Both ESPN and Showtime will be airing classic fights on their platforms this week.
Boxing fans who miss sitting in front of their TVs and watching exciting fights will have their fill the next few days.
Both ESPN and Showtime will be airing classic fights on their platforms.
Seven hours of classic heavyweight fights will be featured on ESPN2 tomorrow (April 7) beginning at 7 p.m. ET with three of Muhammad Ali’s most memorable fights, against George Foreman, his third fight with Joe Frazier and his second fight with Leon Spinks.
Then, at 10:30 p.m. ET, comes a series of Mike Tyson fights, against Trevor Berbick, Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks and Buster Douglas.
And, finally, at 1 a.m. ET, the fight between Foreman and Evander Holyfield will air.
Meanwhile, Showtime Boxing Classics will be televised on three consecutive Friday nights beginning on April 10. The first Friday will feature Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo I and II; on April 17, Paulie Ayala vs. Johnny Tapia I and II; and, on April 24, Lucas Matthysse vs. John Molina and Mickey Bey vs. Molina.
The telecasts will also be available via the Showtime streaming service and Showtime Anytime.
In “Our Favorites,” each of the Boxing Junkie staffers gives you his three favorite fights to fill the void left by canceled live fights.
Boxing Junkies must be going through withdrawals right about now.
The fans are accustomed to several servings of their favorite sport each week. These days, with the spread of the coronavirus worldwide, there is a gaping void because live cards are being postponed or canceled every day.
What is a boxing fan to do?
Well, with your suffering in mind, we decided to put together “Our Favorites” to help you get your fix of the sweet science. Boxing Junkie staffers Michael Rosenthal, Norm Frauenheim and Sean Nam will give you their three favorite boxing matches, three favorite boxing movies and three favorite boxing books.
Today: boxing matches.
MICHAEL ROSENTHAL
Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III
Date / site: Oct. 1, 1975 / Quezon City, Philippines
Result: Ali TKO 14
Ali said after his third fight with his arch rival that “It was like death. Closest thing to dyin’ that I know of.” That gives you an idea of the brutality of the Thrilla in Manila. Ali and Frazier gave and took hard punches at a feverish rate in spite of the stifling heat in the arena, which Frazer guessed reached 120 degrees. They both grew weary but Frazier declined more rapidly than Ali, who handed out a vicious beating in Round 14. The great Eddie Futch, Frazier’s trainer, stopped it there to protect his beaten fighter. Thus ended arguably the greatest heavyweight fight ever.
Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns
Date / site: April 15, 1985 / Las Vegas
Result: Hagler TKO 3
Hagler vs. Hearns had to the most-action packed fight ever pound-for-pound … er, round-for-round. The fighters, two of the biggest punchers of all time, gave fans a classic opening stanza in which hard, accurate punches flew at a breathtaking rate. Hagler continued to attack with one thing in mind in Round 2 and Hearns – trying to box at times but unable to keep Hagler off him – returned fire. Then, in Round 3, Hagler landed a right to the side of Hearns’ head and then a straight right that took him out. Never was more mayhem packed into two-plus rounds.
Archie Moore vs. Yvon Durelle I
Date / site: Dec. 12, 1958 / Montreal
Result: Moore KO 11
Moore vs. Durelle might be the best example of resilience in the history of the sport. The 40-something “Old Mongoose,” defending his light heavyweight title, went down hard three times in the opening round a once more in Round 5 at the hands of his rugged Canadian challenger. It wasn’t a matter of “if” Moore would lose his title but “when.” Well, when never came. Moore somehow tapped into a deep reservoir of energy, turned the tide and put a fading Durelle down four times before referee Jack Sharkey finally counted him out 49 seconds into Round 11. Moore, an all-time great, had many special performances. None of the others could top this.
***
NORM FRAUENHEIM
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns I Date / site: Sept. 16, 1981 / Las Vegas Result: Leonard TKO 14
From rock-and-roll to vintage cars, classic is an overused word. It’s another sales pitch. But there’s only one Leonard-Hearns I. It’s a standard, a reference point for what classic really means. It was a fight in which the welterweights switched styles. The boxer, Leonard, became the stalker. The puncher, Hearns, became the boxer. Leonard won. So did everybody who watched.
Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo I Date / site: May 7, 2005 / Las Vegas Result: Corrales TKO 10
Some fights are dramatic. Some violent. Castillo-Corrales was more. The lightweight bout was spontaneous combustion. The first nine rounds were Fight-of-the-Year worthy. Then, boom, the 10th. Castillo knocks down Corrales. Castillo drops him again. Then Corrales lands a right and follows with a blinding succession of blows. It’s over. Corrales never won again. He died two years later, to the day, in a motorcycle accident.
Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto Gonzalez I Date / site: March 13, 1993 / Las Vegas Result: Carbajal KO 7
They were Lords of the Flies. Still are. Two little guys came up big in a bout that led to rematches and a million dollars for each, a money milestone still unequaled for 108-pounders. Carbajal got knocked down twice, in the second round and fifth. He looked finished. He wasn’t, knocking out Gonzalez in the seventh with a right-left combo with deadly efficiency.
***
SEAN NAM
Mike McCallum vs. James Toney I
Date / site: Dec. 13, 1991 / Atlantic City, New Jersey
Result: SD D 12
Skill these days seems to be a byword for being cute in the ring, but as veteran McCallum and rising star Toney showed in their middleweight title bout in 1991, skill at that time meant mean business. Altogether, both fighters threw more than 1,700 punches in their highly technical, but entertaining donnybrook. There was some controversy on the scorecards – the fight was ruled a draw – but make no mistake: There were no losers.
Timothy Bradley vs. Ruslan Provodnikov Date / site: March 16, 2013 / Carson, California
Result: Bradley UD 12
Some fights simultaneously enthrall you and make you wince. This was one of them. For a fighter who had just outboxed Manny Pacquiao (albeit controversially) and would go on to dominate Juan Manuel Marquez in his next bout, Bradley decided to go toe-to-toe against Provodnikov, a relentless pressure fighter from Siberia. Bradley, who was dangerously wobbled several times, managed to get the slight nod on the scorecards. But the damage both fighters incurred? Only they know.
Roberto Duran vs. Iran Barkley Date / site: Feb. 24, 1989 / Atlantic City, New Jersey
Result: Duran SD 12
It was Roberto Duran’s last hurrah before his inevitable decline. And what a show he put on that blustery night against a deadly threat in Iran Barkley. It didn’t matter that Duran had been somewhat irrelevant the previous five years. Or that he was a career lightweight now trying to make his mark at middleweight. When the bell rang, Duran was in vintage form, showing all the guile and chutzpah that formed his reputation over the previous decade. It was a close affair, however. A late knockdown courtesy of three well-timed right hands helped Duran seal the fight in his favor.
Here are 10 reasons the Deontay Wilder-Tyson rematch on Saturday in Las Vegas is special.
Fans are excited about the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch Saturday in Las Vegas for many reasons.
One is that the fight will determine the No. 1 heavyweight in the world, with apologies to the recently knocked out Anthony Joshua. The winner at the MGM Grand Garden Arena can legitimately claim to be the baddest man on the planet.
Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) rebounded from the 2018 draw with Fury by eviscerating Dominic Breazeale and then Luis Ortiz to stake a solid claim as the top heavyweight. Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs), who many believe deserved the victory in his first fight with Wilder, defeated Tom Schwarz and then Otto Wallin after the draw.
That set up one of the most-compelling heavyweight fights in recent years, one that seems to be 50-50 on paper.
Here are 10 reasons this matchup is special.
ZEROES IN THE LOSS COLUMN
OK, the fighters don’t have perfect records like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier did going into their classic first fight. They are undefeated, though, with only a draw from their first fight marring their ledgers. They are a combined 71-0-2. Think about that: 73 fights, no losses. And it’s not as if they’ve avoided the better heavyweights of today. They haven’t. Wilder’s defining victories have come against talented Cuban Luis Ortiz. Fury stunned the world by dominating Wladimir Klitschko to win the heavyweight championship in 2015. The only problem? One of them is very likely to get that first loss on Saturday.
