In no particular order, here we go:
Diego Corrales/Jose Luis Castillo I: This one is bittersweet. I was supposed to be at this fight. I had recently begun writing for Doghouseboxing.com and while I wasn’t credentialed or even tried to for this fight, one of my earliest friends in the sport…let’s call him “Realtorchill”…had tickets and asked me to go. I didn’t know him all that well and was a bit cash-poor so I balked and instead opted to watch it at home with my brother Thom and my good buddy Skye Dickenson. Bad decision, great night..
Skye came over right at first bell and informed us that he had big money on Corrales. This fight was off the casual fan radar and I remember being impressed that Skye was into this one.
I remember thinking as each round passed that there was no way these guys could get any more violent with each other and, then, being happy at how wrong I was. What a fight. It had everything you could ask for. Non-stop action, two late knockdowns as Corrales seemed to finally give in. Skye’s head fell on the second knockdown as he said, “Well, that’s that. No way ‘Chico’ gets back up. But what a fight.” But Chico did while buying some time by spitting out his mouthpiece. And then, that all-time great line from his trainer, Joe Goossen: “You better f$%kin’ get inside on him now” as he put the mouthpiece back in ‘Chico’s’ mouth. That ‘Chico’ was able to hear him and do it and make those final shots count the way he did was amazing and a testament to a heart no one can ever understand. Our little three-man boxing party went nuts as Tony Weeks waved the fight off.
As the night wore on and more and more people stopped by later on to play pool at my place, we musta watched that fight at least three more times that night. And it got better every time out.
Lamon Brewster vs. Wladimir Klitschko I: This one wasn’t even that great a fight.. It was like two one-sided beatings in one fight. This was before I was a writer and still when I put money on fights. I had parlayed this one to some fight I can’t remember. What I do remember is that I had $250 hanging in the balance. I had picked Brewster on the strength of his long-time trainer dying and Brewster saying that nothing would stop him from winning. I just had a gut feeling about him.
I had to work that night so I avoided ESPN or the internet and met up with my best buddy, Stephen Vargo to see the fight at my place later that night. As Wlad laid into Brewster with every punch in the book, I started to curse my gut for being so off. “Easy come, easy go,” said Stevie as we watched Brewster take an awful beating through four. And then the turnaround from hell. Suddenly, Brewster can’t miss and Stevie says “Wait a minute. You’re boy isn’t done” and Brewster lands a hook that sends Wlad back to the ropes and crashing to the canvas. I’m once again having a two-man boxing party and screaming at the TV as Wlad tries to get up, shakes his head at his corner and is all done in.
Beyond winning money, seeing an underdog pull out the upset, especially like that reminds us all why we watch. Because when it’s all said and done, to quote one of my favorite books ‘The Little Prince,’ “What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
O’Neil Bell-Jean-Marc Mormeck I: Again, another fight I had money, pre-writer Gabe. This one happened to fall the week after my birthday but, on fight night, I threw a huge party at my house back in Sacramento. I had parlayed five fights that night and this one was the capper to make something like $750 on $25. It was ridiculous. The festivities were in full swing. Pool was played, drinks were drank, hot girls roamed like deer on the plains and yet there this boxing junkie stood, in the middle of the living room, ignoring all but the violence in front of him.
The fight was pretty awesome as I recall. I had picked Bell to win, but I had my doubts. There was just something about his toughness that I liked from previous fights despite his kind of hot-and-cold nature. I remember thinking, as Mormeck landed some hellacious shots in the middle of the bout, that I had chosen poorly. But then, suddenly, Mormeck looked tired. Really tired, and then, sloppy and hanging on the ropes like a drunk. Oblivious to the room around me, I started yelling “C’mon Bell!!! Get him!! He’s all done in!!!” The room, knowing my sad boxing junkie condition but not knowing about my bet, forgave me and played on. And then Bell landed that final combo and drilled Mormeck to the canvas in brutal fashion to end the fight and begin my night on a high note with a bunch of C-notes. God, I love this game.
Erik Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera I: Ok, this one gets in because Mexicans around the world would plot my death if I didn’t include it and because it’s also a great freaking fight. What a war and what a way to start off not only the decade but a trilogy. I personally thought Barrera won the first fight, but what a fight. Back-and-forth action that had even Jim Lampley speechless at times and others digging into his bag of metaphor and hyperbole; looking for the right phrase to frame this epic.
But great fights sometimes simply speak for themselves and this one needed no hype. As I have done with many an HBO fight, I have watched this one with the sound off, time and time again, and it gets better each time. Strangely, I had no money on this one though I thought Morales would pull it out. This was once again another I had to watch on tape delay as I was doing a play that weekend. While I knew it was a guaranteed good fight, I had to make the customary call to Thom to see how it went without finding out exactly who won.
There are two ways that can go with Thom: “Terrible fight. Don’t waste your time” Or (in a flat tone) “I’m won’t say anything except it’s an excellent fight.”
Guess which one Thom said that night.
Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez III: Now this one was special. The first two were awesome but this one had all the best elements of the other two and went the distance. I had been a writer for a few years, at this point, but really only made the trip to see fights that were in Vegas; as I have a solid hook-up there that allows me to stay for free. But for this fight, I was now living in Los Angeles. Had just moved there, in fact, and, man, if nothing else told me it was a good decision, this fight did.
For some reason, I had really good Press Row seats for this one. At the time, it was a bit of a crap shoot as I still building relationships and trust with the various powers-that-be. But there I was, second row and just off the neutral corner, in perfect view of everything. My pen could barely keep up with the fight and the electricity that night at the Home Depot Center. 8,000 screaming fans cheering every punch as these two great warriors went at it tooth-and-nail for all 12, until finally Marquez got knocked back and into the ropes, in what would be a deciding moment in that epic trilogy. I could barely contain myself. I remember looking around moments after the final bell, breathless, looking for someone to share the moment with and my eyes met Marylyn Aceves, one of the great publicists in this game. We didn’t say anything but the look on her face said it all. What a fight.
