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The top fights of all time
There has always been something special about there being heavyweight champion of the world -- the unofficial Toughest Man On Earth. It's raw. It's basic. It touches almost inhuman hidden wellsprings of fear and anger and resilience in those who vie for it.
Tonight, another chapter on the heavyweight story will be written when Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis collide.
Say what you will about boxing, it has produced some of the most indelible sporting moments of the last hundred years.
Here, in descending order, and based on ferocity, significance and staying power, are our choices for the Top 10 heavyweight title fights of the century:
10. Jack Johnson-Tommy Burns, TKO 14, Sydney, Australia, 1908: Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion, knocking out Tommy Burns (who would later live in Calgary) after chasing him around the globe in search of a title shot. To save Burns from the humiliation of being literally battered to the canvas by a black man, white police stormed the ring and stopped the bout.
9. Rocky Marciano-Jersey Joe Walcott, KO 13, Sept. 23, 1952, Philadelphia: The Brockton Bull, still the only man to retire holding the heavyweight championship, and undefeated, gets his hands on the title he would never relinquish by KOing champion Jersey Joe after being behind the entire fight. It would be the closest Marciano would come to losing.
8. Muhammad Ali-George Foreman, Kinsasha, Zaire, KO 8, heavyweight title: The birth of the "Rope-A-Dope". The aging Ali, a prohibitive underdog, tamed the most relentless killing machine since Sonny Liston, tiring Foreman out by hanging on the ropes and absorbing punishment. In the eighth, with Foreman spent, Ali bounced off the ropes and finished in classic style to regain the heavyweight championship.
7. Gene Tunney-Jack Dempsey II, 15 RD decision, Sept. 27, 1927, Chicago: The famous long-count fight, in which Dempsey knocked Tunney down in the seventh and refused to go to a neutral corner. Tunney beat the count, but had been on the canvas 17 seconds by the time the confusion ended. Tunney waited for his head to clear, stayed away from the Manassa Mauler the rest of the way and retained his title.
6. Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston: Brash, big-mouthed, beautiful Cassius Clay burst onto the world stage, proclaiming "I am The Greatest!" and then backing it up against the apparently invincible Liston. Showing foot and hand speed unknown before in a heavyweight, Clay completely bewildered "the big, ugly Bear", survived a seventh round in which liniment inadvertently got into his eyes, temporarily blinding him.
5. Jack Dempsey-Luis Angel Firpo, KO 2 at New York, 1923, heavyweight title: Not long in duration but almost unparalleled for action. Dempsey-Firpo unfolded quickly with each fighter scoring a knockdown with his first punch. Firpo was decked seven times and Dempsey twice (once knocked through the ropes), unbelievably, in the first round!
4. Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier I, New York City, Decision 15: Two undefeated heavyweights, the so-called "Fight of the Century" a phrase now cheapened that one night lived up to its billing; a bout that Seth Abraham of Time Warner Sports says if put in a time capsule and promoted today would gross $200 million US. Frazier kept his title; Ali, back after being stripped of his title three years earlier for refusing the draft, got off his butt from a 15th round knockdown and finished on his feet.
3. Joe Louis-Max Schmeling (II), KO 1 at New York, 1938, heavyweight title: Not a great fight, but a truly historic evening, one reverberating with political overtones. Ironically, Louis, who was refused service at white restaurants in his homeland, was portrayed as America's champion, pitted against the Aryan superiority doctrine of Hitler, in the unwitting guise of Schmeling. It went far beyond a sporting event. This bout triggered sportswriter Jimmy Cannon's now-famous line of Louis: "He's a credit to his race; the human race."
2. Joe Louis-Billy Conn I, KO 13 at New York, 1941, heavyweight title: Louis-Conn I remains a classic fight for both its story line and action. Conn moved up in weight after relinquishing the light heavyweight title to fight arguably the finest heavyweight in history. Conn, a slick boxer, was ahead on points after 12 gruelling rounds and Louis was in trouble. The only thing that saved Conn was his crazy desire to KO Louis, when he clearly had him beaten by decision. When later asked about his foolhardy tactic, Conn replied: "What's the point in being Irish if you can't be stupid?"
1. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III, at Manila, Philippines, KO 14: For sheer unrelenting savagery, this, the third fight in the Ali-Frazier trilogy, was a terrible, almost hypnotic lesson in courage and ferocity. It evolved into a drama in three acts: Act I: Ali. Act II: Frazier. Act III: Ali. It ended with Frazier, both eyes nearly totally closed, being told to sit on his stool at the start of Round 14 by his trainer, Eddie Futch. "Lawdy, lawdy, he's great," mumbled Frazier of Ali after the fight. But the description fit them both.
HONOURABLE MENTION: Larry Holmes-Ken Norton; Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas; Riddick Bowe-Evander Holyfield I; Joe Frazier-George Foreman I; Louis-Schmeling I; Jack Johnson-James Jeffries.