Ranking the 10 Greatest Rivalries in Boxing History

Personal rivalries have always played a central role in boxing,  even in the earliest, most informal, bare-knuckle days of the sport, when it was simply a matter of one small village's hero battling the champion from the neighboring burg.

In a sport that features two men competing at their most primal level, it's unavoidable that personal rivalry would become a driving force for attracting a crowd.

Given this rich history, narrowing down to just 10 was a challenge. The top few picks here are obvious and beyond debate. But further down the list there is certainly room for difference of opinion.

I have counted only modern, gloved-era rivalries and selected rivalries where both men were among the sport's elite. With few exceptions, these rivalries have centered around world titles.  

10. Sam Langford vs. Joe Jennette vs. Sam McVea vs. Harry Wills

I'm not sure this four-way rivalry that covered much of the first three decades of the 20th century would occur to every boxing historian, but sometimes weighing historical significance means throwing light on what was tragically ignored. 

Sam Langford, Sam McVea, Joe Jennette and Harry Wills all had the ability to win the heavyweight title on their best night. But the color of their skin prevented all four from ever getting the chance. So instead, they fought each other, again and again. 

In 1909, Jeannette and McVea faced each other in arguably the greatest heavyweight battle of all time. Over an incredible 49 rounds, the two warriors put everything on the line. McVea's big right hand floored Jeannette again and again, but Jeannette came back to close both of McVea's eyes and force a stoppage. 

Langford is almost certainly the most talented fighter to never win a world title and is not out of place in anybody's all-time, top-five, pound-for-pound list. During his long career, he beat some of the best fighter's of his generation, from lightweight to heavyweight, where the 5'6" dynamo campaigned at 185 pounds. 

The youngest of the quartet, and perhaps the most gifted pure heavyweight, Wills nearly got his opportunity against Jack Dempsey late in his career. Both Dempsey and Wills signed contracts for the fight, but Dempsey's promoter refused to put up the money, so Dempsey fought Gene Tunney instead. 

9. Stanley Ketchel vs. Billy Papke

The truth is, if this one had not happened over a 100 years ago, it would probably have come in for a higher spot on this list. Stanley Ketchel was the top middleweight talent of his era and fought great heavyweights like Jack Johnson and Sam Langford. The Michigan Assassin was so rugged that he worked as a bouncer in saloons while still a teenager. 

Billy Papke proved to be one of his tougher opponents, as the two fought an incredibly violent, four-fight series. Ketchel won the first bout by one-sided, 10-round decision in June 1908. 

Three months later, they faced off again. This time Papke took the fight to Ketchel, pounding him brutally. Ketchel had to be helped back to his corner after the first frame but somehow managed to make it to Round 12 before he was finally stopped, while his blood soaked his own trunks and Papke's body. 

There is a myth around the second bout that Papke sucker punched Ketchel during the customary pre-fight handshake. Both the outstanding write-up of the fight by Andrew Fruman on The Cruelest Sport and Boxrec discredit the rumor. 

On the other hand, Monty Cox, on Cox's Corner, quotes a San Francisco Chronicle story stating that it happened. 

It's a matter of historical record that Ketchel knocked Papke out in the rubber match, less than three months later. He beat Papke again in 1909 in a 20-round decision. 

8. Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe

For boxing fans of around my age, not quite old enough to remember the great Ali-Frazier wars, the rivalry between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield was a kind of consolation prize. The 1990s were an outstanding decade for heavyweights, and the battles between Bowe and Holyfield set the tone. 

Holyfield had moved up from cruiserweight, where he was perhaps the greatest of all time, to capture the undisputed heavyweight title from Buster Douglas in 1990. He dropped the belts to Bowe in their first meeting, in November 1992. 

Bowe tossed a third of his title in the garbage, rather than defend it against Lennox Lewis. Holyfield won back the two remaining belts by majority decision in November 1993. Bowe won their third fight by Round 8 TKO in 1995. 

The first two bouts were classics, with the first among the 10 greatest heavyweight championship fights ever. Bowe was never more well conditioned or better prepared for a fight than he was that night. I was sure I was watching an all-time great emerge into the spotlight. 

The ferocious Holyfield showed the heart of a pit bull and took the fight to the bigger man. Nearly every second of every round was fiercely contested. 

7. Tony Zale vs. Rocky Graziano

Between 1946 and 1948, Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano engaged in a sensational three-fight series, trading the world middleweight title. Born in Gary, Indiana, and based out of Chicago, Tony Zale was known as "The Man of Steel." A street kid from New York's Eastside, Graziano was simply called "The Rock."

There wasn't a step backward or ounce of give in either man. 

Zale had reigned as the middleweight champion for most of the decade when he knocked out Rocky Graziano in Round 6 in 1946. The fight was so packed with action that a rematch had to happen.

In 1947, Graziano climbed off the canvas in Round 3 and forced a stoppage in Round 6 when he unloaded on Zale with a barrage of 30 unanswered punches. Zale won the belt back in 1948 by Round 3 KO. 

Three months after beating Graziano, Zale would lose his title and fight his last fight, when he was forced to quit on his stool in Round 11 by Marcel Cerdan. 

6. Ted Lewis vs. Jack Britton

Between 1915 and 1921, Jack Britton and Ted "Kid" Lewis fought an astonishing 20 times. This was an era when boxers stayed much more active, but even by the standards of the era, the Britton-Lewis rivalry was unusual. The two fought three times in June 1915 alone. 

Britton and Lewis were two of the great pound-for-pound stars of their time, and the welterweight title passed back and forth between them. Boxrec credits Britton with a 9-7-4 edge for the series, but it's tough to be certain of the complete accuracy of records in this era, since the shadowy legal status of the sport meant that bouts were often presented as "exhibitions" with writers issuing "newspaper decisions" the next day.

