The Most Memorable Farewell Fights in Boxing History

If Saturday night indeed proves to be Floyd Mayweather's farewell performance, he'll almost certainly go out on top. But there's a pretty good chance it will not be a memorable fight.

Going into the bout, it certainly lacks the enthusiastic interest that preceded the final performances by legends like Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis.

But in a brutal sport like boxing, it's fairly rare for a star to go out in a big-time, memorable fight. And most of the fights on this list are memorable for the way a once-great champion went down in flames.   

So whether fans are thrilled to see Mayweather fight Andre Berto or not, it can't be denied that he'll probably walk away from the sport in better shape than the vast majority of the legends who came before him. 

10. Lennox Lewis TKO 6 over Vitali Klitschko: June 21, 2003

After accepting this bout on short notice, Vitali Klitschko took the fight to lineal heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. He staggered Lewis in the second round and opened a cut under the champ's eye.

Lewis started aggressively in Round 3, opening a deep cut over Klischko's left eye just seconds into the frame. Klitschko responded to the aggression with more aggression of his own, and the two heavyweight titans traded stiff jabs and power shots for the length of the round.

By Round 6, both fighters were showing signs of fatigue and Klitschko's vision was clearly impaired. Lewis staggered the Ukrainian with a monster uppercut. Between Rounds 6 and 7, the ringside physician ruled Klitschko unable to continue and he lost by technical knockout, while leading 58-56 on all three cards.

This was a fight that was shaping up to be an all-time classic and was still the best heavyweight title fight of this century. Lewis opted to retire, rather than fight a rematch.  

9. Tony Zale Loses by Round 11 TKO to Marcel Cerdan: September 21, 1948

Marcel Cerdan is arguably the greatest boxer to ever come out of France. This win over Tony Zale in 1948 made him the first non-American to hold the middleweight title in the 20th century.

Known as the Man of Steel, Zale held the middleweight belt for most of the 1940s and became a legend with his brutal, three-fight series against Rocky Graziano, between 1946 and 1948.   

Cerdan came into this bout as the reigning European champion. In that era, it was a much more significant regional title, but Cerdan was still relatively unknown in the United States. 

The fight was a classic, earning The Ring's award for Fight of the Year in 1948. In Round 11, Cerdan dropped Zale with a crushing left hook to the jaw, prompting the referee to stop the fight between rounds. 

8. Oscar De La Hoya Loses by Round 8 TKO to Manny Pacquiao: December 8, 2006

Heading into this fight, it seemed to many fans like a mismatch in favor of Oscar De La Hoya. This ESPN story from before the fight by Thomas Hauser reflected the opinion of a lot of observers: The Golden Boy was simply too big for Pacman. 

But that's not the way the way it worked out in the ring. Fighting below 150 pounds for the first time in over seven years, De La Hoya simply had no answer for Manny Pacquiao's explosive speed. 

De La Hoya teased a potential comeback over the summer, even telling ESPN's Dan Rafael that he was "very serious" about considering it. 

But at this point, I just don't believe it will happen. For one thing, De La Hoya is doing too well as a promoter. 

So the final memory of his career will almost surely be the night he was forced to quit on his stool by the surging Pacquiao. 

7. Joe Walcott Loses by Round 1 KO to Rocky Marciano: May 15, 1953

Joe Walcott is one of the most underrated heavyweight champions in history. He's been lost in the shuffle between iconic champions Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano, and alongside his longtime rival Ezzard Charles, who also stands out as perhaps the greatest light heavyweight in history. 

But Walcott was a superb technical boxer. In December 1947, he lost a split decision to Louis that was widely criticized as a robbery. He lost the rematch by KO to Louis in June 1948 and lost by unanimous decision to Charles when they fought for the vacant belt in June 1949.

But in June 1952, he managed to beat Charles and claim the belt. At the time, it made him the oldest heavyweight champion in history. 

His first defense was against Marciano in September. For the first 12 rounds of the fight, he gave Marciano a boxing lesson. But then, early in Round 13, Marciano landed his famous "Suzie Q" right hand, claiming the belt. 

The way the first fight played out made the rematch an eagerly anticipated event. However, the second fight was a much different story. 

An air of controversy sits over this fight. Walcott did not appear badly hurt by the two-punch combination that dropped him, taking the count in a sitting positing and then rising quickly, once 10 had been reached, to feebly protest that the count had been too fast. 

6. Joe Louis Loses by Round 8 TKO to Rocky Marciano: October 26, 1951

By 1951, Joe Louis had not been the heavyweight champion since 1948, when he had retired after knocking out Joe Walcott. But in 1950 he had returned to challenge new champion Ezzard Charles. Charles beat Louis by wide margins on the cards to earn a 15-round unanimous decision and retain his belt. 

But Louis stayed active, and despite losing to Charles, there was no doubt that the Bomber remained the most popular boxing star in the United States.

He had been the iconic champion for an entire generation. He was the familiar, patriotic figure who had inspired the nation during the dark and perilous years of World War II. 

But by 1951, Rocky Marciano had begun to emerge as an intriguing slugger. Even for the era, he was a relatively small heavyweight, with a ridiculously short reach. His footwork was downright clumsy, and prior to fighting Louis, the only real contender he had faced was Rex Layne. 

Marciano's trainer, Charlie Goldman, had built him up slowly, molding him from raw clay. But by the time he finally put him into the ring with Louis, Marciano was ready. 

I don't believe that Marciano would have had a prayer against a prime Joe Louis. But the 37-year-old version the Rock beat was still a very high-level opponent. And it ranks as one of the great performances of his career. 

