Dream Fights - Great Boxing Matches Which Never Happened E-Book

Sam Dalton

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

This book is all about dream fights between fighters who fought in the SAME era. The fights that follow (with the exception of our battle between the Klitschko brothers - a fight their mother would never have sanctioned!) COULD have happened and in many cases SHOULD have happened but for some reason or other simply failed to transpire. What would have happened if Lennox Lewis had fought Riddick Bowe or Mike Tyson had battled the comebacking George Foreman? Who would have won if Pernell Whitaker had fought Terry Norris or Salvador Sánchez and Eusebio Pedroza had engaged in a featherweight unification bout? We'll also consider what might have happened if Sugar Ray Leonard had fought Aaron Pryor and Marvin Hagler had fought the great Wilfred Benitez.

We'll shall also delve further back in time and speculate on what would have happened if Jack Dempsey fought Harry Wills and how Rocky Marciano would have fared if he'd delayed his retirement to fight the young Floyd Patterson. There's plenty more besides this in the book. We'll also discuss what might have happened if Britain's domestic legends Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank had tangled with - respectively - the American superstars Roy Jones Jr and James Toney and we'll also take a look at the proposed late 1990s/early 2000s fight between Prince Naseem Hamed and Floyd Mayweather Jr which Bob Arum tried to make. We'll also consider what might have happened if Muhammad Ali had fought the Cuban Olympic legend Teófilo Stevenson in the 1970s.

All this and much much more awaits in Dream Fights - Great Boxing Matches Which Never Happened...

Leseprobe

Sam Dalton

Dream Fights - Great Boxing Matches Which Never Happened

BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Copyright

© Copyright 2022 Sam Dalton

All Rights Reserved

Contents

Introduction

Roberto Duran v Alexis Arguello

Rocky Marciano v Floyd Patterson

Joe Frazier v Ken Norton

Thomas Hearns v Mike McCallum

Oscar De La Hoya v Kostya Tszyu

Lennox Lewis v Riddick Bowe

Sugar Ray Leonard v Aaron Pryor

Marvin Hagler v Wilfred Benitez

Salvador Sánchez v Eusebio Pedroza

Pernell Whitaker v Terry Norris

Mike Tyson v George Foreman

James Toney v Chris Eubank

Wladimir Klitschko v Vitali Klitschko

Jack Dempsey v Harry Wills

Evander Holyfield v Michael Spinks

Muhammad Ali v Teófilo Stevenson

Roy Jones Jr v Nigel Benn

David Tua v Mike Tyson

Floyd Mayweather Jr v Prince Naseem Hamed

Larry Holmes v George Foreman

Photo Credit

INTRODUCTION

The book that follows is not a time machine parade of fantasy fights which pit the likes of Jack Johnson against Tyson Fury or Sugar Ray Robinson against his decades later namesake Sugar Ray Leonard. Such mythical fights are fun to debate but tough to realistically speculate on because in many cases the fighters fought in eras separated by so many decades they are almost impossible to compare. How do you compare someone like Gene Tunney to Lennox Lewis? You can't really.

This book is instead all about dream fights between fighters who fought in the SAME era. The fights that follow (with the exception of our battle between the Klitschko brothers - a fight their mother would never have sanctioned!) COULD have happened and in many cases SHOULD have happened but for some reason or other (boxing politics is unsurprisingly the main culprit in many cases) simply failed to transpire. Sometimes a big fight just doesn't get made and so forever becomes a 'what if?' scenario for boxing fans.

So, let's take a trawl through some of the fascinating fights which could conceivably have happened but never did. There are certainly some obvious ones here which we'll cover - like Lennox Lewis versus Riddick Bowe (the most intriguing heavyweight fight of the 1990s but one that shamefully never happened) and Big George Foreman v Mike Tyson in the early 1990s. Who wouldn't have loved to see Foreman v Tyson?

We'll also consider what might have happened if Sugar Ray Leonard had fought Aaron Pryor and Marvin Hagler had fought the great Wilfred Benitez. We'll shall also delve further back in time and speculate on what would have happened if Jack Dempsey had fought Harry Wills and how Rocky Marciano would have fared if he'd delayed his retirement to fight the young challenger named Floyd Patterson.

