10. GARY STRETCH KO 1 GEORGE COLLINS, GROSVENOR HOUSE HOTEL, LONDON, JANUARY, 1985.
A cause celebre amongst hardcore British boxing fans of the 1980s, Collins was the sensational prodigy from travelling stock, undefeated in 73 amateur bouts when future media darling, Gary Stretch, upset the apple cart in around 70 seconds of the opening round of their NABC final at 67kg.
A firm believer in the futility of crying over spilt milk, promoter Frank Warren signed Collins to a lucrative contract the very next day and a course for professional stardom was plotted. As it turned out, George was unable to fulfil the huge expectations placed on his shoulders as the camera friendly Stretch also surpassed him in the paid ranks
The fight was televised at the time on local Southern ITV stations but the tape has never surfaced and that’s a shame for the cognoscenti.
9. MARVIN HAGLER W TKO 9 KEVIN FINNEGAN, BOSTON GARDENS, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS MARCH 4, 1978
Had the late Kevin Finnegan been campaigning today then there is little doubt he’d have been a world champion. Unfortunately, from a legacy point of view, neither of the former. British and European Middleweight champion’s back to back tussles with Marvelous Marvin Hagler appear to have been filmed.
As strange as it may seem that such a relatively high profile fight of the 1970s is not viewable today amongst the vast YouTube archives, it remains a fight fan’s cross to bear.
According to fight reports, Finnegan gave Marvin two of his tougher pre title tests until the relative fragility of his flesh conspired against him as the likeable Buckingham battler was halted by cuts on both occasions.
I could have chosen either fight for the purpose of this compilation but have plumped for the one that lasted a little longer.
8.JAMES J. CORBETT KO 21 JOHN L.SULLIVAN, OLYMPIC CLUB, NEW ORLEANS, SEPTEMBER 7, 1892
Probably the first definitive fight of the gloved era and a prototype for the triumph of science over savagery, Corbett’s technical mastery of the aging iconic champion marked the evolution of boxing from atavistic aggression to an art form.
Opinion is divided on whether the former San Franciscan bank teller could have beaten the great John L at his ferocious peak but the fight constituted a passing of the torch and unofficial denouement of the bare knuckle era.
It would surely have made compulsive viewing.
7. SUGAR RAY ROBINSON W15 TOMMY BELL, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 20, 1946.
It remains something of a mystery as to why there is perfectly decent footage of the original Sugarman as an amateur featherweight but so woefully little of his professional welterweight prime in the forties.
His second meeting with Tommy Bell for the vacant world title at 147 probably saw the world’s greatest boxer by consensus at the peak of his powers. Robinson was obliged to rise from a second round knockdown before gaining ascendance in the latter stages of a 15 round slugfest that finally expunged the unwelcome if enduring tag of ‘Uncrowned Champion of the World’
That it was not recorded for posterity causes connoisseurs to weep.
6. CHARLEY BURLEY W10 ARCHIE MOORE, LEGION STADIUM, HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 21, 1954
When the incomparable Archie Moore was asked of the greatest fighter he ever fought he had no hesitation in responding, “Guy named Charley Burley. Knocked me down 3 times and won over 10. Had balance like you wouldn’t believe. Best fighter I ever fought and I include Cassius Clay in that.”
Amongst the ‘hipster’ set, Burley is a popular alternative nominee for Sugar Ray Robinson’s mantle as the greatest fighter of all time and the latter has never been free from accusations that he ducked the Pittsburgh prodigy.
There is no existing footage of Burley in his pomp, besides a brief segment of his second fight with Oakland Billy Smith.
To witness his greatest night would be a rare pugilistic fantasy.
5. CASSIUS CLAY W3 RONNIE O’KEEFE, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, NOVEMBER 12, 1954
The amateur debut of a 12-year-old Cassius Clay was filmed and duly televised on a local cable show by the name of ‘Tomorrow’s Champions’.’
Precisely what happened to the footage is anyone’s guess but Clay and his young Irish adversary reportedly flailed at each other with precious little science and over sized gloves before the future global icon was declared the winner on a split decision.
