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AJ McKenzie
  • 2 days ago
Walcott-Charles too low
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00:02I was watching this, I think they got the best boxers list wrong, Harry Greb snubbed,
00:11Joey Gantz snubbed, Ezra Charles snubbed, Jack Johnson, Mike Tyson don't belong, Fender
00:18Holyfield doesn't belong, I'm hoping they get this boxing list right.
00:30You know in this show we're turning out the lights and saluting that thunderclap instant
00:34when gloved fist meets unprotected anatomy, the moment when the referee begins his carefully
00:39measured count, we're talking the knockout folks, few moments in sports evoke such strong
00:45reaction as the KO, and in the interest of strong reactions, here is our list of ESPN
00:50classics 20 greatest knockouts of all time.
01:05On June 20th, 1960, Floyd Patterson fought Ingemar Johansson in New York's polo gr-
01:10Patterson and Johansson 2, oh, it might not even be high enough.
01:15I mean, for execution, he almost committed a public execution.
01:24Seeking not only to avenge this seven knockdown humiliation he suffered almost a year earlier,
01:32but to become the first heavyweight to regain the championship.
01:35For the first and only time in his career, he felt he was ready to kill.
01:40He would have done anything to win back that title.
01:43In the fifth round, the underdog Patterson fired a furious salvo topped off with his patented kangaroo punch.
01:49His pride and his belt restored and reclaimed.
01:55Johansson went down and his leg began quivering uncontrollably.
01:59Floyd was celebrating.
02:00He turned around and he saw that Ingemar might have been seriously hurt,
02:05and he knelt down in a gesture of compassion and made sure that he was all right.
02:09He's just become the first man in the history of boxing to win back the heavyweight championship,
02:15something which Jack Dempsey and Joe Lewis had failed to do.
02:19And what is he concerned with the fact that he might have...
02:21Yo, Jack Dempsey held it for seven years and Joe Lewis held it for like 12.
02:28And they lost theirs towards retirement.
02:34The guys like Gene Tunney and Lewis never actually lost his.
02:39He just retired.
02:42So I'll take their reigns over Patterson.
02:47Even though what he did was impressive.
02:52He hurt or even killed this man. What have I done?
02:55That was Floyd Patterson.
02:56Floyd Patterson was not one of the greatest heavyweight champions.
03:00He might have been one of boxing's greatest gentlemen, though.
03:03Patterson and Johansson become good pals.
03:05They do all sorts of charitable things in later life,
03:08and even ran together in the 82 marathon.
03:13Number 19.
03:19Touted as a rising star, Tommy the Duke Morrison was known for his power.
03:23On October 18, 1991 in Atlantic City,
03:27he fought another big banger, WBO heavyweight champion Ray Mercer.
03:31Ray Mercer had the two assets that alone can make you a contender.
03:38Punching power and a good chin.
03:40Tommy Morrison is viewed as the up-and-coming heavyweight.
03:43One shouldn't use in a PC world great white hope, but he was.
03:48This was seen as his coming out party.
03:51That coming out party looked to be a smash hit.
03:54At least in the first three rounds.
03:59Well, Mercer was a known party pooper.
04:02And he crapped all over Morrison with his gloves.
04:09He was pitting with power.
04:11He was boxing.
04:12He was doing all the things you had to do.
04:14But in the fourth round, Mercer rallied.
04:16And in the fifth, he turned merciless, unleashing a fearsome barrage.
04:20Mercer with the two good right hands.
04:22And now Mercer on Morrison in the corner.
04:24And Mercer's all over.
04:26And Morrison in trouble.
04:28Probably the most devastating, continual knockout I have ever seen.
04:33I counted at least eight punches after Tommy had dropped his arms in surrender that hit him flush.
04:3928 seconds in, referee Tony Perez called a halt.
04:44That image of Morrison getting knocked out slowly and brutally is one I will never ever forget.
04:50You're going to battle.
04:50You either die or you live.
04:52And I'm living.
04:53Number 18.
05:01Contrasting styles can make memorable fights.
05:03And so it was on May 24th, 1968 in Madison Square Garden when Dick Tiger put his light heavyweight title.
05:09Bobby Foster, one of the most underrated big punchers of all time.
05:18He would kill any light heavyweight today.
05:26Guaranteed.
05:29On the line against Bob Foster.
05:31Dick Tiger was one of these impenetrable forces.
05:34Strong man.
