Repeat or revenge: 10 great heavyweight rematches

When Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk face off in Riyadh on Saturday in a rematch of their bout in May, something will have to give. Neither man has lost a rematch, Usyk proving victorious twice in a row against Anthony Joshua, and Fury boasting two wins (one highly contested) over John McDermott and three over Derek Chisora, and following up a draw against Deontay Wilder with two stoppage triumphs. 

Their second encounter comes more than 97 years after one of the earliest, and certainly most infamous, heavyweight rematches of all time, the “Long Count” fight that saw Gene Tunney best Jack Dempsey for the second time in a row. Since then, the greatest prize in sport has seen numerous occasions when a dethroned champion has sought to regain the crown, or a hard-luck challenger given a second shot at the brass ring; below are 10 of the best and most significant.  

It’s a list that only includes rematches to a fight in which one person emerged victorious, so no Fury-Wilder II or Lewis-Holyfield II. Nor is the seminal heavyweight rivalry in here, because although Joe Frazier’s first and third clashes with Muhammad Ali were truly epic encounters, the rematch in the middle was a relative dud with nothing but bragging rights on the line. 

Gene Tunney vs Jack Dempsey: REPEAT 

September 23, 1926: Tunney W10 Dempsey 

September 22, 1927: Tunney W10 Dempsey 

A crowd of 120,557 packed the Sesquicentennial Stadium in Philadelphia for the first fight, as Dempsey looked to defend the heavyweight title he had taken from Jess Willard seven years earlier. Dempsey was a big favorite, but over 10 rounds in the pouring rain, Tunney was the clear winner. 

The rematch, held 364 days later, became famous as “The Long Cunt” fight, as a result of what happened after Dempsey dropped Tunney in the seventh. Dempsey liked to stand over his foes and rush them when they got to their feet; but referee Dave Barry attempted to enforce a new rule that a count could only begin when the fighter who scored a knockdown was in a neutral corner.  Barry’s desperate efforts to usher Dempsey away from the fallen Tunney gave the champion an extra five seconds to make it to his feet; Dempsey’s refusal to respond immediately to the ref’s commands meant a possible KO7 win was transformed, after Tunney beat the count and returned to action, another ten-round points defeat. 

Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling: REVENGE 

June 19, 1936: Schmeling KO10 Louis 

June 22, 1938: Louis KO1 Schmeling 

Undefeated contender Louis was a big favorite entering his 1936 contest with Germany’s Schmeling, but the German had done his homework and noticed that Louis dropped his left hand after he jabbed. Schmeling took advantage ruthlessly, pounding the youngster with right hands until he secured the upset stoppage. 

Louis rebuilt and had won the heavyweight title by the time Schmeling returned to the US for the rematch. The geopolitical situation had also changed, and with war clouds on the horizon, Schmeling was viewed as a representative of the Nazi government (even though he never joined the Nazi party and in fact sheltered Jewish children). Overconfident after his earlier win, Schmeling was blitzed by Louis, who stopped him inside a round to prompt overwhelming celebrations in the US. 

Rocky Marciano vs Ezzard Charles: REPEAT 

June 17, 1954: Marciano W15 Charles 

September 17, 1954: Marciano KO8 Charles 

Ezzard Charles had surrendered the heavyweight crown to Jersey Joe Walcott, who lost it to Marciano. In his third title defense, Marciano took on the former champion, and soon found the going tough, losing the first four rounds to Charles’ supoerior boxing technique and suffering a deep cut over his left eye. From round 5 onward, Marciano turned up the pressure, despite his face being covered with blood, and by the closing third of the fight he had turned Charles’ face into a swollen mess. 

The rematch, three months later, saw Marciano knock down Charles in the second, but the fight had devolved into a relatively dull affair until Marciano emerged from a clinch in the sixth with a canyon-like gash in his nostril. The champion emerged after the seventh knowing he needed to secure a stoppage before the fight was halted because of his injury, and he did just that, knocking Charles out with 24 seconds left in the eighth. 