There's plenty more besides this in the book. We'll also discuss what might have happened if Britain's domestic legends Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank had tangled with - respectively - the American superstars Roy Jones Jr and James Toney and we'll also take a look at the proposed late 1990s/early 2000s fight between Prince Naseem Hamed and Floyd Mayweather Jr which Bob Arum tried to make. We'll also consider what might have happened if Muhammad Ali had fought the Cuban Olympic legend Teófilo Stevenson in the 1970s. All this and much much more awaits in Dream Fights - Great Boxing Matches Which Never Happened...

ROBERTO DURAN V ALEXIS ARGUELLO

Roberto Duran is one of the most revered and popular fighters in boxing history. The Panamanian icon established himself as one of the greatest lightweight champions of all time in the seventies and then jumped two weight divisions to become the first man to beat Sugar Ray Leonard. He won world championships in four different weights and tangled with the likes of Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, Palomino, Benitez, Cuevas, Buchanan, and Barkley. When he fought the whole of Panama held its breath. Duran's relationship to Panama was a source of pride and motivation but also a burden. Today though Panama still reveres Duran and even put him on their stamps!

The young Duran grew up on these streets and was a sort of juvenile hustler, doing little dead end jobs and getting into trouble. He was born in the Panama Canal Zone, his father an American soldier (who he never really got to know) and his mother a pretty local girl from whom he inherited his dark good looks. Roberto was full of energy and always hungry. Food was scarce in the Duran house and the young Roberto would spend most of the day looking for a relative or friend who could supply a meal.

The hunger explains the fury of the young Duran in the ring, his desperation to escape the poverty of his youth and help his family. It also explains his later battles with his weight and inability to curb his spending habits. He had reckless eating and drinking habits during stages of his boxing career. Duran never forgot where he came from and this was both a weakness and a strength. He began fighting in the street and his natural strength and ferocity soon led to the boxing ring. After a fight he would drink champagne and throw money around. He had female groupies turning up to his training sessions at the height of his fame.

You get the impression that it never really hit home to Duran that one day he would get older and the big fights - or boxing altogether - would no longer be there to wipe out the financial debts. Duran was always likeable though. He had a pet lion in Panama that he used to do impressions of and always did his best to help those who were less fortunate than himself. He was an uncomplicated man who did his best in the role of a national hero.

The ferocious young Roberto was in his prime tearing up the lightweight division and he was absolutely vicious. When Ray Lampkin was hospitalized after a 1975 bout with 'Hands Of Stone', Duran told the press that if he had trained properly Lampkin would be in the morgue rather than the hospital. The erudite and polished Sugar Ray Leonard was totally thrown off kilter by Duran's insults and coldness prior to their first fight. Duran's colourful and intense rivalries with Hispanic fighters like Esteban De Jesus are also legendary for any boxing fan.

The stereotypical Panamanian boxer was a silky smooth artist whereas Duran fought more in the style of the great Mexican champions. It explained why he had such broad appeal across different cultural groups and nationalities. Duran stopped the Scottish fighter Kenny Buchanan for the lightweight title in 1972 in a foul infested and unstoppable performance. Duran was considered to be all but unbeatable at 135 pounds. He was less effective when he got older and moved up in weight but he still had his moments - most famously the first fight with Sugar Ray Leonard.

The transition from the young vicious Roberto to the older Duran, now more reliant on guile, was interesting to follow. In 1983 at Madison Square Garden, Duran, now considered to be past it and his reputation and career at an all time low after the 'No Mas' rematch with Leonard, was thrown in against the young power punching New Yorker Davey Moore for the WBA Junior Middleweight Championship. Moore was psychologically affected when the crowd - who are in his backyard afterall - all chanted for Duran. Duran then destroyed Moore in the ring. He'd forgotten more about boxing than Moore would ever know. Duran is rightly regarded to be a legend and an icon.

Alexis Arguello was one of the greatest boxers of the seventies and eighties and won world titles in three different weight divisions. Nicaragua had never had a world champion before Arguello and when he beat Rubén Olivares to win the featherweight championship in 1974 he became an instant hero and icon for his country. It would be difficult to explain just what Arguello meant to Nicaraguans except to say that he was a cherished symbol of national pride, even serving as their flag bearer at the 2008 Olympics.

