The best of boxing on Showtime
As the network sadly ends 37 years of coverage, I rank the 37 best, biggest, most memorable, most important fights in network history
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For 37 years Showtime has been a titan of televised boxing at the highest level. The premium cable network, which spent decades going toe-to-toe with rival HBO, has broadcast many of the biggest, best and most memorable fights in boxing history.
When HBO ended its coverage of the sport at the conclusion of 2018, many thought it was just a matter of time until Showtime joined it on the sideline. Five years later, that moment is here.
Showtime’s commitment to the sport is coming to an end two months after Paramount Global, which is Showtime’s parent company, announced in mid-October that it would shutter Showtime Sports, which counted boxing as its cornerstone franchise from Day 1.
The long-running prospect series “ShoBox: The New Generation,” which debuted in July 2001, did not get a send-off card. It aired for the final time on Sept. 15 from San Antonio, before Paramount Global’s announcement.
But the high-profile main series, “Showtime Championship Boxing,” will come to an end with a Premier Boxing Champions tripleheader headlined by WBA “regular” super middleweight titlist David Morrell defending against “ShoBox” alum Sena Agbeko, along with a lightweight rematch between Chris Colbert and Jose Valenzuela and a blast-from-the-past welterweight rematch between Robert Guerrero and Andre Berto, who first fought in 2012 (ironically, on HBO), on Saturday (9 p.m. ET) at The Armory in Minneapolis.
Through its time on the air, “Showtime Championship Boxing” has at least once featured virtually every significant fighter in the sport. Evander Holyfield, with 18 appearances, and Julio Cesar Chavez with 17, lead the way, but so many more greats also appeared many times on the network — with some also emerging as attractions on Showtime PPV (or and SET, as it was once called) — including Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, Canelo Alvarez, Felix Trinidad, Johnny Tapia, Joe Calzaghe, Kostya Tszyu, Andre Ward, Deontay Wilder, Gervonta Davis, Errol Spence and many more.
In fact, in the memorable history of boxing on Showtime, the network produced and distributed four of the top five best-selling boxing pay-per-view events of all time: Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao (jointly with HBO), Mayweather-Conor McGregor, Mayweather-Alvarez, and Holyfield-Tyson II.
Now, after nearly 500 telecasts of the main series and around 1,500 fights, it comes to an end Saturday. I have spent most of my adult life watching it and the past 23 years covering it, thinking about it, writing about it and opining about it. So, as Showtime throws in the towel, I present my inexact list of the 37 best/biggest/most memorable/most important fights the network has aired over the past 37 years:
1. Diego Corrales TKO10 Jose Luis Castillo I, May 7, 2005, Las Vegas: Was there ever a doubt about No. 1? Corrales-Castillo, a WBC/WBO lightweight title unification bout, is not only by far the greatest battle ever on Showtime, it is arguably the greatest fights in boxing history. After nine incredibly brutal and close rounds, it culminated with a 10th round as dramatic as anything ever seen in a ring — in sports for that matter — with Corrales, down twice and all but out before storming back to score a mind-blowing TKO for the ages later in the round. It stands alone.
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2. Evander Holyfield TKO 11 Mike Tyson I, Nov. 9, 1996 and Holyfield W-DQ3 Tyson II, June 28, 1997, both in Las Vegas: Their first heavyweight title fight was years in the making and resulted in an all-time classic battle with Holyfield, a 25-1 underdog, scoring a monumental upset to win the WBA belt followed by the shocking rematch in which Tyson committed the most famous ring foul ever when he bit off a chunk of Holyfield’s ear and was disqualified. Both bouts are historic, unforgettable mega events.
3. Rafael Marquez TKO7 Israel Vazquez I, March 3, 2007, Carson, California; Vazquez TKO6 Marquez II, Aug. 4, 2007, Hidalgo, Texas; Vazquez W12 Marquez III, March 1, 2008, Carson, California: While the storied Vazquez-Marquez rivalry encompassed four fights, No. 4 was an entirely forgettable one-sided third-round knockout win for the favored Marquez. The first three fights, however, are the stuff of legend. They were fought in succession and are truly special fights. Marquez rallied from a third-round knockdown and broke Vazquez’s nose and stopped him in their rousing first battle to win the WBC junior featherweight title. It would have been the 2007 fight of the year but was trumped by the rematch, which claimed the honor as Vazquez regained the title in an even more vicious battle in which he stopped Marquez in a bloody slugfest. The third fight was the best of the series with Vazquez, who was down in the fourth round, getting a knockdown in the 12th round and regaining the title by split decision in the 2008 fight of the year.
