Most lists of sporting greatness much roll off the tongue in dazzling order.
Top three footballers of all time: Pele, Maradona, Di Stefano.
Golfers: Nicklaus, Woods, Hogan.
Tennis players: Djokovic, Nadal, Federer.
But one tricky task during this mind-blowing yowzah-yowzah week in Texas – when the youngest and one of the greatest world heavyweight champions of all time, Iron Mike Tyson, makes his age-defying comeback two decades after his last fight – is to catalogue the 10 greatest heavyweight fights ever.
However many heroic battles you catalogue, boxing is a more complex classification than other sports.
Mike Tyson is preparing for his age-defying comeback two decades after his last fight
The former heavyweight world champion is set to take on YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul
Tyson’s last professional fight ended in defeat back in 2005 when he took on Kevin McBride
For example, can a stupendous knockout be the yardstick for a battle royale if it comes in the first couple of rounds? Does a huge upset carry greater weight than an even match of heroic proportions? Can a virtuoso performance of the noble art delight the senses more than a slugfest which goes the bloodied distance?
All good questions, but do any of the answers bear higher significance than the impact which some of our contenders have had on culture and society? Bear in mind that for more than a century America has considered its national manhood to be defined by whether or not the heavyweight is a son of the Star Spangled Banner.
While Tyson’s comeback face-off with YouTube star Jake Paul in the early hours of Saturday morning is unlikely to crack this list, whatever happens in Dallas’ AT&T Stadium will see it go down as one of the most extraordinary.
So here we go, from 10 to one.
10. Rocky Marciano v Ezzard Charles, Part II
Yankee Stadium, New York City. June 17, 1954
Only three months earlier – also in a heaving Yankee Stadium – Marciano the murderous slugger had outpointed Charles the master stylist in the first of their two fights, which were a fulcrum of the real Rocky’s achievement in becoming the only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated (49-0).
Their second fight was unforgettable. Marciano powered his way through the early rounds. But as he stepped back from battering the Charles biceps in his practised way of bringing his opponents’ hands down so he could go for the kill at the end of the sixth, one of his nostrils was seen to be split open to the bone.
The blood kept flooding in the corner and throughout the seventh round, and Marciano was warned the fight was on the verge of being stopped by that crimson tide.
He came barnstorming out for the eighth to knock out Charles with a barrage of blows and remarked: ‘I like my world title too much to lose it on account of a little blood.’ History, and the Rocky movies, was born.
Rocky Marciano’s (right) showdown with Ezzard Charles (left) was absolutely unforgettable
Marciano (centre) kept his world title and ended up retiring undefeated with a 49-0 record
9. Mike Tyson v Buster Douglas
Tokyo Dome, Tokyo. February 11, 1990
The Greatest Upset. James Douglas arrived in Japan as a 42-1 underdog, with a reputation for lacking the intestinal fortitude required to make the most of his technical brilliance.
He was widely regarded as a tick-over opponent before Iron Mike was supposed to fight Evander Holyfield in the real deal. Tyson said the odds actually flattered Buster.
So complacent was the biggest puncher ever that he partied long into the night before the fight and was said to have been canoodling with three sloe-eyed beauties all week.
Unknown to the undisputed champion, a family tragedy had reinforced Douglas in his resolve. Buster’s mother Lula Pearl passed away shortly before he left America and he had told her on her death-bed: ‘I promise to win the world title for you.’
He duly dominated the early rounds with his ring-craft but was floored in the eighth by a trademark Tyson right uppercut. The referee began his own count after the timekeeper began the official tolling, giving Douglas extra time to stagger upright.
This would give rise to huge controversy, as two rounds later a tiring Tyson was dropped by a four-punch combination.
As he groped on the canvas for his gumshield he was counted out. Iron Mike’s promoter Don King instantly lodged a vehement protest with the sanctioning bodies about the long count which reprieved Douglas.
It was four days before The Greatest Upset was declared official.