Sonny Liston vs Floyd Patterson: REPEAT 

September 25, 1962: Liston KO1 Patterson 

July 22, 1963: Liston KO1 Patterson 

Patterson had won the title in 1956 and lost it to Ingemar Johansson in 1959, only to reclaim it in a rematch. Liston was now the clear number one challenger, but both because of his alleged ties with the Mafia as well as the danger he presented, Patterson’s manager and trainer Cus D’Amato sought to keep his man away from him. 

Eventually, Patterson relented and gave Liston a shot; unable to cope with the challenger’s reach and power, he was knocked down and out in the opening round. 

The rematch was much the same, except this time Patterson went down on three occasions, the third for the ten count. The fight lasted just four seconds longer than the initial contest. 

Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston: REPEAT 

February 25, 1964: Ali TKO 7 Liston 

May 25, 1965: Ali KO1 Liston 

Before his challenge of the formidable Liston, young challenger Cassius Clay exhibited such bizarre and hyped-up behavior that many observers were convinced he was terrified. But once the bell rang, the contender from Louisville dazzled the champion with fast combinations and slick footwork. After the fourth, however, Clay returned to the corner complaining that his eyes were burning and demanding that trainer Angelo Dundee cut off his gloves; Dundee demurred, doing his best to rinse out whatever had gotten into his fighter’s eyes and telling him to “run” until the pain departed and his vision returned. By the sixth, his eyes back to normal, an enraged Clay turned up the heat, taking the fight to Liston, who stayed on his stool as the bell rang to begin the seventh. 

Liston’s capitulation caused suspicion among some fans and reporters, but it was as nothing compared to the events of the rematch. With Clay having joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and Liston’s Mob alleged ties continuing to make authorities nervous, the rematch took place in the pugilistic backwater of Lewiston, Maine, where, in the very first round, a short right hand, unseen by most ringside observers, put Liston on the canvas. He rolled over, fell down again, and regained his feet. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott allowed the boxers to return to action until the timekeeper signaled to him that Liston had been down for the count, whereupon Walcott waved the contest over – and a new era of heavyweight boxing was born. 

Muhammad Ali vs Leon Spinks: REVENGE 

February 15, 1978: Spinks W15 Ali 

September 15, 1978: Ali W15 Spinks 

In the 14 years since beating Liston, Ali had become the dominant force in boxing, been stripped of his title for refusing induction to the armed forces, been reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court, lost to Joe Frazier, regained his title at the age of 32 from George Foreman, and defeated Frazier in a sensational fight in Manila. Now, however, pushing 36, he was doughier and slower, as a career of brawls and a number of unnecessarily tough ring wars took their toll. Spinks, the 1976 Olympic gold medalist, had had just seven pro fights when he challenged Ali in Las Vegas, but the younger man outhustled the old champion, becoming the first man to relieve him of his heavyweight crown in the ring. 

Seven months later, a better prepared Ali comfortably regained his title, becoming the first three-time heavyweight champion in the sport’s history. He promptly retired – but, alas, not for long. 

Evander Holyfield vs Riddick Bowe: REVENGE 

November 13, 1992: Bowe W12 Holyfield 

November 6, 1993: Holyfield W12 Bowe 

Unlike the others in this list, this ultimately became a trilogy, but the first two fights were the most memorable. In the first, unbeaten Bowe inflicted the first defeat on Holyfield after a skillful and action-packed bout highlighted by a dramatic tenth round in which the older man fought back after appearing in danger of a stoppage defeat. 

The rematch, staged outdoors at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, saw Bowe win the first three rounds and Holyfield the next three; the seventh round was two minutes old when the fight was suspended when James “Fan Man” Miller crashed his paraglider into the ring apron. Following a 21-minute delay, the fight resumed and remained closely contested until the final bell. Holyfield emerged with a majority decision victory, making him just the third man in history to regain the lineal heavyweight title.  

