In yet another instalment, boxing expert Teddy Atlas, on his brilliant podcast ‘The Fight,’ has listed his top 5 greatest ring comebacks. Atlas, looking at classic, epic turnarounds made by boxing legends who were way behind in the fight only to turn on the magic and go home with the victory, really does bring up some special fight nights with this list.
Not to be confused with greatest boxing comebacks, as in a fighter returning to the ring after a number of years out of action to regain his past glories, this list focuses on what happened right there in the ring on fight night.
And here’s Teddy’s top 5. In reverse order:
5: Joe Louis KO13 Billy Conn
“It’s been a long night, hey, Joe?” Conn is said to have uttered to defending heavyweight champion Louis sometime late in the fight. Conn, a superb light heavyweight who had speed, power – and a degree of cockiness – was ahead on all cards going into the thirteenth round. But then, making the mistake of ignoring his corner’s pleas to box Louis, to not get, well, cocky, Conn got greedy and he was tagged by “The Brown Bomber,” who then unleashed his superb in-close shots to the head and jaw. Conn fell, almost in slow-motion, and Louis had come back to retain the crown.
4: Julio Cesar Chavez TKO 12 Meldrick Taylor
“Taylor had great heart, he had tremendous hand speed, he’s well ahead,” Atlas says of Taylor on the podcast. “Late in the 12th round, Chavez is closing the gap, closing the gap, and he catches him a right hand, he drops him, just at the end of the fight, at the end of the 12th round. Richard Steele steps in and he stops it. A very controversial ending because there were two-seconds left. How do you stop the fight with two-seconds left? Taylor was up but he was disorientated. You talk about pulling it out of the fire. Man, that was really pulling it out of the fire.”
3: Rocky Marciano KO 13 Jersey Joe Walcott
“Marciano was fighting a great fighter, a more polished boxer, and a great puncher,” Atlas says of Rocky’s coronation fight. “Marciano, we understand, great puncher. Walcott was a great puncher too. What a chin, what a chin Marciano had. It goes in the 13th round and Walcott’s ahead on all cards. But this is what makes boxing so special, when a lightning bolt comes out of the sky! And a lightning bolt called “Suzy Q.”
2: George Foreman KO 10 Michael Moorer
A truly historic win here, and this one is a fight where Atlas was working the corner of the guy who was on the receiving end. Foreman as we know shocked unbeaten southpaw Moorer, who seemed unable to listen to Teddy’s advice of not standing straight in front of “Big George.” It was of course round ten when 45 year old Foreman levelled Moorer to regain the title an astonishing 20 years after losing it.
1: Mike Weaver KO 15 John Tate
“John Tate, he had been developed into the heavyweight champion and he was fighting Mike Weaver,” Atlas says of his top pick. “Mike Weaver was “Hercules,” that was his nickname. He looked like Hercules, he was like an Adonis. He was muscle. But he had a great left hook too. He had a record that was very deceiving, he was 21-9 and against “Big”John Tate, who was an Olympian, he (Tate) is winning every round. And in the 15th round, Mike Weaver hits him with a perfect left hook …..this is a real life ‘Rocky’ moment. You talk about just a graphic knockout. He fell, as soon as he got hit by that left hook, he fell forward, his head hit the shoulder of Weaver, and as Weaver moved away, the rest of the body of John Tate fell forward and crashed on the canvas. That’s when you know somebody’s out cold, when they fall face-first.”
A great list from Atlas, I’m sure you will agree.