But Arguello was much more than just a boxer and proof that the old saying about nice people always finishing last was plain wrong. He became known as El Caballero del Ring (The Gentleman of the Ring) and was amongst the most loved and respected of boxers, especially by anyone who came into contact with him. No one ever had a bad word to say about Arguello and he famously always became great friends with all of his notable former opponents. A class act both inside the ring and - most importantly - out of it.

As former lightweight champion, the popular American boxer Ray ("Boom Boom") Mancini, who lost to Arguello in his first attempt to win the crown, said - "I will forever be appreciative of being so closely associated with such a gentleman and champion. I always say that when you look up the word 'champion' in the dictionary and read of its qualities - class, grace, and humility - you will see a picture of Alexis Arguello."

Arguello's life outside of the ring was (like many Latin American boxers) complicated by politics and far from easy. It was like a film script you couldn't make up at times. It was impossible for famous Nicaraguans not to get dragged into the complex and murky political vortex of their country and such was the case for Arguello. Supporters of the dictator Anastasio Somoza exploited Arguello's image for their own ends in the seventies and when the Sandinistas took control of the country one of the first things they did was seize the millionaire boxer's financial assets and properties. They declared that he was not welcome anymore and a shocked Arguello promptly took up arms in the jungle and aligned himself to the Contras.

Not to mention the fact that around this time he also challenged the brilliant American Aaron Pryor for the junior welterweight championship in an audacious bid to become the first boxer to win world championships in four different weight divisions. The furious fourteen rounds they shared is widely regarded to constitute the greatest fight of the decade. Arguello had drug and alcohol problems when he retired from boxing but managed to conquer his demons in a rehabilitation centre.

To the surprise of many, he eventually met with Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega and agreed to work with him for the "greater good" of Nicaragua. A political career began but in 2009 Arguello was found dead at the age of 57 from a gunshot wound to the chest in his home. An apparent suicide. But he seemed happy and healthy to all who had encountered him in his last weeks. There were whispers that Arguello was increasingly dismayed by his association with Ortega and was about to go public. Was he murdered?

Arguello was part of that great pantheon of Latin American boxers of the eighties alongside such hallowed names as Wilfredo Gomez and Salvador Sanchez. Arguello was a darkly handsome somewhat distinguished looking tall spindly man who always seemed to be smiling in photographs taken of him outside the ring. Although politically naive he was intelligent and articulate and one of the hardest punching pound for pound boxers of all time, a trait that led to him being tagged El Flaco Explosivo - The Explosive Thin Man.

Arguello was not your stereotypical Latin boxer. He had a stand-up European style and was famous for his great patience. Arguello would rarely waste a punch and could be outboxed (for he was never the most fleet of foot) as he calmly stalked his opponents. But when he landed his patented right-cross it usually resulted in a spectacular knockout and there was no dog in Arguello whatsoever. If you beat him you would have to do it the hard way and engage in the battle of your life.

One of the extraordinary things about Arguello was that he lost his professional debut yet still became one of the greatest lighter weight boxers of the modern era. By the time he challenged Pyror in 1983 for his fourth world title his record was something like 80 wins and four defeats. Astonishing. You get world champions today who have only had 15 fights!

Arguello grew up in Managua's Barrio Monseñor Lezcano, a place so poor they would sometimes have to hunt Igaunas with slingshots so they had something for dinner. Boxing was Arguello's salvation from this life and he was always grateful for that. Arguello and Rubén Olivares fought each other to a standstill - both landing left hooks at the same time in the fateful thirteenth round. Arguello's was the one that did the damage. Arguello went to London and beat Jim Watt over fifteen rounds at Wembley Arena to win the lightweight title. It was his third world title and needless to say Watt became his friend afterwards and always spoke warmly of Arguello.

Arguello moved up to 140 pounds and challenged Pryor in a bid to become the first man to win world championships in four different weight divisions. Arguello was obsessed with making history but met his match in the unstable, erratic and wild Pyror, a human tornado who fought every round as if it was his last. Arguello hit Pryor with punches that would have levelled buildings but the American kept coming and stopped the Nicaraguan icon in the fourteenth round.

