We can only hope that Saturday’s undisputed light-heavyweight title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will wind up on a similar list years from now. But, included here, are some of the great 175lbs match-ups from over the years, spiked by controversy, drama, heart, courage and featuring plenty of Hall of Famers.
1. Archie Moore w ko 11 Yvon Durelle (December 10, 1958)
The great Archie Moore, a huge hitter, was down three times in round one and once in the fifth in front of 8,848 rabid fans at the Forum in Montreal. However, he dropped Durelle four times and won in the 11th of a breathless fight – one of the great slugfests of all time. The referee was former heavyweight Jack Sharkey.
Moore was interviewed in his dressing room afterwards, and he calmly said: “No, I’m not tired. But he’s a very strong fighter. He hurt me every time he hit me.”
Durrelle, conversely, was inconsolable as he prepared to leave the venue, and wept about his missed opportunities, saying he had been overeager and tried too hard.
Two fights later, Moore stopped the Canadian tough guy in three rounds in a return.
2. Matthew Franklin (later Saad Muhammad) w ko 12 Marvin Johnson I (July 26, 1977)
They fought twice and the second bout, for the WBC title in Indianapolis, was also a pulsating thriller, which Matthew also won that via stoppage. The first, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, was, for promoter Russell Peltz, the best fight he promoted in 50 years and the most violent fight ringside reporter and future Ring Magazine editor Nigel Collins witnessed in a similar timeframe. “It was the only fight where I thought both guys might die,” Collins later said.
Both were swollen and bloody and took turns to tee off on one another in a truly vicious war.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s front page of the sports section read the next day: “The same folks who brought you Ali-Frazier, reddening the dawn skies in Manila. The same script that gave the world Graziano-Zale and before that, Christians and Lions.”
3. Matthew Saad Muhammad w ko 14 Yaqui Lopez II (July 13, 1980)
This was the Fight of the Year in 1980. Saad Muhammad, then Matthew Franklin, had stopped Lopez earlier in their careers but this memorable bout – at the Playboy Club in New Jersey – saw one of the great rounds in 175lbs history. Saad Muhammad, the WBC champion, was on the receiving end of a vicious rally of some 30 Lopez blows in round eight, but the California-Mexican punched himself out and Saad began to brawl back.
The relentless nature of the bout persisted until, in round 14, Lopez began to wilt and he had been dropped four times when the end finally came.
But for suggestions of cronyism, Saad Muhammad might have had more fights on this list, including his up-and-down thriller with Richie Kates.
4. Charles Williams tech. draw 7 Merqui Sosa (January 13, 1995)
While Nigel Collins thought from ringside both Saad Muhammad and Johnson were in danger, Dr Frank B Doggett felt the same thing in Atlantic City years later when he withdrew both Williams and Sosa, believing they had inflicted too much punishment on one another before the eighth round.
One ringsider reported: “Torrid fights are common in boxing, but never in recent memory has a match been so gruelling that it had to be stopped to protect both men from further punishment.”
The result was a technical draw. Sosa’s crisp white shorts were stained red from the blood and it was down to the referee, Ron Lipton, to cry “Let’s get a doctor in here!” because of his concerns. Both had been shaken, hurt and on wobbly legs.
To start the seventh, both fighters tried to adopt a more strategic approach, but it simply descended into further chaos. “After about a minute,” said one report, “Sosa began to bomb in tough. The Dominican’s right eye was totally closed, but it made no difference as he bolted after Williams, trying to sledge him into the dust.”
After the war was halted, Sosa jumped on to the ropes thinking he’d won. Alas, a technical draw was rendered.
5. Gus Lesnevich w tko 10 Freddie Mills (May 14, 1946)
“His left eye completely closed and swollen, blood spurting from a broken nose, stout-hearted world light-heavyweight champion Gus Lesnevich kept swinging until he stopped the British cruiserweight champion Freddie Mills in the 10th round of a scheduled 15-rounder to retain his crown.”
Some 11,000 fans packed the Harringay Stadium in London and Mills, down four times in the second, roared back to give the American champion fits until the sudden finish.
Writing for The Ring, Eddie Borden said Lesnevich survived “the fight of his life” and, of the closing moments, Borden added: “Breathing heavily through his nose, Lesnevich closed in on the helpless Mills, and a left to the head almost sent Freddie through the ropes.”
As it was, Mills rose bravely again, only to be deposited on his knees – and almost through the ropes – a final time with the referee Eugene Henderson stopping the battle without a count.
British boxing historian George Zeleny reminisced: “If you watch the film of the fight, how Mills survived the second round is a miracle. He was literally poleaxed. Apparently Mills said at the end of the sixth, ‘What round is this?’ He was completely blank. Savage stuff and a wonderful, brutal fight.”
Mills won a rematch two years later over 15 rounds.
6. Bob Foster w ko 14 Chris Finnegan (September 26, 1972)
In the Ring Magazine’s Fight of the Year for 1972, Foster travelled to London to beat the excellent Finnegan and retain his world title.
In fact, he was the only man to KO Finnegan in the Englishman’s career and, from ringside, future Hall of Famer Graham Houston, wrote: “Gallant Chris Finnegan failed to wrest the world light-heavyweight title from America’s great Bob Foster at the Empire Pool. But his losing stand will never be forgotten by those who saw it.”
