THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
A selection of prechristmas crackers
Floyd and his terrific shoulder pads
5 RUBIN CARTER w rsf 1 EMILE GRIFFITH
Dec 20, 1963; Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
“NO welterweight belongs in the ring with me,” Rubin “Hurricane” Carter sneered before 147lbs world champion Emile Griffith stepped up to face him in a nontitle middleweight bout. Despite Carter’s obvious contempt for his opponent, Griffith, also the light-middleweight world champion, was the betting favourite going in. Those odds looked ludicrous as Carter ripped through Griffith in the opening round. He was wrong about one thing, though: “Griffith won’t get up when I knock him down,” Carter predicted. But Emile somehow got up twice after taking savage blows to the head. That he was practically dragged back into battle by referee Buck Mctiernan after the first knockdown was typical of the era but makes for difficult viewing in 2020.
DID YOU KNOW? A month later, at the Americana hotel in New York, Griffith somewhat apologetically accepted his award for Fighter of the Year. He joked about the loss to Carter in his speech.
WATCH OUT FOR: What a ferocious fighter Carter was at his peak.
4 SIMON BROWN w ko 4 TERRY NORRIS
Dec 18, 1993; Estadio Cuauhtemoc, Puebla, Mexico
TERRY NORRIS was among the best fighters in the sport and was universally expected to dominate Simon Brown on the undercard of Julio Cesar Chavez-andy Holligan just before Christmas in 1993. Ten challengers had tried and failed to wrest the WBC 154lbs title from Norris. Brown, though, was different from the rest. He dropped Norris with a jab in the opening round before staggering him the second. Norris, ever the warrior, refused to learn the lessons. Though he was wobbled again in the third, the bloodied mouth of Brown convinced him to keep motoring ahead. The challenger put the finishing touch to the Upset of the Year with a savage right hand that dropped Norris for the full count in the fourth.
DID YOU KNOW? The bout was originally scheduled for September 18, 1993. But the fight was called off just hours beforehand when Brown was rushed to hospital complaining of dizziness. An ear infection was later blamed for the problem.
WATCH OUT FOR: The brutal overhand right that finished the fight in the fourth round.
3 DWIGHT BRAXTON w rsf 10 MATTHEW SAAD MUHAMMAD
Dec 19, 1981; Playboy Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ
MATTHEW SAAD MUHAMMAD ran out of miracles when he encountered Dwight Braxton (later to be better known as Dwight Muhammad Qawi) in Atlantic City. The WBC light-heavyweight champion had forged his considerable reputation by coming from behind and those in attendance waited and waited for Saad to come to life. But Braxton, a ferocious in-fighter, retained total control throughout. The challenger’s jab was like a battering ram to the throat as he went for the champion. Saad was wobbled several times and in the eighth, as a right landed on the button, blood flew from his face. When Matthew made one last ditch attempt to save his title in the 10th, Braxton merely rallied back, flooring the favourite. Referee Arthur Mercante, aware Saad was spent, stopped it within four punches of the follow-up assault.
DID YOU KNOW? The champion had to lose nearly seven pounds in 12 hours to make weight. Back then, the weigh-ins were on the same day as the fight.
WATCH OUT FOR: The savage brilliance of Braxton, a barrel of a man.
2 JOSH WARRINGTON w pts 12 CARL FRAMPTON
Dec 22, 2018; Manchester Arena, Manchester
ON a day of British pay-per-views, Josh Warrington’s victory over Carl Frampton proved to not only be the fight of the night, but it was also among the very best fights of the year. Though more paid to watch the Matchroom-promoted heavyweight rematch between Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora on Sky Sports Box Office, which was a terrific bout, Warrington-frampton proved to be the purist’s choice. The Irishman was the favourite but the IBF featherweight champ attacked with such ferocity in the early going, Frampton was up against it from the very start. That he recovered to make it competitive said plenty about “The Jackal” but underdog Warrington going on to win the fight convincingly said even more.
DID YOU KNOW? Promoter Eddie Hearn, uncharacteristically irked, called up Boxing
News to complain when we suggested that promoters should try and communicate to avoid staging big fights on the same night in the same country.
WATCH OUT FOR: The opening rounds as Warrington almost forced the stoppage.
1 FLOYD MAYWEATHER JNR w rsf 2 ANGEL MANFREDY
Dec 19, 1998; Miccosukee Indian Gaming Resort, Miami, FL
ANYONE who believes that Floyd Mayweather was just a safety-first defensive artist should watch this. Manfredy had beaten Arturo Gatti and a still-useful John Brown going in. HBO labelled this as a ‘Christmas present for boxing fans who like well-matched fights’. As it turned out, WBC super-featherweight champion Mayweather was brilliant and Manfredy didn’t stand a chance. Floyd began quickly and won the opening round before increasing the pressure in the next. Hooks, uppercuts and overhand rights rained in on Manfredy before the referee stepped in.
DID YOU KNOW? Manfredy told BN in 2017 that he earned $1m from the fight but HBO had to give it to him in three separate payments because Mayweather would not have gone through with the fight if he’d known he was earning less.
WATCH OUT FOR: Larry Mercant toying with predictions that Mayweather would go on to be a great fighter in the immediate buildup. The size of Mayweather’s shoulder pads are also worth looking out for.