4. Nigel Benn KO10 Gerald McClellan. Feb. 25, 1995, London: Benn retained the WBC super middleweight title in one of the most exciting fights in a British history but one that sadly ended in tragedy. McClellan knocked Benn out of the ring in the first round but he climbed through the ropes and was able to continue in what became a searing back-and-forth battle. McClellan dropped Benn for the second time in the eighth round and was ahead on two scorecards going into the 10th when Benn rallied to floor McClellan. Later in the round, McClellan took a knee and was counted out. It turned out he had suffered a traumatic brain injury that ended his career and left him seriously impaired.
5. Acelino “Popo” Freitas TKO12 Jorge Barrios, Aug. 9, 2003, Miami: The national rivalry between unified junior lightweight champion Freitas’ Brazil and Barrios’ Argentina made for a wild atmosphere even before this classic slugfest began, and it ended with a dramatic knockout in the final round. They combined for four knockdowns with Freitas being floored in the eighth and 11th and Barrios down very hard later in the 11th and again in the 12th. Barrios suffered cuts around both eyes and he was such a bloody mess that he memorably wiped the blood away using the referee’s shirt when he was separating them late in the fight.
6. Jarrett Hurd W12 Erislandy Lara, April 7, 2018, Las Vegas: Two days before Hurd and Lara met to unify junior middleweight titles Hurd uttered prophetic words at the press conference. “There's a storm coming,” he said. The storm indeed arrived as they delivered the fight of the year, a grinding, grueling, hard-fought classic. The action, drama and pace steadily built throughout the fight until they were emptying their tanks over the final four rounds. And then, with just 37 seconds left in the fight, Hurd dropped a bleeding Lara with a left hook for what provided his margin of victory in a split-decision win.
7. Anthony Joshua TKO11 Wladimir Klitschko, April 29, 2017, London: This was an all-time great heavyweight championship fight (and the fight of the year) before 90,000 at Wembley Stadium that matched Olympic super heavyweight gold medalists (albeit it 16 years apart). Both fighters were down in a dramatic battle — former long-reigning unified champion Klitschko in the fifth round and twice in the 11th and Joshua in the sixth — that ended with Joshua finishing Klitschko to retain two belts, win a vacant one and send the legendary Klitschko into retirement following his record 29th heavyweight title fight appearance.
8. Marvelous Marvin Hagler KO11 John “The Beast” Mugabi, March 10, 1986, Las Vegas: This fight, on a few days’ tape delay from the closed circuit broadcast, headlined the first Showtime telecast. What a great way to launch the franchise as middleweight champion Hagler overcame some tough moments but eventually stopped the game Mugabi, who was 25-0 with 25 KOs entering the bout, in a terrific fight that turned out to be the final win in Hagler’s glorious career.
9. Evander Holyfield TKO 10 Michael Dokes, March 11, 1989, Las Vegas: In his third fight after vacating the undisputed cruiserweight title, Holyfield got his first big test as a heavyweight against former titlist Dokes in a blazing action fight that is too often forgotten about as one of Holyfield’s most exciting fights and one of the best heavyweight fights of the decade.
10. Thomas Hearns KO4 Juan Domingo Roldan, Oct. 29, 1987, Las Vegas: Hearns won the vacant WBC middleweight title to make history as the first fighter to win titles in four divisions, doing so in a tremendously exciting fight with Roldan. Hearns dropped Roldan twice in the first round, once in the second and, after Hearns was badly rocked in the fourth round, finished him later in the round courtesy of a big right hand.
11. Deontay Wilder D12 Tyson Fury I, Dec. 1, 2018, Los Angeles: The start of their epic heavyweight championship trilogy began with this memorable fight and controversial decision. WBC titlist Wilder, with his devastating right-hand power, dropped lineal champion Fury twice, in the ninth round and again for an apparent knockout in the 12th round that that Fury somehow managed to rise from in an iconic moment. But Fury also outboxed Wilder for long stretches and the fight was ruled a split draw.
12. Paulie Ayala W12 Johnny Tapia I, June 26, 1999; Ayala W12 Tapia II, Oct. 7, 2000, both in Las Vegas: Ayala got the nod both times in close disputed decisions in all-action fights. Ayala took Tapia’s WBA bantamweight title in the first brutal battle and handled him his first loss in the 1999 fight of the year. They met again in a nontitle bout at 124 pounds and put on another tremendous fight that Ayala once again eked out.
13. Mike Tyson TKO7 Donovan “Razor” Ruddock I, March 18, 1991; Tyson W12 Ruddock II, June 28, 1991, both in Las Vegas: In his third fight since losing the undisputed heavyweight title to Buster Douglas, Tyson jumped with promoter Don King from HBO to Showtime and faced Ruddock in two memorable nontitle fights. He won the first fight on referee Richard Steele’s heavily criticized stoppage. In the immediate rematch, Tyson dropped Ruddock in the second and fourth rounds, broke his jaw and had points deducted for low blows in the ninth and 10th rounds of an action-packed decision win.
