It’s proven so, so hard for a number of great fighters to exit the sport on a win. So often we’ve seen legends battle on for too long; taking that ‘fight too many.’ Sadly it happened to at least three of the immortal heavyweights featured in the now 30 year old “Champions Forever” video tribute (still a fantastic watch a full three decades on).
Muhammad Ali
Ali Vs. Tyson: “He never threw a body punch in his life. Nobody beats him”
It’s more than likely THE ultimate Dream Fight; the mythical match-up that really gets fans talking – and debating. Muhammad Ali, in his prime, against Mike Tyson, at his physical fighting peak: who wins?
The Daily Star has just unearthed a short Tyson interview where the youngest heavyweight ruler in history talks about what would have happened had he met “The Greatest.”
Tyson Fury compares his ring exile with that of Muhammad Ali; comes out with a line borrowed straight from Larry Holmes
Former heavyweight ruler Tyson Fury insists his time out of the ring, his exile if you like, is comparable to the enforced inactivity the great Muhammad Ali had to undergo back in the 1960s. As fight fans know, “The Greatest” was stripped of his world title, and prevented from earning a living by boxing, for a little over three and a half years.
Joshua expects to be grouped with Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson if he beats Wilder and Parker
IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is ready to put himself in the same class as boxing greats Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson if he can beat champions Deontay Wilder [WBC] and Joseph Parker [WBO] next year. Joshua feels he’ll be mentioned with those greats when/if he defeats Parker and Wilder.
Tyson Fury compares his coming back to Ali’s epic return to the crown versus Foreman
It’s just talk and will remain as such until he gets his license back, but former and unbeaten heavyweight ruler Tyson Fury is busy calling out not only his rival Brit Anthony Joshua, but also Deontay Wilder.
As convinced as ever that he has the beating of both the reigning WBA/IBF champ along with the current WBC king, Fury has declared, once again, how he will be back. And this time, via his twitter page, Fury has said his return to glory by “taking down” Joshua will be just like the great Muhammad Ali’s return to the crown against George Foreman back in 1974.
Warren: Comparing Joshua to Ali? It is beyond stupid
Top British boxing promoter Frank Warren says that anyone who compares reigning WBA and IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua to the great, the, well, incomparable Muhammad Ali is saying something that is “beyond stupid.”
Most fans, in fact virtually all of them, will agree perfectly with Warren; although, shockingly and sadly there are those people who are trying to tell us that AJ, at just 20-0, is already a great fighter – even deserving of being compared with “The Greatest.” Warren spoke on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show this morning and the promoter explained his feelings on Joshua.
Happy Birthday, Lennox Lewis – The greatest heavyweight champ after Ali?
“Not in this lifetime,” heavyweight legend George Foreman on the subject of him fighting Lennox Lewis.
Retired heavyweight legend Lennox Lewis turns 52 today. The last undisputed world heavyweight king holds another fine distinction: that of being a fighter who defeated every opponent he ever faced. Yes, Lewis suffered defeat – by stoppage, at the hands of Oliver McCall in 1994 and to Hasim Rahman in 2001 – but he did what the greats fighters do: come back and get revenge.
Boxing’s finest trash-talkers!
Finally they are silent – for now. We’ve been “treated” to plenty of hype, nastiness, fun and games and, most notably, trash-talking these past four days; courtesy of Floyd Mayweather Junior and Conor McGregor. And, perhaps surprisingly, it is McGregor who gets most votes when it comes to who had the fastest, smartest mouth during the four-day press tour; with the MMA star getting off better, more amusing lines than his upcoming August ring rival.
Trash-talking has of course been around the sport of boxing for decades, with it today being as big a part of the game as stare-downs, catch-weight fights and rematch clauses. Trash-talking can be fun; if it’s done right. Mayweather, for once, found himself out-talked by McGregor (rest assured Floyd will make him pay in the fight next month) but “Money” is usually on the money when it comes to hurling both amusing and effective (effective at rattling his opponent) insults.
Six Rounds With Alfredo Evangelista: The former European heavyweight champ speaks on Ali, Holmes, Snipes, Spinks
Spain’s Alfredo Evagelista is, along with Earnie Shavers, Larry Holmes and Leon Spinks, one of the last surviving former fighters to have gone toe-to-toe with an ageing, yet still hugely influential Muhammad Ali.
As with Shavers and Spinks, Evangelista is best known for his fight with Ali. It was back in May of 1977, some forty years ago, when a 22 year old Evangelista entered the ring against the 35 year old Ali. A huge underdog, the challenger who was born in Uruguay surprised quite a few people by pushing Ali all the way to the final bell, losing a 15-round unanimous decision in Landover, Maryland.
When the action was so great they did it three times: Boxing’s finest trilogies
Sometimes a fight is so great, we simply have to see it again. Sometimes we are treated to an unforgettable tirilogy of fights. Here are ten of the finest in boxing history.