MAYWEATHER vs CORRALES
Was this Floyd at his imperious best?
5 GEORGE FOREMAN w rsf 2 GERRY COONEY
January 15, 1990; Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ
THE comeback of George Foreman has been labelled as the greatest of them all. But it took a while to reach those heights; in 1990, an ageing and inactive Gerry Cooney was deemed the toughest test of Foreman’s return. Cooney hadn’t boxed since losing in five rounds to Michael Spinks in 1987 but for the first three minutes he was a marked improvement on Foreman’s 19 previous comeback opponents. Foreman hacked away at Cooney in the second, dropping him twice with accurate and clubbing blows.
DID YOU KNOW? This bout saw a new rule regarding gumshields introduced. Previously, if a gumshield came out midround – as Cooney’s did in the first – a boxer would have to wait until the break to have it replaced. Here, the action was stopped so it could be put back in immediately, much to the confusion of both.
WATCH OUT FOR: The left hook that wobbled Foreman in the first. As he waits for the second to start you can see George checking for damage as he moves his jaw and prods it with his tongue.
4 JAMES TONEY w rsf 7 ANTHONY HEMBRICK
January 16, 1994; Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, PA
“I DON’T know the guy but I don’t like him,” said the brooding James Toney of Anthony Hembrick in the pre-fight interviews. Toney would reiterate his dislike throughout the fight. A throwback in so many ways, “Lights Out” was one of the last world kings to regularly engage in non-title fights while holding a championship. Then the IBF super-middleweight boss, Toney would often move up to light-heavyweight while staying busy. Hembrick, a 1988 Olympian and fringe contender, was no easy touch but Toney, a joy to watch in this form, was a different class.
DID YOU KNOW? Toney was 176lbs, eight pounds above the super-middleweight limit. During his 21-month reign at 168lbs he engaged in eight non-title bouts, weighing between 169 and 181½lbs. His activity was to be admired but the yo-yoing was undoubtedly a factor in his poor performance when losing his title to Roy Jones Jnr.
WATCH OUT FOR: The left uppercut that Toney lands off the ropes, with about 15 seconds of the fifth remaining, is a work of art.
3 MIKE TYSON w ko 5 FRANS BOTHA
January 16, 1999; MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV
BANNED from the sport after biting Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson was forced to undergo five days of mental examinations at Massachusetts General Hospital before he could get his licence back. “No ways those guys are sane,” Tyson said of the doctors, “they love torturing people’s minds.” Indeed, the sanity of those who allowed Tyson to re-enter the ring was again called into question when Mike, frustrated by Botha, stretched the rules to breaking point before rescuing his career with a vintage right hand in the fifth round.
DID YOU KNOW? Before the contest, a philosophical Tyson spoke of his late mentor, Cus D’amato. “Cus wanted me to get married at the age of 15 or 16,” Tyson said. “But if I’d have done that I’d probably have killed everyone in my family by now.”
WATCH OUT FOR: Tyson infamously trying to snap Botha’s arm in a clinch is unpleasant in the extreme. Much more enjoyable, for anyone not in the Botha business, is the stunning one-punch KO that reminded everyone why we liked Tyson so much in the first place.
2 WILFRED BENITEZ w pts 15 CARLOS PALOMINO
January 14, 1979; Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan
WILFRED BENITEZ, at the ripe old age of 20, was at a crossroads. Since winning the super-lightweight title at the age of 17 – and setting a record for the youngest ever world champion in the process – the Puerto Rican had injured both hands in a road accident, he had been stripped of the title for inactivity, he’d gone life and death with Bruce Curry and, if all that wasn’t enough, he’d contracted hepatitis. But against Carlos Palomino, the WBC welterweight champ, Benitez was simply majestic. After a close opening six rounds, Benitez’s sublime counter-punching prowess saw him win a 15-round decision.
DID YOU KNOW? Though Benitez looked a clear winner at the final bell, the decision was split. Judge Zack Clayton scored for Palomino 146-142 (other scores were 148143 and 146-143 for Benitez) and later blamed the blazing San Juan sunshine for affecting his view of the action.
WATCH OUT FOR: A true defensive genius. But such brilliance can only last so long; within 10 years, the sport had wrecked Wilfred Benitez.
1 FLOYD MAYWEATHER w rsf 10 DIEGO CORRALES
January 20, 2001; MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV
DIEGO CORRALES’ post-fight complaint that his fight with Floyd Mayweather was stopped too soon, even though he’d been dropped five times, seemed like hot air. The pair of them didn’t like each other much, with Corrales writing the word ‘kill’ under images of Floyd he’d affixed to various punchbags. “A champ should finish the fight as long as keeps getting up,” Diego said afterwards. “My head was clear. I worked damned hard for this fight.” But Mayweather was brilliant, perhaps more so than ever. Corrales struggled to land a telling blow, Mayweather in contrast couldn’t miss. “I kept getting up, I should have been allowed to finish the fight,” Corrales grumbled. Four years later he got up twice against Jose Luis Castillo to score a miraculous victory. But against Mayweather, he never stood a chance.
DID YOU KNOW? Corrales was struggling to boil his 6ft frame down to 130lbs. Little surprise considering his walkaround weight was frequently just over 160lbs.
WATCH OUT FOR: Floyd Mayweather at his best.