The Top 10 Best Boxing Fights of All Time
By
Richard Janvrin
Contributor Updated: 30 September 2024
Richard Janvrin Contributor
Richard has been writing about sports since he was a teenager. Still, his first professional role came in 2015, covering all things NFL and fantasy football-related. From there, in December 2018, he started in the sports betting industry, covering sportsbook reviews before arriving to where he is today.
The Most Legendary Boxing Bouts
While online sportsbooks with boxing that are legal are a recent thing, I can’t help but wonder what the number of wagers on certain boxing bouts would’ve been.
Some of the best boxing fights of all time and are remembered by sports fans everywhere, even if you’re not an avid follower of the sport. Some fans today know boxing for many of the celebrity matchups, including those with Jake Paul, but there’s so much more to this sport’s history.
Here, I want to rank the most famous boxing matches from No. 10 to No. 1.
What’s your favorite match of all time? Check out mine below.
- 10. Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao
- 9. Diego Corrales vs. José Luis Castillo
- 8. Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas
- 7. Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán II
- 6. Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling II
- 5. Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward I
- 4. Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman
- 3. Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns
- 2. Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns
- 1. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III
10. Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao
Starting on my list of the most famous boxing matches, I have the one that happened most recently: the legendary bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
These were two fighters with polar opposite styles — Mayweather was an elite defender, whereas Pacquiao was known to be aggressive.
Mayweather was 47-0 at the time, while Pacquiao was 57-5-2.
The build-up to this fight was several years in the making, and 4.6 million pay-per-view videos were sold.
In the end, Mayweather Jr. won the fight unanimously. Still, considering the magnitude of the fight, many casual fans thought the fight lacked excitement. However, as mentioned, Mayweather Jr. is known for his defensive prowess, so that’s his entire game plan.
It’s not quite the best fight in boxing history, but as for recent memory (10-15 years), it is.
9. Diego Corrales vs. José Luis Castillo
Taking place in 2005, Corrales and Castillo squared off for the WBC Lightweight Title.
It was a 10-round war as Corrales and Castillo continued to exchange shots at one another for about half an hour straight.
Corrales was knocked down twice in the tenth round, but he managed to connect a hit on Castillo, leaving him dazed before Corrales went nuclear and finished what is arguably the best fight in boxing history.
8. Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas
If you want to talk about an upset that was almost one of the most famous boxing matches ever, look no further than Tyson vs. Douglas.
Occurring on February 11, 1990, in Tokyo, Japan, Tyson was undefeated with a 37-0 record and held numerous titles. His opponent, Douglas, was a 42-1 underdog, and beating someone of Tyson’s stature seemed almost impossible. On top of that, Douglas had lost his mother shortly before the fight.
Douglas prevailed here, getting a 10th-round knockout. It’s hard to describe how massive this win was and the ripple effect it had throughout the sport, but for the first time, Tyson looked human.
This is one of the greatest underdog stories ever.
7. Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán II
Known as the “No Mas Fight,” Leonard and Duran fought for a second time in 1980, following Duran’s victory in the first bout that same year.
Duran winning marked Leonard’s first-ever professional loss, and he wanted to reclaim the WBC welterweight title.
Both fighters had an aggressive style, but Leonard was unique because of his insane footwork.
There was a lot of build-up to this fight, and because of how it ended, it’s considered the best fight in boxing history.
In the eighth round, Duran turned to the referee and told him to stop the fight. The reason for this has been heavily debated since it turned the boxing world upside down, but for me, I believe it had something to do with Duran dropping his weight in a short amount of time.
Again, I’m speculating.
This win further cemented Leonard as one of the best boxers ever, and it is often the first thing people mention when discussing Duran’s career.
6. Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling II
Turning back the clock to 1938, we have one of the best boxing fights of all time between Louis and Schemeling the second time around.
To understand the importance, context matters.
During this time, it was just before World War II, and Louis was viewed as an African American hero taking on a Nazi favorite in Schmeling. Schmeling never joined the party, but there were pictures of him and Adolph Hitler.
Schmeling won the first bout, which led to Nazi propaganda. However, this time around, Louis delivered a first-round knockout. The fight last just 124 seconds, or two minutes and four seconds.
This made Louis a hero in the country despite the racial politics at the time.
This is easily inside the top ten boxing fights in history.
5. Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward I
The first bout between Gatti and Ward occurred at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. It was one of the most electric boxing fights in the sport’s history. The two seemingly never stopped swinging.
Amid the constant punches, the ninth round is considered by many, including myself, one of the best boxing fights of all time.
In that round, Ward knocked Gatti down early and nearly ended the fight, but Gatti got back up and fought hard for the next few minutes.
Ward was the underdog here but managed to win by majority decision.
The bout earned Ring Magazine Fight of the Year honors and started a long-time friendship.
4. Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman
Ali is the best boxer of all time, so it’s no surprise he’s on the list of the best boxing fights of all time.
Here, I’ll focus on his bout against Foreman in 1974 in what was known as “Rumble in the Jungle.”
Foreman was the champion, and Ali was looking to get his title back in Zaire, which is known today as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ali is best known for his “Rope-a-Dope” strategy, which allowed him to rest on the ropes, absorb some punches, and force Foreman to tire himself out. This was a psychological ploy by Ali, and it worked.
In the eighth round, Foreman became tired, and Ali wasted little time to take care of him.
This was a massive win for Ali after he refused to be drafted into the Vietnam War.
3. Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns
Although this bout lasted a mere three rounds and about eight minutes, Hagler and Hearns put on the most exciting action in boxing history.
What made this fight appealing was that Hearns and Hagler were both elite knockout artists, so it felt like any punch could be the one to end it.
Despite their knockout power, neither could initially get the other down.
However, in the third round, Hagler was bloodied but managed to win over Hearns after he delivered two massive uppercuts.
2. Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns
On September 16, 1981, Hearns and Leonard met to unify the Welterweight Title.
Of the two, Hearns made it a point to keep Leonard at a distance as he had a reach advantage.
This happened during the fight, and Leonard changed up his game plan to get much more physical.
In the middle rounds of the fight, Leonard started utilizing his superior footwork. In the 14th round, Hearns was clearly exhausted and Leonard made it a point to come at him ferociously.
The referee stopped the fight two minutes later, giving Leonard a win via technical knockout.
Ring Magazine gave it Fight of the Year honors, and it is considered one of the greatest boxing bouts ever, thanks to Leonard’s comeback after faltering in the first handful of rounds.
1. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III
You could really pick any of the three fights between Ali and Frazier, but I’m going with the third fight of the trilogy that many know as the “Thrilla in Manilla.”
This was the “rubber match” as Frazier won the first fight and Ali took the second. The winner of this fight would determine the winner of the rivalry.
As expected, both men delivered gruesome punches, and they all fought long. Ali focused on quick jabs and movement to keep Frazier from moving in on him, which was a strong suit of Frazier. He was an aggressive boxer who wasn’t afraid to advance on his opponents.
In the beginning, Ali had the edge, but Frazier came back in the middle rounds, connecting on some crucial body shots.
Then, in the 15th round, Frazier’s trainer, Eddie Futch, called the fight even though Frazier didn’t want to. However, Frazier was injured extremely badly and because of Futch’s decision, this seemingly saved Frazier’s injured eye and his career.
Of all the best boxing matches ever, this holds the No. 1 spot for me.
