Boxing's Perfect Fight?

If you had to single out one boxing match from history that highlights two great fighters at their best in a thrilling and spellbinding match-up -- boxing's perfect fight -- which would it be?

Does anything outstrip Roberto Duran vs Ray Leonard from 1980? Does Ali-Frazier? Leonard-Hearns?

Leonard wasn't at his best in Duran 1...........

Ali - Frazier 1............Is the perfect fight...........

Curry - Starling 2...........An epic chess match and a very close decision thanks to a last round rally..

None of the above.

Jones v Toney

I thought Leonard showed more in defeat to Duran than he did in victory -- his late rounds rally was heroic. Two great fighters at their peak going hell for leather.

I watched it recently -- they don't make fights like that anymore.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Leonard wasn't at his best in Duran 1...........

Ali - Frazier 1............Is the perfect fight...........

Curry - Starling 2...........An epic chess match and a very close decision thanks to a last round rally..

Starling great? Curry even?

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:None of the above.

Jones v Toney

If an alien landed and asked to see boxing's greatest night I'm not sure I'd go with that one -- wasn't much of a fight.

Great fight..........But Leonard fought the wrong one.........

Ali-Frazier ........Both fought their fight........Frazier beat him..........Wonderful stuff.

Pryor v Arguello was a belter

hazharrison wrote:

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:None of the above.

Jones v Toney

If an alien landed and asked to see boxing's greatest night I'm not sure I'd go with that one -- wasn't much of a fight.

Well then your question is misleading. You asked for the perfect fight between 2 great fighters. Toney and Jones both at their peak engaged in a thrilling chessmatch.

Leonard v hearns 1 for me, the most epic of epics.

Bowe - Holyfield 1 deserves a mention............Holy is a great and Bowe was on the night and should have been a great....... and both at their peak........

great fight and war...........

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:

hazharrison wrote:

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:None of the above.

Jones v Toney

If an alien landed and asked to see boxing's greatest night I'm not sure I'd go with that one -- wasn't much of a fight.

Well then your question is misleading. You asked for the perfect fight between 2 great fighters. Toney and Jones both at their peak engaged in a thrilling chessmatch.

Thrilling? Toney barely landed a punch.

jimdig wrote:Leonard v hearns 1 for me, the most epic of epics.

Epic is right on the money. Not as exciting as Leonard-Duran, though, for my money.

Norton v Holmes was a classic and for effort Tua and Ibeabuchi deserve a mention.

hazharrison wrote:

jimdig wrote:Leonard v hearns 1 for me, the most epic of epics.

Epic is right on the money. Not as exciting as Leonard-Duran, though, for my money.

Duran Leonard is also almost as good as it gets. The only slight against it is that I prefer Leonard. Not the most unbiased opinion I know.

I have reservations with Ali Frazier. I feel Ali was below par for the first fight. 3 years out, and 15 rounds with bonevida (a couple of rounds with quarry) and jumping in with joe. It was a great fight, but I think Ali could have done with another fight before facing Frazier.

Not quiet two prime fighters at their best.

It was the fight that made joe an ATG though.

catchweight wrote:Pryor v Arguello was a belter

Pryor is an interesting one.............Arguello was probably past his best...............But anyone else think calling Pryor great is contentious ??

Four and a half years as champion and an aging Benitez-beaten-Cervantes and Arguello twice at 140 ??.........People moan at Marquez at 147.......

I was always a big fan of Pryor but truss is right, not enough depth to the cv to be a true great, and the weight was a bridge too far for arguello.

Agree with jimdig on the fight of the century... For me, it would have had to be pre Vietnam Ali for peak v peak.

If you're looking at close to prime,  ATG fighters... And it being a great fight, you'd have to go Duran Leonard. Srl may have fought a stupid fight, but it made it a great one.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

catchweight wrote:Pryor v Arguello was a belter

Pryor is an interesting one.............Arguello was probably past his best...............But anyone else think calling Pryor great is contentious ??

Four and a half years as champion and an aging Benitez-beaten-Cervantes and Arguello twice at 140 ??.........People moan at Marquez at 147.......

Maybe Pryor wasn't an all time great, but he was a great light welterweight champ. Wasn't Arguello the favourite going into their first fight?

hazharrison wrote:If you had to single out one boxing match from history that highlights two great fighters at their best in a thrilling and spellbinding match-up -- boxing's perfect fight -- which would it be?

Hagler v Hearns deserves a mention.

People may say that Hearns fought the wrong fight, but it was an exciting fight that lived up to the hype.

Think arguello was favourite, Atila. He was already a great, beating him elevated Pryor. Probably true in a few of these match ups... Like Ali frazier 1 as someone mentioned

Bowe vs Lewis.

If only the bin hadn't have been invented, maybe Bowe would have grew a set.

Perfect fight for me right now would be Bradley vs Mayweather.

Both undefeated, Bradley has faced and beaten the gauntlet laid down in JMM, Pacquiao, Prov etc etc. Deserves his shot to be honest, and he is a damn good fighter.

mobilemaster8 wrote:Perfect fight for me right now would be Bradley vs Mayweather.

Both undefeated, Bradley has faced and beaten the gauntlet laid down in JMM, Pacquiao, Prov etc etc. Deserves his shot to be honest, and he is a damn good fighter.