05:35Built close to the ground like a little brick.
05:38Bob Foster was a tall, gaunt looking guy.
05:41He wouldn't think he could punch his way out of a paper bag.
05:43Yet he had the most lethal left hook in boxing history.
05:46In the fourth round, Foster dropped his trademark bomb on Tiger.
05:51Tiger down!
05:53Bob Foster throws a picture book left hook that basically took Dick Tiger's head off.
06:01You would have thought he killed Dick Tiger.
06:03He was thrown on the canvas.
06:04Yet the great heart of Dickie tries to get up, but it's just not there.
06:08With that one punch, Foster not only separated Tiger from his senses, but also his belt.
06:13That was the first real hard punch you threw, wasn't it?
06:16Yeah, I would set him up just for one good shot.
06:19The new champion.
06:20If he hadn't slumped so fast, gravity may have hit the canvas, so I've never woken up for another, uh,
06:27let's say five months.
06:28The champ would go on to successfully defend his title 14 times, 10 by knockout.
06:33Foster's career was built around that punch, and he lasted as one of the all-time great light heavyweight champions.
06:48On November 14th, 1966, Muhammad Ali, the dazzling, dancing, undefeated heavyweight champ, squared off against thunder-punching Cleveland Williams.
06:58Cleveland Williams was a guy who had one thing going for him. He could knock out a horse if he
07:02hit it in the head.
07:03At 6'4", 210, Williams was formidable, but against the 24-year-old Ali, the challenger became a slow, plodding,
07:10easy-to-hit target.
07:12Muhammad Ali, who was at his absolute peak, physical, mental, was in the astrodome against Cleveland Williams.
07:20He looked like a really bad-ass Fred Astaire.
07:22Everything was on. He landed his fusillade of blows on Cleveland Williams. Jab, punch, uppercuts, everything.
07:28Cleveland Williams' head looked like a bobblehead dog. He was just going boop, boop, boop, boop, boop.
07:32And he couldn't even react.
07:34Overwhelmed and defenseless, Williams was dropped three times in the second round and again in the third before Ali was
07:40finally waved off.
07:41It was the most devastating stoppage in many respects.
07:47I don't know a punch that Ali missed. I don't know a punch that Cleveland Williams landed.
07:55...expects in world title fight history.
07:58NUMERO 16.
08:01NUMERO 16.
08:05When Ezard Charles defended his heavyweight title in Pittsburgh on July 18th, 1951.
08:11Boca Charles III? No way that's high enough at 16. It was picture perfect. It's top two.
08:22He did so as a warrior, scarred, proud and ever ready.
08:27He's remembered as heavyweight champion after Joe Lewis. Brilliant fighter.
08:32His punches killed a man named Sam Baruti and there were those who claimed that Charles was never as aggressive
08:38really again.
08:40Charles' opponent was a man he had already beaten twice, the venerable Jersey Joe Walcott.
08:45Jersey Joe was 34, 37 or who knows how old. Probably one year shy of social security.
08:54As it in fact complained before the third fight.
08:57I get my opponents from the old man's home.
09:00Jersey Joe Walcott, he was really the black version of Jimmy Braddock, the Cinderella man.
09:05During the depression he couldn't get a job.
09:08And they'd call him with one week's notice to get in the ring and he'd sometimes win and sometimes lose
09:12and go back to supporting his family.
09:14With ageless guile, nimble footwork and devastating hooks, Walcott methodically and relentlessly assumed command of the fight.
09:22Finally in the seventh round, he caught Charles with a short but dynamite left hook to the button.
09:31And the next thing you see is Ezra Charles lying on the ground and Jersey Joe Walcott at some indeterminable
09:39age.
09:39He is the new heavyweight champion of the world.
09:46Number 15.
09:52Though Joe Frazier and George Foreman were both unbeaten when they fought on January 22, 1973.
09:58Many thought this would be a one sided affair.
10:01I had nothing but fear of Joe Frazier.
10:03It wasn't a one sided affair.
10:06It was just the other way around.
10:08Joe Frazier could do.
10:10He was like a machine smoking Joe Frazier.
10:13It became apparent immediately that Frazier style was tailor made for Foreman's strengths.
10:17Foreman had all the tools.
10:19He had a long powerful left chap.
10:21And best of all, he had an uppercut.
10:24And Joe Frazier had no defense for that.
10:26Everybody remembers Howard's call.
