Bouts where a fighter who is far ahead, ups the pace to go for a KO late

[ChrisPontius]

I'm not talking about knockdowns or knockouts late in a fight, but bouts specifically where one fighter wins the vast majority of first 5-12 rounds, but instead of keeping doing what works, he fights even harder to end the fight with a stoppage.

The opposite of what Dela Hoya did against Trinidad, if you will.


For instance, i heard that Monzon dominated the first two thirds of the rematch with Briscoe, but really started pouring it on in the late rounds and briefly got hurt himself as a consequence. I'm going on what i've read though, i've never seen that one. Okay, maybe a bad example because he didn't get the KO, but you get the point.

[bigtime-skills]

Tito-Vargas Round 12:smoke:hat

and if you watch that fight again, Vargas' people KNEW Tito was going to come on strong even though he was comfortably ahead...............

Vargas's Corner: "you know he's going to come on strong now"
Tito's Corner: "you're going to give him a beating this round"

[ChrisPontius]

Tito-Vargas Round 12:smoke:hat

and if you watch that fight again, Vargas' people KNEW Tito was going to come on strong even though he was comfortably ahead...............

Vargas's Corner: "you know he's going to come on strong now"
Tito's Corner: "you're going to give him a beating this round"

Good one. Speaking of Trinidad, you could say the same thing happened but then TO him when he fought Hopkins. I'm normally not a big fan of Hopkins' style, but i like how he ended his clinic by going for the kill in the 12th.

[OBCboxer]

Joe Louis vs Billy Conn. Conn was easily outboxing Joe Louis but then went for it all late in the fight only to be KO'd in the 13th.

[My2Sense]

Buster Douglas against Tyson. Nearly got himself KO'd, but it paid off dividends two rounds later.

John Tate against Mike Weaver - much to Tate's detriment.

[My2Sense]

For instance, i heard that Monzon dominated the first two thirds of the rematch with Briscoe, but really started pouring it on in the late rounds and briefly got hurt himself as a consequence.

The way I saw it, Monzon simply poured it on the whole fight.

[Rebel-INS]

Joe Louis vs Billy Conn. Conn was easily outboxing Joe Louis but then went for it all late in the fight only to be KO'd in the 13th.

That's the wrong way round. Arguello-Mancini springs to mind.

[McGrain]

Robinson-LaMotta VI. Sugar new he had Jake in trouble and wanted him gone once and for all I think.

[teeto]

Havent watched Norton Ali 1 for a long time, but I think its Ferdie Pacheco in the last round saying 'he wants a knockout', not sure Ken was far ahead on the cards though.

[heehoo]

Vic Darchinyan vs. Christian Mijares is a fine example.

[BUDW]

leon Spinks in the Olympics.

[Flea Man]

Benitez vs. Leonard. Leonard didn't need the stoppage, but forced it nonetheless.

[Duodenum]

To my mind, one classic example is Ali KO15 Wepner. Muhammad was toying with Chuck until the G.O.A.T. fell down in round nine. Referee Tony Perez ruled this fall as a knockdown. To avenge this indignity, Ali generated a sustained attack through the championship rounds. Finally, with 19 seconds left in round 15, he flattened Wepner with a furious closing assault. Perez waved the count off at seven, but Chuck would not have been able to get back to his feet before the referee's toll of ten.

If Wepner had somehow gotten back up to reach the final bell, judge Jackie Keough's card would have been scored 146-137 Ali, and judge Sam Taormina's card tallied 148-137 Ali, a rather one-sided points spread indeed.

Had Perez dismissed the round nine incident as a slip by Ali, Muhammad would have likely settled for the sort of comfortable decision win he registered later in 1975 against Joe Bugner. Instead, he exerted himself tremendously, and collapsed to the deck after getting his revenge for round nine, much as he would later drop to the floor in Manila to close out this truly spectacular championship year.

Ali had other closing round opportunities in his career, but not specifically like Wepner. Manila was hardly one sided. Bonavena was the result of a single left hook in round 15, not an increase in pace. He let Mathis last the distance when he could have taken Buster out. By his own admission, he took it easy on friend Jimmy Ellis. Perhaps the closest instance to Wepner Muhammad experienced in his career was when he knew he had Shavers beaten in the scoring, but nearly took out Earnie in round 15 anyways.

Shavers himself was involved in a couple of these situations. In his first bout with Larry Holmes, he was getting shut out when Holmes went for the kill in round 12. As with Ali, the final bell saved Earnie from a stoppage defeat.

Earnie dominated Tiger Williams through nine rounds, hammering him incessantly against the ropes with right hands to the body. Going into the final round, all Shavers had to do to win was get to the final bell. At the outset of round ten, Williams finally went on the attack, and nearly took Earnie out. After taking a standing knockdown, all Shavers had to do to win was hold on. Instead, he went back on the attack, and Tiger finally dropped to the floor with 19 seconds left.

[Ted Stickles]

Louis-Conn comes to mind

[Small Print]

Meldrick Taylor vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, he paid for it unfortunately.

[red cobra]

Roberto Duran's '75 lightweight title defense against Leoncio Ortiz immediately comes to mind. It went into the books as a 15th round ko for Duran, but what so impressive to me was Duran's amazingly fast pace throughout the fight, and Ortiz' durability and toughness. Duran was winning nearly all the rounds and fought like a high velocity windmill, but Ortiz took it all, and seemed for all the money in the world like he was going the full 15 rounds. This seemed to infuriate Duran, and he accelerated his pace incredibly over the last 5 rounds, each round more than the last, until he took out his man in the 15th for a brutal ko win. Duran, as well as Ortiz was amazing in this bout, and it's one of the fights of Duran that has always impressed me so. He had a fiery, unbelievable punch rate that would have snuffed out most fighters much earlier than the proud Mexican Ortiz, but he finally got that ko. Unbelievable stamina Duran had.

[Sweet Pea]

I was just watching the ending of Duran against Leoncio Ortiz and this is definitely what stood out to me.

[Drew101]

Hopkins vs. Trinidad

Hopkins had pretty much ground down whatever resistance Trinidad had left in a blistering tenth round, and over the last two rounds, became increasingly aggressive until he was finally able to score a stoppage.

[red cobra]

I was just watching the ending of Duran against Leoncio Ortiz and this is definitely what stood out to me.
Duran's stamina and work rate at lightweight was amazing.

[The Wanderer]

Duran was winning nearly all the rounds and fought like a high velocity windmill, but Ortiz took it all, and seemed for all the money in the world like he was going the full 15 rounds. This seemed to infuriate Duran, and he accelerated his pace incredibly over the last 5 rounds, each round more than the last, until he took out his man in the 15th for a brutal ko win.

Judging from a couple of Duran's fights that I've seen at lightweight, he took the idea of someone going 15 with him very personally. For example, I remember seeing the end of the fight with Lou Bizzarro, who had kept on his bicycle enough to last into the 14th. This pissed Duran off enough that after he had knocked Bizzarro down and Bizzarro got up, (not really knowing where he was) Duran loaded up and did his best to decapitate Bizzarro with one shot. (And he almost did).

[JohnThomas1]

Hopkins vs. Trinidad

Hopkins had pretty much ground down whatever resistance Trinidad had left in a blistering tenth round, and over the last two rounds, became increasingly aggressive until he was finally able to score a stoppage.

:good