6 OF THE BEST BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT FIGHTS
Anthony Joshua is in the fight of his young life tonight when he meets Wladimir Klitschko. Here, JEFF POWELL picks his top fights involving British heavyweights.
JAMES J CORBETT v BOB FITZSIMMONS March 17, 1897 – The Race Track Arena, Carson City, Nevada
Bob Fitzsimmons became the first world champion at middleweight, light-middleweight and heavyweight. The heavyweight title was the crowning glory of a phenomenal career and Fitzsimmons remains the lightest heavyweight champion of all time. At 11st 13lb he weighed 17lb less than Jim Corbett.
So great was the fascination with whether he could defy the size of the reigning champion that the state of Nevada legalised boxing to permit the fight.
When they also authorised Wild West sheriff Wyatt Earp and four of his deputies to take position in Corbett’s corner packing Colt .45s, Fitzsimmons demanded an equal number of gunmen in his corner ‘to ensure fair play’.
In the 14th round he connected with his trademark ‘solar plexus’ punch — the Cornishman is still rated by The Ring as the eighth-biggest puncher of all time — to claim $10,000 in winnings.
HENRY COOPER v CASSIUS CLAY June 18, 1963 – Wembley, London
The night Our ’Enery came within a heartbeat of spoiling the legend of he who would become The Greatest.
‘It ain’t no jive, he falls in five,’ roared the Louisville Lip with his customary arrogance — and how close he came to falling victim to one of his famous predictions.
Seconds before the end of the fourth the fabled ’Enery’s ’Ammer landed flush on the jaw. Clay went down, only to be saved first by the bell then by a series of illegal interventions by his legendary trainer Angelo Dundee.
He climbed through the ropes to help Clay to his corner, applied smelling salts and tore a small nick in Clay’s right glove. The fight was then delayed by a search for replacement gloves. Clay used every moment to regain his breath and equilibrium and by the start of the fifth he had recovered and set about delivering his prediction. With Cooper already cut above both eyes, Clay targeted the area and, with blood flooding down Cooper’s face, the referee had no option but to call a halt. Clay praised the power of the ’Ammer: ‘That punch was felt by my ancestors in Africa.’
OLIVER McCALL v FRANK BRUNO September 2, 1995 - Wembley
Though the fight itself was largely unremarkable, this was the night our beloved Big Frank finally won the world title which the British public had been willing him towards for years.
Three attempts had ended in knockouts, by Tim Witherspoon, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis.
There was national anxiety McCall, a big puncher who had stopped Lewis, would do the same. Fearlessly, Bruno (below) took the bull by the horns and built up a wide advantage on the cards. ‘Brooono, Brooono,’ roared the Wembley crowd as the judges brought down their unanimous decision. And the world, not least the world of boxing, seemed a better place.
EVANDER HOLYFIELD v LENNOX LEWIS March 13, 1999 – Madison Square Garden, New York
With their collection of WBA, WBC, IBF and lineal titles on the line, the pair finally met in the ring. Lewis dominated the first two rounds, then held off a desperate attempt by Holyfield to fulfil his prediction of a third round KO. Thereafter, in the eyes of the majority of the crowd and virtually all the TV pundits, Lewis built a sizeable lead and was acclaimed as the certain winner at the final bell. Shock, horror. The judges were split and pandemonium ensued in Square Garden as a draw was called. A South African official had it 116-113 to Lewis, an American scored it 115-113 to Holyfield and the third judge, a Brit, had it even. New York mayor Rudy Giuliani called it ‘a travesty’. They met again eight months later, when Lewis won unanimously to become Britain’s only undisputed champion of the modern era.
NIKOLAI VALUEV v DAVID HAYE November 7, 2009 – Nuremberg Arena, Germany
David Haye’s conquest of Russian man-mountain Nikolai Valuev was achieved by a brilliant strategy executed with real bravery.
The in-and- out, no- openings style Haye employed came from the first page of his then trainer Adam Booth’s playbook and was perfect for this monstrous task.
At 7ft 2in, Valuev stood 11 inches taller than Haye. At 15st 7lb, he was 100lb lighter too.
As Haye admitted, his tactics did not make for the most exciting spectacle but it was a masterclass in economy at high speed.
It is doubtful if a world title has ever been won by so few punches. There were rounds won by as few as two blows.
In the 12th he almost knocked down Goliath with a vicious leftright combination to that huge head, which he described as ‘like hitting a brick wall’.
Not the greatest fight of all time. But brilliant in its concept.
WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO v TYSON FURY November 28, 2015 – Esprit Arena, Dusseldorf
There was no hint in the bizarre build-up of the genius which would enact one of the most sensational upsets in modern heavyweight history.
All the focus was on Fury’s Batman antics at a media conference and controversy inflamed by extreme statements drawn from his zealous Christian faith.
Klitschko denies Fury unsettled him but something was not right on the night with the Ukrainian who had dominated heavyweight boxing for more than a decade.
Peter Fury, uncle and trainer, sent out Tyson to dance Klitschko to distraction, while scoring just enough points to take control of the judges’ cards. It worked to perfection. It was not one-sided so there was a frisson of anxiety when Fury was docked a point in the last round for repeatedly hitting Klitschko behind the head.
But the judges were not as confused as Klitschko and brought down a unanimous decision.