10:29Down goes Frazier.
10:30Down goes Frazier.
10:32Down goes Frazier.
10:34Down goes Frazier.
10:36Down goes Frazier.
10:50That was as if he was bouncing a basketball.
10:54Frazier's knees buckled.
10:55He is about.
10:56He is down.
10:57What I remember most about that fight was that Frazier kept getting up.
11:00And I knew he would.
11:02He was going to take a beating until literally he died out there.
11:05Frazier was down six times in only four minutes and 35 seconds.
11:10Foreman hadn't just won the belt.
11:11He'd ripped it from smoking Joe.
11:13Had you had a nickname at that time, it would have been George Invincible Foreman.
11:18It was unbelievable what he had done.
11:29On June 18th, 1941 in New York's polo grounds when Billy Kahn met Joe Lewis,
11:35the former light heavyweight champ was given little chance and with good reason.
11:38Joe Lewis was the quintessential world heavyweight champion.
11:42He held the title longer than anybody.
11:45Almost 12 years in fact.
11:47To lend the fight at least an appearance of competitiveness,
11:50the officials played games with the actual weights.
11:53Weights were announced for this fight.
11:56At Joe Lewis, 199 and a half.
12:01Billy Kahn, 174 and a half.
12:04In point of fact, that was not what it read on the scales.
12:09It was 204 and 169.
12:11Yeah, they gave him five pound weights.
12:1535 pounds lighter, Kahn had the upset in his fists.
12:19For 12 rounds anyway.
12:21Kahn not only outboxed Lewis, but continually beat him to the punch.
12:25And really began to beat him up.
12:26Goes back to his corner, Kahn does after the 12th round.
12:31And his manager, Jake Mintz and Johnny Ray are telling him,
12:34just take it easy.
12:36Just three more rounds, you're champion.
12:39He says, no, I'm gonna go knock him out.
12:41Well, that was his mistake.
12:42Lewis hurts Kahn.
12:43And once Lewis got you hurt, there was no-
12:46Billy Kahn, who knocked out maybe a fifth of his opponents before that fight.
12:54Thought he was gonna go knock out heavyweight champion.
12:57It's beyond me.
12:59No escape.
13:00The last punch was a right hand.
13:03Kahn falls face forward.
13:04He gets up at the count of 11.
13:06And the fight was over.
13:09After the knockout, one writer says,
13:12Billy, Billy, what happened?
13:14You had him.
13:15What'd you do?
13:16And Billy Kahn, true to his impish self, said,
13:19what sense of being Irish if you can't be stupid?
13:25You may okay.
13:26Say number 13.
13:31On May 7th, 2005 in Las Vegas,
13:34lightweight champs Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo
13:37engaged in a title unifications fight
13:40whose brutality was harsh even for a blood sport.
13:43It was also mesmerized.
13:44I'm not very familiar with their matchup.
13:46Show me something.
13:50There goes my mouthpiece.
13:52We didn't know whether to love it for the competitiveness
13:56and the fight it was, or to hate it because it was just so brutal.
14:01And then to get to the 10th round,
14:02to finally bring the curtain down with that kind of twist and turn.
14:08Oh!
14:08What a left hook for Castillo!
14:10And Corrales is down!
14:12Castillo knocks Corrales down twice.
14:15Corrales is done.
14:16He's beaten up.
14:17His will has been broken.
14:18Castillo looking to finish it here.
14:21He goes down again!
14:22And then all of a sudden a fallen warrior gets a chance
14:26while the other guy goes and takes a step back for a moment,
14:30gets a chance to get up and actually fell him.
14:33Week steps in and the fight is over!
14:36Was it one of the greatest fights of all time?
14:38No doubt.
14:39The criteria were all met.
14:41Tremendous action.
14:43Fast pace.
14:44Big stakes.
14:45And a violent and graphic and sudden ending.
14:51Number 12.
14:53Number 12.
14:58When Ali entered the ring in Kinshasa, Zaire on October 30th, 1974.
15:04Ali, who am I here?
15:06Only two words you need to know about this fight.
15:10There was concern for his welfare as he met the imposing heavyweight champion George Foreman.
15:14Foreman was undefeated.
15:16He had knocked out Joe Frazier in two rounds.
15:19He knocked out Ken Norton in two rounds.
15:21He seemed like a juggernaut.
15:24Unstoppable.
