Combat Chronicles
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The Top 10 Greatest Boxing Bouts of All-Time
🕑 Added 2022-12-11 14:11:38 +0000 UTCAt least, my opinion on that very question. Here, I look back at my 2013 list of the 'Top 10 Fights' as published in Boxing News' special edition magazine '100 Greatest Fights of all-time' and explain what I think makes a fight truly great. I then weigh up that list with my own thoughts today, and finally go over some contenders from yesteryear and great modern bouts that have taken place since I wrote the list, that might deserve a place in my top ten. Was I being a hipster back then? Did I miss something? Have there been fights in the last decade SO F'N GREAT I simply cannot deny them a place in the upper tier.
Then at the end, I struggle to count to ten as I come up with my new 'definitive' top ten list!
Hope you enjoy this episode and there will be more content coming exclusively on Patreon this month!
Comments
Kyle McLachlan
Absolutely FAIR comment regarding my contradiction on Ali-Foreman/Duran-Leonard, but I do think the added context of Ali being the only man to stop Foreman makes it even more dramatic and therefore meets my criteria just that tad more. But yeah, I get it entirely! Thanks for listening and thanks for taking the time to offer such a thoughtful, detailed reply!
Bryan Gan
Fantastically put together as always, Russell Brand. Personally, I always appreciate a more academic approach to things like this that are already naturally subjective and messy, and I think you definitely did that. I thought there were some minor contradictions when discussing some of the honourable mentions. For example, Ali vs Foreman gets a pass for being a little dull or sloppy at times, but Duran vs Leonard 1 is omitted because there are some slowdowns in the action. Granted, the historical significance of the former is so great that the fight coulda been shit and it would still have great importance in the sport's history, so I don't think it's that big a deal. I did think that Duran vs Leonard 1 should be rated higher for one more reason on top of the usual points: Duran had several fights at 146 to make a name for himself at the weight class and many commentators at the time were noting that he was not carrying his punching power or bullying style up in welterweight. They also noted explicitly a couple of times that his wild style would run into problems against the champion if they were to fight. So for him to both hurt him multiple times early in the fight, and school him on the inside (that brilliant sequence in round 3 where one commentator drops any pretense of neutrality and exclaims 'why would they want Leonard to take him on the inside?!') adds another layer of significance/drama for me. Just my immediate thoughts after listening. Eagerly looking forward to the Combat Chronicled on Bobby Chacon and Bazooka Lamon!
