There are also big fights. There are also some great battles.
And then a great big battle happens.
The latter category is reserved for those that not only have a certain level of importance due to the stakes and main characters involved, but also offer a memorable amount of compelling action worthy of a modern classic. Masu.
Many fall into one category or the other. Very few people reach both.
For example, the 1985 fight between Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns was a great fight no matter how you look at it. But it was for the undisputed middleweight championship, rather than being buried on an obscure undercard, that it still warrants legendary status almost 40 years later.
With the echoes of last weekend's unification fight in the Saudi Arabian desert still lingering, B/R Combat Team looks back at the first 140 days of 2024 and lists the best of the biggest in-ring action. spent time creating it. far.
See what we came up with and write your own thoughts in the comments.
When people remember Hall of Fame heavyweights, it's impressive.
It's even more impressive when a super middleweight does it.
It's Sirius That was the atmosphere he left after bringing Rohan Murdoch to his knees after six rounds.
“He's Joe Frazier at 168 pounds,” Gordon told Bleacher Report. “The most exciting fighter at 168. He won't back down.”
In fact, Mbili showed hesitance to retreat against Murdoch, and Murdoch fought gamely and tenaciously, and although the first few rounds were evenly matched, the fight gradually became one-sided. The players fired a total of 863 shots in 18 minutes, with Mbili landing 46.7 percent of his 505 punches.
It was a performance that caught everyone's attention.
Maybe even a fighter like Canelo Alvarez.
“Canelo is the best. Everyone knows that,” said Mbili. “But now I want to show that I'm the best in this division. My goal is to fight him. I'll do anything to fight him.”
You know you're on to something when the phrase “instant classic” gets thrown around.
This was a tag match the morning after the WBA featherweight title fight between Raymond Ford and Otabek Kholmatov, which ended with Ford, on the verge of losing on the scorecards, hurting his opponent with a right hand that staggered him with a follow-up. Ta. On the final right, Khormatov turned away, eliciting intervention from referee Charlie Fitch.
The official time was 2:53 on the 12th, with only 7 seconds remaining.
It was the undefeated Camden, N.J., fighter's 15th win (with a draw) in 16 fights, but he was bleeding from a cut under his left eye from his 11th fight. He was trailing by three points on two scorecards and was leading by one on one. That meant he could have lost by split decision if he didn't force the finish.
Khormatov was taken to a local hospital for observation after the match.
“The whole time I was cornered, I kept telling myself, 'I'm going to stop him,'” Ford said. “I could feel him falling apart as the rounds went on.”
If you want to remember your battles, blood will help.
And rarely will there be as much bloodshed as there was in the 154-pound title bout between champion Tim Tzu and challenger Sebastian Fundora at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Fundora, who was 9 inches taller with a 154-pound frame and a ridiculous height of 6 feet 5.5 inches, arrived as a short-notice replacement for Keith Thurman and accidentally hit Tszyu with an elbow in the forehead late in the second round. It literally opened the floodgates.
Blood poured into Tszyu's eyes, leaving his face with a gory stain for the rest of the fight, but Fundora tried to maintain long range with his pterodactyl-like reach. He fought smartly behind the jab, limiting Tszyu's effectiveness on the inside and avoiding the extended back-and-forth the Australian was hoping for.
Fundora received scores of 115-113 and 116-112 from the two judges, offsetting a 116-112 score from Coach Tszyu, who suffered the only loss of his career in his last fight nearly a year ago. recovered from.
“This is boxing. You can get hurt, but you have to be smart,” Fandora said. “He's a world-class fighter. There's a reason he was world champion.”
Go ahead and list this with an asterisk.
Ryan Garcia's majority decision victory over super lightweight champion Devin Haney was initially hailed as a shocking performance by Garcia, the big loser after a tumultuous training camp. Whether he will be remembered depends on the results of the drug test.
“King Rye” knocked down Haney, who was undefeated in 31 fights and defending his title in his second division, three times and consistently landed game-changing blows.
Garcia was ineligible to win the championship because he was over the weight limit of 140 pounds, but he drew further ridicule when both his pre-fight and post-fight urine samples reportedly tested positive for ostarine. He has requested analysis of additional “B samples” collected before and after the match, with results expected later this month.
Garcia disputes accusations of wrongdoing.
The controversy shifted focus from a fight that seemed to be going Haney's way, dropping Haney with the first left hand of his career in the seventh round. He was taken out again in the 10th and 11th innings, with some scorecards showing the score even, 112-112, and others showing closer margins of 114-110 and 115-109.
There was non-stop punching for most of the 12 rounds, with both fighters hitting the deck?
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That's what the lucky viewers got who watched the 108-pound title match between champion Kenshiro Terachi and challenger Carlos Cañizares in Osaka, Japan.
The violence started early, with Cañizares going down in the second round with a right to the head, but the veteran landed a right of his own that sent Terachi to the floor after one round. The middle and final stages were similarly back-and-forth, with the champion trying to keep Canizares at bay but frequently getting caught in close-range gunfire.
He went into full swing with six minutes remaining, scoring twice to make it 114-112, overturning a 113-113 score and waiting for the scorecard to successfully defend his WBC belt for the fourth time since his win. That is March 2022.
“He was very tough,” Terachi said. “In the second half of the game, we had to change our strategy and control our distance.”
Yes, we're stealing a line from HBO legend Jim Lampley.
“It happened, it happened.”
When George Foreman defeated Michael Moorer to win the heavyweight title at age 45, the longtime voice of the “Network of Champions” delivered that classic.
We're using it in the same division, celebrating what seemed unlikely: a great fight on the big stage that united the divisions for the first time since 1999.
Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury gave everything they wanted and more over 12 rounds on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia. Usyk took an early lead and Fury fought back to establish dominance before the smaller man hit back with a fight-changing flurry of moves and a split decision victory. .
Lampley himself told Bleacher Report, “This was Ali-Frazier I.”
The fight contract included a rematch in October, which was negotiated as expected shortly after the brawl, with Usyk now 22-0 as a professional and Fury suffering his first loss after 34 wins and one draw. did.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said: “What a great thing for the sport of boxing.” “It was an unbelievable fight, a complete first half. I struggled to give Usyk more than maybe a round in the first half, and then all of a sudden the fight changed.” [in rounds] At 7 and 8 o'clock, the momentum started to change. ”