THE RIVALRY
Fans love rivalries. Mention Ali-Frazier, Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward or Erik Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera to a boxing aficionado and he or she will respond with a sigh and a broad smile, so riveting were these series of fights. We enjoyed Wilder-Fury I, mostly because of the late knockdowns – one in the ninth, the big one in the 12th – and Fury’s surprising ability to survive them. The controversial split-decision draw only added to the dramatic nature of the first installment. Indeed, Act I of Wilder vs. Fury was compelling in the end. And when fans enjoy Act I, they want to see Act II … and possibly Act III, which is in the contract. Stay tuned.
CONTROVERSY
Fury fans are still angry over the decision in the first fight. Aside from the rounds in which Fury went down, they argue, he controlled almost every moment of the fight. A draw? BS. It’s no wonder that Fury says he can’t win a decision in the U.S. Wilder fans don’t accept that. With the two 10-8 rounds, Wilder had to have won only three of the remaining 10 rounds to earn a draw. To suggest that notion is outrageous is … well, outrageous. After all, in a number of rounds, neither fighter did much of anything. Several certainly could’ve gone either way. A draw? Yes, that was reasonable. Here’s the bottom line: Wilder and Fury have some unfinished business.
FURY’S SKILL SET
Sometimes lost amid Fury’s colorful (sometimes too colorful) personality and giant stature is the fact the man is a tremendous athlete with an unusual skill set and boxing IQ. That’s not to say he’s the next coming of Floyd Mayweather. That wouldn’t be a fair comparison. However, for a man who is a towering 6 feet, 9 inches – the same height as LeBron James – he moves and boxes remarkably well. No one could do to Wladimir Klitschko what Fury did in 2015. He was brilliant. And he did outbox Wilder for most of their fight. Of course, he got caught by some big punches in the end. We’ll see whether the master boxer can make adjustments to avoid danger this time.
WILDER’S POWER
The single most-compelling thing in boxing is the right hand of Deontay Wilder, who has stopped all but one of the opponents he has faced — Fury. His one-punch knockouts of Dominic Breazeale and Luis Ortiz since the first Fury fight have been nothing short of breathtaking. Where does the power come from? Only God knows. And unfortunately for Fury and future opponents, as Teddy Atlas has pointed out, Wilder seems to have polished the delivery system for his missile. Breazeale and Ortiz went down as if they had been shot, not punched. It’s no wonder that Wilder has the highest knockout percentage (95) in history.
50-50 ON PAPER
The ideal fight is one that’s difficult to predict. Wilder-Fury II certainly falls into that category. Most observers believe strongly that one of two things will happen on Saturday night: Either Wilder will continue his run of knockouts by stopping Fury, or Fury, the superior boxer, will do what he did most of the first fight but this time emerge with a victory on the scorecards. And it’s nearly impossible to say which scenario is more likely. That’s why, according to BetMGM, Wilder-Fury II is essentially a tossup. That’s how every fight should be, right?
INTERNATIONAL NATURE
The Wilder-Fury fight would be a big event regardless of the fighters’ home nations. The fact one is American and the other British only makes it bigger, an international event that underscores that fact that boxing has no borders. Of course, this is the new norm for the sport. American heavyweights once ruled the division with an iron fist. However, since the arrival of Lennox Lewis, important U.S. vs. U.K. heavyweight matchups are common. Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr. comprise another recent heavyweight series. Many people are saying this is the biggest heavyweight fight in the U.S. since Lewis vs. Mike Tyson in 2002 in Memphis. Sounds right.
THE FIGHTERS’ PERSONALITIES
Promoter Bob Arum compared Fury to Ali in terms of his ability to promote a fight. That’s a hell of a compliment. And it’s spot on. Fury’s willingness to talk about the battles with his own demons and sense of humor – mixed with occasional crude comments – have resonated with fans worldwide. Meanwhile, Wilder is no shrinking violent. He, too, is open about his story – including the illness of his daughter – and can be lighthearted. He also is unusually accessible, giving interviews to almost anyone who asks for them. They’re both fun to be around. And they certainly have done their parts to sell the fight to the public.
