We all know we are in for some great night of boxing on August 3, with the latest Saudi extravaganza set, the stacked card to give us:
Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov
Isaac Cruz-Jose Valenzuela
Tim Tszyu-Vergil Ortiz Jr
Andy Ruiz-Jarrell Miller
Andy Cruz-Antonio Moran
David Morrell-Radivoje Kalajdzic
Yes, this is a stellar card, for sure. But has Eddie Hearn gone too far in calling the August 3 card “the greatest fight card ever staged in America?” (or words to that effect, I’m paraphrasing).
Looking back, there have been some truly special stacked cards that featured an absolute ton of star-power fighters going to battle. Don King, with his superstar fighter Mike Tyson behind bars, got busy living up to his claim of being the greatest boxing promoter out there, and King really did deliver in the 1990s.
It’s down to opinion when it comes to which fight card YOU rate as the best, of course. We all have our favorites. And some would say that even the slightest suggestion of criticizing the Aug. 3 card is nitpicking of the highest order (or the lowest). This is no dig at the August card, but the following cards were equally as big and special, if not bigger or more special:
“Revenge, The Rematches,” May 1994, Las Vegas
Julio Cesar Chavez-Frankie Randall II
Azumah Nelson-Jesse James Leija II
Gerald McClellan-Julian Jackson II
Simon Brown-Terry Norris II
with Ricardo Lopez-Kerim Guardia also on the card.
For plenty of fans, this one still tops the lot when it comes to the greatest fight card ever, even with the August blockbuster having been announced. Chavez, the greatest Mexican fighter ever, going back in with the first man to have beaten him, was a huge, huge deal, and the fight would have sold all by its lonesome.
For King to have showered the card with the other three must-watch rematches the way he did, well, “King Don” sure did give fans value for their pay-per-view dollars. McClellan was a genuine banger of the highest order, as was Jackson, and their first fight was an absolute thriller. Part two didn’t last long, but going in, no fan wanted to risk missing the carnage.
Brown scored a huge upset over Norris in their first fight, stopping him in four shocking rounds. This sequel was also monstrously intriguing. As for Nelson, he was one of the finest practitioners of The Sweet Science, and his first fight with Leija was a draw, with the ageing “Professor” perhaps slipping. This rematch also proved to be special.
Some fans may point to one of King’s other stacked cards when naming the greatest fight card ever held in America, such as the 1979 mega-card he gave us that featured, get this…..Larry Holmes-Earnie Shavers II, Sugar Ray Leonard-Andy Price, Roberto Duran-Zeferino Gonzalez, and Wilfredo Gomez-Carlos Mendoza.
Might that be The One?
Again, it’s down to opinion, but guys like Hearn should perhaps do a little bit of history study before they make such bolder-than-bold statements. For many of us, the King cards still rank as the best, a whole bunch of them.
And we cannot leave out Bob Arum’s spectacular from the same year, 1979. Arum gave us this bang for our buck card: Sugar Ray Leonard-Wilfred Benitez, Marvin Hagler-Vito Antuofermo, Marvin Johnson-Victor Galindez, and Thomas Hearns-Mike Colbert.
That one too, was super-special.
Imagine, three of the ‘Four Kings’ on the same card!