15:25But Ali improvised a strategy to blunt Foreman's power,
15:29inviting him to punch himself into exhaustion.
15:31It was called rope-a-dope.
15:33I thought he was a dope on the rope.
15:35I swear to God, I thought he was going to get right out of here and break his neck.
15:38End of the second round, we're screaming at him in the corner.
15:41And he said, shut up.
15:42I know what I'm doing.
15:43This guy's not hurting me.
15:44Just shut up.
15:45When I hit him hard in the side, I mean, I got a good shot.
15:49And he said, is that all you got, George?
15:53And I remember thinking, yep, that's about it.
15:55By the eighth round, he looked almost ready to collapse when Ali comes off the ropes and then decides to
16:01go for the knockout.
16:03Ali now taking advantage of Foreman's head to his back.
16:06And quickly, a combination.
16:08All right, finally sending off Foreman down.
16:10When he took him out of there, it was like a pirouette.
16:12The way George went down was probably the most graceful, most beautiful-looking knockout in boxing history.
16:20It was Ali's masterpiece.
16:23How does someone fall like that?
16:2611.
16:2611.
16:2711.
16:2811.
16:34On August 2nd, 1980, in his hometown of Detroit, Thomas Hearns sought the WBA welterweight title held by Pepino Cuevas.
16:41Hearns' chin was suspect.
16:43Cuevas' power was not.
16:45Many people felt that once Pepino hit Tommy on that chin, it would be all over.
16:49But Hearns was every bit the hitman, needing less than two rounds.
16:54He had him, he made him do the Michael Jackson toe stand, and then he clobbered him down to the
17:01ground.
17:02Look at it.
17:05Hearns chased him around the ring, and then when Cuevas tried to move in on him, he just punched him
17:10even harder.
17:11You could see the look of incredulity on his face, that how on earth did this guy hit me that
17:16hard?
17:18Hey, he's up!
17:20Cuevas is down!
17:22All you saw was Pepino Cuevas, rocking back and forth like an Aspen in the wind.
17:30And then one more, and he is down.
17:34It was just an incredible knockout. You knew he wasn't getting back up.
17:38Welcome back to Who's Number One.
17:40You know, considering the number of knockouts over the years...
17:42On August 16th, 1909 in Colma, California, heavyweight champ Jack Johnson and middleweight king Stanley Ketchel agreed to mute their
17:50power to fight what Johnson thought would be an exhibition.
17:53But it stopped being for fun in the 12th round.
17:56To Johnson's astonishment and fury, Ketchel's manager shouted,
18:01Now, Stanley, now! And he threw a big right hand and knocked Johnson down.
18:06Johnson landed on one glove, jumped up, and hit Stanley Ketchel as hard as any human being has hit another.
18:14And the next thing you see is Stanley Ketchel lying on the canvas in a crucifixion.
18:20Imitation.
18:21Johnson picking his teeth out of his glove.
18:26Out.
18:27While Jack Johnson's standing behind him, picking two teeth out of his gloves that don't belong to him, they belong
18:33to the fallen Ketchel.
18:34That might be the most spine-chilling knockout in the history of boxing.
18:39Out.
18:40Nine.
18:43Imitation.
18:48Heep-
18:48Out.
18:51Heep-
18:51Out.
18:52The man was 20 years removed from losing the heavyweight title.
18:55And he looked every bit of that absence against-
18:57Uhhhhhh.
18:57I like my knockouts.
18:59The way the knockouts look.
19:01And then the contacts later.