THEIR AGES
The fighters are neither on the rise nor in decline; they’re in their primes. Wilder is 34 and Fury is 31, which is young for heavyweights these days. This shouldn’t be underappreciated. Too many big fights feature an “A” side who uses his leverage to gain some sort of advantage over the “B” side, mostly at lower weights. That isn’t the case with Wilder-Fury II. They are both peaking, both fit, both determined to seal their legacies as two of the best heavyweights of this era. These are the ingredients of a special matchup.
THE STAKES
Wilder will be defending his portion of the heavyweight championship, which is important to the fighters and those who make money from titles. This one is bigger than that. As we stated earlier, this fight will likely determine the No. 1 heavyweight in the world and greatly enhance the legacy of the winner. It will also lead either to a lucrative third fight in the series or a massive showdown with Anthony Joshua to remove any doubt whatsoever about who is the king of boxing. Yes, this fight is a big deal by boxing standards.
The Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury fight probably isn’t the biggest fight since the 1970s, as Fury suggested, but the hype has been monumental.
LAS VEGAS – Exaggerated expectations are a sure sign of an approaching opening bell and they were there when Tyson Fury arrived at the MGM Grand on Tuesday, four days before his heavyweight rematch with Deontay Wilder.
It’s a fight in search of historical parallels. How does it compare to other legendary heavyweight bouts in the division’s fabled history?
The comparisons have gone from moderate to top of the scale. There’s nothing bigger than Ali-Frazier, a modern standard for rivalries across sports and culture.
“Me and Wilder, this has to be the biggest heavyweight fight since the 1970s,’’ Fury told reporters Tuesday after arriving at the MGM Grand. “Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier, 1971, about 50 years ago. It took a while to get another massive heavyweight fight.’’
Tyson Fury believes his rematch with Deontay Wilder on Saturday in Las Vegas is the biggest heavyweight fight since the 1970s. Mikey Williams / Top Rank
Actually, there have been at least a couple. There was Anthony Joshua’s stoppage of Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 people at London’s Wembley Stadium in April 2017.
There was the fight that set up this rematch, the Wilder-Fury draw on Dec. 1 2018 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.
When Wilder-Fury II was first announced, the operating parallel was Lennox Lewis’ eight-round stoppage of Mike Tyson in June 2002 in Memphis.
But there has been nothing quite like the promotional build-up for Wilder-Fury II. There were Super Bowl ads. There was a Fury appearance during the semifinals of the college football playoffs. It’s been unprecedented. You can only wonder what Frazier-Ali I, won by Frazier, would been like with the same kind of marketing.
It’s enough for Fury’s co-promoter, Bob Arum, to predict two million customers for the ESPN/Fox pay-per-view telecast. There might be some exaggeration in that projection, too. But Fury’s other co-promoter, Frank Warren, thinks it is possible.
“Look, it’s an exciting fight,’’ Warren said. “I hope that’s going to be the case. Think about it. When did you have a fight this significant? Go back, let’s say to when Lennox Lewis was fighting Mike Tyson. Tyson was shot. Lewis was the guy. Go back to when Larry Holmes fought Tyson. Holmes was shot.
“These guys are at the top of their game. This is the best fighting the best today. It’s not the past fighting the new guy.’’
Eddie Hearn says a possible fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury might belong in the U.K. but it likely wouldn’t land there.
Boxing is going global for a pretty simple reason. Follow the money.
Promoter Eddie Hearn says a possible fight between heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury might belong in the U.K. Look at their passports. Look at their birth certificates. Both are British. But allegiances have a price tag these days. If and when there’s a Joshua-Fury fight, Hearn looks at a bottom line that takes him elsewhere.
Would Joshua-Fury happen in the U.K.?
“No, it won’t,’’ Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, told iFL TV. “I can’t see how it does.
“For me, it should happen in the U.K. And if there’s a way to do it, we’ll do it. But the problem is the money that could be generated, because the government here don’t invest in bringing mega events to the U.K. They don’t necessarily need to.’’
