37) Floyd Patterson KO1: George Whiting - UK Fight Commentary TV - US Fight Commentary TV -
But any fighter who leaps at Liston is in trouble. If Patterson is to win tonight it must surely be by subtlety, by stratagem, by the crafts of the ring.
Liston is ice-cold, menacing, mean of outlook, a man without compromise, Time, weight, reach, height and history are on the side of the big-fisted, 15 and a half stone Sonny. He knows only one direction – forward. George Whiting, ‘Craps For Liston ... Curtains For Patterson’
Having watched him win all but two of his championship fights, I really believe Patterson’s promise that he will get up, and keep getting up, in the face of punishment. But brave men get hurt and Sonny Liston has proved convincingly that he has the armoury to hurt Patterson. Sooner rather than later, methinks, Old Stoneface is going to catch up with the man he has already pulverised once. ibid.
Let’s not call it a fight – it was a massacre, a pugilistic annihilation, a brushing aside of a puny little man by a giant who scarcely bothered to conceal his contempt of the trifling opposition offered him. I have seen closer scraps in a playground. One hundred and thirty pathetic seconds was all Patterson could contrive – just four more than his contribution against his savage Liston in Chicago ten months ago. ibid.
Patterson twitched on an elbow. The so-called fight was over. The summer-clad crowd of Las Vegas gamesters, vacationers, shop-front cowboys and party-dress sheriffs howled their disapproval. ibid.
‘I feel disgraced and ashamed,’ he [Patterson] murmured from under the peak of a creamy jockey cap. ‘Liston was a better fighter than I was. No, I was never afraid of him – just a bit tense and nervous. I was trying to make him miss and counter but it didn’t work out that way.’ ibid.
v Floyd Patterson II 22nd July 1963 Las Vegas: [r1] ... He’s [Liston] getting though underneath and he’s got him going again. Less than a minute gone and there is the first count ... He’s trying to fight back Patterson but the other man has got the far heavier punch. And he’s over again the second time ... Another sensational win for Sonny Liston ... And Liston has retained his title. Harry Carpenter, UK fight commentary
v Floyd Patterson II 22nd July 1963 Las Vegas [r1] ... Runs into a right uppercut which sets up the challenge. In their test of strength up close Patterson is incapable of tying up Liston ... Sets up the second knockdown ... The knockout blow – the left uppercut. US fight commentary
v Muhammad Ali 25th February 1964 Miami Beach [r1] ... All set now ... Cassius Clay on the move as we see ... A left hand! ... The long left lead is making the difference so far from Mr Clay ... [r2] ... This youngster has his own style and it’s confusing for the champion ... [r3] ... Cassius Clay wearing white shoes has surprised everyone ... Cassius has the fastest hands in Heavyweight history ... Cassius is a bit hurt ... [r4] ... His eyes are bothering him ... He is blinking badly ... [r6] ... Clay with a variety of punches ... [r7] ... What do you think is going on in Sonny’s mind at this point? ... They might be stopping it! That might be all, ladies and gentlemen! Get up there, Joe! Get up there! Get in the ring! Steve Ellis, US fight commentary
v Muhammad Ali 25th February 1964 Miami Beach [r1] ... Clay looks pretty confident ... He shouted. He raved. He taunted Sonny Liston ... This is what Clay said he would do – jab and move ... And he’s hurt Liston with three or four punches. What a first round Clay is having here ... [r2] ... Look how confident this boy is ... All those lefts picking up points for Clay into the face of Liston ... [r3] ... Doing remarkably well ... And Liston is cut under his left eye ... And now he is punishing the champion heavily ... [r4] ... That left hand is drawn towards Liston’s face ... Making those young legs keep him clear of trouble ... [r5] ... Cassius Clay has amazed the world of Boxing tonight ... Clay is screwing up his face in pain ... Clay complains that he can’t see properly. He’s blinking and he’s got something in his eyes ... Clay’s corner are complaining ... He’s still standing up there and he’s still playing around with Liston ... He‘s just pushing his left glove into Liston’s face ... [r6] ... Still squinting ... It’s all Clay and his corner are jubilant ... He’s making the champion look like a sparring partner ... Liston looking all at sea ... Clay is now coming forward ... [r7] ... And what’s happened? Clay has won! ... A sensation to end all sensations ... And Cassius Clay is Heavyweight champion of the world … Harry Carpenter, UK fight commentary