19:04context is really carrying this one it wasn't that impressive one of a knockout
19:10the champ michael moore through the first nine rounds michael moore is just tattooing but in
19:19the 10th round the old man turned back time and michael moore is down goes for on the right hand
19:26and all of a sudden boom the right hand big right behind it and you never saw the right hand
19:32and that's what he caught michael moore with a perfect punch it was as if michael moore was
19:38hit by light one quick shot you know thanks for playing our game cash and parting gifts johnny
19:45olsen tell us what he's won the punch went through his mouth guard ripped his mouth guard in half and
19:51went through his lip and ripped his lip in half you see the blood welling up behind moore's lips
19:56at 45 foreman regained what he had lost at 25 when i defeated michael moore it was a happy moment
20:04by far the most splendid moment i've had in boxing really
20:16when rocky graziano and tony zale met for the middleweight title they'd already traded the crown
20:21in two bouts that had entered into boxing legend these were what fight writers called wars well
20:26they're not war but that's about as close as you can get to war without ever having a war
20:32zale and graziano they fight a third time in 1948 in newark new jersey
20:40this time graziano goes
20:42zale flattens him twice
20:46like he shouldn't have gotten up from the first knockdown really
20:50zale is the champion and this time zale comes out as the champion
20:55the first round zale floored graziano
20:58and just as the bell rang zale let fly a right to the heart which landed after the bell rang
21:11zale with a left hook from hell in that third round
21:17all i can say is almost beheads graziano who goes down in different parts
21:27rocky went down and was out it was the end of the greatest perhaps three bout series of all time
21:48buster douglas a 42 to 1 underdog was supposed to be just another appetizer for heavyweight champ
21:54mike tyson when they met in february of 1990 in tokyo he didn't have the discipline he didn't have the
22:00mental toughness or if you want to just be really crude he didn't have the heart but for one enchanted
22:05evening douglas was all he'd never been buster douglas looked like a top 10 all-time heavyweight
22:12on that particular night he made magic i was in the zone man i was in that zone that zone
22:20in the eighth round of that fight with douglas ahead on points he gets hit there's a perfect
22:25opportunity for him to just lose it all nobody would have blamed him at that point
22:30and there's a right hand uppercut and down goes douglas it was a good shot it knocked me down
22:36but now i'm still focused and i picked the count up then i got up went right back to work
22:42started
22:42punching again but it gave buster douglas extra confidence they say what doesn't kill you make
22:49you makes you stronger and stuff like that buster douglas winning the fight and now he knew
22:57he had taken tyson's best shot
23:00and his head was still attached to his neck
23:07them hands go he showed you that yeah he did come to win this fight he did come to write
23:13some warrants of his past in the 10th round douglas put the finishing touches
23:18on one of the sport's most memorable upsets the knockout sequence that douglas lays on mike tyson
23:25is one of the best combinations that i've ever seen in boxing
23:29oh the uppercut what an uppercut by douglas and down goes tyson
23:35we've just seen a shot you know pivoting
23:39you know then i was able to finish him
23:41the scene that sticks in my mind tyson is on his knee he's got gloves on he's trying to pick
23:48up his
23:48mouthpiece and stick it in his mouth which is like trying to pick a glob of mercury off a kitchen
23:54table while wearing cartridge gloves no way with his stunning knockout douglas not only took the
23:59title from tyson he stripped away iron mike's aura of invincibility just keep chopping on him
24:04just keep chopping on him and eventually he's gonna go and that's what happened as you've seen
24:21in their first fight earlier in 1955 carmen basilio ended a violent and epic bout with a knockout of
24:28tony de marco at 152 of the 12th the rematch on november 30th in boston garden turned out to be
24:34deja vu all over again it is in many ways a duplication of the first fight because de marco
24:44just tees off he is rocking carmen as in the first fight basilio found a reservoir of energy in the
24:51eighth round and rallied carmen just came on and again wore him down it seemed basilio had this residue
25:01of energy and pure gumption which was bottomless by the 12th round again de marco is winded wasted and
25:11over carmen knocks him down tony was up at seven fair game carmen was on him again tony went down
25:21again
25:22and the referee mel manning didn't even bother to count out this fight one minute and 54 seconds of the
25:3212th round
25:33two seconds longer than the first fight same result who said lightning never strikes twice in the same spot
25:52when thomas hitman hearns met marvelous marvin haggler on april 15th
25:57each was after more than the middleweight title hearns wanted to come back from that famous loss
26:03to sugar ray leonard late in the fight and haggler wanted uh public approval he wanted uh his his
26:09recognition and they both clearly were not going to quit until one of them couldn't get up off the
