Greatest performances you ever saw!!

Maybe for one night somebody shone like never before or maybe a great fighter was truly exceptional....These are my great performances I've seen in my lifetime.....Remember I'm only a young pup!!

NUNN vs Tate....Tate was an olympic gold medallist and a talented champion and he got absolutely out thought, outboxed and devastated by a complete performance from a guy who under-achieved!!

CHAVEZ vs Rosario.....The night I met my Wife but I won't hold that against JC...Rosario destroyed the no 1 light in Bramble with an awesome display...Then got slammed against the ropes and basically told he was getting battered and that he was going to like it...Awesome..

CURRY vs Mccallum...Yep he lost to the lottery punch but those four rounds were Curry at his awesome best..Beautiful Boxing my advice log off youtube before the fifth..

DURAN vs Hagler...Yep my old rolling Mate....Watch the amount of times Duran bluffs Hagler he's coming in makes Hagler commit...then takes a step back and counters..Sly old dog although Tommy always rolls him..

BUSTER vs Tyson....For one fight Buster committed himself and showed the talent he always had...

STARLING vs Honey..9-0 on my card and a very good educational guide to disarming a thug who thought he could disrespect you by just wading in...

Good thread but this is more of a greatest upsets than a greatest performance mind

Chavez was favorite.....and Nunn-Tate was pick em..

So hardly..

I feel that this is like the general ignorance round in "IQ" where I am going to suggest something and an alarm will go off!

Anyway, my nomination is the Calzaghe vs Lacey fight. We always knew that Joe was good but that night he was incredible.

Would agree with Douglas Tyson, easy to say Tyson didn't prepare properly but he was still fighting a 42-1 underdog and had the aura of invincibility. Douglas did not just wim but beat him from pillar to post.

To be totally partisan would add Naz against Belcastro. Belcastro was a well respected and seasoned euro champion and Naz was a kid with something like 11 fights and many were saying it was too much too soon. Naz made a mockery of this beating him as he pleased and not losing a round. A tantalising glimpse of what Naz could have been and a staggering performance from one so young.

Don't think I've seen that fight Rowley......I'll watch it sometime..

Calzaghe-Lacey was a great performance from Calzaghe...

No Honey-Curry yet..

The greatest performance I have seen?

Roy Jones Jnr v Pazienza

Roy dominated the crazy Vinny Paz and added a great finish.

Arguillo v Mancini

Alexsis at his beat. Pure technical brilliance.

Lennox Lewis v Hasim Rahman 2

Lewis showed why Rahman was lucky to beat him 7 months earlier in South Africa. Great performance, great ko.

Good point although I wouldnt of said Busters performance was great just more shear determination than a boxing masterclass. Im too young to remember half of these unfortunalty but one of the first I remember was Lennox destroying Razor in a fight many said he did not have the skill or experience to win

Mayweather vs Gatti - At the time I was fairly new to boxing so didn't understand that Gatti was not at his best but Mayweather was simply phenomenal that night, punch perfect. Greatest display of boxing I have ever seen.

Duran vs Barkley - An old fighter operating well above his prime weight schooled the very dangerous Barkley.

Never rated Rahman onetwo.....All the fighters in my list were world class..

Thought Lewis best performance was Holy 1.......

Pazienza was a blown up lightweight..Hoppo was Jones greatest performance for me..

Horses for courses though..

Mayweather was good that night...although I never rated Gatti

Thought Barkley was average and over achieved also..also thought he won 115-112.....

But good performance by the roller...you're right.

Never rated Rahman onetwo.....All the fighters in my list were world class..
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Maybe you should clarify your article a bit more. The title asks what the greatest performance we have ever seen is. Tate world class????

Lets talk about why the Irish tried to steal Jack Dempsey as 1 of them. Not just me saying this Tyson thinks so to.

Difficult, this one, since it depends very much on interpretation. Greatest win ? Greatest upset ? Most devastating ?

I'll opt ( this time, ) for the most complete showcase of boxing, fighting, durabilty and everything else, all coming together in one neat little package. Eder Jofre's US debut against Jose Medel was spellbinding. Brilliant boxing from range, ferocious infighting, heavy hitting - from both men - tremendous stamina and durability, and a battle of wills and generalship. I didn't see it at the time, but it falls within my lifetime so I'll plump for this one.

If anybody hasn't seen it, the whole fight can be found at youtube or Daily Motion ( can't remember which, ) and I'd urge you to check it out. You won't be disappointed.

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:Lets talk about why the Irish tried to steal Jack Dempsey as 1 of them. Not just me saying this Tyson thinks so to.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_%22Nonpareil%22_Dempsey

Definitely Irish...

