If Mayweather v Pacquiao bored you, here are five fights of the century so far
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Version 0 of 1. Let’s say you expected the “Fight of the Century” last weekend between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao to be the best fight of this century, at least so far. Unfortunately, you were dreaming. Also, there are 85 more years to go. But since the year 2000, boxing has had its share of brutally dramatic two-way brawls, fights that were far more astounding on the action scale than Mayweather v Pacquiao. One of them might be the best fight ever. Consider this your mouthwash for whatever bad taste is left in your mouth from Saturday’s megafight. Boxing is a great sport, one that can deliver more than one variety of thrill. The best boxing match beats the best of almost anything. Good luck watching and denying it. 5) Akira Yaegashi vs Pornsawan Porpramook There isn’t necessarily a direct link between a fight’s level of prominence and how awesome it is to watch. Indeed, most of the fights on this list were not big smashes in the TV ratings. This one didn’t even appear on TV in the US – it was waged between two Asian fighters, one Japanese and one Thai. It happened in a division so minute that, talking to any non-boxing fan, they laugh at the name and the number: “strawweight,” or a maximum of 105 lbs. It’s actually, by far, the weakest of the five candidates, because it takes until the middle rounds to rocket into the stratosphere. A fight like one of the other instalments in various trilogies or tetralogies below could take its spot, or James Toney v Vassily Jirov. But once it gets going in those middle rounds, it leaps from “solid fight” to “what in the world is happening?” The intensity of the pure slugfest stands the test of time. 4) Erik Morales v Marco Antonio Barrera I Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera are two of the three outstanding Mexican warriors against whom Pacquiao established his reputation (the third being his greatest rival, Juan Manuel Márquez). Against one another, Morales and Barrera produced one of boxing’s all-time great trilogies. Barrera came from a middle class background, Morales from a lower class. One of the weird things about boxing to casual fans is that most boxers don’t remotely dislike one another. They beat each other into a pulp, then hug afterwards. Barrera and Morales despised one another. They even fought when they weren’t being paid to fight. Their first fight was their best, in particular the fifth round. 3) Israel Vázquez vs Rafael Márquez III Rafael Márquez, the brother of Pacquiao rival Juan Manuel, was also a great fighter. The Márquez boys both showed a knack for offensive firepower mixed with clever counterpunching, but of the two, Rafael was the heavier hitter. When he moved up to 122 lbs to meet Vázquez, he was squaring off with a walking drama computer. Would Vázquez be knocked out? Would he be knocked down, then knock his opponent out? Would he be knocked down, then nearly knock his opponent out and lose? Spin the wheel; there was just no way of predicting. They split their first two fights, with Vázquez uncharacteristically quitting with a broken nose in the first bout then forcing the referee to step in and save Márquez in the second bout. The third fight, which builds with each round, took an unbelievable toll on Vázquez. He fought with a torn ligament in his knee, and needed 60 stitches to heal his face. And he didn’t even seal the win until the final moments of the fight. See it to believe it. It’s one of the best three-fight sequences in boxing history; many of the best trilogies have a lull at one point, but not Vázquez-Márquez. 2) Micky Ward v Arturo Gatti I Micky Ward is the subject of the film The Fighter and he is one of the most beloved fighters of his era. Arturo Gatti is probably more beloved still. That Vázquez “spin the wheel” dynamic was multiplied by 10 any time he stepped into the ring. There are few rounds in boxing history that can compare to the ninth round of Ward-Gatti I. HBO’s Jim Lampley was pleading for the referee to stop it by the end as Ward piled on inordinate damage. Except we had seen Gatti’s resurrection act before, albeit never more clearly than this round in his whole breathtaking career. He was born, killed and reborn multiple times throughout those legendary three minutes. One of the best calls of any fight came via Emanuel Steward in that otherworldly ninth round: “You know, you dream of fights like this, but very seldom do they live up to the expectation. This is even more than you can dream of!” 1) Diego Corrales v José Luis Castillo I Diego Corrales and José Luis Castillo are linked by Mayweather – his defeat of Corrales was his best win before he beat Pacquiao on Saturday, and Castillo is the man most deserving of a decision win over Mayweather – but more importantly, they are linked to one another. There are a handful of fights that have a solid claim to the best ever; among them are Jack Dempsey-Luis Firpo, Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier III, Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns and Castillo-Corrales. Castillo-Corrales is by far the most recent. Corrales, the taller fighter, made the macho decision to go toe-to-toe with Castillo, a disciple of inside-fighting Julio César Chávez. It was unfathomably ill-conceived but made for an extraordinary fight where every round was better than the last (and all of them were great), ending in a reversal as jaw-dropping as you’ll see in any sporting event. • This article first appeared on The Queensberry Rules• Follow The Queensberry Rules and Tim Starks on Twitter |