Big J's Top 10: Favorite Fights - Part 2

I apologize for the delay but there is something you need to know about me.......I am a very, very busy guy. Sure I haven't had a full-time job in over a year, but still.....busy, busy, busy.

Anyway, I am finally here with the conclusion of my top 10 fights, I know you have been anxiously awaiting the results despite the fact that the interest in boxing has slowed to a quiet murmur over the past week. But I know from the influx of e-mails I have received (Zero), demanding that the top 5 be posted, that it is something I have to follow through on. So here we go.........

Big J's Top 10 Favorite Fights Of The Last 20 Years - Part 2

5) Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo I - This was one of those fights that didn't have much fanfare going in but ended up being the talk of the sports world after it happened. It became one of those rare fights that everyone was trying to get a copy of within days of it taking place. Dubbed "The Fight of the Century" by some and "The Greatest Fight of All-Time" by others. I think that is laying it on a little thick, but it's an all-time classic nonetheless. Words can't justify what happened in this fight, however the video of the 10th round below sums it up completely. Sadly Diego Corrales passed away last week after a motorcycle accident, but he will forever be remembered for this fight, perhaps the greatest comeback in boxing history.



4) Oscar De La Hoya vs. Fernando Vargas - Sure Oscar has had better fights and sure Oscar has had bigger fights, but this one stands out for me for several reasons. First of all, Vargas was probably a bigger villain entering this fight than Mayweather was against Oscar 10 days ago. Vargas talked a lot of personal trash about De La Hoya while De La Hoya just kept his mouth shut, looking to do his talking in the ring. That was the same situation with the Mayweather fight, the difference here being that Vargas had not accomplished nearly as much as Mayweather and Oscar was in his prime. It was very disrectpul and also pretty stupid. Plus, the fact that Vargas insinuated that De La Hoya wasn't a real Mexican because he embraced the United States made him even more of a bad guy, at least in the U.S. Making things even greater was the fact that Vargas actually gave Oscar a beating for the first 5 rounds befor he came back and beat the holy hell out of the cocky Vargas. To top it all off, this fight features the greatest call in boxing history outside of "Down Goes Frazier", by the great Jim Lampley. Check out the video below to see the knockout and Lampley's emotional call.

(Note: Also, this fight sums up Larry Merchant's incompetence perfectly in a one minute span. Pay close attention to his comments just as Oscar records the first knockdown and then after Lampley makes his incredible call Merchant almost completely ruins the moment with a rambling line about six-packs. Please don't try to figure it out, I promise that no matter how much time you spend thinking about it, it will never make sense)



3) Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas - Probably the most famous fight of the last 25 years other than maybe Tyson biting Holyfield's ear. It has been called "the biggest upset in sports history", not just boxing mind you, all sports. At the time of this fight Tyson was "the baddest man on the planet" and was thought to be invincible. There wasn't a heavyweight alive thought to be able to even give him a run for his money, let alone knock him out. In comes James "Buster" Douglas who entered the fight already having had 4 loses and as a 20 to 1 underdog. What followed was the most improbable result imagineable. Of course Buster had very little success afterwards and Tyson was the never the same again, but this still remains the most shocking fight in boxing history.



2) Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe I - Heavyweight fights rarely live up to their billing in this day and age, but this was one for the ages. To me, easily the best heavyweight fight of the last 20 years. The two battled toe to toe for ___ rounds with ____ ultimately winning the ____. Of course they went on to have two more fights with a lot of famous moments like involvement from Rock Newman and of course, fanman, but this was the epic fight of the three. And although Holyfield lost the decision, this was the fight that earned him the reputation as a true boxing warrior. See below for round 10 from this fight, the 1992 round of the year.



1) Arturo "Thunder" Gatti vs. "Irish" Mickey Ward Trilogy - In my opinion you cannot have a discussion about the greatest fights of all-time, let alone the last two decades, without mentioning these three fights. I listed the trilogy instead of one fight because I just can't choose between them and I didn't want to litter the top 10 with three of the same fights, which would have happened had I ranked them individually. For starters, the great thing about these fights is that both of these guys are very likeable and seem to be genuine good guys. On top of that, their hearts are unmatched. They are both warriors and leave everything they have in the ring. It was expected that the match up would produce a good fight entering the first contest, but no one had any idea that boxing history would take place. Over the course of 3 fights and 30 rounds, these two fighters put on what I consider to be the greatest show in boxing history and one of the greatest shows in sports history. Every second of the 30 rounds is enjoyable and fun even though the two men seem to be killing each other. The first fight is probably the best of the bunch by a narrow margin while the third is the worst, but the third fight gets bonus points for the energy in the arena when the crowd rises to its feet at the end of round 10 to salute two of the greatest warriors in sports for the performance they had given over the span of 30 unprecedented rounds. Below is video of round 9 from the first fight, the round and fight of the year in 2002.




That will do it for my 10 favorite fights, I hope you enjoyed them. If you did, let me hear from you at bigjandmax@gmail.com or if you hated it, let me hear from you are bigjandmax@gmail.com. Until next time.......Big J....OUT......Yeah sorry about that, just got done watching American Idol, if you never want to come back I understand.