Hearn might already be staking out a negotiating position for a massive site fee for a fight that could take on further historical significance if Fury beats Deontay Wilder Feb. 22 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. If Joshua also wins a possible mandatory title defense against Kubrat Pulev in a bout still under negotiation, a Joshua-Fury fight for the undisputed heavyweight title looms.
For now, however, Saudi Arabia looks more likely than London. What’s next? The 2021 Super Bowl in Qatar? Baseball’s 2022 World Series in Beijing?
Boxing is different, of course. It’s been on the road longer than the modern Olympics. World titles should mean what they say. Muhammad Ali became a worldwide celebrity with fights in Africa, Ireland, Indonesia and the Philippines. Fury and Joshua wouldn’t be the first heavyweights to fight outside of their own country. Ali fought fellow American George Foreman in Zaire. He fought fellow American Joe Frazier in a rematch in the Philippines.
The game is going global all over again, Hearn says, because countries are willing to invest “a huge pot of money” for fights as a way to stimulate tourism.
“Do you think that I go up to the guys and say: ‘Guys, you can make $150 million to do it in Saudi or $40 million in the U.K., but Dave on Twitter says ‘you’ve got to do it in England.’
Anthony Joshua on sparring with Tyson Fury: “I know I can take my notes and go back when I’m ready to fight him and correct all my wrongs.”
It’s a novel idea. Perhaps naïve, too. But Anthony Joshua still says he’ll work as a sparring partner for Tyson Fury in Fury’s training camp for a rematch with Deontay Wilder, scheduled for Feb. 22.
Champions have long employed rising prospects and emerging contenders as sparring partners. Muhammad Ali sparred with Larry Holmes. But he didn’t spar with Joe Frazier or George Foreman.
Wladimir Klitschko sparred with Wilder and Joshua. But Holmes, Wilder and Joshua hadn’t developed into titleholders or even true contenders at the time they sparred with the reigning champs of their respective eras.
It’s unusual for rivals, both champions in their own right, to spar.
Joshua has all but one of the major acronym belts. Fury says he is the lineal champ, a claim based on his victory over Klitschko on Nov. 28. 2015 in Germany. They are U.K. rivals for what some are already calling the Battle of Britain. If the battle is destined to happen, wouldn’t Joshua in Fury’s camp be a little bit like the Germans joining the Brits on maneuvers before World War II?
But Joshua hasn’t withdrawn his offer to Fury. Meanwhile, Fury is already on record as saying he would welcome him into his camp.
“It’s all for experience at the end of the day,’’ Joshua told Sky Sports this week. “What I learned from myself and who I am – if I make a mistake once, I don’t make it again. With Fury, sparring him for the first time, maybe for my benefit. I might go in there and just batter him around the ring or he might batter me around the ring.
“If that is the case, I know I can take my notes and go back when I’m ready to fight him and correct all my wrongs. Everyone’s like ‘you wouldn’t do it.’ But no one knows how my brain works. Everyone talks from their own experiences, and I can only talk from my own.
“So, when I say I’ll go and spar Fury, it’s because I have a plan in my mind that no one will really understand.
“I’ll beat him.”
Which is exactly why Fury might not want him there.
Who are the hardest punching heavyweights in modern history? Here are the Top 10.
Deontay Wilder’s legend continues to grow with every spectacular knockout he delivers. The man can punch.
The Bronze Bomber demonstrated his unusual ability most recently on Nov. 23, when he ended the night of Luis Ortiz with one perfectly timed right hand from hell in the seventh round of a heavyweight championship fight Ortiz was winning on the cards.
But Wilder is hardly the first man to enter the ring with inhuman power. A number of legendary big men over the generations have had the ability to strike down their opponents with one blow as if they were hit a lightning bolt.
Who were the most lethal?
Here is a list of the 10 hardest punching heavyweights of the modern, post-World War II era (from No. 10 to No. 1).
