Ten memorable middleweight rematches
Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor produced arguably the best pure fight of the latter half of 2007, a lineup that included Juan Diaz-Julio Diaz, Miguel Cotto-Shane Mosley, Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler and Manny Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera II. It was a breathtaking brawl that saw Pavlik nearly knocked out in the second round, only to arise and batter Taylor en route to a seventh round TKO.
Though Saturday night’s rematch will be staged at 166 pounds, one can’t help but think that this is a continuation of their middleweight rivalry – especially when one considers that Pavlik’s worth as a 160-pound champion will be directly affected by what happens against Taylor. If he wins, he will likely vault into most scribes’ pound-for-pound rankings (if he hasn’t already) and if he loses, the dreams of multi-million dollar outings at packed outdoor stadiums will probably vanish. Sure, Pavlik will still hold the WBC middleweight title, but any hopes of becoming a superstar will require a much longer, harder road.
As for Taylor, his days as a 160-pounder are long over as time and physics have commanded him to add extra pounds to his 6-1 frame. His mission is to re-establish the star power that was so evident leading up to his first fight against Bernard Hopkins, and knocking off "The Buckeye Banger" will go a long way toward setting up fights with the best the 168-pound division has to offer. Given the drama and excitement of the first fight – and the stakes for both men – this rematch promises to be a most intriguing event.
In that vein – and because Pavlik and Taylor are primarily thought of as 160-pounders – the occasion of their second fight prompted a review of the most memorable second acts in middleweight title fights. The following list will be presented in chronological order, leaving the decisions of greatness to you, the reader.
September 7, 1908, Arena, Vernon, Calif. – Billy Papke KO 12 Stanley Ketchel II
Ketchel was defending the title for the fifth time since knocking out Jack "Twin" Sullivan in the 20th round less than four months earlier to re-establish the middleweight championship after a six-year hiatus. One of those defenses was a 10-round decision over Papke in Milwaukee on June 4, and the pair was matched again in Vernon, Calif., with former heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries acting as referee.
Papke, known as the "Illinois Thunderbolt," was a hard man who had little regard for rules and etiquette and this character flaw actually worked to his benefit against Ketchel. When the two fighters came to ring center to receive final instructions from Jeffries, Ketchel reached out to touch gloves with Papke as dictated by tradition. Papke responded by unloading a crippling hook to Ketchel’s unguarded jaw and a follow-up right to the throat. In a perfect world Jeffries should have disqualified Papke on the spot, but while that move would have been justified it would have precipitated a riot from the thousands who paid to see a championship fight.
While Ketchel didn’t go down, he never recovered from Papke’s pre-fight assault. Fighting while virtually out on his feet, "The Michigan Assassin" suffered a savage beating before finally being stopped in the 12th round with a right to the head. Because of Papke’s cheap shot, a new boxing tradition was established – the referee’s command to "shake hands and come out fighting."
July 16, 1947, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Ill. – Rocky Graziano KO 6 Tony Zale II
The first fight between Zale and Graziano 10 months earlier at Yankee Stadium was one of the most brutal the division had ever seen. Zale showed why he was called "The Man of Steel" as the 3-to-1 underdog arose from a first-round knockdown, ignored cuts in his mouth and around his right eye and walked through Graziano’s home-run rights to register a sixth-round KO. But as great as the first bout was, the rematch was even better.
This second act was originally scheduled to take place in New York again, but was thrown out because Graziano had been suspended by the New York commission for not reporting a bribe attempt for him to lose to Reuben Shank – a fight that never took place. As a result, the fight was moved to Chicago Stadium and the $414,000 in receipts set an indoor record. Despite his knockout defeat, Graziano was again the betting favorite, and the crowd who streamed into the steaming hot stadium expected plenty of heated exchanges. They would not be disappointed.
Unlike the first fight, it was Zale who dominated early as he cut Graziano’s left eye and floored him in the third. Referee Johnny Behr wanted to stop the beating at the end of the third, but Graziano’s corner man Whitey Bimstein talked him out of it. Fearing his dream of winning the championship was about to be snuffed out permanently, Graziano fought like a wild man. This passage from Graziano’s autobiography "Somebody Up There Likes Me" best described what Graziano went through:
"I was an animal in a cage of ropes, a bleeding, cornered, half-blind, aching, sweating snarling animal who had to kill or be killed," he wrote. "I don’t remember no bells ringing or no crowd or no referee. The figure of Zale was a blur sometimes, then the blood got wiped off my good eye and he was sharp and splotched with red and moving slower and slower under the hot lights and in the steam-bath air of the arena."
The pair traded relentlessly until Zale’s body finally succumbed to the heat and Graziano’s unceasing pressure. Graziano was in the midst of a violent trance, pounding Zale with impunity, when Behr leaped in and pulled Graziano off Zale and declared him the new champion.
