Author: Richard Freckleton

Remember the epic slugfest finale in the film Rocky II between Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa?

Well George Foreman against Ron Lyle was the real thing back in 1976.   The aura of invincibility that George Foreman had was shattered by his defeat to Muhammad Ali in “The Rumble in the Jungle” in 1974.

Throughout 1975, Foreman remained inactive until returning to the ring against the dangerous puncher Ron Lyle.

This was a dream match-up between two heavy punchers that was only going to guarantee one outcome which was a knockout!

31 years on and debate still rages on as to who won in Superfight 1987 between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard for the Undisputed World Middleweight Championship.

Leonard coming off a hiatus of 3 years was given virtually no chance against Hagler who had been unbeaten since 1976 and had ruled the Middleweight Division since pulverizing Britain’s Alan Minter in 3 rounds in 1980.

Major challengers to his crown such as Roberto Duran and Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns had been beaten by Hagler who had stopped 10  of his 11 challengers of his title by knockout with the exception of Roberto Duran.

A classic fight between two all-time greats with contrasting styles of fighting.

The late Diego Corrales will forever be remembered amongst fight fans for an incredible stoppage win against Luis Castillio which turned out to be his last victory before his tragic death in a motorcycle accident.

Having been knocked down twice, the WBO World Lightweight Champion Corrales looked like being on the verge of being stopped with Castillio all set to add another belt to his WBC title in the 10^th round.

The onslaught from Corrales in the same round to turn the fight around and stop Castillio is unforgettable and will go down in Boxing folklore as a contender for one of the greatest comebacks seen in the Lightweight Division and certainly the fight of 2005.

A rematch followed between the two in which Corrales weighed over the Lightweight limit and the fight didn’t live up to the thriller of the first fight in which Castillio gained revenge by stopping Corrales in the 4^th round.  A deciding 3^rd fight was scheduled but never took place with the tragic death of Corrales at the age of 29.

Holyfield v Bowe was another great trilogy series in which the first fight is regarded in most quarters as the best of three entertaining fights between these great rivals.

Judge for yourselves to decide whether there has been a better Heavyweight World Championship round in the history of Boxing.

There are many candidates for the greatest round in Boxing history but surely this 9th round between Gatti and Ward is a strong challenger.

Marvelous Marvin Hagler against Thomas “The Hit Man” Hearns was the biggest “Superfight” of 1985 with Sugar Ray Leonard still retired until his second comeback against Hagler in 1987.

Hearns had the year before retained his World Light-Middleweight title having destroyed the great Roberto Duran in just two rounds.  The bout was ended emphatically with Duran hitting the canvas head first which stunned the Boxing world as the year before in 1983 he had gone the distance with a prime Hagler in what was a very close fight,.

The expectation going into this fight was that this would be a very technical fight which was totally the opposite of what occurred on the night.

33 years on from 1985 and this fight is still looked upon in many quarters as the best 3 rounds in middleweight history between two fighters who are most definitely part of the golden era of Boxing.

Enjoy!