Southpaw Finnegan was 28 but his face, by the end, told the story of how damaging Foster’s heavy hands were. The man from Albuquerque, one of the great light heavyweights, was 33, and he needed every ounce of his experience. The one criticism was Finnegan didn’t have the power to keep Foster off him, but they often went punch for punch and Finnegan was able to out-jab Foster for spells.
Finnegan was in good spirits despite the outcome.
“When I went down in the 14th I wasn’t hurt, just dizzy,” he said. “I thought he was getting a bit desperate and then it was all over. Never mind, that’s just my first crack at the title. I’ll get another chance. Foster’s the best in the world – after my missus.”
In his next fight, Foster stepped up to challenge Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title, and was stopped in eight rounds. Finnegan was plagued by cuts and never got another world-title shot.
7. Jeff Harding w tko 12 Dennis Andries I (June 24, 1989)
The underrated warrior Dennis Andries and Australian hardman Harding had three memorable fights. Their first bout, at the Atlantic City Convention Center, saw the Londoner stopped with barely 90 seconds left in the fight.
Harding had come in for Donny Lalonde at short notice, and he was behind on all three cards and had never been beyond 10 rounds.
The Australian was cut over both eyes, his nose was bleeding and battered and he spat out blood from his mouth. Harding was also down in the fifth, though some observers say it was a push. Round 11 was gruelling, and Andries was down twice in the 12th before being rescued by the referee Joe Cortez.
Alex Wallau said: “This is as much action as you will ever see with two guys of this size.”
The International Boxing Hall of Famer Harry Mullan wrote: “There can have been few harder-won championships in the history of boxing than the 12-round stoppage substitute challenger Jeff Harding scored over Dennis Andries for the WBC light-heavyweight title in a brawl even Sylvester Stallone would blush to have scripted.”
Mullan added of the winner: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a braver man in the ring.”
They would fight two more times, with Andries stopping Harding in Australia, but Harding winning the decider by majority decision in England.
8. Victor Galindez w tko 15 Richie Kates I (May 22, 1976)
Ringside in Johannesburg, the writer Bert Blewett described the first bout between Argentine Galindez and New Jersey’s Kates as “one of the most savage and sensational fights ever seen in South Africa” adding: “It was a fight of bloodiness, courage, and controversy, and it had the crowd of more than 35,000 screaming from bell to bell.”
The drama inside The Rand Stadium was over after 2:59 of the 15th and final round.
Galindez had been left cut on his head from a third-round head clash, which caused the crowd to rush the ring as they thought the referee Stanley Christodoulou had stopped the fight and disqualified Kates for a butt.
Five minutes on, the fight continued. Kates took his lumps throughout while Galindez bled profusely, but Kates lost his shape late on and ran out of gas, saying in his locker-room afterwards: “My mind said ‘Get up’ but my body said ‘No’.”
Two fights later, Galindez won a rematch by wider margins in Italy.
9. Battling Siki w dq 6 George Carpentier (September 24, 1922)
Both fighters were down in the third; Carpentier was floored in the fifth and sixth, and Siki was originally disqualified for tripping the French hero up in the sixth by the referee Henry Bernstein, only for the president of the French boxing federation and ringside judges to overrule him and eventually declare Siki the winner.
There had been speculation that the fight would be fixed, in favor of the Frenchman, and Siki would tell some that Carpentier’s failure to pull his punches led to his downfall.
“I’ve had it with this shit,” said Siki, opting to not go along with the job as the fight progressed.
As the action picked up in front of 50,000 fans in Paris, according to Siki’s biographer Peter Benson, Carpentier was “tumbling like a café sign on a windy day” from a big right hand in the third.
Frustrated with Siki not submitting, Carpentier urged: “Bastard! Bastard! Go down now.”
“I began to feel sorry for him,” said Siki, “and whispered for him to quit.”
A bloody and battered Carpentier butted Siki in the fifth, and forced the “Singular Senegalese” to the floor, and after Carpentier missed with another butt he fell to the canvas as a result.
Siki tried to sportingly lift Carpentier back to his feet, but was cracked by a hook in return.
“That’s it,” thought Siki. No fix.
In the decisive round, wrote Benson: “Barely conscious, Carpentier hung on, as Siki, struggling to break free and twist his torso to throw a hook, lost his balance and jerked a leg in the air. Carpentier pitched forwards as Siki landed a vicious hook to his ribs, flopping him to the canvas. The champion lay on his side, a leg upraised, gasping in agony.”
Siki raised his arms in celebration only to be disqualified for tripping Carpentier.
“He hit hard,” said Siki, “But that was rotten.”
10. Julio Gonzalez w pts 12 Julian Letterlough (February 2, 2001)
One of the all-time great slugfests, Gonzalez was dropped three times and Letterlough was down twice in a fight that somehow went the distance.
Gonzalez was on the canvas in the third, fifth and 10th and in that 10th a big right hand had him seemingly out, flat on his back and looking up at the lights. He was hanging on for the remainder of the session but somehow recovered.
Letterlough was down in the first and the 11th at the Celeste Center in Columbus, Ohio.
As they both swung for the fences and time ran out, Teddy Atlas – broadcasting for ESPN – shrieked: “What a fight! What a fight!”
Although the stakes were not as high as they were for many fights on this list, the action that unfolded demanded its inclusion. Gonzalez died in a motorbike accident in 2010; Letterlough had been shot in the back and killed leaving a bar with his wife five years earlier.
Honorable mentions: Iran Barkley-Tommy Hearns II, Tomasz Adamek-Paul Briggs I and II, Victor Galindez-Mike Rossman
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