Australian boxing: How do you compare fighters and eras?

There’s an old adage that you can’t compare eras in sport. Athletes get bigger, faster and stronger with each generation.

But boxing is one of the few sports where competitors are matched by weight, and unlike many contemporary sports, the best boxers in the world today still use many of the same training methods as the champions of years gone by.

Anyway, it got me thinking. Ruling out the really old timers that no-one alive today is likely to have seen first-hand (like Young Griffo, Les Darcy, Jack Carroll, Dave Sands, Vic Patrick and Jimmy Carruthers), what are the best performances by Australian boxers in living memory?

I have put together my list that includes both great wins and gallant losses by Australian boxers. That’s the thing with boxing, sometimes a great performance is a loss, and there’s no shame in that. It’s a global sport, and on the big stage you can be beaten by a better man on the night (or sometimes by questionable judging/refereeing).

In chronological order, here is my list (with a ‘one fight per boxer’ limit):

1960s
• 1960: Tony Madigan’s Bronze medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics (where he
was beaten by an 18-year-old Cassius Clay, better known now as
Muhammad Ali).
• 1968: Lionel Rose’s unanimous decision win over Japan’s Fighting Harada in
Tokyo (WBC and WBA World bantamweight titles).
• 1969: Johnny Famechon’s points decision win over Cuba’s Jose Legra in
London (WBC World featherweight title).

1970s
• 1973: Hector Thompson’s eighth round KO loss to Panamanian legend Roberto
Duran in Panama City (WBA world lightweight title).
• 1974: Tony Mundine’s seventh round KO loss to Argentinian legend Carlos
Monzon in Buenos Aires (WBA World middleweight title).
• 1977: Rocky Mattioli’s fifth round KO win over Germany’s Eckhard Dagge in
Berlin (WBC World light middleweight title).

1980s
• 1985: Lester Ellis’ split decision win over South Korea’s Hwan-Kil Yuh in Melbourne (IBF World super featherweight title).
• 1985: Barry Michael’s fourth round TKO of South Korea’s Jin-Shik Choi in Darwin (IBF World super featherweight title).
• 1988: Grahame ‘Spike’ Cheney’s Silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
• 1989: Jeff Harding’s 12th round TKO win over England’s Dennis Andries in New Jersey (WBC World light heavyweight title).

1990s
• 1991: Jeff Fenech’s draw with Ghana’s Azumah Nelson in Las Vegas (WBC World super featherweight title).

2000s
• 2000: Nedal ‘Skinny’ Hussein’s controversial 10th round TKO loss to Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao in Rizal (although not for a world title, Skinny knocked Pacquiao down in the fourth round, and many believe that it was only the long (18 second) count by the local referee that saved Pacquiao).
• 2001: Kostya Tszyu’s second round TKO win over the United States’ Zab Judah in Las Vegas (WBC, WBA and IBF World super lightweight titles).
• 2001: Anthony Mundine’s 10th round KO loss to Germany’s Sven Ottke in North Rhine-Westphalia (IBF World super middleweight title) – keep in mind that this was just Mundine’s 10th professional fight, against a superstar, less than 18 months after leaving the NRL.
• 2005: Robbie Peden’s eighth round TKO win over the United States’ Nate Campbell in Melbourne (IBF World super featherweight title).
• 2005: Danny Green’s fifth round disqualification loss to Germany’s Markus Beyer in Rhineland-Palatinate (WBC World super middleweight title) – keep in mind that Green knocked Beyer down twice and was well in front before being disqualified.
• 2007: Sakio Bika’s eighth round TKO win over the United States’ Jaidon Codrington in Massachusetts (‘The Contender’ reality TV series final). Okay it wasn’t for a world title, and Bika has won a World title since, but what a fight this was.
• 2009: Vic Darchinyan’s 11th round technical decision over Mexico’s Jorge
Arce in California (WBC, WBA and IBF World super flyweight titles).
• 2010: Michael Katsidis’ ninth round TKO loss to Mexican legend Juan Manuel
Marquez in Las Vegas (WBA Super World lightweight title). It should
never be forgotten that Katsidis dropped Marquez in Round 3.
• 2011: Daniel Geale’s split decision win over Germany’s Sebastian Sylvester
in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (IBF World middleweight title).
• 2012: Billy Dib’s sixth round technical decision over Mexico’s Eduardo
Escobedo in Tasmania (IBF World featherweight title).
• 2013: Alex Leapai’s unanimous decision win over Russia’s Dennis Boystov
in Bayern (which gave him a World heavyweight title shot against
legendary Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko).
• 2014: Sam Soliman’s unanimous points decision victory over Germany’s
Felix Sturm in North Rhine-Westphalia (IBF World middleweight title).

If I was forced to pick one from my list, it would be Jeff Harding’s 1989 win, for his pure guts and the drama of that final 12th round. You can relive that in the video clip below.

What do you think has been the best Australian boxing performance in living memory? One from this list, or another one?