The Ten most Anticipated fights of alltime ??

Not necessarily the biggest although they were huge but the most eagerly awaited.................Here is my list.......

1. Ali v Frazier
2. Johnson v Jeffries
3. Dempsey v Carpentier
4. Tyson v Spinks
5. Walcott v Marciano
6. Hearns v Leonard
7. Louis v Schmelling 2
8. Dempsey v Tunney 2
9. Foreman V Ali
10. Hagler v Hearns

Any glaring omissions.............................

Wouldn't really quibble any of your picks, Truss, apart from just one - Walcott against Marciano.

Not sure this fight was amongst the most anticipated and hyped in history, personally. Walcott had never really captured the public's imagination as Heavyweight champion and, in the build up, Marciano was the firm favourite with the bookies and most weren't expecting much of a fight at all.

That's the first fight, anyway - did you mean the rematch? The fact that Walcott had controlled the first one for so long probably gave their second bout an extra edge beforehand, but would you really say it was one of the most anticipated fights ever?

The only change I'd make would be to take that one out and replace it with, perhaps, something like De la Hoya-Trinidad (the highest grossing non-Heavyweight fight of all time up until that point, apparently). You could argue that De la Hoya-Mayweather could be in there, and it was the richest fight in history, so they say, but I remember that although it was highly anticipated, there was also a feeling that Oscar had only a little more than a puncher's chance, and most also acknowledged that the styles of the two men meant that a classic fight was out of the question.

Cooney-Holmes might be worth a shout as well, and maybe even Chavez-Whitaker; the top two pound for pounders in the world going head to head doesn't happen all that often. But most of your picks are excellent so it's difficult to say which fight could make way for those.

I would be tempted to include Burns v Johnson.

The build up to that fight was immense, with Johnson chasing Burns around the world and taunting him for 2 years trying to get him in the ring before landing the fight in Sydney. The fight itself was pretty dramatic as well with Johnson taunting Burns before beating him in-front of 20,000 people.

You don't really get the full impact of Johnson v Jeffries without the Burns fight anyway. Lets not forget that Johnson had been hounding Jeffries for a fight before the Boilermaker retired. He only came out of retirement to claim back the title from the black champion. Without the Burns and Johnson fight, the Jeffries fight doesn't even happen.

First match was bigger Chris!!........A white guy hadn't had the title for a long time and the racial aspect and the exciting nature of the much hyped Rocky made it a huge sell..........

Burns - Johnson was kind of a "naughty" fight fought behind closed doors in Australia..........

The rest were more bonafide and more generally available..

Did consider it though.....and I might be wrong......

McClellan Benn?

I always have that Barry McGuigan "this is easily the most eagerly anticipated fight over both sides of the atlantic for many many years!"

You're joking right??

AlexHuckerby wrote:McClellan Benn?

I always have that Barry McGuigan "this is easily the most eagerly anticipated fight over both sides of the atlantic for many many years!"

It was anticipated, Alex but absolutely no-where near a top 10, if even a top 50. Too much hyperbole from Barry there. It was anticipated that McClellan would crush Benn but not all that much more than that.

The fact that Benn fought so well and McClellan got badly hurt probably provide some basis for revisionist history regarding this fight but it doesn't belong anywhere near a top 10.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Burns - Johnson was kind of a "naughty" fight fought behind closed doors in Australia..........

The rest were more bonafide and more generally available..

Did consider it though.....and I might be wrong......

Valid points Truss but you yourself have used the 'racial aspect' to partly justify Walcott v Marciano I. Surely no fight in history could be more anticipated for its 'racial aspect' than the chance of the worlds first black holder of the 'greatest prize in sport'? I am sure the 'white' world held its collective breath for newswires from Australia that day.

De La Hoya v Mosely in my time

If I remember rightly DeLa Hoya - Trinidad was pretty hotly anticiapted at the time.

There's an argument for Dempsey v Tunney I to be included. Jack had been out of the ring for the best part of three years and in that time, Tunney had elevated himself to the number 1 spot. Dempsey wasn't always the most popular champion and with his "shirker" reputation, a lot of people were keen to see the "Fighting Marine" put an end to Dempsey's reign.

I'd probably have it behind Dempsey v Tunney 2, but I'd include it ahead of Walcott v Marciano.

Have to remember Marciano was a Tyson like figure and white!!

The civil rights act only came in 68...

Marciano was huge and If he could take the title from a respected name it would have been huge news.....

Not suggesting it's a good thing but it obviously added to the hype and anticipation.

Hagler v Leonard. Waited for for years with the constant on-off nature and then SRL coming back from retirement. Might take a hit in that both fighters were past their best but it had been waited on for a long time.

Price v Fury...

Well on here anyway...

Excellent choice Mate.................

Holy v Tyson 2???????????

Floyd v Manny would be up there and although at times looked close, obviously has never actually come off and has definitely lost a lot of its meaning over the last 6 months.

Not an area of expertise on my part but how was the build up to Arguello-Pryor?

