The greatest exhibition of courage you’ve ever witnessed.

This should be an act in boxing you witnessed in it’s entirety. We can look back at history and become awed by the greatness of men we’ve never seen, however when people say, “You just had to be there” well, they probably mean, “You just had to be there.”
I watched Hagler walk through some the hardest right hands I’ve ever seen to take out Tommy Hearns in the 3rd round. I saw Evander Holyfield win the Cruiserweight title in just his 12th fight against the human buzzsaw, “Dwight Braxton. Holyfield looked like a skinny kid in comparison to the physique of Braxton but somehow found the courage to stand up under his assault and back down the 5,6,, 190 pound maniac. Nevertheless, the greatest show of courage I ever witnessed will be described with few words since I still really find it hard to believe. Round 11. Ali vs. Frazier. Fight 3. The following words were screamed at Ali from ringside: “Cross yourself champ! Cross yourself.!” The suggestion was that Ali, who was trapped on the ropes against Joe Frazier, cross his body and take the full blunt of Frazier’s left hooks with his face. Frazier had so destroyed Ali’s body that he had to sacrifice his face to continue fighting. He returned Joe’s punches in the first sign of life he had shown since the 8th round and the rest is history. Honestly, the only time I ever saw anything remotely similar had to be in professional wrestling. LOL.

frank good article..there are several examples of courage in the ring that equal this.0perhaps even surpase it..your example is what greatness is about.basilio=robinson both fights..the first fight and this is basilios words.carmen by the way had one of histories best left hooks.basilio said he hit robinson with 30 plus unansered punches before the bell.the next round basilio said he came out and kicked the shit out of me.robinson had guts carmen said..fight two.for about 8 rounds one eye completely closed and the last 2 rounds the other eye half closed and basilio fought his heart out and lost a split decsion..marciano -charles.a fluke puinch split rocks nose in half and the ref came over after the round and rocky immediately said.give me one more round ill knock him out.rocky went out that round like a wild man possesd and destroyed charles under huge adveres conditions...dempsey-firpo..although only 3 rounds i feel its the greatest fight ever..5 or 6 major turning poiints going both ways in the fight.dempsey down in the first 15 secons decks firpo a FEW TIMES THEN FIRPO DECKS JACK THEN JACK DECKS FIRPO THEN FIRPO KNOCKS JACK OUT OF THE RING .JACK COMES BACK AND DECKS FIRPO A FEW TIMES FOR THE KO..BOTH SHOWED CORAGE GALOR.THE HEART OF A CHAMP AND GREATNESS THAT NIGHT..A LOSER AND A WINNER WITH EQUAL COURAGE..sorry caps..we can go on and on with magnificent examples..great topic.

the firpo fight of course i never saw live..the 2 basilio fights and the marciano-moore fight i did see live..the marciano -moore fight was noo regular tv but infancy closed circuit at that time..the local political boss for 30 years invited about 30 guys to the tv station to watch the fight and my dad brought me along.the tv station with the help of a expert from a sac airforce base pirated the airwaves to get the fight..lol like we get the streams on the internet of todays ppviews.

dmar5143 wrote:

the firpo fight of course i never saw live..the 2 basilio fights and the marciano-moore fight i did see live..the marciano -moore fight was noo regular tv but infancy closed circuit at that time..the local political boss for 30 years invited about 30 guys to the tv station to watch the fight and my dad brought me along.the tv station with the help of a expert from a sac airforce base pirated the airwaves to get the fight..lol like we get the streams on the internet of todays ppviews.

Thanks for the info dmar. I only wish I could've been there to watch all those amazing moments with you.

With my dearth of boxing history, I can just go off what I know, and Buster Douglas was the first guy to "stand up" to Tyson. In retrospect he just exposed a front runner who was overrated and in a weak era, but in the moment the level of courage it took to stand up to Iron Mike when everyone else was beaten before they entered the ring was palpable with that bout. This is the guy who had an undefeated and talented Michael Spinks standing in a pool of his own urine remember.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

With my dearth of boxing history, I can just go off what I know, and Buster Douglas was the first guy to "stand up" to Tyson. In retrospect he just exposed a front runner who was overrated and in a weak era, but in the moment the level of courage it took to stand up to Iron Mike when everyone else was beaten before they entered the ring was palpable with that bout. This is the guy who had an undefeated and talented Michael Spinks standing in a pool of his own urine remember.

True, Tyson may be the most overrated athlete I’ve ever seen though I’ll gladly give him the title of the sport’s greatest bully. Buster exposed him and that took great courage. Just so happened that Tyson had no idea how to compete in a competitive fight, didn’t have much of a chin and lost all thought of a strategy as soon as he was hit.

Tyson actually has a great chin. He was gases against Douglas and had him pretty much out. I agree that Tyson was probably overrated but he didn't train for the Douglas fight and hey it is the heavyweight division, guys get knocked out. Tyson showed gis chin against big punchers like Razor Ruddock who laid into Tyson a few times and Tyson withstood it.

hardcoreBEE24 wrote:

Tyson actually has a great chin. He was gases against Douglas and had him pretty much out. I agree that Tyson was probably overrated but he didn't train for the Douglas fight and hey it is the heavyweight division, guys get knocked out. Tyson showed gis chin against big punchers like Razor Ruddock who laid into Tyson a few times and Tyson withstood it.

We have a different definition of a great chin. I see it as a fighter who can take great punches and fight back aka Marciano, Frazier, Ali, Louis, etc. A fighter who, in the act of getting hit, stops fighting and just takes a beating is a guy "who just stops fighting and takes a beating." I don't see the accomplishment here.