NO. 10 LENNOX LEWIS
KO percentage (of wins): 78
Years active: 1989-2003 Record: 41-2-1 KOs: 32 KOs inside 3 rounds: 16 Notable KO victims: Frank Bruno, Andrew Golota, Oliver McCall, Tommy Morrison, Hasim Rahman, Donovan Rudduck, Mike Tyson Background: Hall of Fame boxing writer Colin Hart paid Lennox Lewis the ultimate compliment in British boxing circles when he wrote about Lewis’ knockout of Razor Ruddock in 1992. Lewis put Ruddock down with a monstrous right hand in the first round and then finished the job in Round 2. Wrote Hart for The Sun: “The blow that floored Ruddock in the first round was, without doubt, the best single punch I’ve seen from a British heavyweight since ‘Enery’s ‘Ammer (a reference to Henry Cooper) put Cassius Clay on his backside at Wembley Stadium almost 30 years ago.” Lewis, an Olympic champion who held six major titles over a decade that he dominated, was a complete boxer. He was a good, athletic – especially for a 6-foot-4 man – and clever technician, with one of best jabs of his era. However, his straight right – usually landed from the perfect distance – was his calling card. When it landed flush, his fights generally changed in an instant. The Ruddock punch, the one that ended Hasim Rahman’s night in their rematch and the shots that led to Mike Tyson’s demise stand out but many more are noteworthy. One sparring partner reportedly said: “The man hit like a tank.” More quotes: Graham Houston wrote for ESPN.com: “There were fights in which Lewis was frustratingly hesitant, but when he stepped in and really let the right hand fly he was one of heavyweight boxing’s most potent practitioners.” … TV commentator Max Kellerman once called Lewis “one of the most devastating right-handed punchers in the history of boxing. You don’t think Lennox has historical power in his right fist? OK, who has ever hit harder? George Foreman? Maybe in his first incarnation, when he had more snap on his punches, but then the 1973 version of big George checked in around 220. Lewis has him by nearly 30 pounds. Earnie Shavers? The champ has him by nearly 40. Foreman and Shavers hit harder for their size, but they were significantly smaller.”
Will the rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua join the most-memorable sequels in history? That’s no easy task.
The rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua on Saturday is as compelling as it gets because of their first fight.
Ruiz, a replacement opponent known as much for his paunch as his ability, pulled off one of the great upsets by putting Joshua down four times and stopping him in Round 7 on June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Can Ruiz do it again in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, the site of the rematch? Or will Joshua have made the necessary adjustments and avenge his career-changing setback?
Of course, we can only imagine whether Ruiz-Joshua II will live up to the original. Some sequels are as good or better than the first fight, some fall short.
Here are 10 heavyweight rematches – or third fights – that remain in our consciousness for reasons unique to each of the fights.
Deontay Wilder pulled even with Muhammad Ali at No. 5 on the list of successful defenses in a single title reign.
Deontay Wilder is climbing the list of heavyweight titleholders with the most successful defenses.
His one-punch knockout of Luis Ortiz on Saturday was the 10th successful defense of his title, which equals Muhammad Ali for No. 5 on the all-time list in a single reign.
Joe Louis, with 25 (or 26 if you accept a ruling by the New York State Athletic Commission), tops the list.
Here is the Top 10 (number of successful defenses in a single reign):
1. Joe Louis – 25*
2. Larry Holmes – 19
3. Wladimir Klitschko – 18
4. Tommy Burns – 11
5T. Muhammad Ali – 10
Deontay Wilder – 10
7T. Joe Frazier – 9
Lennox Lewis – 9
Vitali Klitschko – 9
10. Jack Johnson – 8
Joe Louis’ records for number of successful title defenses seem safe. U.S. Army via AP
Wilder, who has had only one reign as titleholder, also moved up a notch on the list of total successful defenses. Here’s that Top 10:
1. Joe Louis – 25*
2. Wladimir Klitschko – 23
3. Muhammad Ali – 19
4. Larry Holmes – 19
5T. Lennox Lewis – 13
Vitali Klitschko – 13
7. Deontay Wilder – 10
8T. Mike Tyson – 9
Joe Frazier – 9
10. Evander Holyfield – 7
*- A 26th fight during Louis’ reign, against Johnny Davis in 1944, was supposed to be one in a series of exhibitions but the New York State Athletic Commission declared that Louis’ title was at stake.