26:14canvas hearns had made a decision to go toe-to-toe with haggler and and fight him in in an
26:19all-out
26:20slugfest haggler was surprised that he took this tack he caught on pretty fast it was the greatest
26:27first round i ever saw in my life from flyweights to heavyweights to guys fighting in bars
26:34haggler hearns just when you thought that hearns didn't have a chance he was just getting
26:39by he came back with these savage punches rocked haggler back haggler stopped his attack and started
26:44to cover up and all of a sudden he's up whoa whoa wait a minute this could go the other
26:47way more power
26:49punches are thrown in that round than i have ever seen in my life i mean connecting i mean bam
26:55slam wham bam
26:58but it had been fought at a terrible cost hearns right hand was broken and haggler was bleeding
27:03from a gash on his forehead hearns should have known better than to try to trade with haggler who had
27:09a
27:12maybe one of the best chins in boxing history it wasn't going anywhere
27:21haggler never lets up probably with the knowledge that they're going to stop the fight if this goes on
27:26he's going to lose his title that he's fought so hard to get on cuts the referee called time to
27:31check those cuts in the third round he's not bothered inside let him go and haggler responded
27:37with a fury the final combination is absolutely spectacular he hits him hits him again hits him
27:53again tommy didn't have anything left once he got hit by haggler he was gone he wasn't just knocked
27:58out he was gone haggler retained his title and boxing had an eight-minute classic for its archives
28:03it was a spectacular fight i don't think you'll see any great fight in the last 30 40 years that
28:09has much action in three rounds on may 1st 1957 in chicago when sugar ray robinson
28:28robinson fulmer he's a middle-aged man by the way
28:33ought to regain the middleweight title from gene fulmer
28:35it was a textbook example of boxer versus brawler if i asked god to create the perfect fighter
28:42it would be ray robinson he could box he could punch he had magnificent defensive skills he could
28:48take a punch he could win over a long period of time he had every criteria that a great fighter
28:53has to
28:53have gene fulmer on the other hand was a caveman he would hold you with his left hand and hit
28:59you with
28:59his right he would perhaps accidentally hit you with his knee he was a tough guy the first four rounds
29:05of the
29:05rematch were a replay of the first bout fulmer doing what he pleased fulmer's doing the same exact
29:11thing that took him to victory in their first fight mauling brawling jumping in jumping out
29:17i mean there's no style it's a lack of style but it's a winning lack of style but in the
29:22fifth
29:23robinson nailed fulmer with a punch as sweet as well sugar
29:39in 75 years of boxing that was the best left hook they figured it was ever thrown and it happened
29:45to
29:45catch me on the chin the next thing you see is gene fulmer on the ground looking as if he's
29:51trying to
29:51take his glove off the ground which has been epoxied to the canvas and it's over the only thing i
29:57remember is robinson jumping up down when an outcome he was doing exercise he doesn't remember anything
30:07and he was technically awake you know how hard somebody has to get hit for him to not remember
30:14anything and they didn't actually get completely knocked out the robinson was 36
30:26if he was 26 he would have decapitated gene fulmer and gene fulmer would have lost a arm or two
30:37between rounds and when my manager told me they'd count to 10 and i knew i hadn't heard any other
30:41i knew who
30:42was on at 35 robinson had won the middleweight title for a record fourth time this was the last
30:49great moment of ray robinson's career but this one punch was one of the great punches in the history
30:57of boxing in his rematch with max schmeling on june 22nd 1938 with more than 70 000 crammed into yankee
31:11stadium joe lewis brought into the ring with him the weight of unimaginable pressure and expectation
31:17joe lewis had lost to max schmeling earlier in his career um so there was a revenge motive in the
31:24fight
31:24but even bigger than the revenge motive was the free world versus the fascist world element
31:31dang it i was just about to say democracy versus fascism
31:37he becomes the guy who's fighting for america who's fighting for democracy who's fighting against
31:46hitler and and a theory of a master race and extermination of the jews he wants this guy again
31:53he wants this guy again more
31:58before or since smelling thought lewis was going to come out of him and attempt to counter punch instead
32:06lewis went out there and jumped on him he hit smelling with a left hook that makes him scream
32:13he's all over him he broke his ribs it was a nightmare for smelling
32:18a right for the body a left hook a right to the head a left to the head he's against
32:23the ropes and
32:24lewis unloaded he was merciless in that fight smelling is almost helpless right to the body a left
32:32up to the jaw and smelling is down the fight is over on a technical knockout at two minutes and
32:38four
32:38seconds of round one referee art donovan stopped it lewis had avenged his defeat with a victory
32:43who's impact extended far beyond boxing joe lewis by knocking out smelling in the rematch that is the
32:50most symbolic sports event in history that was democracy versus fascism that was the dress rehearsal
