The shocking moment when a rematch becomes a mismatch

Though it is not a prerequisite of them happening, rematches, by their very nature, tend to be examples of things fans want to see repeated. This hunger can be due to a controversy, either in the scoring of a fight or the way it ended, or it can be due to Fight One being so good and competitive it would be a shame not to do it again. 

Whatever it is, rematches, on the whole, are fights people want to see and come with a level of expectation the first fight possibly lacked. We now know, after all, how the two fighters involved will shape up when in a ring together. We know how they will move. We know what is at stake. We also have a decent idea of what to expect when the punches start to fly; as good an idea as you can hope to have in a sport like boxing anyway. 

When a rematch deviates from these expectations, it has a way of shocking us. We arrive expecting one thing and are then delivered something else, with the script, already written and rehearsed, suddenly of no use, out the window. 

This bait and switch was perhaps no better exemplified than on Saturday (October 12) in the British heavyweight title fight between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke. Six months ago, those two men went to war for 12 rounds in London and three ringside judges were unable to split them, leaving both dissatisfied with a draw. Yet, in their rematch on Saturday, with only the month and location now different from fight one, Wardley stopped Clarke with a brutal volley of punches in the first round, reframing the original fight, so close and competitive, as effectively irrelevant. 

It was, for Wardley, a win better than he had even imagined. For not only did that one-round victory over Clarke ensure he retained his title and established his superiority over a rival, but, so savage was it, it also put an end to this rivalry indefinitely. Just like that, it was done, over. There was no need for judges, no need for arguments, and now no need to see these two heavyweights ever share a ring again. 

As for those watching, there was a mix of exhilaration and disappointment. Exhilarated, on the one hand, to be spared controversy and see a fight settled decisively, there was also an element of the anticlimax given the thrilling nature of the first fight between these men and how high the levels of anticipation had been for this, the rematch, as a result. 

If granted the choice, of course, we, as fans, would forever choose the short and conclusive route over the long and controversial. That goes without saying. In fact, if ever unsure about this, we need not have waited long on Saturday to be reminded of the stark difference. For what followed Fabio Wardley’s one-round destruction of Frazer Clarke was a brilliant 12-round battle between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, the only downside of which was the fact that after 12 rounds nobody really had a clue who had won. This became clear in the aftermath when everybody had an opinion and a scorecard they were desperate to share, with the winner one Russian in the eyes of some people and another Russian in the eyes of others.

Indeed, it was while wading through these conflicting and ultimately meaningless opinions and theories that I stumbled upon an interesting thread regarding Wardley and Clarke; the one fight on which we could all comment with some degree of certainty. This thread, started by Tom Gray, had invited people to give examples of rematches, like Wardley vs. Clarke II, which were a fraction of the length of the first fight and shockingly one-sided. What then followed were countless examples of this trend, each uniquely fascinating and each demonstrating that even a rematch, this repeat performance, doesn’t necessarily go the way both form and history would have us believe.  

Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling

Fight One: As well as the Fight of the Year for 1936, Schmeling’s 12th-round stoppage of Louis at Yankee Stadium was also a huge upset, one that reverberated around the sporting world. Dropped in both rounds four and 12, Louis would lose as a pro for the first time at the hands of the unheralded German, who time and time again exploited a flaw he had noticed in the American’s style. 

Fight Two: When they reunited in 1938, Louis had won 11 fights on the spin and now grown into his role as world heavyweight champion. Again at Yankee Stadium, he cut through Schmeling inside the very first round, producing one of the most iconic revenge wins in boxing history. 

Rocky Marciano vs. “Jersey” Joe Walcott

Fight One: After being dropped in the opening round, and finding himself behind on points, Marciano had to pull out his famous “Suzie Q” punch in round 13 to turn this 1952 fight on its head and stop Walcott. Out of nowhere, a terrifying right hook suddenly caused Walcott to slump to his knees, with his arm draped over the rope, motionless and counted out. 

Fight Two: Having met initially in September of 1952, Marciano and Walcott reconvened the following May and now Walcott was 39 years of age. If the first fight represented “Jersey” Joe’s last stand, this rematch represented The End, and he was duly knocked out inside the very first round by Marciano. 

Matthew Saad Muhammad vs. John Conteh

Fight One: Saad Muhammad and Conteh contested the WBC light-heavyweight belt in 1979 and went the full 12 rounds, with Saad Muhammad taking a unanimous decision and retaining his title. The scores, all in his favour, were close and, in the eyes of some, controversial. They were also soon immaterial when the decision became void and a rematch was ordered due to Saad Muhammad’s cornermen using an illegal substance to stop the bleeding from a cut.

Fight Two: They met again in March of 1980 and on this occasion Saad Muhammad nailed Conteh with two vicious right hands in round four and refused to let him off the hook. Conteh went down again off a left and would go down a total of five times before the referee finally called the fight.

