Boxing is one of the most popular sports in the world. We do not want to compare it with soccer or basketball. Yet, in one period of human history, it was definitely the most popular sport. Today, you can find many different fighting sports. Still, boxing is some sort of symbol for this type of sport.
Believe it or not, there are around 20 thousand professional boxers. Logically, not all of them achieved some huge success. You need to work hard and train every day to improve your skills to become a champion.
Anyway, there were many individuals such as Mohammed Ali, Joe Frazier, and many others that are symbols of this sport. Despite that, there are matches that people remember even today. Some of them are 30 years old, but they were so good and people still talk about them.
Grosvenor Casino also made the list of top boxing fights of all time. We also suggest you visit their website as well. Their list inspired us to develop another one.
So, let’s get started.
1. Andy Bowen vs. Jack Burke
Well, the younger generations probably won’t believe in the story about this match. However, you can find many sources online that will confirm the story. Believe it or not, this professional boxing match lasted for 110 rounds. Let’s repeat once again – 110 rounds!
When we translate that into time, this match lasted for 7 hours and 19 minutes. More precisely, this is the longest boxing match in history. The referee had to call the finish a “no contest”.
There is one amazing (or not) fact that is interesting about the fighters. During this fight, Jack Burke and Andy Bowen lost 10 pounds! Yet, time and pounds are not the only reason why this match is so special. This is one of those fights where two boxers show their “won’t-quit” character and nature. We believe that most professional boxers would quit after 15 rounds (maximally).
2. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier
What to say about these two boxers? If you ask us, they are the symbols of this sport. We can compare this with soccer/football. The icons of that sport are Pele, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, etc. The older people that were not fans of this sport during the 70s have also been fans of these two athletes.
Anyway, their fight from 1974 is one that remained popular even today. Many people still look for videos online to check why it is special. Well, the match itself is not the only thing special here.
At that moment, Mohammed Ali was coming out of prison after 3.5 years. Imagine how motivated he was at that moment. After 3.5 years of prison, he was facing the boxer that won the championship while he was in exile. Until that moment, both boxers were undefeated. Since then, something like that has never happened.
Mohammed Ali finished as a winner thanks to his speed. At least, this is something that most of the experts claim and we completely agree.
3. George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali
Well, you have probably heard the phrase “The Rumble in the Jungle” many times. Well, it doesn’t matter if you are a boxing fan or not. This phrase completely describes the match that has been held in Zaire in October of 1974. At that moment, two of the most powerful and iconic boxers faced off. Many people will tell you that this event is the greatest one in the sports industry during the 20th century.
There are several different reasons why this match was special. Believe it or not, Muhammad Ali came as a 4-1 underdog while Foreman has never been beaten until then. It was simply a fight of two gladiators if you ask us. People recognized the importance of this match. The statistics from that time say that around 1 BILLION people were watching this fight.
Another interesting fact is that an award-winning documentary was made on this fight alone. It was published in 1996, 22 years later.
4. Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson
Well, we are sure that you already know who these two guys are. Mike Tyson I also one of the symbols of the entire boxing industry. He had many unbelievable fights during his career. Yet, the one from 1997 against Evander Holyfield is special.
The winner of this match was Evander Holyfield. Yet, he did not become a winner because he was better than Tyson. The reason why he won the match was Tyson’s disqualification. He was disqualified because he bitted off the part of Holyfield’s ear. This unbelievable thing happened in the third round. Logically, after this move, Tyson lost his boxing license.
5. Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward
This match is one of the newest in our list because it is held in 2002. Many boxing experts claim that this fight is one of the three greatest fights of all time. We need to agree because we believe this is one of the most brutal matches in boxing history. We encourage you to check online the videos of this match and see why we say this.
The entire fight seemed like a war. Yet, the brutality of the match is not the only thing that people remember. Both fighters have shown their heart and winning spirit. Yet, just because they were brutal, that doesn’t mean they did show mutual respect and admiration. They did the terrible things to each other in the ring. Yet, these two guys remained friends outside of it. This is a good example of how fighters should act.
6. Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao
Here we come to a match that has been organized in 2015. We are sure that even the youngest generations remember this match. Most of you probably remember the build-up to this fight more than the fight itself.
Believe it or not, this match generated 400 million dollars and 4.6 million pay-per-view buys. It is the highest-grossing fight in boxing history. That is the reason why we think that this fight deserves to be on this list.
Still, we need to say that expectations were high, but the delivery was low. This match proves how important the power of hype actually is. The modern boxing is focused a lot on build-ups.
