I recently finished reading The Last Great Fight by Joe Layden, a very impressive account of James ‘Buster’ Douglas’ famous upset of Mike Tyson in Japan in 1990.
I have always been fascinated by Tyson, but knew little about Buster. Buster’s life, like Tyson’s, has always been a rollercoaster and particularly interesting is the insight provided on the relationship between James and his father William ‘Dynamite’ Douglas, who was a fine fighter in his own right.
Dynamite won 41 out of 58 fights and was a contender in the middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions in the 70s.
It got me thinking: who are the greatest father/son champions in boxing history? Here are a few names to haggle over.
Father: Floyd Patterson (55-8-1, 40 KOs)
Son: Tracy Harris Patterson (63-8-2, 43 KOs)
Floyd Patterson enjoyed two reigns as heavyweight champion of the world. In 1956 he knocked out Archie Moore in five rounds to become the youngest heavyweight champ, aged 21. That record stood until 1986, when Mike Tyson won the title aged 20 ; both men were trained by Cus D’Amato.
In 1960, Patterson stopped Ingemar Johansson – whom he had lost to a year earlier – to become the first man in history to regain the heavyweight championship.
Patterson also had a 40-4 record as an amateur and won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1952 Olympics.
Patterson’s adopted son, Tracy Harris Patterson, would proudly continue the Patterson family name, making his pro debut 13 years after his father retired. The younger Patterson, trained by his father, would hold two world titles in two separate divisions – WBC Super bantamweight and IBF super featherweight. He scored notable victories over tough opponents such as Daniel Zaragoza, Jesse Benavides and Eddie Hopson.
Tracy ran up a 90-7 amateur record and twice won open-class championships in the New York Golden Gloves. He also played varsity basketball and football at New Paltz High School.
Father: Julio Cesar Chávez (107-6-2, 86 KOs)
Oldest Son: Julio Cesar Chávez Jr (48-1-1-1, 32 KOs)
Youngest Son: Omar Chávez (31-2-1, 22 KO’s)
Julio Cesar Chávez won five world titles in three weight divisions: WBC Super Featherweight in 1984, WBA Lightweight in 1987, WBC Lightweight in 1988, WBC Light Welterweight in 1989, IBF Light Welterweight in 1990, and WBC Light Welterweight in 1994. He is one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
He holds the records for most successful defences of world titles (27), most title fight victories (31) and most title fights (37). Chávez also has the longest undefeated streak in boxing history, 13 years.
His record was 89-0-1 going into his first official loss to Frankie Randall, who he beat twice in rematches. Chávez had 87 wins in a row until he was held to a draw by Pernell Whitaker.
His oldest son, Julio Cesar Chávez Jr, has been a world champion in the Light middleweight and middle weight divisions. He won his first 23 fights before a draw with Carlos Amado Molina.
Omar is the current WBC Youth Intercontinental Welterweight Champion. In 2009, he tragically hammered Marco Antonio Nazareth, who died in hospital of head injuries four day later.
Father: Leon Spinks (26-17-3, 14 KOs)
Son: Corey Spinks (39-8, 11 KOs)
Leon Spinks had a brilliant amateur career, winning 178 out of 185 fights, including the 1976 Olympic gold medal in the Light Heavyweight division. With only eight fights on his professional resume, he shocked the world by beating Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight championship of the world in 1978. Spinks would go on to lose the title back to Ali seven months later, in front of more than 63,000 fans at the New Orleans Superdome.
The St Louis native challenged for two more world titles, getting stopped in three rounds by Larry Holmes for the heavyweight title in 1981 and then stopped in six by Dwight Muhammad Qawi at cruiserweight in 1986.
Cory Spinks went 78-3 as an amateur and became a two-division world titlist, first capturing the IBF welterweight title from Michele Piccirillo in 2003 and then adding the WBC and WBA belts in a unification win over Ricardo Mayorga later that same year.
After an unsuccessful run at Jermain Taylor’s middleweight title, Spinks moved back to junior middleweight and beat Verno Phillips for the title.
Leon’s brother, Michael Spinks, went 93-7 as an amateur, winning a gold medal in the Middleweight division at the 1976 Olympics. As a professional, Michael won 31 out of 32 fights, including world titles in the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight divisions. Spinks beat the great Larry Holmes twice.
Father: Tony Mundine (80-15-1, 64 KOs)
Son: Anthony Mundine (46-5, 27 KOs)
Tony Mundine was the only Australian boxer to compete professionally in four weight divisions. He held the Australian middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight titles, as well as the Commonwealth middleweight and light heavyweight titles.
Mundine challenged Carlos Monzón in 1974 for the WBA World Middleweight title, but lost to a knockout in the seventh round. Monzón won 87, drew 9 and lost just 3 fights and is regarded as one of the all-time greats.
Anthony Mundine might polarise people for his brash and outspoken personality, but his success in both league and boxing is unique. In league he played Origin for New South Wales and scored 59 tries in 127 games as a brilliant half in the NRL.
In boxing, he has won the WBA Super Middleweight Championship, IBO Middleweight Championship and an interim WBA Light Middleweight Championship. He is noted for his speed of movement.
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