The Greatest Fights of Large's Lifetime

There's a clip on ESPN.com today that has Bert Sugar running down his top ten fights of all time with Brian Kenny. Here's his list: 1. Louis/Conn I, 1941 2. Tunney/Dempsey II, 1927 3. Ali/Frazier I, 1971 4. Graziano/Zale I, 1946 5. Moore/Durelle I, 1958 6. Ali/Frazier III, 1975 7. Marciano/Walcott I, 1952 8. Graziano/Zale II, 1947 9. Hagler/Hearns, 1985 10. Dempsey/Firpo, 1923 It's a sound list, not a lot of wild cards in there, although I scratch my chin at Dempsey/Firpo - obviously a barn-burner for two rounds, but still... you rate that higher than the Rumble in the Jungle? Louis/Conn is a real hobbyhorse of the old-timers, so I'll give that one a pass. I must say that I am not the biggest believer in the myth of Hagler/Hearns. A great three rounds for sure, but the fight on the whole does not compare in my book to the Shakespearean drama of Leonard/Hearns I. And my biggest beef with Bert's list is Moore/Durelle I - I've seen this fight many times, and it's an amazing testament to Archie Moore's resilience, but it's not one of the ten greatest fights of all time. So... I of course need to offer a counter list, but I'm not going to go with an all-time list, because I don't feel quite qualified to rank the Graziano/Zale's and the Dempsey/Tunney's. Part of what makes a fight great is the stakes going in, the burden of expectation that the fighters are carrying. It's hard to assess this with the passage of time, as fights move from the realm of history into that of mythology. It can be done, obviously, but I'll leave it to the cigar-chompers who claim such evaluations as their birthright. For myself, I only want to trade in the fights of my lifetime - August 11th, 1970 to the present. Without further ado, let's get ready to rumble... the envelopes please: 10. Larry Holmes v. Ken Norton - 1978 I'm sure that my tenth fight will be my most controversial, and there are obviously other very worthy candidates that I left off the list in lieu of this bout, chief among them in my mind being Morales/Barrera I and the aforementioned Hagler/Hearns. Yes, I admit there is some home-cooking going on here - Larry was local to my aunt and uncle and a big hero of mine growing up. But I also think the greatness of this fight has been overshadowed by time - I definitely think it's one of the top five heavyweight title fights ever. The 15th round alone makes it an instant candidate for immortality. Check it out - shit is straight up Rocky and Apollo, two men with absolutely nothing left reaching deep for the ultimate prize. 9. Bobby Chacon v. Bazooka Limon IV - 1982 The fourth fight between these two, this one with the WBC super featherweight title on the line. It's an absolute jaw-dropper, Castillo/Corrales material, with Chacon going down in 4th and the 10th but coming back to drop Limon in the 15th and get the UD. It's true that I'm a big Chacon fan, but I feel confident this fight belongs on the list. 8. Riddick Bowe v. Evander Holyfield I - 1992 No doubt, the best of this era-defining trilogy and possessed of one of the top ten rounds in history. Check it out for yourselves. 7. Muhammad Ali v. George Foreman - 1974 This is one of those fights that could be argued against solely for what transpires in the ring, because despite the fact that there was furious action at times, and the rope-a-dope is compelling just for being so bizarre, I still feel that if you watched this bout in a vacuum your mind would not be blown. But that's just not an option with the Rumble - this was one of the biggest stages for a heavyweight fight in the history of man, and Ali was such an enormous underdog that many thought he would be murdered in that ring. For the epic quality of the proceedings, and the miracle of Ali's victory, the fight must be on this list. 6. Diego Corrales v. Jose Luis Castillo I - 2005 Sixth? I can already hear you saying it. You have Castillo/Corrales sixth? Well, just wait and see what's ahead of it. I remain in complete awe of this fight, and simply don't understand how two human beings could take this much punishment and survive. The tenth round is one of those sporting moments that you just don't believe no matter how many times you watch it. 5. Aaron Pryor v. Alexis Arguello I, 1982 A junior welterweight championship bout so huge that it was held in the Orange Bowl. The fight itself justified the hype, as a back-and-forth war took place between the elegant but ferocious Arguello and the Tasmanian-devil-like tornado that was Aaron Pryor. Arguello looked like he would be knocked out in the 11th, and then came back in the 12th to put Pryor on queer street. Then the "mystery bottle" controversy occurred in Pryor's corner ("no no the one I mixed") and a rejuvenated Hawk went out eventually stopped Alexis in the 14th. Hands down, the fight of the 80's. 4. Julio Cesar Chavez v. Meldrick Taylor - 1990 Just a month after Tyson/Douglas, the boxing world was shocked again with a fight that had more drama than the entire history of Broadway. The preternaturally talented Meldrick Taylor (all love to Philly fighters) met up with the ultimate Mexican warrior, Chavez, and the bout that ensued is one that still incites passionate argument. Taylor dominated the fight until about the ninth round, at which point Chavez's relentless attack started to take it's toll. In the last three rounds, it boiled down to a classic fistic drama - could the wounded Taylor finish on his feet? The ending was flat-out unfathomable. 3. Sugar Ray Leonard v. Tommy Hearns - 1981 It's just impossible to recreate the hype that this fight generated. In my memory, but for Holmes/Cooney, it is the last true superfight, a boxing match so big that captivated all of America. Leonard/Hagler was big, but not this big - boxing was too far down queer street by 1987. And then the fight itself between Sugar Ray and Hearns was so unbelievable - it's like four fights in one, each of them great, each more heroic than the last. 2. Muhammad Ali v. Joe Frazier III, 1975 Someday I am going to sit down and do a close reading of this thing. It probably will take me about ten thousand words to do it justice. In short, Rocky/Creed I has nothing on The Thrilla. Joe Frazier said before the fight that he was prepared to die in that ring, and Ali said afterward that it was the closest thing to death he had ever known. Death was in the air that night, and if you've seen the fight, you know why - this was sport in the truly classical sense, hearkening to that ancient time when the only true end to a contest came when one of the combatants was truly vanquished. 1. Joe Frazier v. Muhammad Ali I, 1971 As good a fight as the Thrilla, and with both of them still in their primes. As I said on the anniversary of this fight a few weeks ago, maybe Johnson/Jeffries was bigger, maybe Louis/Schmeling... and I should probably throw Dempsey/Tunney on that list too. But this was undoubtedly the biggest fight of my lifetime, almost an allegory of civil war as much as it was a heavyweight title bout. It's hard for me to imagine such portent, such skill, such fury ever being matched again.