5. Marvin Hagler Loses by Split Decision to Ray Leonard: April 6, 1987

This was the biggest fight from one of boxing's greatest eras. Sugar Ray Leonard was the media darling and the sport's golden boy. Marvelous Marvin Hagler was the ultimate hard-nosed hero for the sort of lunch-bucket fans who comprise boxing's core base. 

Both men are among the elite of all time. 

After Leonard's rematch victory over Roberto Duran in 1980 and his come-from-behind TKO win over Thomas Hearns in 1981, a move up to middleweight to challenge Hagler had seemed inevitable. Instead, Leonard fought just once more, against Bruce Finch, in February 1982, and then retired with an injured eye. 

Leonard made a brief comeback in 1984, looking far less than amazing in a Round 9 TKO of Kevin Howard. He went back into retirement. 

Meanwhile, Hagler only continued to build his era of invulnerability. When Leonard announced in 1987 that he was coming back to finally challenge Hagler, the excitement was high, but he was also given little chance. 

The fight itself was good, if not great, and fought at an extremely high level technically. In a decision that remains hotly debated to this day, Leonard came away with a split-decision victory. 

Disgusted, Hagler retired and stayed retired, leaving millions of dollars for potential fights unearned. 

4. Michael Spinks Loses by Round 1 KO to Mike Tyson: June 27, 1988

To me, it's a true shame that Michael Spinks is remembered today, more than anything, for this final, inglorious performance against Mike Tyson.

Prior to moving up to heavyweight, Spinks was among the greatest light heavyweight champions of all time. During one of the most compelling and competitive eras in the weight class' history, the early 1980s, Spinks was the clear-cut boss of the division, uniting all the belts.

In 1985, Spinks moved up to heavyweight and handed Larry Holmes the first loss of his career, just one win shy of tying Rocky Marciano's perfect 49-0 record. I've always felt Holmes deserved to win that fight and I'm even more convinced Holmes should have won the 1986 rematch between the two.

But for Spinks to have fought that close with an all-time great heavyweight champion indicates the kind of talent he had.

But Mike Tyson in the late 1980s was a phenom. By the time Spinks and Tyson finally faced off in 1988, Tyson had all the alphabet soup belts, but Spinks remained the lineal champion.

Once the fight started, Spinks would keep that lineal title for just 91 seconds.  

3. Rocky Marciano KO 9 over Archie Moore: September 21, 1955

It's only fitting that Rocky Marciano's farewell fight should rank high on this list, as his 49-0 is the mark Floyd Mayweather will be aiming to equal on Saturday night. By 1955, Marciano had taken his place among the iconic heavyweight champions, having knocked out the three men who preceded him: Joe Louis, Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles. 

Archie Moore was the reigning light heavyweight champion but also the No. 1 contender at heavyweight. The Old Mongoose was a fighter who had thoroughly come into his own in the late part of his career. 

After a 24-hour delay caused by a hurricane, a packed Yankee Stadium watched the two legends face off. In Round 2, Moore floored the heavyweight champion. 

But it only ended up being yet one last time where the Rock would come off from the canvas to win. Over the remainder of the fight he knocked Moore down three times, before dropping him for the count in Round 9. 

2. James Jeffries Loses by Round 15 KO to Jack Johnson: July 4, 1910

In a sense, it's too bad that this final fight is the most remembered moment from James Jeffries' career. At his peak, he was among the best heavyweight champions in history.

He was an extremely athletic man and big enough to stand alongside modern heavyweights. Tutored by welter and middleweight champion Tommy Ryan, he fought out of an explosive crouch, which allowed him to capitalize on the power in his crushing left hook. 

When Jeffries retired in 1904, he was the undefeated heavyweight champion. 

At the same time, he's not an entirely sympathetic figure. During his title reign, he gave into promotional pressure and avoided defending against great African-American contenders such as Jack Johnson and Sam Langford. 

By 1910, Johnson was the reigning champion and no credible white opponent could be found to challenge him. Rather than be satisfied with seeing Johnson fight any of a number of great black fighters, such as Joe Jeannette, Sam McVea or Langford, promoters lured Jeffries out of retirement. 

After more than half a decade on his farm, Jeffries has ballooned to 300 pounds. He did manage to get back down to fighting weight for this bout, but he was a shell of his old self. Johnson toyed with him and knocked him out in 15 rounds. 

Few fights of the gloved era have generated the kind of interest and mainstream attention that this fight did. It represents a shameful period in U.S. race relations but also one that should never be forgotten. 

1. Jack Dempsey Loses by Unanimous Decision to Gene Tunney: September 22, 1927

Jack Dempsey remains one of boxing's most iconic heavyweight champions. In the 1920s, he was one of the most famous and popular figures in American public life. The only sports star of the era to equal Dempsey in stature was Babe Ruth. 

He was a ferocious, two-fisted slugger who packed stadiums and set records for gate receipts. But in September 1926, The Fighting Marine, Gene Tunney, used his superb jab and footwork to thoroughly outbox Dempsey en route to a unanimous-decision win. 

In the rematch a year later, it was more of the same during the early rounds. But then, in Round 7, Dempsey finally caught up to Tunney with a flurry and dropped him to the canvas. 

The rules regarding a knockdown had recently been changed, to require a fighter to retire to a neutral corner while his opponent was being counted over. After dropping Tunney, Dempsey continued to loom over him, as had been his habit. The delay before the referee got him to return to his corner gave Tunney precious extra seconds to recover. 

There is no doubt that Tunney got extra time on the canvas, but in the footage, he does look to me like he is following the ref's count and could have gotten up quicker if necessary. 

In any event, after getting back to his feet, Tunney was able to reassert control over the fight and win another decision. It would be Dempsey's final fight.