For me it was Nigel Benn vs Gerald McClellan in the 90's.




They were both very evenly matched and McClellan was dishing it out hard to Benn in the early rounds. McClellan knocked Benn down and I was certain that it was over. But Benn had enough fight in him to comeback and defeat McClellan, albeit in an unfortunate manner as McClellan was taken to hospital immediately after the fight in a coma.

Here's a couple of links and a snippet about the fight

http://www.secondsout.com...s_2538.asp
http://www.eastsideboxing...ellen.html

The fight was incredible. It is almost unrivalled in recent years for sheer emotion and frenetic energy. McClellan started explosively like a young Mike Tyson, knocking Benn clean out of the ring in the very first round. With a generous count from the referee though, the Dark Destroyer managed to survive the round. Somehow. Maybe it was because he was hypnotised by Paul McKenna. Who knows. And then, bit by bit, Benn managed to set the agenda, turning it into an all-out slugfest. Each new round was a battle in itself. Brutal and brilliant shots landed from both parties and plenty missed too. Such was the burning intensity and the desire to end the fight. And when McClellan fell to one knee in the tenth round in what has now become a poignant, harrowing image, he was still aheadon two of the judges' scorecards.

What about you guys? What was the greatest comeback that you witnessed?




[This message was edited Tue Mar 18 15:09:42 PST 2003 by JimmyNothing]

...For me, it was Evander Holyfield's comeback in the 10th round of his first fight with Riddick Bowe. sure, Holyfield lost the decision (and Heavyweight title) that night, but he was all but out in that round. But, true to his "Warrior" nickname, he came back in the mid to late parts of that round, and had Bowe hurt and reeling as the bell sounded. A GREAT round!!! One of the best I've ever seen...Heavyweight or other!!

I think you guys forgot about Julio Cesar Chavez's 12th round KO win over Meldrick Taylor with 2 seconds left. Taylor was outpunching and outscoring Chavez thru the first 10 rounds til Chavez finally started to get his ass going. Taylor was told to avoid Chavez but didn't listen. He was still standing there, going toe to toe with Chavez and then BOOM, he was dropped by a hook he never saw coming. While standing and being counted by the referee, he was asked if he could continue and instead of nodding his head or even answering the question, he looked over to his corner in confusion. The fight was stopped and Chavez kept his title.

For me it was when Rocky came back and beat the Russian. Also, I thought the second time he fought Mr. T was quite an impressive comeback.

lovemachine said:

Boxing, what's the point of beating the shit out of one another?

Paisley said:

There is so much more to it than that!

JimmyNothing said:

I just guess I'm not a violent person.

It was Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns in their first fight. Hearns was winning and Angelo Dundee (Ray's trainer) said, "You're blowin' it kid, you're blowin' it!" It was the last round and Ray came out and fought with all he had until there was nothing left and won the fight.

For an individual round it would have to go to Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Marvin Hagler in 1987. I watched this fight over and over again. From what I saw, I had both fighters pretty much even.

Round Nine begins and Hagler comes out and has Leonard on the ropes. The crowd is going nuts. Leonard looks tired and is not punching. Hagler's just throwing 1's and 2's over and over again. Then from out of nowhere Leonard throws a BEAUTIFUL combination and gets out of there.

Hagler stalks him down to the other corner and tries again. Visibly exhausted, Leonard fights his way out. The crowd is on their feet! Both fighters are in the middle of the ring and Leonard throws flurry after flurry in desperation. The bell rings and the crowd is ecstatic. Both fighters go back to their corners exhausted.

The round goes to Sugar Ray.

This is possibly the single best round I have ever seen in boxing.

Paisley said:

Well, people fight anyway. Why not make a sport out of it and put the best against one another and make oodles of money!



Plus, it's fun to watch!

NovaAngel said:

I watched that fight over and over on tape too. Counted how many times Leonard held Hagler...73 times. Yes, I counted 73 friggin times...from what I'm told points are supposed to be taken away from a boxer when they hold their opponent to keep from being hit. Leonard was on his bicycle the entire fight, held when he could, and was quicker with the combination punches than Hagler. From that point of view, I guess he fought a smarter fight.

Supernova said:

That's it exactly. He fought a smarter fight. There's no WAY Leonard would win in a slugfest with Hagler. He knew that. After all Hagler hadn't been defeated in like what 10+ years? He (Hagler) slaughtered Hearns in one round in 85' I think. So Leonard HAD to box. Hagler was a wrecking machine.

A point is taken away for excessive holding but not holding in general. As long as you punch within the clinch and jockey for a better position and punch to get out you're fine. If you're just hugging and that's all you've been doing then the ref will and should take a point away though something tells me you know this stuff already.

But yeah Ray did hold a bit. No argument there. But he did throw combinations as well and got out.
[This message was edited Tue Mar 18 14:11:24 PST 2003 by NovaAngel]
[This message was edited Tue Mar 18 14:15:59 PST 2003 by NovaAngel]