The Big J and Max Show: Big J's Top 10: Favorite Fights

I know the subject is a little past its due date now what with the "fight of the century" almost a week old, but I feel like there is still a little juice left in the boxing topic. Especially since last Saturday's fight was so wildly disappointing as I had mentioned previously. I really, truly did not enjoy the fight as some boxing fans seem to have and I really found it to be hypocritical on both fighters parts how much they fought not to lose or to get hurt rather than to win like they had claimed they would do. Bill Simmons pointed out in his latest column that it seemed much more like a prearranged meeting between business associates rather than fighters and a more accurate assessment I can't come up with. This fight was destined for a rematch from day one and hopefully that one will live up to the hype (Note: Despite the fact that I didn't enjoy a second of the first one I would fork over another $55 to see them fight again, yes I am a sucker, but you are too, admit it).

Anyway, while I was thinking about what made this fight so poor, I also began thinking about what makes great fights great. Initially I intended to write a column about the best fights of the last 20 years but then came to the realization that it was almost impossible. I have not seen nearly enough fights and it would be way too hard to even research and rank the ones I have seen. Instead I decided to rank my favorite fights of the last 10 years as it is much more subjective and therefore I can do it off the top of my head based on preference. These are the fights that have stuck with me the most and the ones that I have most enjoyed rewatching over the years. So with that in mind, I present the first installment of "Big J's Top 10".

BIG J'S TOP 10 FAVORITE FIGHTS OF THE LAST 20 YEARS - Part 1

10) The Contender - The Contender (season 1) to me is one of the greatest and most underrated television programs of all-time. In addition to the great storytelling and the drama involved, the show actually produced a number of great fights. Now obviously you are not exactly seeing real fights in their entirety since this is a tv program they are edited to some degree, but you still got a sense that many of the bouts were real dogfights. There were many fights that were too close to call and the decision was always a tense moment. My favorite fight of the whole series had to be Jimmy Lange versus Joey Gilbert in the first round but I couldn't find video of it, so instead here is the Sergio Mora versus Ishe Smith fight from Round 2.

9) Arturo "Thunder" Gatti vs. Ivan Robinson I - This was the fight that really solidified Gatti as the warrior of boxing who left everything he had out in the ring. Robinson was no slouch either but Gatti was heavily favored coming in despite the fact that he was entering the fight off a loss to Angel Manfredy. Robinson went on to win in a split decision in a fight that many consider one of the greatest of all-time. Below is the 10th round from this, the 1998 Fight of the Year.

8) Roy Jones Jr. vs. Bryant Brannon - This is by far the least heralded fight on the list, but just happens to be one of my personal favorites. Roy Jones was the king of entertaining boxing which more than made up for his lack of competition. He always found a way to make his fights interesting even if he was fighting a ham and egger, as Bobby Heenan would say. Most people prefer his hands behind his back knockout of Glenn Kelly, but I'll take this one. In this fight, Jones was destroying Brannon in the second round when he looked at the referee almost urging him to stop the fight. Jones was soo good that he knew he had this guy and was worried he might kill him if it wasn't stopped. When the ref did nothing in response Jones shrugged his shoulders as if to say "ok, I warned you, if you're not gonna stop it, I'm gonna have to" and proceeded to knock Brannon out. Sadly I could not find a clip of this fight, but I am sure most of you have seen the highlights at one time or another. That moment personifies all that Roy Jones Jr. is and all that made him one of the greatest of all-time.

7) Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks - One of the most famous and shortest heavyweight fights of all-time. Spinks entered the bout with an undefeated record of 31-0 and was thought to be a legitimate threat to be the first to defeat "Iron Mike". It was one of the most hyped heavyweight fights ever with tickets selling for upwards of $5000 for a seat in Convention Hall. What you got for that $5000 was just 89 seconds of boxing and one of the biggest disappointments in boxing history. Tyson told the story years later that he could see fear in Spinks face and knew he was beaten before it even started. Watch the video below and you can see it too, damn right he's scared, you can see it eyes. In fact Spinks was so scared that he never set foot in a ring again.

6) Roy Jones Jr. vs. Antonio Tarver II
- Let it be known that I have always been a big Roy Jones fan and never been much of a fan of Antonio Tarver (well not until "Rocky Balboa" that is") but there was still something very enjoyable about this fight. Perhaps it was the sheer shock of the whole thing, after all in 50 previous career fights Jones Jr. had never really even been in trouble much less knocked out. Plus the two had fought six months earlier and Jones won majority decision after going the full 12 rounds in that one. There was absolutely no reason to believe this one wouldn't go the full 12 again, until the unthinkable happen. Tarver didn't just knock Jones down, he knocked him out, clear into the middle of next week. Next to Tyson-Douglas, the second most shocking knockout I have ever watched. Check out the video below.