by Fox Doucette Sometimes you play the hand you're dealt. What would've happened if 1951 Rocky Marciano fought 1937 Joe Louis? Or if 1974 George Foreman fought 1991 Evander Holyfield? Unfortunately for the older man in each fight, 1951 Marciano fought 1951 Louis and 1991 Foreman fought 1991 Holyfield. Sure, Foreman would later feast on the weakness of the heavyweight division … [Read more...]
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What If: One Champ Per Weight, Part 5: Superfly!
by Fox Doucette January 30, 1978 Six months to the day after the last defense of his middleweight title, a 15-round unanimous decision in his second fight in Monaco against Rodrigo Valdez, Carlos Monzon, champion of the world, one of only two undisputed champions at the time of the WBA's takeover of the WBC, announced his retirement, putting to bed the rumors that he would … [Read more...]
What If: One Champ Per Weight, Part 4: Day of the Red Snow
by Fox Doucette October 4, 1977, CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia Sometimes old scores get settled in new ways. A week previous, on September 29, Muhammad Ali went the 15-round distance with Earnie Shavers, which in turn meant that Ali had gone 45 rounds in the space of a year, his power quite possibly left in the jungles of Manila two years prior. Sure, Ali had knocked … [Read more...]
What If: One Champ Per Weight, Part 3: The Gods Keep Track
by Fox Doucette The “sports gods” are an odd concept. Even a church-going Christian will seemingly violate the First Commandment when talking about athletic competition. Football gods, basketball gods, boxing gods...they are a representation of chance, of the arbiters of random events and their outcome, the judge and jury who decide whether Schrodinger's Cat lives or … [Read more...]
What If: One Champ Per Weight, Part 2: Battle Royale
by Fox Doucette When last we left our series, the WBC and Don King found themselves casualties of a crusading Congressman, and the WBA issued an edict demanding unification fights in every weight class. Most of these fights actually happened eventually in the prime timeline, either as unifications or because public demand for the fight was so high that promoters with dollar … [Read more...]