Dempsey's merciless destruction of Jess Willard was the greatest Youtube performance iv ever seen

Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo
Muhammed Ali vs Cleveland Williams
Archie Moore vs Yvon Durelle

Tate was world class....All I'm saying is that in my opinion beating a world class operator etc by a world class display for me beats beating someone ordinary..Or in Duran's case nearly beating!!

Don't have to clarify anything..Your opinion is welcome..

Sanchez vs Gomez.
Ali vs Foreman had greatness written all over it. Not his best boxing wise, but overcame so much to win by knockout.

Joe Louis v Max Schmeling. Second fight. The whole atmosphere surrounding it and Joe at his brutal and destructive best. Awesome. I wasn't there, by the way.

Riddick Bowe v Holyfield. First fight. Big Daddy never quite reached those heights again. But a gutsy and skillful performance from Riddick.

Ali v Foreman. Obvious reasons.

Barrera v Morales. First fight. Both guys were incredible.

Anything by Ricardo Lopez for pure brilliance.

To my shame, I completely forgot Sanchez v Gomez, Scott. Given the high stakes and the quality of each fighter I'd say that it trumps even my Jofre v Medel pick.

Sanchez - Gomez.....was great although like Rosario if you took Gomez shot he became ordinary..

Ali-Foreman..great shout..

JONES-Toney.
MAYWEATHER-Corrales.
CALZAGHE-Lacy.
HOPKINS-Pavlik.
WHITAKER-Chavez.

For a more homely feel, how about Eubank v Benn 1. Chris survived a hellish night with Nigel and gave us a glimpse of just what a skilled and courageous boxer he was.

I see MTWT has nominated Louis for the second Schmeling fight - with that in mind, I reckon their first fight is a good shout for Schmeling. Crippled Louis with that straight right over the top of Louis' jab all night. Schmeling was supposed to be washed up and in for a hiding but he systematically dismantled Louis and finished the job clinically in the twelfth.

Have always considered Holyfield-Tyson I as a great performance. I know plenty will jump on the 'Tyson was over the hill' bandwagon, but the fact is so was Holyfield, and to a greater extent. Everything considered, it was a brilliant performance.

I think Toney has to be Jones' greatest moment. 'Lights Out' was universally regarded as a top three pound for pound fighter at the time and, at best, he won two rounds that night.

Hearns-Cuevas, anyone? For me this is the most frightening of Hearns' performances, not sure I can see too many Welterweights ever beating him on this night. Also not sure there could ever be another man at 147 lb who could reduce someone as ferocious as Cuevas to looking gun-shy, but that's exactly what Hearns managed to do.

On the domestic front I'd nominate the first fight between Conteh and Finnegan. Excellent battle but the maturity of Conteh's performance is to be admired. A great of example of how good Conteh was on the counter-punch, too, which sometimes gets forgotten when we talk about him.

Good thread, Truss.

Winky Wright's schooling of Tito Trinidad - marred only by Wright's unwillingness to put the pedal to the floor and perhaps force a stoppage.

You not think Hearns beating Leonard in the first fight for 12 rounds was as good as the Cuevas..performance Chris???

Pipino was devastated though I'll give you that.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Mayweather was good that night...although I never rated Gatti

Thought Barkley was average and over achieved also..also thought he won 115-112.....

But good performance by the roller...you're right.

How many natural lightweights do you know that could move up to Middle and beat Barkley, who bare in mind in his previous fight iced Hearns in 3 and only dropped a MD to Nunn in his next fight?

Carl Thompson's DESTRUCTION and HUMILIATION of David (poser) Haye was a great performance for an old man as Carl was then. I believe Carl exposed Haye to the world that night and if they were to fight now I still fancy Thompson to beat Haye.

88Chris05 wrote:

Hearns-Cuevas, anyone? For me this is the most frightening of Hearns' performances, not sure I can see too many Welterweights ever beating him on this night. Also not sure there could ever be another man at 147 lb who could reduce someone as ferocious as Cuevas to looking gun-shy, but that's exactly what Hearns managed to do.

Cuevas was out boxed by a 13 year old in sparring before this fight.

CALZAGHE - Lacy
MAYWEATHER- Juan Ma Marquez
HOPKINS - Pavlik

Since there have been a couple of references to fights of a bygone age, I think we could mention Tunney v Dempsey I. Granted, Jack had been inactive, had a personal problem or two, and had been softened by the good life, but Tunney's victory represented the culmination of - literally - years of meticulous planning and study.