It became a controversial defeat though when television cameras and microphones picked up an incident late in the fight where Pryor's trainer Panama Lewis (a very dodgy character later banned for removing the padding from one of his fighter's gloves) rejected a water bottle from one of his assistants and asked for "the one I mixed" to give to Pryor instead. What was in the mysterious "black bottle"? We'll never know.

Lewis claimed it was soda water to settle Pryor's upset stomach but there are many theories about it being something more illegal. One popular theory is that Lewis had broken antihistamine pills into the water to give Pryor greater lung capacity. The shattered Arguello was devastated to lose. After so much success it was a bitter blow to swallow and he was deeply depressed. Arguello felt like he was drowning.

A rematch with Pryor and a couple of comebacks followed and the Arguello story remained engrossing beyond the ring, not least because of the mystery surrounding his death. Arguello had become mayor of Managua but rumours were rife that the Sandinistas were going to discredit him. A gunshot wound to the chest is hardly consistent with suicide but it can't be ruled out. The most suspicious thing was that the investigation into his death was closed in 24 hours. Whatever the truth, Arguello joined the long list of boxers who died in mysterious circumstances.

A dream fight between Duran and Arguello was certainly floated in boxing circles in 1978. Arguello had won the 130 pound title and was now eyeing a jump to 135 to fight Duran. If anyone was capable of giving the fearsome Duran a good fight at this time it was surely Arguello. The publicity machine began to shift into gear and Duran was famously photographed aiming a clenched fist at a picture of Arguello. Sadly though, the fight didn't happen. Arguello had an off night and lost to Vilomar Fernandez while Duran decided to move up to welterweight - which left the 135 division clear for Arguello.

Arguello's camp still wanted the Duran fight but Duran was no longer interested and had bigger fish to fry in the form of Sugar Ray Leonard. So how would a fight between these two icons have potentially gone? The general consensus is that Duran would probably have proved to be strong for Arguello in the end and chopped him down for a late stoppage.

As we saw with the Aaron Pryor fight, Arguello could be somewhat negated by swarmers and high energy fighters who exerted constant pressure. Pryor's pressure that night though was almost supernatural. He fought for every minute of every round. Despite this it was still a give and take fight. Arguello frequently gave as good as he got that night.

Arguello was the epitome of calm under pressure. Even in the midst of an obstreperous brawl you could still see him thinking and adjusting, looking to get set so that he could land oe of those mighty punches which accounted for so many doomed opponents. Despite the perception that Duran is a heavy favourite in this dream fight, Arguello could not be completely counted out because Duran would have had to withstand some hellacious punches in order to exert his customary pressure and Arguello's right cross could put anyone to sleep if it landed properly.

The key to the fight would have been if Arguello could hurt Duran, or at least make him think twice about constantly steaming in to attack. If he couldn't put any dents in Duran and get some early respect then this fight could have turned into a very long and difficult night for Alexis. One thing is sure though - it would have been a great fight because Arguello would have thrown everything at Duran and fought his heart out. Even if Duran had won it wouldn't have been easy at all.

Arguello was a notoriously slow starter so Duran could be expected to take an early lead. This is the lightweight Duran and Duran at that weight was more aggressive than the counter punching Duran who later campaigned all the way up to middleweight. Duran was a good body puncher but Arguello was no slouch in that department either. One could expect some fierce exchanges in this fight once Arguello warmed up and got into his groove.

Arguello was somewhat easier to hit than Duran but he had a fairly reliable chin. It seems plausible that this fight could go the distance as both men had good stamina. Duran is likely to be busier and the stronger fighter but the rangy Arguello would not be an easy night for anyone - not even Roberto Duran. This fight would be a fast and furious brawl once it got going with plenty of two-way action. It's hard though to bet against the 135 pound version of Duran and the best guess is that he'd find a way to come out on top. What a fight this would have been had it happened.

ROCKY MARCIANO V FLOYD PATTERSON

Rocky Marciano was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1952 to 1956 and the only heavyweight champion to ever remain unbeaten in his entire career (Marciano's final tally was 49 wins and no losses). He was born in 1923 in Brockton, Massachusetts under the name Rocco Francis Marchegiano and died in a plane crash in 1969 on the eve of his 46th birthday. His death was especially poignant because a surprise birthday celebration was awaiting him from his family and he'd just filmed a special (yet to be aired) for closed circuit cinemas where he shared the ring with Muhammad Ali acting out different scenarios for a computer to pick the winner of this mythical fantasy superfight.

