THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
A line-up of legends to enjoy, writes Matt Christie
5 ARCHIE MOORE w pts 15 JOEY MAXIM
January 27, 1954; Orange Bowl, Miami, FL
ARCHIE MOORE had already retained his world light-heavyweight title against Joey Maxim, the man he took it from in 1952. Ahead of their third bout, Moore struggled to make the 175lbs weight limit and when news broke that Archie’s wife had filed a maintenance lawsuit against her husband on the day of the fight the odds drifted to 6/5 in Maxim’s favour. But Moore, always advancing behind that cross-armed defence, bossed the fight. Maxim was dropped in the eighth from a right hand, decked again in the 11th and was grateful to hear the final bell. Moore won by three lopsided scores of 148-134, 148-135 and 145-137.
DID YOU KNOW? A measure of Moore’s quality can be gained from the opposition he was facing at this time. Between 1954 and 1955 he defeated Maxim, Harold Johnson and Bobo Olson at light-heavy, and at heavyweight he bested Bob Baker and Nino Valdes before losing to Rocky Marciano.
WATCH OUT FOR: Multiple fights between two fighters were so common this was introduced by the presenter as, ‘the latest edition of Archie Moore versus Joey Maxim’.
4 GEORGE FOREMAN w rsf 2 JOE FRAZIER
January 22, 1973; National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica
IF you were to rate the most savage coronations in heavyweight history, George Foreman’s bombastic two-round beating of Joe Frazier would perhaps be second only to Jack Dempsey thrashing Jess Willard in 1919. Frazier was the favourite. When the two unbeaten fighters came together at the weigh-in, Foreman – whose first of 12 children had been born just weeks before – towered over the champion. “I’m gonna sit you on the ground, George,” said Frazier. A few hours later, after Foreman sat Frazier on the ground for the sixth time in two rounds, the fight was over. “I don’t want no more big fights for a while,” Foreman said afterwards. “I just want to go home and spend time with my daughter.”
DID YOU KNOW? The fighters’ choice of gloves were made with colour TV in mind. Foreman went for red and blue – to match his shorts – while Frazier’s were gold and green.
WATCH OUT FOR: In the second round, after both the fourth and fifth knockdowns, Foreman can be seen remonstrating to Frazier’s corner to throw in the towel.
3 ROBERTO DURAN w rsf 12 ESTEBAN DEJESUS
January 21, 1978; Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
ROBERTO DURAN is widely regarded as the greatest of all lightweights therefore this beatdown of old nemesis Esteban Dejesus in their rubber match might just be the best ever lightweight performance. “Patience will win the fight,” Duran’s trainer Ray Arcel told him before the fight. And so it proved. Duran remained calm throughout the badtempered build up and in the early going when Dejesus threatened with the hook that had dropped Duran in both of their previous meetings. He remained patient, expertly hacking to his rival’s midsection until, in the 12th, he picked the opportune moment to let rip. A right to the jaw dropped Dejesus before a seven-punch flurry ended the fight.
DID YOU KNOW? Even at this point of his career, it was difficult to get Duran to train for long periods of time so his manager, Carlos Eleta, told Duran he had a warm-up fight in Panama. There was of course no warm-up bout but, thanks to the fib, Eleta managed to get an extra four weeks’ work out of his charge.
WATCH OUT FOR: Duran at his amazing peak.
2 MANNY PACQUIAO w rsf 10 ERIK MORALES
January 21, 2006; Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
ERIK MORALES blamed making weight and too many ‘tough fights’ for why he lost to Manny Pacquiao in this rematch. Such is the mindset of the boxer, particularly one as ferocious and proud as Morales, giving praise where it’s due is often the hardest thing in the world. But “Pacman” – approaching his peak years – was brilliant from start to finish. The Filipino had been outpointed by Morales 10 months before but in the sequel he was calculating and accurate as he hailstormed the Mexican to defeat.
DID YOU KNOW? Between 2005 and 2008, Pacquiao won six of seven fights where the WBC’S lightly-regarded International superfeatherweight belt was on the line as Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez held the real WBC strap until the latter lost it to Manny in 2008. What the WBC would have done for the Franchise championship in those days.
WATCH OUT FOR: Morales’ mind deteriorate. Early in the fight he is complaining about sore legs. By the end of the ninth, he is using them to run away from his tormentor. 1 GEORGE FOREMAN w ko 5 RON LYLE
January 24, 1976; Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV
JANUARY was a good month for George Foreman. Throughout his career he fought nine times in the first month of the year, winning each time by knockout or stoppage. The most memorable of them all was this wild brawl with Ron Lyle which, even today, stands tall as THE heavyweight slugfest. Compared to what followed, the opening round was quiet and the second was noteworthy only because the bell sounded after two minutes. Foreman decked Lyle in the third before the fire really roared in the fourth; Foreman hit the mat first, Lyle went down from a right hand before toppling Big George at the end of the round. But the January blues were Lyle’s in the fifth when 17 unanswered blows sent him over and out.
DID YOU KNOW? This was the first fight to be held in the Sports Pavilion at Caesars. It was built in 1975 for a tennis ‘spectacular’ featuring Jimmy Connors. The last boxing action to occur there was in 1996, when Oscar De La Hoya defeated Darryl Tyson.
WATCH OUT FOR: Has there ever been a better heavyweight round than the fourth?