Trying to guess what boxing fans want is not exceedingly difficult. They want to see the best fight each other. The major championship fights and events that garner mainstream attention are what keep boxing going strong year in and year out. Unfortunately, this sport has far too much politics for fans to get what they want all of the time. Whether it has to do with fear of losing, money, or whatever; more than a few epic showdowns in recent history simply never materialized.
Don’t you just wish that there was some entity that would force the top two in every division to fight each other? Well, in theory that is what the sanctioning bodies are supposed to do. The reality of what they do is a far cry from that scenario. The ABC organizations have been known to threaten to strip their champions for trying to unify the belts or make big money fights that fans are dieing to see. Of course they also waste time by making their champions fight C level club fighters disguised as the #1 contender.
Alas, there is no such entity and this is the top 10 fights that never got done, but should have. To make the list, the two participants had to clearly be the #1 and #2 boxing in their division or great champions one division apart and be at or close to their physical primes at the same time. This list is of the last 25 years I should say. As I have learned from other lists that I have done, the top 10 anything of all time is a bit too much history to cover and deserving fighters get omitted.
10. Ray Mancini vs. Edwin Rosario
“Boom Boom” Mancini was an all action power puncher that captured the imagination of boxing fans. He was the WBA Lightweight Champion from 1982 to 1984, defending his title 4 times and winning each by knocking against some excellent competition including Bobby Chacon and Ernesto Espana.
Rosario was the great Puerto Rican fighter who could crack with any lightweight that has ever walked the Earth. Rosario won the WBC Lightweight title that Mancini had unsuccessfully fought for back in 1981 when he decisioned Jose Luis Ramirez. Edwin was still very young around 1984, but would have been a perfect opponent for the veteran Mancini in a unification bout for lightweight supremacy.
9. Manny Pacquiao vs. Oscar Larios
In 2001, Pacquiao was a 23 year old former flyweight champ campaigning as a super bantamweight in the Philippines and under the radar of American attention. IBF champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba needed an opponent for his title defense on the undercard of an Oscar De La Hoya pay per view. On short notice, Pacquiao was brought in and he dominated Ledwaba. Manny continued to impress American audiences with stunning knockout title defenses between 2001 and 2003; before he moved up in weight to fight Marco Antonio Barrera.
Larios was also 23 years old in 2001, with 41 professional fights already on his record. After winning an eliminator against Cesar Soto, the long time holder of the Mexican 122 pound championship earned a crack at the WBC belt against Willie Jorrin. The nationally televised fight ended in controversy when Jorrin won a decision when most observers felt that Larios had won. Oscar was denied an immediate rematch, but fought his way back into contention. In 2002, he avenged an earlier knockout defeat by stopping Israel Vasquez in the final round for the WBC interim title. Larios finally got his rematch with Jorrin later that year and avenged the previous defeat with a first round knockout; talk about a statement fight.
By this time Pacquiao and Larios were clearly the two best 122 pound boxers in the world. Interestingly enough, there was never much fuss about this fight being made. Manny moved up in weight for more lucrative paydays, leaving Larios as the sole dominant force at super bantamweight.
8. Roberto Duran vs. Mike McCallum
Duran is known as one of the best lightweights of all time, but most of his highest profile fights came in heavier divisions. He had two memorable showdowns with Sugar Ray Leonard which they split. He also had an unsuccessful stab at Wilfred Benitez’s WBC junior middleweight belt and a heroic performance against Marvin Hagler for the undisputed Middleweight Championship.
McCallum was an absolute beast, so fearful that most top fighters of the day avoided him like the plague. That is demonstrated by two appearances on this list. Mike won the vacant WBA strap in 1984 and defended it 6 times before losing it in 1988. In 1986, what may have been the biggest win of his career, he gave knockout artist Julian Jackson a taste of his own medicine by knocking him out in the second, establishing the “Bodysnatcher” as a man to be feared.
Instead of McCallum, Duran fought the other outstanding junior middleweight of the time Tommy Hearns. Even after coming after the loss to Hearns, Roberto still had plenty of life left in him as proven by his win over Iran Barkley in 1989. Even though Duran was not as devastating as he was as a lightweight, he was still a formidable challenge for anyone at the higher weights and a household name. The ideal time frame for these two legends would have been sometime during McCallum’s first title reign at junior middleweight.
7. Mike Tyson vs. Riddick Bowe
Tyson is probably the most storied fighter of this past generation. Despite losing to Buster Douglas in 1990, Iron Mike was still a force to be reckoned with even if he was not the indestructible machine that he was in the 80’s. Tyson had enough to twice beat Razor Ruddock and then recapture two heavyweight belts after his release from prison.
There has not been an extremely highly touted American heavyweight prospect since Riddick Bowe. And for an ever so short period in time Bowe lived up to that potential. Bowe started to hit his peak right when Tyson was sent away to prison for his rape conviction. Riddick was able to beat Evander Holyfield for the Heavyweight Championship in 1992. He eventually would win two out of three from Holyfield as well as other a few other notable wins and title defenses. Bowe was only a championship level boxer from 1992 to about 1995. After two brutal beatings at the hands of Andrew Golota, Riddick essentially retired.
Bowe’s extremely short prime and Tyson’s jail time is the biggest reason that this never got done. Riddick was not ready for the big time before 1991 and he had already badly faded by 1996. Still, it is a shame that they never fought each other. They were two of the most popular boxers of their generation.
6. Felix Trinidad vs. Ike Quartey
Trinidad won his IBF Welterweight Title in 1993 and defended in an amazing 16 times before moving up in weight in 1999. Tito was undefeated at welterweight; the closest he came to losing was a controversial majority decision win against Oscar De La Hoya. Known for picking himself off of the canvas early and then going on to win by knock out using his deadly left hook, Trinidad did whatever necessary to win fights.
Quartey won the WBA belt in 1994 against Crisanto Espana to begin an impressive title reign that ultimately earned him a shot with Oscar De La Hoya in 1999. Among his victims were Vince Phillips and Oba Carr. Quartey had an amazing shotgun jab that complimented a bazooka for a right hand. Ike manhandled his opponents with a physical strength advantage that he enjoyed over all of his opponents.
Quartey and Trinidad were both great champions. Great champions who happened to be in the same weight class at the same time. Their title reigns almost perfectly overlap chronologically. A title unification fight between the two would have been explosive. This is the kind of fight, where you have two stars in their primes and in the same weight division, that is a shame that it never took place. Anytime between 1994 and 1999 would have been ideal to hold this stellar match up at 147. That is a five year time span, more than enough to work something out and get a deal done. The whole time, both boxers were calling out Oscar De La Hoya instead of each other; which is understandable since De La Hoya represented the biggest payday, but neither got a shot at the Golden Boy until 1999. Without a doubt, Trinidad and Quartey should have fought each other in the meantime.
Check back tomorrow for Part II of the top fights that should have happened, but didn’t of the last 25 years. The top 5 includes some of the biggest names the best fighters in the history of boxing including Roy Jones, JR., Sugar Ray Leonard, and Lennox Lewis. Stay tuned…
