What's the best (or your favorite) boxing trilogy of all time?
Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier
Ali-Frazier, two names inseparable in the history books thanks to their highly competitive and exhausting yet inspiring efforts in the ring against each other.
Muhammad Ali lost his undefeated record to Joe Frazier in the first fight of their epic trilogy.
Unfortunately Ali would not get the chance to return the favor. George Foreman took Frazier's "0" first. But Ali came back and avenged his defeat afterwards.
After Ali brilliantly dealt with Foreman, he returned his sights to Frazier.
The two had unfinished business, and they settled it in possibly the greatest fight of all time, "The Thriller In Manila." Don King sure knows how to name them.
King gave that epic fight its name, and Ali and Frazier gave that fight and their trilogy its immortality.
Arturo Gatti vs. Mickey Ward
his is a truly epic trilogy made from the blood and sweat of men not considered great because of their skills, but because of their heart and determination to not give in willingly to the other man.
Arturo Gatti is a fighter loved for his ability to change the course of any fight with one punch. He's the guy you see being pummeled by a fighter until he lands the perfect punch to knock the other guy out.
Comeback king? Yes indeed.
Mickey Ward is a very similar fighter in that he gets beat throughout an entire fight only to bodyshot his way to a knockout victory very often in his career.
When you put the two together, everyone expected sparks to fly. They just didn't realize those sparks would fly to the moon and then circle the sun before returning to their eyes the most dazzling displays of heart and courage to plaster a television or computer screen.
Ward and Gatti fought a close first fight, but Ward pulled a majority decision victory thanks to a ninth-round knockdown of Gatti.
Gatti avenged his defeat with an unanimous decision victory over Ward thanks to a third-round knockdown of Ward. According to Sports Illustrated, Gatti told Ward after the fight, "I used to wonder what would happen if I fought my twin. Now I know."
Gatti won another unanimous decision in their third and final fight. Both men were sent to trauma units for care.
Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson
Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johansson gave a wonderful trio of knockdowns and knockouts.
One of the best trilogies of all time. Why?
These two knocked each other out so quick, all three of their fights together lasted a total of 14 rounds.
First Patterson lost the world championship to the young undefeated Johansson via TKO in the third round. Patterson was not deterred.
Almost a year later, Patterson knocked Johansson out in round five.
The rubber match gave birth ninth months later, ending in Patterson's picture-perfect six-round knockout of Johansson.
Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe
Holyfield and Bowe were two undefeated young world-class heavyweights fighting in their prime, a rarity in today's era.
Holyfield had recently come up in weight from the cruiserweight (200 lbs) division and beat Buster Douglas for the world championship after Douglas upset the world by beating Mike Tyson.
After being deprived of such a great superfight in Holyfield vs. Tyson, we got Holyfield vs. Bowe and forgot who Tyson was for the duration of the first match.
An epic battle in which Holyfield tried to make his presence known to the 30-pound heavier Bowe ensued. Bowe ultimately won by unanimous decision, but Holyfield gained much respect for his courage shown in suffering his first loss.
Holyfield re-fought Bowe and gave the world champ his first loss in a weird fight that was momentarily interrupted by a parachuter flying down into the ring.
After the "Fan Man," as the parachuter was called, was physically removed, Holyfield proceeded to beat Bowe by majority decision, effectively winning back his world championship and handing Bowe his first loss.
Their trilogy came to a dramatic conclusion. Holyfield knocked Bowe down in the fifth round. Coming back in a massive way, Bowe knocked Holyfield out in the eighth round to avenge his only career defeat.
Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones Jr.
On November 8, 2003, Jones set out to win back the light heavyweight (175 lbs) title he had won on his way up to heavyweight.
Unfortunately for Jones, he lost a lot of muscle in getting down to 175 to fight WBC light heavyweight world champion Antonio Tarver.
Tarver gave Jones fits all night. Jones was a tad slower than usual and his reflexes diminished a great deal. Many remarked that Jones was hit more in this fight than in his whole career.
After 12 rounds, Jones was rewarded the majority decision, but many noticed Tarver was very close to upsetting the popular champion.
Jones gave Tarver a rematch on March 15, 2004. Though Jones became more aggressive, Tarver still got the better of their exchanges and ended the fight early with a second-round counter left that sent Jones to the canvas.
Jones got up at the count of nine, but the ref waved the fight as Jones stumbled to another corner.
Jones fought Tarver a third time in October 1, 2005. Jones improved upon his first two performances only to come up short on the scorecards, losing by unanimous decision.
This trilogy came with a lot of feints and misses, not much action. This trilogy is important because it chronicles the rise of Tarver and the fall of Jones.
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales
The opening bout of the series was absolutely breathtaking. Neither man was willing to give in and the violent slugfest that unfolded will never be forgotten. As with the Ali v Frazier trilogy, fight two was something of a letdown. But the third and final instalment made up for it. The quality of boxing put on by both Mexican legends was first rate - some even favour fight three to fight one. What almost everyone agrees on though, is that there has never been a better three fight series among the lower weight classes. These fights were fought over three different weight classes, yet despite being heavier men in each subsequent meeting the pace never slowed!
Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier
Ali-Frazier, two names inseparable in the history books thanks to their highly competitive and exhausting yet inspiring efforts in the ring against each other.
Muhammad Ali lost his undefeated record to Joe Frazier in the first fight of their epic trilogy.
Unfortunately Ali would not get the chance to return the favor. George Foreman took Frazier's "0" first. But Ali came back and avenged his defeat afterwards.
After Ali brilliantly dealt with Foreman, he returned his sights to Frazier.
The two had unfinished business, and they settled it in possibly the greatest fight of all time, "The Thriller In Manila." Don King sure knows how to name them.
King gave that epic fight its name, and Ali and Frazier gave that fight and their trilogy its immortality.
Arturo Gatti vs. Mickey Ward
his is a truly epic trilogy made from the blood and sweat of men not considered great because of their skills, but because of their heart and determination to not give in willingly to the other man.
Arturo Gatti is a fighter loved for his ability to change the course of any fight with one punch. He's the guy you see being pummeled by a fighter until he lands the perfect punch to knock the other guy out.
Comeback king? Yes indeed.
Mickey Ward is a very similar fighter in that he gets beat throughout an entire fight only to bodyshot his way to a knockout victory very often in his career.
When you put the two together, everyone expected sparks to fly. They just didn't realize those sparks would fly to the moon and then circle the sun before returning to their eyes the most dazzling displays of heart and courage to plaster a television or computer screen.
Ward and Gatti fought a close first fight, but Ward pulled a majority decision victory thanks to a ninth-round knockdown of Gatti.
Gatti avenged his defeat with an unanimous decision victory over Ward thanks to a third-round knockdown of Ward. According to Sports Illustrated, Gatti told Ward after the fight, "I used to wonder what would happen if I fought my twin. Now I know."
Gatti won another unanimous decision in their third and final fight. Both men were sent to trauma units for care.
Floyd Patterson vs. Ingemar Johansson
Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johansson gave a wonderful trio of knockdowns and knockouts.
One of the best trilogies of all time. Why?
These two knocked each other out so quick, all three of their fights together lasted a total of 14 rounds.
First Patterson lost the world championship to the young undefeated Johansson via TKO in the third round. Patterson was not deterred.
Almost a year later, Patterson knocked Johansson out in round five.
The rubber match gave birth ninth months later, ending in Patterson's picture-perfect six-round knockout of Johansson.
Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe
Holyfield and Bowe were two undefeated young world-class heavyweights fighting in their prime, a rarity in today's era.
Holyfield had recently come up in weight from the cruiserweight (200 lbs) division and beat Buster Douglas for the world championship after Douglas upset the world by beating Mike Tyson.
After being deprived of such a great superfight in Holyfield vs. Tyson, we got Holyfield vs. Bowe and forgot who Tyson was for the duration of the first match.
An epic battle in which Holyfield tried to make his presence known to the 30-pound heavier Bowe ensued. Bowe ultimately won by unanimous decision, but Holyfield gained much respect for his courage shown in suffering his first loss.
Holyfield re-fought Bowe and gave the world champ his first loss in a weird fight that was momentarily interrupted by a parachuter flying down into the ring.
After the "Fan Man," as the parachuter was called, was physically removed, Holyfield proceeded to beat Bowe by majority decision, effectively winning back his world championship and handing Bowe his first loss.
Their trilogy came to a dramatic conclusion. Holyfield knocked Bowe down in the fifth round. Coming back in a massive way, Bowe knocked Holyfield out in the eighth round to avenge his only career defeat.
Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones Jr.
On November 8, 2003, Jones set out to win back the light heavyweight (175 lbs) title he had won on his way up to heavyweight.
Unfortunately for Jones, he lost a lot of muscle in getting down to 175 to fight WBC light heavyweight world champion Antonio Tarver.
Tarver gave Jones fits all night. Jones was a tad slower than usual and his reflexes diminished a great deal. Many remarked that Jones was hit more in this fight than in his whole career.
After 12 rounds, Jones was rewarded the majority decision, but many noticed Tarver was very close to upsetting the popular champion.
Jones gave Tarver a rematch on March 15, 2004. Though Jones became more aggressive, Tarver still got the better of their exchanges and ended the fight early with a second-round counter left that sent Jones to the canvas.
Jones got up at the count of nine, but the ref waved the fight as Jones stumbled to another corner.
Jones fought Tarver a third time in October 1, 2005. Jones improved upon his first two performances only to come up short on the scorecards, losing by unanimous decision.
This trilogy came with a lot of feints and misses, not much action. This trilogy is important because it chronicles the rise of Tarver and the fall of Jones.
Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales
The opening bout of the series was absolutely breathtaking. Neither man was willing to give in and the violent slugfest that unfolded will never be forgotten. As with the Ali v Frazier trilogy, fight two was something of a letdown. But the third and final instalment made up for it. The quality of boxing put on by both Mexican legends was first rate - some even favour fight three to fight one. What almost everyone agrees on though, is that there has never been a better three fight series among the lower weight classes. These fights were fought over three different weight classes, yet despite being heavier men in each subsequent meeting the pace never slowed!