September 12, 1951, Polo Grounds, New York – Sugar Ray Robinson KO 10 Randy Turpin II
After capturing the middleweight title from Jake LaMotta, Robinson embarked on a grand working vacation through Europe. His journey took him through Paris (KO 6 Kid Marcel), Zurich (W 10 Jean Wanes), Antwerp (KO 8 Jan de Bruin), Liege (KO 6 Jean Walzack), Berlin (NC 2 Gerhard Hecht) and Turin (KO 3) Cyrille Delannoit) before making its final stop in London against Turpin, a former Navy cook. But the well-muscled and awkwardly effective Turpin shocked the world – and the 128-1-2 Robinson – by winning a 15 round decision and becoming the new champion.
The rematch was held just 64 days later before 61,437 at the Polo Grounds and though Robinson was hell-bent on revenge, Turpin’s off-kilter lunges still played havoc with Robinson’s textbook skills. Neither gained an advantage over the other, but Robinson held a slight lead on the scorecards (5-3-1, 5-4 and 4-4-1) going into the 10th. It was then that Turpin opened a dangerous gash over Robinson’s left eye, a cut so severe that the fight could well have been stopped then and there. But referee Ruby Goldstein let the fight continue and Robinson took advantage in most overwhelming fashion.
Robinson dropped Turpin with a left to the body and a right to the jaw, and after the champion arose at seven Robinson uncorked a blistering series of power punches that had Turpin swaying along the ropes. Robinson threw every kind of punch at his disposal and Turpin was almost helpless when referee Ruby Goldstein stoppage the carnage just seconds before the round-ending bell.
May 1, 1957, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Ill. – Sugar Ray Robinson KO 5 Gene Fullmer II
Less than four months earlier at Madison Square Garden Robinson lost his middleweight title via 15 round decision to Fullmer, who, like Turpin, had a swarming style that was short on aesthetics but long on effectiveness. Fullmer’s showing in the first fight was so impressive that he was made a betting favorite over the still brilliant, but aging, 36-year-old wonder, even though Robinson had a well documented history of getting his revenge in championship rematches.
The first four rounds saw Fullmer execute the same game plan that had been so effective in the first bout as he used his brute strength to nullify Robinson’s speed and mobility. Though Robinson got his fair amount of shots in, they didn’t have any effect on Fullmer’s granite jaw, a jaw that had yet to be dented by any of his 43 previous opponents. Fullmer made Robinson work harder than he wanted to, leading many to think that his physical style would take its toll down the stretch.
Robinson, however, begged to differ.
The man many call history’s greatest fighter called upon the assets that moved many to declare him as such in the fifth round – and the results were awe-inspiring. Robinson had noticed that Fullmer barrelled in with his right glove slightly lower than it had been, and he seized on the opening with the extraordinary quickness and timing that had once been in his constant command. As Fullmer came forward with his lowered guard, Robinson’s left hook met Fullmer’s jaw with what many subsequent declared "the perfect punch." In that instant, Robinson separated the middleweight champion of the world from his senses. Fullmer’s fighting heart commanded him to rise, but his numbed and stricken body was unable to comply as he crawled in crab-like fashion toward the ropes. Despite Fullmer’s efforts, he couldn’t get up before referee Frank Sikora’s count of 10.
Seeing Robinson and his handlers celebrating, the semi-conscious Fullmer wondered why Robinson was doing exercises between rounds. "They counted 10," chief second Marv Jensen told Fullmer. "And it must have been on me because I didn’t remember a thing," Fullmer said years later. Fullmer might not have remembered the final punch, but the rest of the boxing world would never forget it.
March 25, 1958, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Ill. – Sugar Ray Robinson W 15 Carmen Basilio II
Robinson’s fourth reign as champion was like all the others – short in duration but long on eventfulness. Four months after regaining the title from Fullmer, he lost it to Basilio by split decision in what was deemed Ring’s 1957 Fight of the Year. And six months later, Robinson would win back the title in Ring’s 1958 Fight of the Year.
Just like their first fight, the rematch was a close and bitterly fought contest. Both men were fighting under handicaps; Robinson entered the ring with a fever while Basilio’s adversity came as a result of a Robinson punch in the fifth round.
"I got stupid that night," Basilio said in Peter Heller’s "In This Corner." "He kept throwing a right uppercut at me that night. He knew I bobbed and weaver and he tried to catch me going down in a bob-and-weave. He’d throw it, I’d go down, I’d catch his right uppercut with my right hand, and I’d counter him with a left hook because he was wide open for it. The fifth time he threw it at me and I saw it coming. I missed it with my hand and it went past my hand, hit me right in the eyebrow and broke the blood vessels and blew my eyelid up. My eye shut. This was about the middle of the sixth round and I fought the next nine rounds with one eye."