Marciano's exact place in heavyweight history is still debated because he only made six defences (the great Joe Louis had made 25) but he is generally held up to be one of the ten greatest heavyweights of all time. More than anything Marciano is remembered as being one of the bravest and most determined men to ever step into a boxing ring. He was only 5'10 (short for a heavyweight, even in the 1950s) and looked like a fairly unimposing fellow in the flesh but he was ferocious, powerful, relentless and incredibly durable.

Marciano fought every round as if it was the last one and would batter arms and elbows - generally anything he could hit - with his clubbing blows until his opponent began to falter. He nearly always got cut badly and many of his most famous victories were achieved through a mask of blood. Marciano's legacy is perhaps best summed up by the reaction to a flippant comment (then heavyweight champion) Larry Holmes made about him in 1985. Holmes was 47-0 and closing in on Marciano's 49-0 record but he lost on a disputed decision to Michael Spinks and his dream of retiring undefeated and surpassing Marciano's career statistics were gone.

A bitter Holmes remarked after the fight that Rocky Marciano couldn't carry his jockstrap and so drew the wrath of boxing journalists and fans everywhere for his crass comment. Holmes later apologised and paid tribute to Marciano but the damage was done to his reputation. The essential difference between them was that Marciano would never have said anything like that about another boxer. He even cried after battering (a past it) Joe Louis in a 1951 bout because Louis had been one of his heroes.

AJ Liebling described the sight of the young raw Marciano as like "the understander in the nine-man pyramid of a troupe of Arab acrobats. He has big calves, forearms, wrists, and a neck so thick that it minimizes the span of his shoulders. He is neither tall nor heavy for a heavyweight, but gives the impression of bigness when you are close to him."

Boxing was murkier at the time of Marciano and shady mob connected characters like Frankie Carbo had a grip on the sport in America. Marciano's manager Al Weill was cooperative with mob characters and therefore Marciano had more opportunities. It was said that no title shot was awarded without Carbo's acquiescence.

If a new hotshot fighter arrived on the scene then one of Carbo's managers would look to assert some sort of ownership over said boxer. That was the system by which he maintained his controlling influence. It has been suggested that Marciano only got a disputed points win over Roland LaStarza in 1949 because of his manager's connections (not that Marciano himself knew what was going on).

Marciano was always a rather crude brawler who took three punches to land one. "I often looked over green kids who thought they could become fighters," Marciano's trainer Charley Goldman later reflected. "I'll eat my derby hat if I ever saw anyone cruder than Rocky. He was so awkward that we stood there and laughed. He didn't stand right. He didn't throw a punch right. He didn't block right. He didn't do anything right. Then he hit with a roundhouse right which nearly put a hole in someone's head, and I told Weill that maybe I could do something with him." Rocky's power, bravery and indomitable will to win made him formidable indeed.

Marciano won the heavyweight championship in 1952 against the classy Jersey Joe Walcott with a 13th round knockout. It was typical Marciano. He was behind on points and had a horrific cut on the bridge of his nose but nearly decapitated Walcott late in the fight when he finally connected with one of his patented right hands. Marciano didn't make many defences but he was good enough to beat Walcott and Ezzard Charles (both fine boxers) twice.

In 1955 after stopping the great (but by now very old) Archie Moore in nine rounds, Marciano did what very few boxers ever do. He walked away from the sport at the top of his game and never returned. There were rumours of a comeback a few times but - save for his 'computer superfight' with Ali - Marciano never entered the ring again. What was Marciano like in real life? Very down to earth and shy. He earned money from public appearances but found it daunting to speak even to a small group of people. He did a lot of charity work too.

He was perhaps most famous though amongst his friends for his attitude to money. Marciano was by all accounts notoriously careful - even tight - with his money, despite having earned millions. There are tales of him turning up to personal appearances in an old jacket with holes in it. Marciano is the one boxer who kept hold of every penny he made in the ring because spending money was never something to got used to or liked doing. This was because he had grown up on the breadline and knew what it was like to work for a living. He was terrified of ever being broke again.