TONY PENECALE’S TOP 10 HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE BOUTS

The Greatest Heavyweight Title Fights

BY: TONY PENECALE 

The heavyweight championship is often called the greatest prize in all of sports. In 2004, I posted a personal list on a boxing forum Web-site. The list became a popular topic for debate and opinion, so it is here that I re-post it.

I compiled a list of The Greatest (IMO) Heavyweight TITLE Fights. Please feel free to add some of your own choices or comment about my list. Just remember, these are Championship fights so Foreman-Lyle, Holyfield-Dokes, Tyson-Ruddock, along with many others will not be included.

1) Frazier-Ali I – Two great fighters at the top of their game, both undefeated, with legitimate claims to the Heavyweight title, combined with a bitter animosity towards each other. Frazier set a torrid pace, forcing the fight to Ali, and hammering his trademark left hook, finally dropping “The Greatest” in the 15th round en route to a unanimous decision and universal recognition as the heavyweight champion. “The Fight” is one where people remember where they were when it happened.

2) Dempsey-Firpo – 11 Knockdowns in less than 4 minutes of fighting. All action. This fight would have not been ranked so highly without the shocking knockdown of Dempsey, through the ropes. He was so out of it he asked his corner what round “he had been knocked out in?”

3) Ali-Frazier III – I have this behind their first fight. This fight, while still an all-time classic, saw both men past their primes. While their skills had diminished, their pride and disdain for each other had not. Still tremendously savage and gutsy, both fighters battled hard, with Ali summoning the intestinal fortitude to survive Frazier’s vicious assault and launch one of his own, battering a drained Frazier before Eddie Futch mercifully threw the towel in before the 15th round.

4) Holmes-Norton – 15 action-filled, give-and-take rounds for the vacant title. With the fight even on the cards, it came down to the final stanza. The 15th round ranks up there with the greatest rounds of all time.

5) Bowe-Holyfield I – Most people will link them with their infamous “Fan Man” 2nd fight. But the first fight was MUCH better. Bowe, in the best shape of his career, put forth the best effort of his career. Holyfield was Holyfield, engaging the bigger man in the fight. The back-and-forth action of the 10th round was breathtaking.

6) Marciano-Walcott I – The slick-boxing Walcott came to fight. He engaged the slugging Marciano in a slugfest and was beating Marciano in his own fight until Rocky landed one of the most dramatic one-punch KO’s of all time.

7) Douglas-Tyson – Not great for it’s overall content, but for its “I can’t believe this is happening” aura. A mere mortal was whipping Godzilla all over Japan. It was like something was wrong with the universe, then Tyson landed the uppercut and all seemed right until Douglas got up and KO’d “The Baddest Man on the Planet”.

8) Marciano-Charles I – A classic matchup between the undefeated champion and possibly greatest light heavyweight of all time, and former heavyweight champion. Despite a nasty cut over his eye, Rocky’s pressure and strength won out in a closely contested battle.

9) Louis-Conn I – The smaller Conn fought a brilliant fight, taking the fight right to Louis, outboxing, outfighting, and even rocking him, until he got too brave and was KO’d in the 13th round.

10) Ali-Foreman – Most people not only predicted a dominant Foreman win in Zaire, they were concerned for Ali’s safety. Ali let Foreman set the pace and blocked or avoided his wild swings while conserving energy employing the “rope-a-dope”. After 7 rounds, Foreman was spent and Ali put the finishing touches on a dramatic win.

Honorable mention:
Holyfield-Foreman
Holyfield-Tyson I
Patterson-Johannson III
Ali-Liston I
Lewis-Klitschko
Holmes-Cooney

Why they didn’t make the list:
Marciano-Charles II – While this fight is remembered for Marciano’s hideously lacerated nose and desperate KO win, most of the fight saw Charles moving around the ring, trying to avoid the slugfest that cost him the first fight.

Weaver-Tate – Remembered most for seeing the defending titlist KO’d with less than a minute remaining. It was a dramatic ending to a decent but far from overwhelming scrap.

Lewis-Tyson – Far from the hype. The same Tyson who caused a melee at the press conference and threatened to eat Lewis’ children (he has no children, by the way) offered only one round of serious offense. From the second round on, he absorbed a beating, before being KO’d in the 8th round.

Ali-Norton III – While Norton seemed to have Ali’s number, it was more because of his awkward style. While all three bouts were close and debatable, none of them, including this one, was a spine-tingling affair.

I welcome all feedback and opinions. Do you agree or disagree? Should a certain fight be added to the list? Should one listed be omitted? I can be contacted a phllybox1@aol.com or www.myspace.com/tornadotp