Best Bout in Boxing

Boxing. What many people call “The Sweet Science” has been creating thrills since before human knowledge. Millions have fought in the honorable shadow of past great boxers... by creating as much chaos and savageness as one could possibly witness. Throughout the history of the sport one can witness the spectacle of the sport and also the roots of its savageness -- take, for instance, the era before the introduction of padded gloves. These men fought each other in boxing matches that had no round limit -- it didn’t end until the opponent was knocked out or called it quits. All this to entertain the crowd...

A hundred years later, the sport is still savage. However, there are now regulations in place to prevent the fighter from being seriously hurt. These fights might not be as gruesome or as bloody, but there has still been some gut-wrenching and awe-inspiring battles.

This has been one of the toughest things I have had to write about in recent history. Why? Because of all the amazing fights there has been! Just look at my contenders:

George Foreman v Muhammad Ali
Arturo Gatti v Micky Ward I
Max Baer v James J. Braddock
Joe Frazier v Muhammad Ali III
Marvin Hagler v Thomas Hearns
Joe Louis v Max Schmeling
George Foreman v Joe Frazier I

The list just goes on and on. I did, however, try to judge this in a specific way:

1. How many punches were thrown.
2. Number of clean hits.
3. Size-up of fighters.
4. Record of fighters.
5. How much the fighter changed after the fight.

It was hard to pick the best fight of all time, but my decision seemed clear with all these factors put into place. The greatest fight, my readers, is a fight between two Mexican fighters. Neither tired throughout the fight, and both kept punching even after the twelfth-round bell was rung. This fight was…

Marco Antonio Barrera Vs. Erik Morales I.

On February 19, 2000, these two Mexican fighters came from their respective locker rooms at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas not knowing what was awaiting them in the ring. These two fighters’ records were filled with wins and knockouts:

Barrera at the time: 35-0 (28 KO)
Morales at the time: 49-2 (36 KO)

Both fighters’ records look like a thing of a fairy-tale WBO Super Bantamweight Championship fight. Heck, this would be an exceptional fight in any normal dream. They did not fail to disappoint. The first bell rang and both fighters charged at each other. Throwing barrage after barrage of punches, everybody felt like they were back in Roman times, when the sport originated, and were watching it in the Colosseum. All the fans could do is stare in awe as this slugfest took place before their very eyes.

After twelve rounds of punches flying... faces being molded into concave imprints of punches... sweat and blood flying in every direction... the fight was up to the decision of the judges. They scored it as follows:

115-112 in favor of Morales.
113-114 in favor of Barrera.
114-113 in favor of the new WBO Super Bantamweight Champion of the World...

Erik Morales!

Both fighters left their hearts and bodies in the ring, pulling off in the process the greatest fight ever to occur in a boxing ring. A quote from Morales sums it up, in all its simplicity, better than anyone else could:

“... we both gave it all we had...”

Submitted 3/20/2009

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