Despite the searing pain, Basilio continued to charge forward round after round and by the end his eye resembled an overripe plum. Robinson for his part, fought himself to the point of exhaustion, and he emerged the split decision winner in what would be one of his final great fights.
September 29, 1967, Shea Stadium, New York: Emile Griffith W 15 Nino Benvenuti II
Benvenuti, a former junior middleweight champion, ended Griffith’s second reign as middleweight champion five months earlier by unanimous decision in what would be Ring’s 1967 Fight of the Year. While the sequel didn’t quite live up to the original in terms of recognition, it was as physically demanding as a fight could get.
The first four rounds were emotionally charged, with plenty of head and shoulder work and little crisp punching as both men worked out the hatred built up from the first bout. A hybrid hook-uppercut at close range broke Benvenuti’s nose midway through the first round, a nose that was surgically repaired following the first fight, and the crimson flowed throughout the rest of the bout.
Starting in the fifth, there was less mauling and much more fighting. Benvenuti enjoyed good rounds in the fifth and seventh behind well delivered hooks and uppercuts, and the eighth was the best of the bout as each scored heavily with sharp blows. Benvenuti opened a slight cut around Griffith’s left eye in the ninth, but Griffith inflicted far more damage to Benvenuti as he now sported a cut around the right eye, a bloody nose and mouth and a cut under the chin as a result of an accidental butt.
The difference in the fight was Griffith’s superior stamina, and by the championship rounds he was by far the fresher man. Beautifully timed jabs by the challenger carved up the flat-footed and ragged Benvenuti, who struggled to catch his breath, and a counter right dropped the champion early in the 14th to seal a hard-fought majority decision.
July 30, 1977, Stade Louis II, Monte Carlo, Monaco – Carlos Monzon W 15 Rodrigo Valdez II
This was the 14th and final defense for the man known as "King Carlos," and it came against former WBC claimant Valdez, who had given Monzon a stiff challenge in their title unification match 13 months earlier at the same site. Monzon announced before the bout that this would be his last fight win, lose or draw and he was intent on putting together a worthy swan song.
But the ever-prideful Valdez didn’t want any part of being a sidelight to Monzon’s farewell tour. He wanted to be the undisputed middleweight champion and he showed it by opening a cut midway through the second round and dropping Monzon to one knee moments later with a tremendous right to the chin. It was only the second time Monzon had visited the canvas in his 14-year, 100-fight career, and several follow up rights had the Argentine in serious trouble. But Monzon shook off the blows and went back to work in the third, whipping in long jabs and crisp one-twos that swelled Valdez’s left eye and cheekbone.
For the remainder of the bout, the 34-year-old Monzon brilliantly utilized his longer reach by throwing unpredictable combinations to every part of Valdez’s anatomy while also fending off Valdez’s dangerous right crosses. Monzon’s eye cut was never a factor as he piled up round after round against the ever-charging Colombian, whose moments of success decreased steadily as the fight wore on. The hot pace never let up and in the end Monzon rode off into retirement with a 147-144, 145-143, 144-141 decision.
April 1, 1991, Stade Louis II, Monte Carlo, Monaco – Mike McCallum W 12 Sumbu Kalambay II
Nearly 14 years after Monzon-Valdez II, Monaco hosted another sterling middleweight championship rematch between defending WBA champion McCallum and Kalambay, the only man to have beaten him. In March 1988, Kalambay defended the same belt against "The Bodysnatcher" in his adopted home turf of Pesaro, Italy and emerged with a split decision, denying the Jamaican the opportunity to graduate immediately from WBA junior middleweight king to WBA middleweight champ.
In the interim, Kalambay was stripped of his title for fighting IBF middleweight titlist Michael Nunn in an intended unification bout instead of mandatory challenger – and slick southpaw – Herol Graham. Meanwhile, McCallum beat Graham by split decision to win the vacant belt and notched defenses against Steve Collins and Michael Watson.
While McCallum-Kalambay II wasn’t a blood-and-guts slugfest, it was a fast-paced and demanding encounter between two of the sport’s best technicians. McCallum dominated the first half by coming forward and catching the slippery Kalambay with his patented body blows while also mixing in plenty of jabs and crosses. It appeared the pressure was getting the best of the 34-year-old African-Italian, but Kalambay somehow found his stride beginning in the seventh as his jabs gained precision and more rights slipped past the champion’s guard. Kalambay mixed in several hooks in the ninth as McCallum, also age 34, appeared far more plodding and predictable.
The scoring gap had closed considerably by the final round, and both men fought as if they knew the result hung in the balance as they fiercely traded for all three minutes. The judges’ scorecards were appropriately razor-thin as Orlando Sam saw Kalambay a 115-114 winner while Justo Vazquez and Fernando Viso voted 116-115 and 116-114 for McCallum. McCallum had secured his revenge, but he had to earn every single point to do it.
For 24/7 boxing news, go to Maxboxing.com.