I’m sure it drove Marquez nuts that he did not get the nod in that deciding fight. There are no moral victories in this sport. But he had to know that he was part of something so special that no one cared who won or lost. The fans won and sometimes that’s all matters.
Bernard Dunne-Ricardo Cordoba: This one gets in because it’s my personal favorite for Fight of the Year. It has it all. Six knockdowns, a double reversal and an underdog pulling off the upset of a lifetime.
Coming in, no one thought Bernard Dunne was much more than a tough, hard working opponent who would most likely fall to Cordoba. How wrong they were. Rarely do fights do much for me when watching over the internet as I did this one. They also do diddly if I know the outcome as I did for this one. This fight is the exception to the rule.
When Dunne got that first knockdown in the third, I thought “Ok. Guy came to fight. Maybe he can do some things here.” But when he got dropped, himself, twice in the fifth I thought the class of the two fighters was now showing itself. How wrong could I be? Dunne stormed back, ate leather, gave leather and lasted until the end when he dropped an exhausted Cordoba three times en route to a huge upset.
If you haven’t seen it, YouTube it now. This fight is why we watch.
Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto: If you look past the controversy that has dogged Margarito since getting caught trying to cheat Shane Mosley by illegally wrapping his hands, what you get is a great fight between two top welters. I’ve rarely, in person, seen this kind of back-and-forth action, display of great whiskers and dogged determination.
For the first six rounds, I thought Tony was outclassed, outboxed and outhustled. But while all those things were happening, he was laying down a brutal beatdown on the inside; digging to Cotto’s body, raking him with uppercuts, punishing him with hooks and chopping rights. This was the very definition of breaking an opponent down.
When the turnaround began to unfold in the later stages of the fight, Press Row and Yours Truly could not believe it. How the hell did “Tony” take those shots? In his next fight, a Plaster of Paris-like substance was found in his hand wraps. In this fight, cement was clearly in his chin as he absorbed more punishment than I generally like to see people take and still kept coming. It was as impressive a performance as I have ever seen. I’ve been to some big fights: Hatton-Mayweather, Oscar-Pacquiao. But the way the crowd stayed around for Margarito and cheered for something like 10 to 15 minutes after the decision was announced and the interviews were over was a testament to how special this fight truly was. Forget the picture of the pink dye on Margarito’s gloves and remember how you felt when the final moment came. No amount of cheating can give you heart and whiskers like that. It was a special effort that only a man with tons of heart and will could have pulled off. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Felix Trinidad vs. Fernando Vargas: I know what you’re thinking. The “Trinidiot” had to include his boy in the list. Like I said, it’s my list. Make your own if you don’t like it.
My brother Thom had introduced me to Felix Trinidad years before by simply saying “He may not look like it, but he’s an assassin.” After seeing “Tito” destroy Yory Boy Campas in four rounds, I was hooked on the skinny
Boricua with the ridiculous power and chin issues. We’d told everyone who would listen that “Tito” would beat Oscar and it had paid off to wrap up the 90’s. Now, we were like that guy whose favorite band is hitting the
big time. We couldn’t have been prouder of our guy, “Tito,” as he plowed through David Reid and then were scared as hell when he took on mandatory challenger Mamadou Thiam; only to stop him early. Now we had Vargas in front of us and I have to admit, I was a little worried. I liked Vargas a lot. While I thought it was too soon for him to take on “Tito,” I knew he was precocious as hell.
I can’t remember why, but Thom and I ended up in two different places for this one and, being superstitious, that bothered me. But “Tito” laid all that to rest about 30 seconds in with a brutal left hook that Vargas got all of. I was stunned. Vargas was too and went down a second time. I figured “Tito” knew he had landed his money punch as he stood on the ropes and held his arms up in the victory pose. But, man, I was a little worried as Vargas began to work his way back into the fight as the rounds went by. Then, that knockdown of “Tito” in the fourth. I thought “Uh-oh.” “Tito” had been down early before but not like this. He usually went down in the second and popped back up. Generally, I thought that happened because Trinidad was taking too long to get going in the fight and needed a jolt. But this was a hook-off of skill against a guy who should be out of there. This was a problem.
Say what you want about the low blows. I don’t care. Vargas landed one first but “Tito” landed better. Check the replays.
The brutal way the fight ebbed and flowed took my respect for this fighter to another level. It’s one thing to catch a guy and knock him out. It’s another to have to dig deep inside and find a way to win. “Tito” did just that and more as he brutalized Vargas down the stretch; until, finally, and a little too late, in my opinion, Jay Nady stopped the fight.
Talking to Thom on the phone immediately after, I felt like we had just been in a fight. We talked and laughed and cheered and agreed to meet up later to watch the fight again. After a couple minutes, the conversation died down as we caught our breath and got lost in our own thoughts. Then Thom yelled “YEEEAAAHHH!!!!” (which is what Thom does when he is so excited he can’t think of anything to say) and I echoed him. “You were right,” I said to Thom. “He is an assassin.”
So there it is. My personal favorites. There are others to be sure (that’s what Monday Mailbags are for) but these stuck out to me, off the top of my head. Here’s to Thom and his keeping my boxing spirits alive and to a new decade that hopefully brings more great fights and more great memories.
Happy New Year, fight fans.
Contact Gabriel at maxgmontoya@gmail.com or follow him at twitter..com/gabriel_montoya