James “Bonecrusher” Smith vs. Tim Witherspoon 

Fight One: Witherspoon and Smith first boxed in Las Vegas in 1985 and that night Witherspoon dominated the fight over 12 rounds. This, unlike other examples on the list, was not a close or competitive bout and indeed the rematch they shared would not be an immediate one, for there was, at the time, frankly no need.

Fight Two: Since beating Smith in ’85, Witherspoon had boxed four times, and so too had Smith, and their rematch came 18 months after fight number one. This time Witherspoon, rather than outbox Smith for 12 rounds as he did in Vegas, was to find himself caught cold in round one and knocked out by “Bonecrusher”.  

Virgil Hill vs. Fabrice Tiozzo

Fight One: Light-heavyweights at the time, Hill and Tiozzo crossed paths in Paris in 1993, with Hill winning a split decision after 12 rounds. He was helped to achieve this by two knockdowns, one in the first round, and one in the second, and with the win he spoiled Tiozzo’s 25-0 record. 

Fight Two: Hill and Tiozzo wouldn’t meet again until 2000, making it seven years after their first fight, and would do so again in France, only now as cruiserweights. This time, too, there would be no need for any ringside judges as Hill, never deemed a puncher, surprisingly dropped Tiozzo three times in the first round and finished him there and then. 

Roy Jones Jnr vs. Montell Griffin

Fight One: Tougher than Jones had expected, yet still a fight he was on course to win, this 1997 defence of his WBC light-heavyweight belt ended in round nine when Jones hit Griffin after Griffin had taken a knee. That transgression led to a disqualification and inevitably a rematch. 

Fight Two: Clearly out to prove a point, Jones attacked Griffin in their immediate rematch as though wanting to do more than simply beat him. In fact, judging by the manner in which he set about him in round one, it was hard not to feel as though Jones wanted to humiliate his opponent and make the disparity between them abundantly clear. This he managed to achieve, too, stopping Griffin in the very first round. 

Enzo Maccarinelli vs. Mark Hobson

Fight One: When Maccarinelli and Hobson came together in 2006, the expectation was that it would be a good, evenly-matched affair between two of Britain’s best cruiserweights at the time. Placed on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe’s classic win over Jeff Lacy, they more than earned their spot, too, producing a thrilling 12-rounder full of tasty exchanges and momentum swings. The win went the way of Maccarinelli in the end, but it was close; close enough to warrant a replay.

Fight Two: Coming seven months after fight one, by now Maccarinelli was the WBO cruiserweight champion, a belt he won with a ninth-round stoppage of Marcelo Dominguez. Hobson, meanwhile, had boxed twice in that same period, beating both John “Buster” Keeton and Pavol Polakovic. They met again at Manchester’s MEN Arena, only this time Maccarinelli hurt Hobson early and finished the fight inside one minute and 11 seconds of the first round.

Sergio Martinez vs. Paul Williams

Fight One: After trading knockdowns in round one, Martinez and Williams battled doggedly for 12 rounds and were hard to split when the bell rang to end their fight in 2009. The scorecards, all over the place, reflected this, and many, including Martinez, were not best pleased when Williams was declared a majority decision winner. 

Fight Two: Since losing against Williams in Atlantic City, Martinez had returned there to beat Kelly Pavlik and claim the WBC and WBO middleweight titles, while Williams, on the other hand, had forced an injury stoppage of Kermit Cintron. They met for a second time on the Boardwalk and now Martinez was determined to leave nothing to chance. Fighting at a catchweight of 158 lbs, he cracked Williams with a devastating left hand in round two from which Williams, out cold, was unable to get up. 

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs. Roman Gonzalez

Fight One: This fight in 2017 broke Gonzalez’s 46-fight winning run and announced Sor Rungvisai on the world stage. It was, as anticipated, a quite brilliant fight, full of two-way action, and at the end of it Sor Rungvisai, the southpaw, came away with a hard-earned majority decision win. 

Fight Two: No longer a secret, Sor Rungvisai approached the rematch with Gonzalez, just six months later, with a renewed confidence and ferocity. This enabled him to set a pace Gonzalez couldn’t match and also drop him twice in round four, the round in which the rematch was destined to end. Suddenly he had made Gonzalez look old, finished. (Little did we know.)

Naoya Inoue vs. Nonito Donaire

Fight One: Still arguably Inoue’s toughest fight, and the closest he has ever come to losing, when these two bantamweights clashed in 2019, Donaire displayed the kind of courage and cleverness essential whenever someone confronts the fearsome Japanese superstar known as “Monster”. Though hurt on occasion, and though he eventually lost a 12-round decision, Donaire offered enough during the fight to not only give Inoue cause for concern but also have those of us watching the fight wish to one day see it again. 

Fight Two: Rather than an immediate rematch, the rematch between Inoue and Donaire arrived two and a half years later in 2022. By that time Inoue was considerably better, and more experienced, whereas Donaire, the old man in fight one, had only got older. As a result, it came as no real surprise when Inoue bludgeoned Donaire inside just two rounds, with any errors made in fight one eradicated in an instant.