Is there a boxing fan on earth who wouldn’t want to view this seminal moment in sports history were it somehow to surface?
4. JACK JOHNSON W15 SAM LANGFORD, LINCOLN ATHLETIC CLUB, CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, APRIL 26, 1906
The popular version of events states that Langford gave Johnson such a torrid time in this 1906 encounter that the ‘Galveston Giant’ steadfastly avoided a second meeting when he became world heavyweight champion two and a half years later.
Other contemporary witnesses insist that Johnson won handily, includingthe father in law of legendary scribe, Nat Fleischer, who allegedly saw the fight and opined:
“Jack Johnson decisively defeated Sam Langford. He was a complete master of the situation. Jack so far outclassed Langford that for a time, until he purposely eased up on his onslaughts, the fight was one-sided.”
Regardless, the opportunity to see this lost classic between two of the greatest fighters of the first half of the 20th century would surely amount to high end boxing pornography.
3. RAY ROBINSON W PTS WILLIE PEP, NORWICH, CONNECTICUT, 1938.
With hindsight, the attic of a feed store in Norwich, Connecticut was hardly the most illustrious venue for this folkloric battle between two of the greatest fighters of all time.
Pep, still identified by his birth name, Papaleo, was undefeated in a slew of amateur fights when he was matched in 1938 with a kid from Harlem who answered (that night) to the name of Ray Roberts. It is thought that Walker Smith Jr. had modified his original pseudonym of Robinson in order to earn a few dollars for the bout, as per normal in Connecticut, without attracting any censure from the New York amateur boxing authorities.
Conceding somewhere in the region of 25 pounds to the naturally bigger Robison, it is not entirely surprising that Pep came second best via decision. It has since been documented that Robinson and his trainer, George Gainsford spent the rest of the night in jail following an accusation from the local authorities that the burgeoning Sugarman was a covert professional moonlighting as a ‘Simon Pure’ at Papaleo’s expense.
The more obviously criminal implication is that this unique fistic episode was never captured on celluloid.
2. HARRY GREB W15 GENE TUNNEY, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, MAY 23, 1922
Any fight footage whatsoever of the fabled Harry Greb is tantamount to boxing’s holy grail.
There are almost certainly no moving pictures in existence of the ‘Pittsburgh Windmill’ during ‘office hours’ but, if granted a magic wish, most historians would probably opt to see his lone official victory in a five fight series with the great Gene Tunney.
Despite being outweighed by 12 pounds, Greb reportedly set about the future heavyweight champion of the world with the unbridled ferocity for which he became so storied en route to a comprehensive 15 round unanimous decision.
Tunney suffered a broken nose, cuts to both eyes and reportedly lost two quarts of blood in the process of incurring his only reversal in 67 fights. Despite the historical record, Greb is generally regarded as unfortunate not to have gotten the nod in at least one of four subsequent encounters.
As maddening as the situation may be for lovers of boxing’s rich pantheon, the abject lack of footage merely adds to Harry’s unparalleled mystique.
1. JOE JEANETTE KO 49 SAM MCVEY, CIRQUE DE PARIS, FRANCE, APRIL 17, 1909 –
If you prefer an epic slugfest to a cerebral chess match, then the third meeting between Jeanette and McVey for the archaic ‘Colored Heavyweight Championship of the World’ just might have been the greatest fight in history.
Said to have featured a staggering 38 knockdowns over 48 completed rounds in an era when such latter day niceties as the 3 knockdown rule would likely have been dismissed as borderline effeminacy.
Contemporary accounts vary but, generally, 27 knockdowns have been recorded in favour of McVey whilst the eventual winner, Jeanette, is believed to have dropped his man 11 times.
McVey is said to have largely dominated a contracted fight to the finish for the first 40 rounds, flooring Jeanette five times in the 19th stanza alone, but the latter’s near messianic recuperative powers seem to have enabled him to outlast his Texan nemesis.
With both eyes closed and his face an indistinguishable bloody mess, Sam was unable to answer the bell for the 49th frame and Jeanette was declared the victor.
It’s tempting to say that we shall never see its like again but, tragically, we never saw it in the first place.