Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather and the Top 10 Super-Fights of All Time

Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather have engaged in two highly celebrated careers as world championship boxers and the world would like to see them engage each other.

Unfortunately, egos and impatience have allowed both sides to walk away from the negotiation table for the time being in favor of lucrative "busy fights" that the disappointed public settle for.

But when the public gets what it wants and an epic encounter occurs between two boxing celebrities in a highly anticipated bout, a super-fight is the result.

Super-fights are between two fighters, sometimes in their prime and sometimes not, who have accumulated so much hype or much distinction that the demand to see them collide is unbearable.

Many times, these fights can disappoint. But every now and then, they fulfill nearly every lofty expectation held.

What will be ranked here is not which super-fights were the best of all time, but super-fights were the biggest and most anticipated fights of their day.

The results and whether they disappointed or lived up to expectations will also be discussed. Rematches to highly anticipated bouts will not count as separate entries on this countdown.

In this writer's eyes, rematches are just extensions of the hype of the original fight.

So without further ado, I give you the 10 Biggest Super-Fights of All Time.

10. Jack Dempsey vs Jesse Willard

July 4 1919, the "Great White Hope" Jesse Willard was set to defend his world heavyweight title against Jack Dempsey, the rising star at the time.

Willard's biggest win was against the first Black world champ Jack Johnson four years ago.

Dempsey was considerably smaller than the six foot six fighter and was considered the underdog by the general boxing public despite his growing popularity.

Many experts felt Dempsey's superior skills would win the fight including the famous boxing lightweight legend Benny Leonard.

In the first round, Dempsey smashed all expectations by knocking Willard down seven times.

Dempsey continually punished Willard in an era where referees allowed punishment to continue long past the point where a merciful stoppage should be awarded.

Willard was also not allowed to fully stand up. Once Willard's knees and gloves left the canvas, the referee would motion both fighters to box.

A still heaving and bent over Willard would get repeatedly knocked down while trying to recover.

In modern boxing times with more compassionate refereeing, Willard would have been saved by the ref somewhere between the third and fourth knockdown.

Instead, the fight continued until Willard wouldn't come off his stool for the fourth round.

Did this fight disappoint the people?

The people were shocked. Some were so shocked at such a beating that theories have been brewed and concocted that Dempsey had plaster of Paris in his gloves or rail spikes.

Many theories of foul play have been discussed over the years, but Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer believed there was no plaster of Paris.

A new star was officially made in Jack Dempsey at the cost of Jesse Willard, the star of yesteryear. So in a way, you could say Dempsey's bustling fanbase at the time wasn't disappointed.

9. Julio Cesar Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor

March 17 1990 gave birth to a super-fight between two undefeated world champions.

Julio Cesar Chavez was the WBC junior welterweight world champion 68 wins and 55 knockouts.

Taylor was the IBF junior welterweight world champion with 24 wins, one draw and 15 knockouts.

In a post-Tyson-obsessive world where Tyson-hype had died down following his strange upset loss to Buster Douglas, Chavez benefited and his fight with Taylor erupted in popularity.

The fight was big and delivered on the action it promised. Named "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine, the ending would unfortunately overshadow the amazing display of skill.

Taylor was up on all the judges' scorecards by Round 12 and set to win and become the first to dethrone Chavez of his perfect record.

Chavez scored a knockdown with seconds to go. Taylor got up to beat the count, but referee Richard Steele said Taylor didn't respond clearly so he waved off the fight with two seconds to go.

Were Boxing Fans Disappointed?

Chavez had won the fight by two seconds. Fans of Chavez celebrated everywhere. Others, stared with disappointment.

To this very day, this decision is a good way to start a divisive debate among boxing buddies.

Some believe Taylor should have protected himself better in the last round and others believe the champ should have been given the benefit of the doubt for getting on his feet and not being wobbled.

8. Larry Holmes vs Gerry Cooney

Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney are both popular undefeated heavyweights in 1982.

Holmes is the WBC heavyweight world champion fresh off a knockout of a 39-year-old Muhammad Ali, Ken Norton, and Leon Spinks.

While Holmes won against Norton by decision, Cooney won by knockout in round one.

Don King promoted the fight through racial motivation, citing that there hadn't been a white heavyweight champ in two decades.

When the fight began, Holmes established his jab even as Cooney tried to stay busy and disrupt Holmes' smooth flow.

Holmes' left jab eventually wore Cooney out and after a flurry from Holmes, he momentarily sagged against the ropes at the end of round thirteen.

Cooney's corner stopped the fight in fear of two more rounds of punishment.

Were the people disappointed?

No. It was a good show. Holmes remained a world champ and Cooney may have lost but he lost no fans in his trying effort.

7. Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs Thomas Hearns

Tommy Hearn was a young star that suffered a setback against Sugar Ray Leonard only to bounce back with an amazing second round knockout of the legendary Roberto Duran.

Marvin Hagler had been at middleweight (160 lbs) world champion for five years by the time Hearns moved up from light middleweight (154 lbs) to face him in April of 1985.

Hagler's victories against Duran and other contenders helped spike his popularity to an amazing peak by 1985.

Both Hearns and Hagler were beloved and well known, making their fight highly anticipated especially in the wake of Sugar Ray Leonard's recent retirement.

From the first bell, Hearns and Hagler were trading shots. Hagler was hurt by Hearns, but battled back to hurt Hearns by the end of the round.

Hearns was still hurt by the time the second round had begun and he suffered a broken right hand after delivering a shot to Hagler's hard skull that didn't so much as wobble the middleweight champ.

After Hagler withstood Hearns' best punch, it was only a matter of time.

In the third round, Hagler landed a flurry that sent Hearns against the ropes. Hearns turned to trot away, but got caught with a right that slumped Hearns body onto Hagler and then straight to the canvas.

Hearns barely beat the count, but was clearly a zombie on spaghetti legs by the count of ten. The referee waved off the fight, awarding Hagler the third round knockout victory.

Did the bout Disappoint?

No. Not a bit. In fact, the fight overshot all expectations.

The first round is considered to be the greatest opening round in the history of all boxing. The ferocity and the drama that Hearns and Hagler created in that round inspired the entire sports world.

The fight, though only three rounds, won Ring Magazine's 1985 "Fight of the Year" award.

6. Oscar De La Hoya vs Felix Trinidad

Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad were two undefeated Hispanic warriors so loved by their countries that there was no choice but to make this fight.

With Mexico hanging on the shoulders of De La Hoya and Puerto Rico hanging on the shoulders of Trinidad, an international rivalry gave birth to a super-fight in 1999.

Though De La Hoya gave a spirited effort with some still to this day claiming he should have won, Trinidad picked up the decision victory.

Both fighters made millions and pressed on to each build careers highly worthy of Hall of Fame status.

Were their fans disappointed?

Mexicans were likely disappointed in the decision, but the fight was an enjoyable one to boxing fans in general.

5. Mike Tyson vs Michael Spinks

This was a fight between two undefeated legends at the top of their game.

Mike Tyson was an animal with 34 wins and 30 knockouts. He knocked out Trevor Berbick, Larry Holmes and the list goes on.

Michael Spinks had moved up from light heavyweight to heavyweight to defeat Larry Holmes for his heavyweight title and later beat Holmes in a rematch.

Spinks defended his title against a few more opponents including Gerry Cooney.

Tyson and Spinks were in a fight with a buildup that would eclipse all other fights up until that time.

June 27, 1988 came and the night was electric. Spinks was set to make a guarantee of 13.5 million dollars. Tyson somewhere in the range of $20 million after revenues were fully calculated, the highest purse ever at the time.

Oprah Winfrey, Billy Crystal, Chuck Norris, Donald Trump, Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn among other celebrities were there on fight night.

Tyson was the slight favorite, but the clash of styles intrigued the boxing world like never before. Spinks was the jabbing "Thinker's Man" and Tyson was the ferocious beast that had trampled through the heavyweight division.

In the first round, Tyson had Spinks down. Then Spinks got up to fight back and Tyson landed a two piece with an uppercut that sent Spinks crashing right back down on his back with a look of horror.

Tyson had won the biggest fight of his career in 91 seconds.

Who was disappointed?

Spinks, Spinks, and.....yeah, just Spinks.

4. Sugar Ray Leonard vs Roberto Duran

Sugar Ray Leonard was one of the best fighters of the 1980's. Roberto Duran was widely considered possibly the best lightweight of all time in the 1970's.

With Duran's recent move up to welterweight and Leonard's dominance of the division, it was only a matter of time.

Fans loved them both and were filled with anticipation out of this world for this fight. In June of 1981, Leonard took the fight to Duran in what was billed as "The Brawl in Montreal".

The fight went back and forth, but Leonard's less elusive style used to go against Duran was not a proper fit. Duran hurt and banged the young champ around, winning by unanimous decision.

But then Leonard got his rematch five months later in November 1980 in what was billed as, "Revenge in New Orleans".

Leonard switched to what he knew best, dancing and boxing around the ring. He outclassed Duran so badly that the young warrior grew frustrated. In his frustration, Duran quit in Round 8.

At first, the referee was taken aback and tried to motion Duran to fight once he turned his back, but when Duran wouldn't come back toward the center of the ring, the ref had no choice but to wave the fight off.