32:58for world war ii there's celebration in the streets everywhere because this was not just lewis beating
33:02schmelling this was roosevelt beating hitler in the 1920s known as the golden age of sport giants
33:18walked the land babe ruth bobby jones bill tilden but perhaps red greens too but one name was above all
33:29else
33:32dempsey that's none bigger than heavyweight champ jack dempsey he was truly like like a wild jungle
33:38beast i mean it was it was hard to describe the excitement that dempsey engendered in the fan
33:43jack dempsey was the mike tyson of his era he had this ferocity he had this um killer instinct dempsey
33:52was served up a small mountain known as the wild bull of the pampas louis a hell furpo this
34:00towering walking andes from argentina undefeated but totally unschooled he was like a neanderthal
34:10fighting on steroids a monstrous looking guy would intimidate you just by stepping into the ring
34:14they put the fight on september 14 1923 at the polo grounds jack came out verpo came out
34:23flash knocked out of dempsey up immediately and dempsey then waited in wham down goes furpo 20
34:32seconds of the fight you have two knockdowns then after that all hell breaks lewis chaos reigns
34:38there's knock down two knock down three knock down four knock down five knock down six and knock down
34:44seven of furpo and each time he's knocked down dempsey stands over him like an avenging angel of death
34:51until his gloves leave the canvas and beats him back down again in the midst of receiving all
34:57that cannon fire furpo summoned an attack purple landed a hard punch and dempsey went through the
35:04ropes his whole body goes through the top two strands of rope like a left press lifts dempsey back in
35:13furpo spends the last 30 seconds or so swinging at dempsey the crowd is on its feet they have seen
35:20the
35:20greatest first round in boxing history all told furpo's down seven times in the first round dempsey's
35:27been down twice and we have 14 long rounds to go come out second round dempsey comes right at furpo
35:35bam puts him down and miraculously furpo gets up and bam puts him down and furpo is still trying to
35:42get
35:42up when he's counted out by the referee galley furpo lifted one leg when he was unconscious like a
35:49wounded steer boy talk about drama 11 knockdowns in 227 seconds the greatest fight in history period end of
36:00uh the knockdown wasn't wasn't aesthetic it wasn't artistic
36:10uh overrated knockdown overrated knockout
36:20welcome back to who's number one in the greatest knockouts
36:30jersey joe walcott was everybody's sentimental favorite uh he was a gentleman
36:38he was a terrific fighter he had had a really rough career come off welfare no one knew really
36:44how old he was finally wins the heavyweight championship and he has to fight probably the
36:51most invincible fighter of his time rocky marciano who was just a devastating little block of a man
36:58he would be the physical for the irresistible just coming and throwing that dreadful overhand right
37:06that just hammered everybody into submission but having survived so much jersey joe walcott
37:11wasn't easily impressed or fucked marciano september 23rd 1952 in philadelphia he ran confident
37:18walcott said if i don't beat marciano take my name out of the record books walcott came right at marciano
37:25throwing left hooks and caught him with several of knocking him down for the first time in his career
37:32and you can see marciano's instantly this is a knockout where the yarn we're receiving in
37:42was dominating the entire fight that's rare action when he gets up uh he's not stunned
37:51walcott is smart enough to realize he doesn't have him hurt and there's sort of a resignation hits
37:56walcott that he's in for a very grueling fight but between the sixth and seventh rounds a solvent
38:01used to treat cuts seeped into marciano's eyes he was blinded he couldn't see at all i had never seen
38:08him get pushed around the way he was he was getting beat up finally in about the ninth round his
38:14eyes
38:14start clearing he's back in the fight and now walcott thinking he's got the fight in the bag
38:21goes to his shuffle i'll pop him here and move away and it's working going into the 13th round
38:27walcott was comfortably ahead and a battered marciano looked to be wobbling to his first defeat
38:33or so it seemed they come together and they each throw right hands at the same time
38:43marciano who throws nothing but blockbusters as per his name throws a shorter right and it catches walcott
38:59you look at walcott's head there's a terrible distortion everything just crunched together
39:06and marciano looks around to see that the ref isn't quite in view and adds a little left hook
39:13to send him on his way the marciano right hand that knocked out walcott was probably the best right hand
39:20ever thrown when the referee counts joe walcott out you almost want to scream forget it just call the
39:27medics call the doctor in there now don't wait 10 seconds you can count all day 10 10 000 10
39:33million
39:34doesn't matter he is out it's the most devastating one punch in the history of boxing well we've seen
39:4320 pugilists knocked out and now it's time for our rankings to be ranked and for that we turn to
39:48our second guessers the ringside duo of brian kenny and burke sugar
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