v Muhammad Ali II 25th May 1965 St Nicholas Arena Lewiston Maine [r1] ... They are staring each other down ... Here we go ... A knockdown, ladies and gentlemen, a right-hand shot, a right hand shot on the chin. Jersey Joe Walcott! Sonny cannot move. Check the time ... US fight commentary
[8.6] LENNOX LEWIS 44-41(32)-2-1: Bert Randolph Sugar - Lennox Lewis - Sporting Greats: Lennox Lewis TV - Daily Mail - Lennox Lewis: The Untold Story TV -
Lennox would be in the top twenty, that’s about as high, you know. Really, he didn’t have the greats to fight by the time he got to Evander – he was way over the hill. And so was Mike Tyson. But by the same token, I can’t take somebody from one generation, or one era, and pit them against another. This is greats is their era. Otherwise I’ve got apples and oranges. Granted it’s a bar question. It’s a bar argument. Speaking of that, where’s the bar! Bert Randolph Sugar, interview Ringside: Top 10 Heavyweights
When they fought, it wasn’t Tyson. Bert Randolph Sugar
Tyson – he never liked boxing big guys. Lennox Lewis
He bit me on the leg. Lennox Lewis
You have to be good on the inside; you have to box well on the outside. You have to have a great chin. You have to have good endurance. And you can’t cut. Lennox Lewis
It’s lonely at the top. Lennox Lewis
This sporting hero came to dominance at the Seoul Olympics winning the Super Heavyweight gold medal for Canada. But eleven years later under the British flag he would become professional boxing’s undisputed world champion. Sporting Greats: Lennox Lewis
Lightning strikes: Complacency blamed after Lewis loses world crown: They called it Thunder in Africa but it should have been Lightning Strikes Twice.
The bolt, which came out of the blue sky of a clear South African dawn was of such electrocuting power that it was several long minutes before Lennox Lewis could be made to comprehend that he had lost consciousness, lost of world heavyweight crown, lost of mega-millions date with Mike Tyson, lost his claim to Muhammadan greatness, lost the lot to a man [Rahmann] from nowhere … Daily Mail article April 2001
‘So Mike Tyson, either put up or shut up. This is the art of the sweet science. It’s not no street fight.’ Lennox Lewis: The Untold Story, Sky Documentaries 2021
Lennox was born in the impoverished East End of London … He ended up passing through a number of boarding schools and getting kicked out for fighting, until he finally ended up in a school for troubled youth. ibid.
Lennox quickly won his first thirteen pro fights, and his fight championship – the European championship. ibid.
In November of 1991 Lennox got the chance to right what went wrong in the ’84 Olympics – a rematch against the man that beat him, Tyrell Biggs. ibid.
Finally, with his clear victory of Evander Holyfield, Lennox ended the ’90s number one. ibid.
‘We were statistics that became specialists and that’s why we’re here really.’ ibid. Mike Tyson, at Lennox Lewis presentation
24) Frank Bruno TKO7: UK Fight Commentary TV -
v Frank Bruno WBC 1st October 1993 Cardiff Wales [r1] … Big sharp jab from Lennox Lewis … three times … Nice stiff jab from Frank … three times … [r2] … [Bruno] pumping out his jab … left hook … catches Lewis again … Bruno’s round … [r3] … Good [Lewis] double jab and right hand … Good overhand right from Bruno … Good moments for Frank … [r4] … A battle of the jabs … Big bombs from both men … [r5] … Very determined [Bruno] … Two jabs and then a fast right hand [Lewis] … Bruno takes the shots and comes back … Good shots from Lewis … [r6] … Lewis is really letting the big shots go … [r7] … A left hook catches him and Bruno was hurt … Bruno is in big trouble … This time it is stopped. UK Sky TV commentary