........Winning in the face of adversity before and during is a noble achievement........

1. Ali v Foreman............

2. Holyfield v Tyson.......Tyson was a two time champ who'd just destroyed Bruno and seldon and Holy was coming of a ko defeat...

3. Leonard v Hagler.......P4p number 1 loses to a three year out welterweight..

4. Tunney v Dempsey....Dempsey had a great reputation and Tunney wasn't a heavyweight......

5. Spinks v Qawi..........Qawi was a ferocious beast.........Spinks had lost his Wife a couple of weeks earlier and was crying with his daughter before the fight...When she was asking where Mummy was..

6. Hagler v Hearns.......For most of us Hearns - Duran was a frightening destruction. Not only did Hagler shake off the right but was badly cut and still wouldn't take no for an answer !!

7. Ali v Liston..........Bit like number 1...........Only Ali was much younger........and Liston slightly off peak..

8. Nunn v Tate........A guy who'd just shut out the talented Olajide and won an Olympic gold..Made to look like a complete novice..

9. Corbett v John L Sullivan .......Sullivan was feared throughout America.............Didn't win a round.....

10. Duran v Leonard...........Whilst Leonard fought the wrong fight and a minority thought he won........For a lightweight to move up to welter and win a decision against for me a Top 5 alltimer...............Credit where it's due........

Honorable mentions to Douglas - Tyson..........Sanchez - Gomez.........Braddock v Baer............Turpin v Robbo...........

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Atila wrote:

milkyboy wrote:... As the great mcilvanney said before the fight, it was a mismatch. If he said it, it must have been. For Leonard to get past the first bell was an achievement, regardless of marv's attempts to engineer his own downfall 

Well Mcilvanney was wrong. Whoever thought that Leonard couldn't put up a fight didn't think logically..

That is just crap, Mate.....

In his last fight before Hagler...Leonard was decked and struggled with trial horse Kevin Howard....Then he's out for three years and doesn't even take a tune up....

Hagler was a huge favorite and rightly so..

Complete baloney !!

Ehhh? Calm down Truss. Where did I say that Hagler wasn't the favourite going into the fight?

I never read any comment by any sports writer that thought Leonard couldn't at least put up a show. Obviously, a fighter who hasn't fought for three years isn't going to be favourite going into a fight with a guy like Hagler. Colin Hart who wrote for The Sun newspaper picked Leonard on points. I think Tommy Hearns and Mark Breland did too. My point again is that anyone who thought that Leonard wouldn't put up a fight were wrong. Being out for three years doesn't make a fighter useless, especially a fighter like Leonard who was the younger man.

Especially as Leonard hung around until Hagler was showing wear and tear.

Honestly, before the fight, I thought Leonard had bitten off more than he could chew. Hagler might have had a struggle with Mugabi but he still out beasted the beast, and Mugabi was unbeaten then and had a real go. I knew Leonard was good enough and brave enough to hang around a bit, but thought marv would be too strong.

So fair play Atila, if you saw it coming fella, or at least expected it to be close. You've picked a few who called it, but they were drowned by those who didn't... And  Colin hart's just an old romantic who liked the comeback underdog... He called Ali foreman and Leonard hagler... But he also called Ali to beat Holmes.  

Unlike Thai massages, Boxing comebacks rarely have a happy ending... Something Leonard was to find out himself later. Though obviously its fair comment that Leonard was far younger at this comeback than most guys doing it.

milkyboy wrote:Honestly, before the fight, I thought Leonard had bitten off more than he could chew. Hagler might have had a struggle with Mugabi but he still out beasted the beast, and Mugabi was unbeaten then and had a real go. I knew Leonard was good enough and brave enough to hang around a bit, but thought marv would be too strong.

So fair play Atila, if you saw it coming fella, or at least expected it to be close. You've picked a few who called it, but they were drowned by those who didn't... And  Colin hart's just an old romantic who liked the comeback underdog... He called Ali foreman and Leonard hagler... But he also called Ali to beat Holmes.  

Unlike Thai massages, Boxing comebacks rarely have a happy ending... Something Leonard was to find out himself later. Though obviously its fair comment that Leonard was far younger at this comeback than most guys doing it.

I'm no expert milky, I just wasn't expecting Hagler to blow Leonard away, so I wasn't surprised that he didn't. I did think he won it though, but you know that already.

However, I did feel that a fast fighter would cause Hagler problems after I saw him fight Mugabi, and I would have been nervous if Hagler had fought Herol Graham. Hagler v Graham in 1987 wouldn't have been pretty for Hagler, it's a styles and timing thing.

Same odds as Clay - Liston.............

Atila is just a monday morning quarterback..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Same odds as Clay - Liston.............

Atila is just a monday morning quarterback..

Not at all Truss, I just never predict blow outs. I picked Hagler too,  just didn't expect it to be a walk in the park for him.

Surely you can see that even though people picked Hagler to win, it doesn't mean that all of them expected the fight to be totally one sided?

A few people thought at the time that graham would have been trouble for hagler. He would certainly have been awkward for a while. I guess you can say there's an argument that hagler at that time was no better than the mccallum graham went to the wire with a few years later. On balance though, for me, Herol would have found a way to lose.

Hagler v Leonard is the only fight I can remember when the people who call it a robbery only have the other guy winning by 7-5............