There is no ambiguity over the fact that this was an extremely competitive and closely fought series. Britton won the final bout in 1921 and then dropped the title in 1922 to Mickey Walker. 

5. Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera

This turn-of-the-century rivalry was for world titles and also for national bragging rights in boxing-mad Mexico. The Mexican fans are among the greatest on the planet and at the time of their three-fight series, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera were the proud nation's two biggest stars. 

Each fight was a non-stop, all-action war. When they faced off for the first time in February 2000, Morales won by split decision, to unify the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles. 

Barrera won the second fight by unanimous decision in June 2002, to capture the WBC featherweight title from Morales. The rubber match took place in November 2004, with Barrera again winning, this time by majority decision. This win made Barrera the WBC super featherweight champion. 

Morales and Barrera have both been overshadowed to a degree in the years since by their countryman Juan Manuel Marquez and by Manny Pacquiao. But they are both first-ballot Hall of Famers, and their legendary rivalry will be remembered for as long as there are boxing fans.  

4. Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez

In terms of pure action and historical significance, this is the greatest rivalry of the 21st century so far. Along with Floyd Mayweather, who he finally fights on May 2, Manny Pacquiao has been one of the two great boxing stars of this generation. 

There's no question that Juan Manuel Marquez has been Pacquiao's toughest rival. But it's a rivalry that almost got derailed before it ever started. 

In their first meeting in 2004, Pacquiao exploded all over Marquez in the first round, knocking him down three times. Somehow, Marquez survived the round and climbed back into the fight, earning a draw. 

When they faced off again in 2008, Marquez's lineal super featherweight title was on the line. In another all-action war, Pacquiao won by split decision. 

Pacquiao had become a superstar by the time the two faced off for a third time in 2011. Although the fight was a bit less exciting than the first two, it was still an extremely competitive fight and Pacquiao's majority-decision victory was once more hotly contested by a significant percentage of boxing fans. 

The fourth fight between these two in 2012 was a thriller for as long as it lasted. The two traded knockdowns and Marquez was fighting on wobbly legs, with a busted nose, when he caught Pacquiao with a counter and put the Filipino star to sleep at the very end of Round 6. 

3. Willie Pep vs. Sandy Saddler

Willie Pep was among the greatest defensive fighters to ever live and is not out of place in a pound-for-pound, all-time top five. By the time he faced Sandy Saddler in 1948, he had reigned as featherweight champion for six years. 

Saddler was among the roughest fighters of all time. If Pep is not the greatest featherweight of all time, Saddler is. A lanky, powerful puncher, Saddler shocked the boxing world by knocking Pep out in four rounds. 

Pep came back in 1949 to turn in an outstanding performance and win back the title. In their 1950 rubber match, Pep was again outboxing Saddler when he separated his shoulder in a clinch and had to retire in his corner. 

Their fourth fight was a wild brawl, ranked No. 6 among the dirtiest fights in history by The Ring Magazine in 1997. Saddler won by Round 9 TKO. 

2. Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Jake LaMotta

Jake LaMotta handed Sugar Ray Robinson his first professional loss, in 1943. Robinson and LaMotta were the two most avoided fighters of their era and fought each other often as a consequence, even before Robinson had moved up to middleweight.

While Robinson won five of their six meetings, each fight was a competitive battle. The two contrasted in style in a manner similar to Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. The slick Robinson looked to batter LaMotta from the outside while the relentless Raging Bull kept on the pressure. 

Their final meeting was the most famous, "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" of 1951. LaMotta was the reigning middleweight champion by this time and Robinson was the welterweight champion moving up to face him. 

The fight was a grueling and competitive battle for a dozen rounds. But Robinson hurt LaMotta in Round 12 and then finished him with a brutal barrage in unlucky 13. 

1. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier

There could not be any other selection for the top spot on this list. In my opinion, the rivalry between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier is the greatest in the history of sports. Their fights took place during an era of extreme social upheaval, and they carried a significance bigger than sports. 

By refusing to be inducted into the army during Vietnam, Ali had become a hero to both the civil rights and youthful anti-war movements. His greatness and his popularity were a direct threat to the established order in society. 

It was unfair in many ways that Frazier was held up as a foil to Ali.

But it was also inevitable. Frazier was a proud man, but a fighter first. In temperament, he was much closer to Joe Louis, the great hero of the previous generation. 

Ali was stripped of his titles and denied a license to compete in 1976. When he was finally allowed to return to the ring after an absence of three years, Frazier had emerged in his absence, a superstar in his own right.

Both were undefeated world champions. As a result, no fight in history has been more eagerly anticipated than their first one. 

Inside of the ring, Ali and Frazier were perfectly suited to create havoc and pain for each other. Frazier won the first fight in 1971, dropping Ali late in the fight to ensure his victory. 

Frazier lost the title to George Foreman by stunning Round 2 TKO in 1973. Ali beat Frazier in a rematch in 1974 and then shocked the world by knocking out Foreman in 1975.

With Ali back in possession of the belt, the stage was set for a rubber match with Frazier. In Manila, Philippines, in October 1975, the two staged a war for the ages. Frazier pounded Ali's body so badly that Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee, had to convince him not to quit late in the fight. 

Frazier made a heroic last stand in Round 14, but by the end of the frame, both of his eyes were swollen shut. Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to let him go out for the final round. Ali stood up in his corner, raising his hand in victory, and then collapsed on his stool and had to be helped from the ring.   

Follow Briggs Seekins on Twitter at #Briggsfighttalk and check out his blog, Pioneers of Boxing, to read about the early, bare-knuckle era of the sport.