Top Ten Greatest Boxing Fights

Joe Frazier dominated their first fight - the fight of the century - with his left hook and body punches.

Even in the early rounds, despite being known as a slow starter, Joe rocked Ali with some big hits, which were a precursor to what followed. In Round 5, he was laughing and taunting Ali, goading Ali to hit him. Ali did land some punches, but Joe seemed to brush them off. Joe conveyed his message to Ali: "I can take your punches."

In Round 8, Frazier grabbed Ali's hands and dragged him away from the ropes, then beat him right back to the ropes. Ali was a big man, and it was incredible to watch Frazier handle him with what seemed to border on disdain. By this time, Frazier was dictating the bout.

Frazier was relatively short and needed to get close to land his punches. In the process, he took some jabs and punches from Ali, but none were seriously threatening. It never stopped a determined Frazier from constantly moving forward while Ali seemed to backtrack towards the ropes and cover up there. Joe went at Ali for the entire 15 rounds!

In the 11th, Frazier gave Ali hell, staggering him badly. In the 15th, Ali went down but got right back up to take some wicked shots from Joe in the closing moments.

To Ali's credit, he did not get knocked out. Most other boxers would have been flattened by Joe that night. But by staying up, Ali took a lot of damaging shots from Smokin' Joe, the undisputed winner of this bout.

According to boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar, Frazier, though he lost, was partying and singing while Ali, the victor, stayed in bed for at least 2 days. That bout should've retired Ali, but he needed the money and fame to keep fighting until he had nothing left against Larry Holmes in October 1980.

It's Joeysworld.

Ali thought Joe was washed up by the time of this fight. Joe was well past his peak, but fighting Ali always charged up Joe. Joe's style was also a bad matchup for Ali. Ali won, but Joe Frazier gave him a fearsome beating.

An awesome, inspiring action fight of all time. This is the heart of professional boxing.

Two warriors fighting with heart and courage, with nothing but their pride on the line. Tons of excitement, courage, heart, and big shots with little defense.

Gatti - best action fighter of his generation.

The best by BOTH fighters. Ward is the "Pride of Lowell," not Dicky Eklund. Sugar Ray slipped, baby. So, Lowell in the house here!

Man vs. Man, will vs. courage, endurance vs. agility. Clearly the best fight in boxing history.

Throw strategy out the window. This was nothing more than a street fight for 8 minutes. Three rounds of pure brutality.

To think Hagler was badly cut in the first minute of the fight should give you an indication of how tough a puncher Tommy Hearns was.

But after 8 minutes of what can only be described as a predator stalking its prey, Hagler caught Hearns when Hearns foolishly turned his back on Hagler for a split second. Needless to say, lights out, Mr. Hearns.

Let's be thankful that the ring doctor didn't stop the bout in the first minute of round 3, or this fight would be nowhere near this great fights list.

You could tell Hagler knew he had to finish it quickly. He knew that cut would only get worse the longer the fight went on, increasing the likelihood of the fight being stopped.

Great, great, great fight. Go watch it now!

Non-stop action for 12 rounds. Clearly displayed the difference between a boxer and a fighter.

Taylor showed great heart that night. But Chávez is arguably the best boxer of all time. His timing was perfect.

Having worked for both HBO and Showtime for more than 25 years, I worked fishpole at ringside for all three of the Gatti/Ward battles. Of the more than 265 fights I worked, these three (and the Corrales/Castillo trio of fights) were more exciting than any of the Mayweather fights I worked (38).

Still the best of this millennium. Amazing.

An aging Jim Braddock beat 8-1 odds and earned a wide decision win over the vicious power puncher Max Baer, earning himself the title of Cinderella Man.

A fine display of technical counterpunching and movement on Braddock's part.

This fight should definitely be ranked higher. It was a seesaw battle between two fighters who definitely despised each other. Erik was undefeated and pound for pound. Marco hated that he was forgotten about after the Junior Jones loss. Great scrap. I thought Morales took two out of their trilogy, the first being the closest.

As an avid boxing viewer, this is the greatest boxing match of all time for me. This match will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. It's back and forth like you've never seen. If you like boxing and haven't seen this contest, I urge you to check out this match.

This is one of the top five fights ever. Heavyweights are overrated. Fighters today in the welterweight class would not last 5 rounds with either Duran or Leonard.

The classic matchup: The Great vs. The Great. Legendary fight that I still love to watch nowadays.

Seriously. Most brutal fight ever. One almost dies and is left dumb, deaf, and blind. They fought one more time and retired. So vicious that the boxing community doesn't want to remember it.

Brutal. Let's hope this never happens again.

Great fight from the first minute. Sad for McClellan, but still a hell of a fight.

Ali at his most cunning. A must-see for any self-proclaimed boxing fan.

An ending fit for a legend like Wlad! No shame in passing the torch and in such style. AJ got a little lucky after the knockdown.