THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Cotto gets his revenge over Margarito
5 MUHAMMAD ALI w rsf 15 OSCAR BONAVENA
Dec 7, 1970; Madison Square Garden, New York
IT still makes the mind boggle when you consider Muhammad Ali went from a three-year layoff into a fight with Jerry Quarry in October 1970 and followed that, six weeks later, with a scrap against Argentinian toughnut, Oscar Bonavena. At the pre-fight medical, Bonavena repeatedly called Ali “Clay” much to the 6-1 favourite’s annoyance. What followed was a gruelling bout and perhaps the first real sight of Ali Mark Two, a version not so fleet of foot as the original and one forced to fight in the trenches by his crude opponent. After a rough and tough contest, Ali became the only man to ever stop Bonavena, when he dropped him three times in the 15th and final round.
DID YOU KNOW? It was before this fight when Ken Buchanan, afer being asked by Angelo Dundee if they could share his dressing room, famously drew a line on the floor and demand that Ali stick to his side.
WATCH OUT FOR: With commentator Howard Cosell voicing his concerns that Ali was not the fighter of old, the former champion found the energy for a grandstand finish.
4 MIGUEL COTTO w rtd 9 ANTONIO MARGARITO
Dec 3, 2011; Madison Square Garden, New York
IF ever there was a sentimental favourite in a rematch, it was Miguel Cotto when he took on Antonio Margarito. The Mexican was caught with loaded hand-wraps prior to losing to Shane Mosley in 2009 and Cotto, who was left bloodied, bruised and beaten by Margarito the year before, was certain similar foul play had occurred during their first encounter. Whether Margarito should have been allowed to fight was another point of contention after his eye socket had been smashed in a loss to Manny Pacquiao in his previous bout. Cotto cared little and took aim at Margarito’s dodgy right eye to force a stoppage after nine rounds.
DID YOU KNOW? There was ‘unprecedented’ attention paid to Margarito’s hand-wraps before the rematch. After the fight, with his face a mess, Margarito insisted he could have continued and said Cotto “hit like a girl.”
WATCH OUT FOR: Cotto putting to bed claims that he was a spent force with a clinical display. He promised to go for Margarito’s injured eye and his aim was faultless.
3 DONALD CURRY w ko 2 MILTON MCCRORY
Dec 6, 1985; Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, NV
IN a fight that was a huge deal at the time, unbeaten welterweights Donald Curry and Milton Mccrory clashed in a unification bout for the WBC, WBA and IBF titles. The winner would be the first undisputed champion at 147lbs since Sugar Ray Leonard walked away in 1982. Both men were guaranteed $750,000 but Curry started as a 4/1 favourite. Mccrory scored first but Curry was soon on top. “I could see after just 20 seconds the confusion in his eyes,” Curry reported in the aftermath. In the interval between rounds one and two, Mccrory’s trainer, Emanuel Steward, told his fighter that Curry was going to tire and that he was fighting “tighter” than usual. Whether true or not, Curry violently ended the bout in the second.
DID YOU KNOW? Mccrory told BN in 2017 that he never “liked being a boxer. I was just good at it. I should have been a baseball player.”
WATCH OUT FOR: How good Curry really was. The finish, and how it was set up, exhibits Curry at his best and a fighter who briefly stood tall alongside Marvin Hagler as the best boxer in the sport.
2 CARL FROCH w pts 12 JEAN PASCAL
Dec 6, 2008; Nottingham Arena, Nottingham
IN a wild and thrilling encounter, Carl Froch won his first world belt when he outscored Jean Pascal in front of 7,000 fans in Nottingham. Future Froch opponent Jermain Taylor had passed on the chance to fight the Englishman for the WBC supermiddleweight title vacated by Joe Calzaghe, but Pascal jumped at the chance. Froch started quickly and seemed to hurt his opponent in the opening round. “I felt I caught him cold in the first but I didn’t want to blow a gasket so I kept my composure.” Nonetheless, Froch, never one to blow a gasket, remained tireless throughout as the two fighters engaged in furious toe-to-toe warfare. At the end, Froch triumphed via scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 117-111.
DID YOU KNOW? Tyson Fury made his debut on the undercard when he defeated Bela Gyongyosi in the opening round. It would be the first of five times Fury fought someone with a losing record.
WATCH OUT FOR: The pair exchanging for several seconds after the bell concludes the fifth round. Pascal in particular doesn’t hold back.
1 JOE LOUIS w pts 15 JERSEY JOE WALCOTT
Dec 5, 1947; Madison Square Garden, New York
JOE LOUIS had been world heavyweight champion for 10 years when he defended the title against 10/1 outsider, Jersey Joe Walcott. But a huge upset was brewing from the start. The challenger felled Louis, then 34 years old and clearly in decline, with perfect counter right hands in the first and fourth rounds. Walcott didn’t press his advantage but oozed the kind of defensive skill that would influence fighters like James Toney many years later. At the end of 15 rounds, a frustrated and embarrassed Louis was convinced he’d lost and tried to leave the ring only to be delayed by his handlers. Few could believe it when Joe was declared by ring announcer Harry Balogh as the winner via split decision.
DID YOU KNOW? Unimpressed by Walcott’s credentials, the New York State Athletic Commission ruled the bout had to be promoted as an exhibition when it was first put to them.
WATCH OUT FOR: The skills of Walcott, a truly majestic fighter, that impressed the 18,194 sell-out crowd inside Madison Square Garden.