Buster Douglas’ defeat of Mike Tyson was one of the greatest sporting upsets of all-time
Douglas had been priced at 42-1 ahead of the fight, but Tyson was hugely complacent
8. Mike Tyson v Evander Holyfield
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. November 9, 1996
Holyfield, the undisputed cruiserweight champion, moved up to heavyweight in 1990 with his sights set on Tyson.
He was kept waiting six years by the shock defeat by Buster Douglas, followed by Iron Mike’s incarceration in prison. Holyfield finally lured Tyson into the fight by carrying fighter-cum-broadcaster Bobby Czyz a few rounds in a deliberately lacklustre win.
The Vegas bookmakers were deceived, also, and Tyson came into the ring as a 1-5 favourite. An early burst of action seemed to justify those odds but a very different Holyfield took increasing control, while Tyson played his part in the spectacular by taking serious punishment.
Evander Holyfield managed to cause another shock upset against Mike Tyson back in 1996
This was the fight which signalled the beginning of the end of Tyson’s reign of terror
Iron Mike as good as buckled under heavy fire in the 10th and was unwisely sent out for the 11th, in which referee Mitch Halpern called a halt as Holyfield unleashed another withering onslaught.
This was the fight which signalled the beginning of the end of Tyson’s reign of terror which had begun with him becoming the youngest heavyweight champion.
His demise deepened in the rematch seven months later in the same arena, when he infamously bit off a chunk of Holyfield’s ear and was disqualified.
7. Evander Holyfield v Riddick Bowe
Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas. November 13, 1992
Holyfield called himself The Real Deal and wanted to authenticate that title by halting the rise of the much bigger Riddick Bowe.
But this was Big Daddy in his prime, before he would go to fat and be ironically and unofficially nicknamed Three Kitchens.
Bowe’s strength and power made life difficult for Holyfield from the start, although the older champion partly held his own with an alchemy of elite ring-craft and exceptional courage.
That even carried him through a 10th round which is enshrined as one of the greatest three-minute stanzas in ring history.
Bowe went for the kill with a wave of brutal combinations, only for Holyfield to somehow hit back with staggering blows of his own in the second half of the round.
Holyfield’s first fight against Riddick Bowe took many twists and turns, before Bowe triumphed
Bowe won this bout via unanimous decision after striking Holyfield with some huge blows
Holyfield, reeling on the ropes, after taking a particularly brutal blow from his opponent
The 11th was even more damaging for Holyfield, who went down and seemingly out from two massive right-handers. To everyone else’s astonishment he regained his feet and, incredibly, launched his own offensive in the final round.
That was not enough to prevent a unanimous decision against him, and a trilogy beckoned.
Holyfield magically regained his belts in a rematch, which was interrupted by a so-called Fan Man paragliding into the open air ring in a giant pop-up arena in the Caesars Palace car park.
Bowe would win the third fight comfortably.
6. Rocky Marciano v Jersey Joe Walcott
Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia. May 15, 1952
The real Rocky had been denied several world title shots but eventually broke a seeming conspiracy against him by adding the legendary Joe Louis to his KO hit list in his 42nd fight.
As a consequence Jersey Joe was ordered to bring his refined skill set to his championship defence against Marciano’s devastating power.
Walcott even managed to inflict in the opening round the first of only two knock-downs suffered by Marciano in his undefeated career.
He continued to elude the heaviest of Rocky’s sledgehammer blows while landing enough clever punches of his own to be ahead on all three cards going into the 13th round.
Marciano’s corner told him he needed a knockout and despite still being out-boxed, he duly obliged with a left hook followed by a right cross, which dropped Walcott cold.
The 13th was named Round of the Year by Ring Magazine, who also declared this to be the Fight of the Year.
