World Boxing News offers four fights that could have added to legacies, including Floyd Mayweather and Lennox Lewis.
Those massive fights that didn’t make it over the line. They included Mayweather vs Margarito, Bowe vs Lewis, and Sugar Ray Leonard facing Aaron Pryor.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Antonio Margarito
In the early 2000s, Mayweather was starting to come to prominence. Mayweather had chalked up some impressive victories, leading many people to believe that he would take on then-WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito. It was just talking.
Had they met, Margarito could have ended Floyd Mayweather’s dominance before it had even begun. The Californian native had a similar style to Jose Luis Castillo, who had profusely troubled Mayweather in the two fights the two had in 2002 and was entering the prime of his career.
In the years 2005-06, Margarito was a machine. A deadly punching machine with the strength of an ox.
Despite tabling a then record-high payday of $9 million to Floyd Mayweather, “Money” opted to face Carlos Baldomir for the WBC title.
In reflection, the majority believe that Mayweather’s ring general-ship and boxing acumen would have been able to thwart the more dangerous but less refined Margarito.
That said, it still would have been enthralling to see the slick Mayweather trying to deal with the uncompromising power and pressure that the Tijuana Tornado possessed.
Manny Pacquiao did it.
Riddick Bowe vs. Lennox Lewis
Okay, these two did fight at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul for the Gold Medal. On that occasion, Lennox Lewis came out on top and won via a second-round TKO.
Fast forward to 1992, Riddick Bowe is the undisputed heavyweight champion after beating Evander Holyfield, while his old Olympic rival Lewis had just knocked out Donovan “Razor” Ruddock in two rounds to become the WBC’s number one contender.
What happened from here can only be described as absurd. Bowe’s eccentric manager Rock Newman started to make unreasonable demands for Bowe to take the Lewis fight. One of which was requesting that purse be split 90/10 in Boye’s favor.
If that was bad, it was nowhere near as despicable as Bowe’s last actions. He threw his WBC championship belt into a bin to avoid a meeting with Lewis. The WBC, who had rightly threatened to strip Bowe of the title if he did not fight the mandatory fighter, had no choice but to take the strap off Bowe and award it to Lewis.
You have to feel for Lewis. He wanted his first title to come from a knockout punch, not a default. Despite having a stellar boxing career, Bowe gets remembered by some British fans for ducking Lewis.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Aaron Pryor
Similarly to Floyd Mayweather, there are very few fighters comparable to Sugar Ray Leonard. The pace and movement that he possessed inside the squared circle were incomprehensible.
As much as Leonard was a rarity, so was Aaron Pryor, who could catch you from just about anywhere to devastating effect.
The two knew each other from their days with the 1976 Olympic Team. Both were competing at the 140lb catchweight, but Pryor eventually moved down a weight. A decision he regrets to this day – even back then, he thought he had “Sugar” Ray’s number.
Many in the 1980s believed that Leonard was ducking Pryor, while the stories of the pair trying to destroy one another in sparring sessions also received a large amount of coverage. But, still, there was no fight.
Talk of Leonard ducking Pryor is more than likely ill-founded. Leonard fought Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler, and Tommy Hearns, proving that he would not duck anyone.
Some suggest that Pryor and Leonard had agreed to fight in 1982. Leonard, however, retired after detaching his retina while fighting Bruce Finch.
Well documented that Leonard’s retirement was only temporary, but upon his return, Pryor started his downwards descent into the dark world of drug dependency.
Erik Morales vs. Juan Manuel Marquez
The generation of Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Marco Antonio Barrera was one of the most decorated of all time and the most decisive. To this day, there is no exact number one. While Barrera has taken to the ring against both men – he had three wars with Morales, two of which he won, he lost to Marquez – Morales and Marquez have never thrown down.
The two explosive boxers have 76 knockouts and won major titles in four weight categories. It doesn’t take too much imagination to picture the organized chaos these two would bring to the ring. It wouldn’t be a fight, and it would be a war.
Talks have taken place between the parties on countless occasions. But nothing has been agreed upon by the two parties every time.
Although both fought late in the day, they were past their prime. If we had been treated to this fight seven or eight years ago, it would have been a blood-filled frenzy – a match of epic proportions.
Sadly we were not and will never know who the greatest boxer of this Mexican triumvirate is.
All four of these had the potential to be great fights. Especially the last one.
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