Tyson-Holy too would be right up there too. Tyson was the last to have the true superstar effect and was thinking of his fight with Lewis too.

calzaghe vs kessler (and in the usa lacy) were both hugely anticipated, many thinking the undeafted brit didnt hit hard enough, and was likely to lose.

also barrera vs naz as well

Hatton vs Mayweather was massive. Over 20k Hatton fans in Vegas and the build up on nearly every TV station you could think of.

good shout pedro, also haye vs wlad- the build up over shadowed the fight its self

Floyd - Manny would certainly be close......

Pryor wasn't that bigger star and Arguello was more respected than popular at the time..

Big fight though.

Robinson vs Lamotta 2?

Although, they fought so regularly back then there probably wasn't much time to anticipate. Lol.


Good thread TRUSS.

Cheers Truss. As I said I didn't really have a clue just how big it was.

flintoff vs dawson

Can't recall if fights like DLH v Hopkins and DLH v Mayweather were hotly anticiapated or if I simply wasn't interested.

two_tone wrote that Floyd/Manny seems to have lost a lot of meaning over the last six months. I'd say interest has been on the wane for at least two years

You are right Dave but the two losses more recently have derailed it completely to the point that a Mayweather win would do little to his legacy now the 50/50 odds have gone.

Some would suggest that 50/50 was generous. Like many, I always thought Mayweather beats Manny with relative ease and only forces a stoppage if he gets bored of clowning him.

i've been saying for about a year its now a pointless fight, and would just boost the bank account of both fighters, and a kick in the teeth to the fan, once the risk has gone (ie manny past be best) then all the allure has gone. id rather see mayweather fight alexander than have to put up with 6 months of the tyson vs lewis type promotion that would rammed down our throats, and all the mayweather fans claiming that it settles the manny vs floyd p4p 1 claim of our era.

Alexander would choke worse than Bruno did against Tyson. Floyd may as well fight Michael Buffer.

Most anticpated fight...Floyd vs Larry Merchant!!!!!!!!!

id rather watch floyd shadow box in the ring by himself for half an hour, better than the pantomine that would follow a manny floyd showdown

Better than the in-ring pantomime.

"He's behind you Manny"

"Oh no he isn't"

"Oh yes I am...(smack)"

"Where did he go, can you see him boys and girls?"

Zale vs Graziano take your pick which one, they were the greatest series of fights ever and each one was bigger and more anticipated than the last.

I remember the hype for the Tyson Lewis fight, the build up was huge as far as I remember?

The pre-fight dust up, security between the two, the insults Tyson was spewing. Definately built the fight up in the mainstream media and had a lot of causal fans talking.

Mayweather vs Hatton - Massive build up, 30 thousand fans brought to the States, Undefeated against Undefeated, both in their Prime.

Lewis vs Tyson - Had brewed in a pot for years before they finally met. Would have been more competative had they met 10 years earlier maybe!
Tyson bigged it up with a fight at the stare off and all that crap.

Pacquiao vs Marquez 4 - Again this had brewed for YEARS again! Pacquiao had won 2 and drew 1 in very contraversial circumstances (in many eyes). Rematch was quick, brutal and shocking in all aspects. Fantastic conclusion to a thrilling series.

Pacman - Marquez 4 was anticipated???

We all suppressed a massive yawn until Paccy got flattened...

That made it interesting..........

A knockdown in the 3rd and 5th with the 6th round a brutal on slaught by Pacquiao only to be knocked cold with a train fist.

I've seen the fight....so what??

Pac v Marquez 3 was anticipated, and 5 would be, but personally I didn't care to see the 4th fight. After seeing Marquez get jobbed again in the 3rd, few fans wanted a 4th. I was pleasantly surprised though by just how awesome it was! I would now happily watch a fifth fight between them.

agreed.....

I'd actually say that it was the second installment of Pacquiao-Marquez that was the most highly anticipated, rather than third one. From my memory, most of the reaction amongst fans when III was announced was that Pacquiao had cynically waited for Marquez to get old and over the hill when a third bout should have happened immediately after their second, had dragged him up to a weight he wasn't comfortable at (referencing Marquez's flat showing against Mayweather north of 140 lb) and that it was simply an exercise, along with the Margarito and Mosley fights, in using a washed up 'name' to keep the hype train going. At least, that's what a huge number of folks on here thought.

Indeed, whereas most anticipated a seriously close fight for II and then IV, the general feeling amongst predictors was that Pacquiao was going to dominate Marquez in III and that it wouldn't be much of a fight at all.

I wouldnt say any of the Pacquiao/Marquez rematches were close to being top ten stuff. III and IV certainly were not anticpated that much on here anyway. If anything there seemed to be a sense of disillusionment about them was the impression I got. Never did understand the negativity surrounding the 4th fight myself. Id still happily watch a 5th.

I think the 4th was disillusioning because we thought he'd get jobbed again. The 3rd because we thought he was past it.

The third I could understand. I didnt expect Marquez to be as good as he was myself. I thought it was going to be a bit like Duran/Leonard III. The result was a stinker but to be honest I didnt think the 4th one was going to be a robbery if JMM did win clearly. I actually thought Pacquiao was going to win it outright.

Same here until I saw the 24/7. Predicted a Eko for Marquez but it went further than I thought it would in 6