Jersey Joe Walcott (centre) pushed Rocky Marciano all the way but was knocked out cold
Marciano (centre) had been outboxed, but delivered when the pressure was on him the most
5. Cassius Clay v Sonny Liston
Convention Hall, Miami Beach. February 25, 1964
The young Cassius Clay had yet to change his name and Liston was held in awe as an invincible monster more terrifying than even Mike Tyson would become.
His forbidding reputation was enhanced further by spells in prison and alleged links to the mafia. No one gave the lippy kid from Louisville even the faintest chance except the boy himself, his family and his team.
Little did the world know the damage Clay would do to the inside of Liston’s head before setting about his face.
The first major sighting of Clay in that full-on ranting mode included calling Liston ‘a big ugly bear’ and driving to his house at 3am to scream taunts at his bedroom window.
One of his early rhymes, in defiance of the odds quoted against him, read: ‘They didn’t dream when they laid down their money, that they would see a total eclipse of the Sonny.’
Muhammad Ali (right) put in a stunning display to upset the odds against Sonny Liston (left)
Liston (pictured taking a right hook) was left shocked and bewildered by his punishing defeat
Come the fight Clay’s dancing elusiveness and hands as fast as a featherweight’s added to the bear-baiting, reducing Liston to utter bewilderment.
Cut and humiliated, bruised and befuddled, the monster stayed on his stool when the bell rang for the start of the seventh round. Forget the wild allegations of fixes, torn shoulder muscles and mob meddling. A superstar was born.
By the time Liston hit the canvas in the first round of the rematch, from what was labelled The Phantom Punch, he who would become the GOAT was known to the world as Muhammad Ali.
4. Jack Johnson v James J Jeffries
Reno, Nevada. July 4, 1910
So disturbed were the self-proclaimed moral majority in the US by an African-American being world heavyweight champion that the cry went out for a Great White Hope to reclaim the crown.
Jeffries came out of six years of retirement as an undefeated champion to answer the call.
The Fourth of July was chosen as the date and fireworks were readied to signal the restoration of white supremacy. The manifestations which would take place were of a much more explosive nature. Sinister, too.
As a temporary open-air arena was erected in downtown Reno, an editorial in the New York Times asserted: ‘If the black man wins, thousands and thousands of his ignorant brothers will interpret this as justifying claims to much more than mere physical equality with their white neighbours.’ Shameful words, however prophetic.
Jack Johnson’s fight against Jim Jeffries in 1910 had a political significance attached to it
Johnson imposed total domination in a fight that had a big social impact on the United States
Johnson imposed total domination, telling his corner early on: ‘The old man is sinking.’ Jeffries went under in the 15th round, his corner throwing in the towel to concede the first and only defeat of his career.
White America felt humiliated and instead of Independence Day celebrations race riots erupted in more than 25 states and 50 cities – New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Houston, Atlanta and Little Rock among them. There were at least 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
The Fight of the Century, of itself, this was not. But such was the social impact that it stands as a major landmark in the struggle for racial equality.
3. George Foreman v Muhammad Ali
Stade Tata Raphael, Kinshasa, Zaire. October 30, 1974
Promoter Don King’s fabled Rumble in the Jungle was watched by a record one billion television and closed circuit viewers, approximately one quarter of Earth’s population.
Such was the fascination of seeing whether an ageing Ali could confound the strength and power which made Big George one of the most feared of all heavyweight champions. The media hysteria around the planet was surpassed by the frenzy which greeted them in Africa and intensified through a five week delay caused by an eye cut sustained by Foreman in training.
Throughout that stay thousands of locals followed Muhammad chanting ‘Ali, bomaye.’ Ali, kill him.
The man himself kept them entertained with his customary barbs, rants, amusing diatribes and poetic predictions.
Come Zaire’s sweltering night of nights in the global spotlight, untold thousands in excess of the capacity 60,000 swarmed into and around the stadium. Ali immediately confused Foreman by opening up with southpaw jabs instead of his orthodox left lead.