JC vs Lacey.
Lots of experts picking Lacey for this fight who was then brutally schooled by JC.

Good shout on Douglas vs Tyson. I think people sometimes forget what a massive performance that was by Douglas against the then unbeaten Tyson. Mainly due to the circus that Tyson would later become.

I remember thinking Douglas was going to be destroyed.

Benn vs McClellan was a great performance and show of grit and heart by Benn.

OK that's one too many...Lacy.

Scottrf wrote:OK that's one too many...Lacy.

My deepest heartfelt apologies, of course I meant Lacy.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:You not think Hearns beating Leonard in the first fight for 12 rounds was as good as the Cuevas..performance Chris???

Pipino was devastated though I'll give you that.

Had he won, then yes. But I think when you talk about a performance, it has to be in it's entirety. Eventually being hunted down and stopped is still a part of that fight and hence still a part of their performance at the end of the day. Don't think we can cut out the bits we don't like in order to make a performance look better, but that's only my opinion.

Don't think that the Cuevas fight was Hearns' finest hour, but still his most devastating performance. I think people sometimes forget what a beast Cuevas was at Welterweight, and Hearns was a twenty-one year old kid with virtually no big fight experience. Impressive, to say the least.

Donaire's last one has to have a shout for those of a recent vintage.

HARRISON v Haye if we're talking greatest performance of comedy by a sportsman.

Greatest performance of boxing was any clip i've ever seen of Sugar Ray Robinson.

I would go with Calzaghe against Lacey as the best one I've actually watched though. especially as Left Hook was going to knock him out...

Has to be Sanchez v Gomez - sheer boxing perfection.

Would also go with the aforementioned Jones Jnr v Toney. Toney might have been struggling with the weight but he was a hell of a fighter at that point and Roy made him look silly.

A recent one was Margarito's resistance against Pacquiao. Never seen a fighter take as much punishment and kep coming forward. Massive guts.

Ali vs Cleveland Williams. Pure poetry in motion and a near perfect display of how boxing can be seen as an artform. The greatest performance I have ever seen by miles.

Chavez domination of Rosario was as punch perfect a performance you could hope to see but much like Duran against Moore should have been stopped far sooner than it was.

Neil Diamond - Sheffield Arena about 7 years ago, awesome performance.

Barrera vs Naz - one of my favourite fighters, had been written off in his career and was a big underdog. He beat naz mentally, outboxed him and outfought him. Who's your daddy?

Benn v McClellan is another but there is always that shadow of doubt ie from what point was Gerald physically compromised - possibly round 4? And if he hadn't been would benn have been able to beat him? Who knows - and that's taking nothing away from benn of course who fought the fight of his life.

STARLING vs Honey..9-0 on my card and a very good educational guide to disarming a thug who thought he could disrespect you by just wading in...
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a thug haha, Starling caught him with a brilliant counter in the first 30 seconds, he thought he could just steamroll through a fighter as defensively sound and skilfull as that, wasn't happening. Starling's corner were quality after the fight too in the way they celebrated. Man that man loved to talk, Honeyghan, and was very arrogant!.

HAGLER V HEARNS
1st round was unbelievable, then the way Hagler finished him off was unbelievable, stay down.

STARLING V HONEYGHAN
Taught Honeyghan an absolute boxing lesson, was also pretty pathetic the excuses Honeyghan had, Starling had just been sparked after the bell by Molinares the fight before.

GRAHAM V MCCALLUM
Although he lost, i thought he won and made a quality fighter look pretty clumsy throughout the fight. Bomber outfoxed him many a time in the fight and i had him winning by 2 rounds.

STARLING V BRELAND 1
Starling gets outboxed early, but his grit shines through and he wants it more to claim an 11th round stoppage and claim the WBA belt.

Barrera vs Naz - one of my favourite fighters, had been written off in his career and was a big underdog. He beat naz mentally, outboxed him and outfought him. Who's your daddy?
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When you get fed bums, talk, talk, talk and talk and then step up to fight a genuine world class fighter that's what happens, Barrera absolutely outclassed him, he shouldn't of been in the same ring, that fight absolutely ruined Naseem mentally as well.

Naseem did not fight bums, please stop showing your ineptitude for a good boxing debate, Steven. He actually fought some high level fighters, not on the same level as Barrera obviously, but to call them bums is extremely disrespectful.

On a side note, Truss, I have spoken with Hero and he has moved the weightlifting forum on to the front page now, so I look forward to some of your input big fella!

Fear not fists, In Defence of Naseem thread coming soon. Cannot let these insults of Sheffield's finest go without response.

Aren't Def Leppard Sheffield's finest..?