Evander Holyfield vs Mike Tyson: REPEAT 

November 9, 1996: Holyfield TKO11 Tyson 

June 28, 1997: Holyfield W DQ3 Tyson 

Since being released from jail after serving time for rape, Tyson had rolled through Peter McNeeley, Buster Mathis Jr., Frank Bruno, and Bruce Seldon, but Holyfield was made of altogether sterner stuff. In their first meeting, for the strap that Tyson had taken from a terrified Seldon, Holyfield showed from the beginning that he would not be bullied or intimidated by Tyson, frequently pushing him back in clinches and refusing to back down in exchanges. A left hand from Holyfield dropped Tyson to the seat of his pants in round six, and from that moment on, Iron Mike was mentally beaten. To add insult to injury, Tyson was cut and hurt on two separate occasions by what referee Mitch Halpern adjudged to be accidental head butts. At the end of the tenth round, Holyfield had Tyson reeling; and he finished the job early in the 11th, Halpern stepping in to rescue Tyson from a Holyfield barrage. 

Despite the beating, Tyson was favored for the rematch, but when he and Holyfield literally butted heads some more early on, he snapped. With forty seconds remaining in the third, Tyson spat out his mouthpiece and, during a clinch, bit off a part of Holyfield’s ear. Referee Mills Lane halted the action and, after speaking with Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner, ducked Tyson two points and allowed the fight to continue. When Tyson bit Holyfield in the other ear, Lane didn’t notice the infraction at first, but when it was brought to his attention when the round ended, he disqualified Tyson. 

Lennox Lewis vs Oliver McCall: REVENGE (with an asterisk) 

September 24, 1994: McCall TKO2 Lewis 

February 7, 1997: Lewis TKO 5 McCall 

In 1994, Lewis was a heavyweight titlist, courtesy of a combination of knocking out Razor Ruddock and Riddick Bowe literally throwing his belt in a trash can instead of defending it against him. Talk of Olympic finalists Lewis and Bowe finally meeting as pros was in the air but came crashing down to Earth when an Oliver McCall right hand dropped Lewis hard in the second round at Wembley; he beat the count, but referee Jose Garcia stopped the fight. 

In McCall’s corner that night was trainer Emanuel Steward, who promptly offered his services to Lewis. With Steward at his side, Lewis easily defeated Lionel Butler, Justin Fortune, and Tommy Morrisson, and eked past Ray Mercer to set up a rematch with McCall for a vacant belt. McCall, however, was clearly in no position to fight; there had been concerns beforehand about his mental state, and after the third round – Lewis having comfortably claimed the opening three stanzas – the American refused to walk to his corner. In the fourth, he threw nary a punch, simply backing to the ropes and covering up while Lewis, concerned McCall was playing possum, approached him warily. McCall again walked around the ring between rounds four and five and was now crying; Lane allowed him to begin the fifth, but when he once again backed to the ropes and even turned his back on Lewis, Lane stopped the fight. 

Lennox Lewis vs Hasim Rahman: REVENGE 

April 22, 2001: Rahman KO5 Lewis 

November 17, 2001: Lewis KO4 Rahman 

If Lewis had one eye on a Riddick Bowe showdown before his defeat by McCall, he was surely distracted by talk of a big-money clash with Tyson – as well as by filming “Ocean’s Eleven” – heading into his defense of the heavyweight title against Rahman in South Africa. Underprepared and overconfident, Lewis walked into a massive overhand right from Rahman in the fifth round and crumbled to the canvas. “The Crumble in the Jungle,” quipped HBO’s ringside analyst Larry Merchant. 

Lewis had to sue for an immediate rematch, and when it came, at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the big Brit made no mistake, dominating Rahman with a stiff jab and knocking him out with a huge sweeping right hand in the fourth that left Rahman on his back, staring at the lights.