Leonard had become the first fighter to make Duran actually quit.

It would take nine years before the two would face each other in a third and final match.

Both fighters were past their prime by this time, but that didn't mean the anticipation wasn't there. Leonard and Duran filled a Vegas venue in 1989 to finish the eighties out in style.

Leonard won by a wide unanimous decision, but both fighters were winners.

In the end, Duran made over 17.1 million in guaranteed fight purses from the trilogy while Leonard made an astounding $29 million.

This rivalry began a trend of super-fights and a classic, lucrative trilogy that would open and close an era of boxing.

Were the Fans Disappointed?

No one could be disappointed by their first all-action matchup, but Duran fans were disappointed in his decision to quit during the second match.

The third match wasn't acclaimed very much by fans, who saw it as a boring snoozefest with no back-and-forth drama as Leonard was clearly in control.

3. Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman

This is possibly the single most famous matchup of all time. In 1974 in Zaire, Ali vs Foreman.

An undefeated George Foreman was world heavyweight champ and had easily knocked out the two men that gave Ali so much trouble, Joe Frazier and Ken Norton.

Ali was getting older at age 32 with many suspecting the 25-year-old Foreman to destroy him with commentator Howard Cossell memorably performing a pre-fight eulogy to Ali.

On the night of the fight, Ali made the "rope-a-dope" trick famous worldwide. By laying on the ropes and covering up, Ali allowed Foreman to punch himself out while only hitting Ali's arms.

As Foreman got progressively tired, Ali got more aggressive and then unleashed on the outwitted opponent in round eight, finishing him by memorable knockout.

Was anyone disappointed?

Besides Foreman? Absolutely not.

2. Jack Johnson vs James J. Jeffries

Jack Johnson was a dominating force in early 20th century world boxing and in 1908, he became the world heavyweight champion.

There was only one problem: he was the first black world heavyweight champion and White America just wasn't ready.

The search for the "Great White Hope" continued for the next few years with Johnson knocking out everyone they threw at him.

Then came the call for then undefeated former world champion, James J Jeffries.

Johnson was given his title opportunity against Tommy Burns because Jeffries had retired undefeated so many boxing fans claimed Jeffries was the real champ. Calls came for Johnson to face "the real champ".

So in 1910 in a specially built outside ring in Reno, Nevada, 20,000 people witnessed the "Fight of the Century" as it was billed.

Jeffries made an ungodly amount of money at the time with a fight purse of $120,000. Johnson earned $65,000. The demand for this event was high.

Johnson brutally dispatched of Jeffries in Round 15. After being knocked down twice for the first time in his career in Round 15, Jeffries corner threw in the towel.

Was the American public disappointed?

Reporters were using new technology at the time to bring round-by-round updates such as the telegraph. So the word got around fast and the nation-wide riots started even faster.

As soon as word came out of how bad Jeffries was beaten and outclassed by Johnson, race riots erupted.

The film of the fight was banned from being moved across state lines. Blacks that were celebrating were being beaten by angry Whites.

A newfound respect was given by boxing writers to Johnson, who in one fight legitimized his entire heavyweight reign and career to White America.

1. Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling

Joe Louis was the undefeated American "Brown Bomber" with 27 wins and 23 knockouts.

Max Schmeling was Nazi Germany's golden goose and a symbol of white supremacy.

When Louis lost their first highly anticipated bout in 1936 by way of knockout in Round 12, Louis got a call from the president of the United States at the time, FDR (Franklin Roosevelt).

FDR are told Louis, "Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany." That was all the motivation Louis needed.

With his country behind him, Louis engaged Schmeling in a rematch in 1938 that became one of the greatest revenge stories of all time.

Louis knew that if he allowed Schmeling to just jab away at him over time that he would just fade and get knocked out again in the late rounds.

So this time, Louis came out aggressive and made every punch count toward putting Schmeling to bed early.

Upon rising from the canvas for the third time in the fight in just the third round Schmeling's corner stopped the fight, awarding Louis the first round knockout victory.

Did it live up to the hype?

Yes and no. America was ecstatic over the Louis win. Nazi Germany was pissed.

Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather: Will It Be the Next Great Super-Fight?

Pacquiao vs Mayweather would be a great fight, but egos must be conquered and somebody must give in for everybody to win.

The money and the legacy of both fighters would grow enormously from such a match.

Floyd Mayweather is a genius with defensive abilities that are rare and likely to never be seen again.

Pacquiao is a rabid offensive beast with an attacking prowess likely to not be seen any time soon in another fighter.

Both men need each other equally. They are the yin to each other's yang. The history of the sport would be much brighter with Mayweather vs Pacquiao than without the proposed super-fight.