George Foreman’s (left) Rumble in the Jungle with Muhammad Ali (right) went down in folklore
Ali’s victory after his stunning display saw him become even greater than he already was
Then, instead of Ali trying to shuffle his way out of danger he invited Big George to come and attack. The secret of his brilliant strategy had a name: Rope-A-Dope.
Foreman kept pounding away but many of the shots hit Ali’s arms and many others were off target. He punched himself out.
When his last desperate effort got through to that famously resilient jaw in the seventh round, Ali taunted him by whispering in his ear: ‘That all you got, George?’
When Ali landed a picture-perfect right cross of his own in the eighth, Foreman crashed to the canvas and failed to beat the count.
Astonishingly, The Greatest – as now a three-time world champion and against all the apparent odds – had become even greater.
2. Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier, Part III
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City, Philippines. October 1, 1975
Onward went Don King’s crusade to convert the world to boxing. Ali himself entitled this epic conclusion to his Frazier trilogy The Thrilla in Manila.
It certainly was just that. A full 15 rounds of unrelenting brutality.
Frazier desperate to ram down Ali’s throat the ‘Uncle Tom’ insults mouthed at him during their preceding battles. The Greatest willing to go to hell and back to preserve that adulation.
The violent exchanges raged non-stop from a super-charged beginning to a near-tragic end. Too many monumental blows landed for each to be recounted.
First one man in dire straits, then the other. By the end of the 14th – a potentially penultimate round of unspeakably graphic mutual destruction – both were out on their feet.
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier concluded their epic trilogy with The Thrilla in Manilla in 1975
Ali reportedly claimed he was close to dying, but he ultimately came away with the victory
Ali in such physical and mental distress that he told his trainer Angelo Dundee: ‘This the closest I’ve ever been to dying.’ Then demanded that his gloves be cut off.
In the corner across the ring, Frazier’s trainer Eddie Futch beat them to the retirement. Smokin’ Joe’s eyes were swollen shut.
Frazier never forgave Ali for the racist barbs, nor Futch for refusing to let him go out for the final round virtually blind.
1. Joe Frazier v Muhammad Ali, Part I
Madison Square Garden, New York City. March 8, 1971
The real Fight of the Century knocked Jack Johnson v James J Jeffries off that perch.
New York’s fabled Garden witnessed the epic which brought boxing out of a cloying measure of disrepute and into the fascination of the public at large. Polarising the American population on its way to the ring.
Ali was on the comeback trail after being exiled from the ring on government orders and stripped of his world titles for refusing conscription to fight in Vietnam.
Frazier’s support for the war endeared him to the government and right-wingers.
Sports Illustrated’s preview described the impact on the broader public as ‘incalculable,’ adding ‘this is cutting deep into the thicket of our national attitudes.’
So deep that the rich, famous and powerful scrambled for tickets. Not as lucky as Woody Allen in acquiring a seat, Frank Sinatra had to finagle himself to ringside as a photographer for Life and actually produced pictures worthy of publication in that magazine.
Burt Lancaster was admitted as a colour commentator for closed circuit television. Nelson Mandela watched via television in his prison cell on South Africa’s Robben Island.
Part 1 of Joe Frazier (centre) and Muhammad Ali’s rivalry (right) was the fight of the century
Frazier inflicted the first knockdown of Ali’s career and secured victory via unanimous decision
In the event the paying crowd, in all their finery and jewellery, were treated to more than their money’s worth.
Ali’s lengthy inactivity contributed to his flagging in the championship rounds. He started sharp and mobile to open up a lead. But Joe came back Smokin’ to stagger Ali more often than he was hurt himself in the middle rounds.
Frazier was leading on all three cards going into the final round, which he began by inflicting with his trademark left hook the first knockdown of Ali’s career.
The Greatest staggered upright and survived a torrid 15th round, albeit to suffer his first defeat by unanimous decision.
Boxing was suddenly the hottest show on Broadway, even though the Garden rematch in which he would retrieve his titles from Frazier was a comparatively low key affair.