Chuvalo-Frazier
Chuvalo-Foreman
Hamsho in the first Hagler fight
Holmes getting up from that shot from Shavers
Corrales against Castillo

Fatigue makes cowards of us all!

I think the above is true and is why the most compelling examples of courage take place in long fights. I would argue that courage in boxing is being behind, vulnerable and exhausted and still optimistically trying to find a way to win.

Bobby Chacon gettig the crap kicked out of him so badly by Boza Edwards the announcers are calling for the fight to be stopped in the middle rounds and the doctor is checking him every round. Yet by the tenth Chacon has begun to turn the tide and somehow he wins a decision. The amazing thig is that may not have been Chacon's finest hour in a six month period. Six months before he got off the canvas three different times against arch-nemisis Bazooka Limon to drop Limon just before the final bell and win a decision.

Like you, the way Ali summoned his inner strength in round eleven of the Thrilla is one of the startling things I've ever seen in the ring. I'm not sure it isn't matched by a blind Frazier wanting to finish the fight.

Ray Mancini bleeding like he'd been stabbed making a decision not to quit and instead try to win the second Bramble fight. I thought he did it through the gore and glory that were the last 5-6 rounds. The judges disagreed.

A 35 year-old Finito Lopez cut in four places by, and behind to, the younger and more athletic Bufalo Alvarez. There's a great line in Million Dollar Baby that describes Lopez's situation "He's younger, faster, stronger and not tired. Now what are you gonna do about it." Finito leaves his stool ten seconds early and marches to the center of the ring hands held high so he has just a few more secods to get to Bufalo.

I will say one thing though. I can only go by the film I've watched, but I'm not sure any of my above examples are anyhting more than what Carmen Basilio did, or was willing to, every time out. The Fulmer, DeMarco and Robinson fights are almost impossible to believe.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

With my dearth of boxing history, I can just go off what I know, and Buster Douglas was the first guy to "stand up" to Tyson. In retrospect he just exposed a front runner who was overrated and in a weak era, but in the moment the level of courage it took to stand up to Iron Mike when everyone else was beaten before they entered the ring was palpable with that bout. This is the guy who had an undefeated and talented Michael Spinks standing in a pool of his own urine remember.

Stepping into the ring with Tyson carrying an optimistic attitude really was a notable victory of sorts at that point.

Shannon Briggs managing to beat the count after a monstrous lennox lewis overhand right after he had tasted the canvas 3 times prior to that. it was a good display of courage. Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward everytime they fought

To me, courage is not giving up when it is extremely apparent that you should lose. I realize that it takes courage just to get in the ring, but once you get past that point, there is a difference. Being tough is one thing, having a strong chin for example. Courage, comes into effect when you're getting stomped, cut up, eyes closed, ribs busted...and you somehow dip into your reserve tank and draw the nerve to continue fighting. Many fighters have been knocked down, some choose to get up, some stay down. It's way too easy to have the fans & referee believe that you can't continue on because they're witnessing first hand the punches that are landing. I doubt anyone would have held it against Nigel Benn had he stayed down on the ring apron when G-Mac drilled him through the ropes. Benn getting back in the ring & finishing that fight was a huge exhibition of courage. In his fight against Wilson Rodriquez, Arturo Gatti's eyes were both closed & he had been knocked down. Rodriquez was boxing circles around him. Gatti stopped headhunting, kept punching to the body & his cutman kept working on his eyes. When the Dr. asked him "how many fingers?", his trainer squeezed him on the knee to give him the number....Gatti couldn't see the fingers. But he knew he if he could land that one great shot....pow!!! That was courage....

flapanther2001 wrote:

To me, courage is not giving up when it is extremely apparent that you should lose. I realize that it takes courage just to get in the ring, but once you get past that point, there is a difference. Being tough is one thing, having a strong chin for example. Courage, comes into effect when you're getting stomped, cut up, eyes closed, ribs busted...and you somehow dip into your reserve tank and draw the nerve to continue fighting. Many fighters have been knocked down, some choose to get up, some stay down. It's way too easy to have the fans & referee believe that you can't continue on because they're witnessing first hand the punches that are landing. I doubt anyone would have held it against Nigel Benn had he stayed down on the ring apron when G-Mac drilled him through the ropes. Benn getting back in the ring & finishing that fight was a huge exhibition of courage. In his fight against Wilson Rodriquez, Arturo Gatti's eyes were both closed & he had been knocked down. Rodriquez was boxing circles around him. Gatti stopped headhunting, kept punching to the body & his cutman kept working on his eyes. When the Dr. asked him "how many fingers?", his trainer squeezed him on the knee to give him the number....Gatti couldn't see the fingers. But he knew he if he could land that one great shot....pow!!! That was courage....

....excellent post.

WinstonSmith wrote:

Chuvalo-Frazier
Chuvalo-Foreman
Hamsho in the first Hagler fight
Holmes getting up from that shot from Shavers
Corrales against Castillo

All of these are good adds, but I honestly felt Chuvalo was about to get killed in that fight. Following the stoppage, I think Don Dunphy said it best: "The stoppage was good for Chuvalo and good for boxing." That said, I think this is a fight any fan of George Foreman should watch. George actually had what appeared to be a snapping jab and was punching in 2 and 3 combos. After the Frazier fight, his traner Dick Saddler told him, "All you need to do is punch that bag." I have to wonder how his career would've changed had he kept fighting the way he did against Chuvalo.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion and I appreciate that, however anyone who thinks Norton - Holmes is in the same class as Manilla needs to watch both these fights again. Norton - Holmes was a good fight but...