We are going to take a look at Great Boxers who beat once former greats. So, who’s better when considering both meeting in their prime, or due to some controversy?
In October of 1951, at Madison Square Garden in New York, Rocky Marciano, 37-0 (32), stopped former champion Joe ‘The Brown Bomber’ Louis, 66-2 (52), in the eighth round. It was only the second time Louis was stopped.
Behind going into the eighth round, Louis was knocked down twice. First with a left hook, Marciano dropped Louis for an 8-count from referee Rudy Goldstein. Then Marciano sent Louis through the ropes as Referee Goldstein called a halt without a count.
Afterwards, Marciano began to cry, having stopped his hero, ‘The Brown Bomber’. Would Marciano beat Louis when both were in their prime?
Ring Magazine called Jack ‘Galveston Giant’ Johnson the greatest heavyweight champion.
In April 1915, heavyweight champion Johnson, 53-5-10, was knocked down in the 26th round of a scheduled 45 rounds by 6:06 ½, Jess ‘Pottawatomie Giant’ Willard, 22-5-2, at Oriental Park, Havana, Cuba.
Johnson was on the canvas on his back with both arms crossed to keep the sun out of his eyes, making it look like he took a dive!
Two fights later, Willard lost his title to Jack Dempsey, 51-5, in Toledo, Ohio. Williard was down seven times in the first round. Willard was officially stopped at the end of the third before the towel was thrown in prior to the fourth round. Willard had taken a beating with ribs and jaw broken it was reported.
In October of 1980, former champion Muhammad ‘The Greatest’ Ali, 56-4, came out of retirement after a year and was stopped for the only time in his career by Larry ‘The Easton Assassin’ Holmes, 35-0, after ten rounds. Ali’s one-time sparring partner dealt him a beating to the body. Holmes, at times, motioned to Referee Richard Green to call a halt.
Ali’s long-time cut man, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, advised Ali never to fight again, saying he would never work his corner if he did, after Ali re-won the title for a third time, defeating Leon ‘Neon’ Spinks by split decision.
Would Holmes defeat prime-time Ali prior to losing his license for three years?
In August of 1943, at Madison Square Garden, New York, ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson, 44-1, defeated former 3-division champion Henry ‘Homicide Hank’ Armstrong, 132-17-8, over 10 rounds.
Robinson is considered pound-for-pound the greatest boxer of all time, and this writer considers Armstrong as possibly the second greatest. What would have happened if both were in their prime when they met?
In November of 1982, at Miami’s Orange Bowl, WBC World Lightweight champion Aaron ‘Hawk’ Pryor, 31-0, stopped two-division world champion Alexis “Thin Man” Arguello, 72-5, in the fourteenth round.
Arguello had Pryor hurt in the thirteenth round, looking exhausted. He was ahead on two of the three cards. Between rounds, his trainer, Panama Lewis, said to his second, “No, I want the black bottle!”
Pryor came out in the fourteenth round looking like he got his “second wind” after drinking from the bottle. After a minute, he had Arguello out on his feet with a flurry of punches, forcing referee Christodoulou to call a halt. What was in the bottle? It looked like at the end of the thirteenth round, Pryor looked like he was ready to be stopped in the following round, but came out full of energy. The bottle was never checked by the commission afterwards. What if he hadn’t been given a drink from that bottle?
Last Updated on 04/21/2025