Mayweather all day...Bradley showed nothing to suggest he has the ability to beat Floyd. If Marquez can catch him regulary then Floyd clowns him.

It's got stinker written all over it though

Manny beat Bradley quite handily too, only poor judging gave him the victory there.

And why exactly would you want to watch May vs Bradley. Awful match up. 12 rounds of nothing.

Disagree there Lumbering.

Manny bossed first 4-6 rounds, middle ones were close and then he stepped off the gas and allowed Bradley to smother him and get combos off to the body. Bearing in mind Bradley damaged his foot early on.

Moving on from that, Bradley has grit and determination. He may not have explosive power, or power in general, but he can work hard for 12 rounds.

Alvarez looked garbage against Floyd, couldn't apply pressure, nothing.

Floyd vs a boxer is a good fight in the fact that Tim will choose to box, make mayweather come to him, plus mix up his pressure fighting and good stamina.

It could be a stinker, but there are few fighters who deserve a shot ahead of him, if any at all.

You can't deny that Bradley deserves a shot more than Khan though. Whether through poor judging or clever boxing, he hasn't lost yet. Whether I would want to watch that fight is another question entirely!

Hearns vs Leonard for me. I agree, not as exciting as Duran vs Leonard, but I also agree with Truss that although Leonard looked good and proved a lot in Montreal, it was not his best performance.

Hearns vs. Leonard was back and forth, two of the greatest ever 147lbers showing heart, determination, and performing arguably at their absolute best. Leonard also coming from behind on the cards to take the win!

JCC v Taylor 1 for my money. Great fight between two undefeated fighters in their primes,with different but complimentary styles, very different personalities, and the old Mexico v USA rivalry. Bit of contraversy for good measure.

horizontalhero wrote:JCC v Taylor 1 for my money. Great fight between two undefeated fighters in their primes,with different but complimentary  styles, very different personalities, and the old Mexico v USA rivalry. Bit of contraversy for good measure.

I was also going to suggest this fight, horizontal.

JCC showing every ounce of what made him a great. Taylor demonstrating a staggering level of speed and skill. I do find it tough to watch, though.

Gentleman01 wrote:

horizontalhero wrote:JCC v Taylor 1 for my money. Great fight between two undefeated fighters in their primes,with different but complimentary  styles, very different personalities, and the old Mexico v USA rivalry. Bit of contraversy for good measure.

I was also going to suggest this fight, horizontal.

JCC showing every ounce of what made him a great. Taylor demonstrating a staggering level of speed and skill. I do find it tough to watch, though.

I can't remember which writer it was, but he questioned Leonard-Hearns being a great fight- "6 rounds of one guys running away followed by 6 rounds of the other guy running away- how's that a great fight?", and though I don't agree with him there's a hint of truth in it, whereas JCC and Taylor was more of a tortoise-and-the-hare kind of fight; you knew that JCC would slowly catch up, but would he do it in time- it made it absolutely riveting in my book, though heartbreaking- I was just wishing the seconds away in the last round- gutted for Taylor.
One thing this thread does highlight is has rare it is to have two greats, both in their prime, in the same weight, at the same time. FMJ and Manny let us fans down, big time.

Agree mate, mainly Arum and Pacquaio though which is a shame.

saying that, they know their limits and wanted nothing to do with Floyd, just a smoke screen to advertise Top Rank more.

Toney vs Jones should have fit the description, but I still cant believe how badly Toney got owned.

horizontalhero wrote:JCC v Taylor 1 for my money. Great fight between two undefeated fighters in their primes,with different but complimentary  styles, very different personalities, and the old Mexico v USA rivalry. Bit of contraversy for good measure.

That's a great shout.

horizontalhero wrote:

Gentleman01 wrote:

horizontalhero wrote:JCC v Taylor 1 for my money. Great fight between two undefeated fighters in their primes,with different but complimentary  styles, very different personalities, and the old Mexico v USA rivalry. Bit of contraversy for good measure.

I was also going to suggest this fight, horizontal.

JCC showing every ounce of what made him a great. Taylor demonstrating a staggering level of speed and skill. I do find it tough to watch, though.

I can't remember which writer it was, but he questioned Leonard-Hearns being a great fight- "6 rounds of one guys running away followed by 6 rounds of the other guy running away- how's that a great fight?", and though I don't agree with him there's a hint of truth in it, whereas JCC and Taylor was more of a tortoise-and-the-hare kind of fight; you knew that JCC would slowly catch up, but would he do it in time- it made it absolutely riveting in my book, though heartbreaking- I was just wishing the seconds away in the last round- gutted for Taylor.
One thing this thread does highlight is has rare it is to have two greats, both in their prime, in the same weight, at the same time. FMJ and Manny let us fans down, big time.

For sure, it was less of a toe-to-toe affair. I think JCC vs Taylor was a 'better' fight in the sense that it was more thrilling to watch.

I would say Leonard vs. Hearns fits Haz's description slightly better, only because I consider those fighters two of the very best of their division facing off at their peaks, with both producing some technically brilliant boxing.

I agree, Manny vs. Floyd in May 2010 would have been colossal! It is a crying shame it did not happen, and it harms both their legacy's .