14. Deontay Wilder TKO10 Luis Ortiz I, March 3, 2018, Brooklyn, New York: After four slow-paced rounds things seriously ignited in an action-packed and dramatic fight in which Wilder dropped Ortiz in the fifth round, survived a near-stoppage in the seventh and stormed back for a thunderous 10th-round knockout to retain the WBC heavyweight title.
15. Pernell Whitaker D12 Julio Cesar Chavez, Sept. 10, 1993, San Antonio: While it won’t be remembered for any kind of sustained action — what Whitaker fight is? — it was a mega fight to determine pound-for-pound supremacy between all-time greats as WBC welterweight champion Whitaker defended his title against Chavez, the junior welterweight champion moving up in weight. Whitaker, one of the best technicians of all time, put on a clinic against the hard-charging Chavez and should have won handily but the judges ruled it a majority draw in one of the most controversial decisions in boxing history.
16. Frankie Randall W12 Julio Cesar Chavez I, Jan. 29, 1994; Chavez Tech. Dec. 8 Randall II, May 7, 1994, both in Las Vegas: In the first boxing event at the famed MGM Grand Garden Arena, Randall pulled a massive upset by dropping Chavez in the 11th round for the first knockdown of his career and won a spit decision to take Chavez’s WBC junior welterweight title and unbeaten record as his record dropped to 89-1-1. They met less than four months later in a highly anticipated rematch and Chavez regained the title via controversial technical split decision when the bout was stopped due to a cut on Chavez’s forehead caused by an accidental head butt. He won because of a heavily criticized WBC rule (no longer used in the U.S.) in which the uncut fighter after a head butt is penalized one point. Without its use, Randall would have retained the title via draw.
17. Chris Eubank D12 Nigel Benn, Oct. 9, 1993, Manchester, England: The bitter rivals renewed their all-time great British rivalry for a rematch to unify super middleweight titles. It was a back-and-forth battle as the aggressive Benn attacked Eubank, who preferred to counter punch. In the end, the judges ruled it a split draw as both kept their belts before a crowd of some 41,000 at Old Trafford Stadium.
18. Ricky Hatton TKO11 Kostya Tszyu, June 4, 2005, Manchester, England: Lineal/IBF junior welterweight champion Tszyu traveled to the lion’s den of Hatton’s hometown, where 22,000 sold out the arena for a 2 a.m. local start time to accommodate the U.S. prime time start. To that backdrop, Hatton controlled the fight and was ahead on all three scorecards when Tszyu, who had taken punishment at close range, stunningly retired on his stool in what turned out to be his final bout and the biggest moment of Hatton’s Hall of Fame career.
19. Joe Calzaghe W12 Jeff Lacy, March 4, 2006, Manchester, England: The younger more powerful Lacy was 21-0 when he traveled to the U.K. to face the 40-0 Calzaghe in a hugely anticipated super middleweight unification fight. Lacy was the favorite but Calzaghe destroyed him. He essentially ruined Lacy’s career as he took him apart for 12 one-sided rounds en route to a near-shutout decision punctuated by a 12th-round knockdown for the most brilliant performance of his Hall of Fame career.
20. Terence Crawford TKO9 Errol Spence Jr., July 29, 2023, Las Vegas: After five years of public demand, the two best welterweights of the era, who were both undefeated, finally met in a huge fight to crown the pound-for-pound king and to produce the first four-belt undisputed 147-pound champion. Instead of a memorable and competitive fight, it turned into a showcase for Crawford, who laid a beating on Spence, dropped him three times and stopped him in one of the best big-fight performances ever.
21. Kostya Tszyu TKO2 Zab Judah, Nov. 3, 2001, Las Vegas: After a long build up, Tszyu and Judah finally met in a much-anticipated fight to unify their three titles to crown the first undisputed junior welterweight champion in three decades. Judah won the first round easily and was having his way in the second round, but then Tszyu dropped Judah with an overhand right in the final seconds of the round. Although Judah got up, his legs were gone and he comically staggered around the ring, causing referee Jay Nady to wave it off and for Judah to have a massive meltdown that included throwing a ring stool and shoving his fist in Nady’s face.
22. Jermell Charlo KO10 Brian Castano II, May 14, 2022, Carson, California: Ten months after they battled to a draw in an effort to crown the first undisputed junior middleweight champion of the four-belt era they met in an immediate rematch. This time Charlo got the job done in a terrific fight even better than the first encounter. Charlo scored two knockdowns in the 10th round to end the highly competitive and all-action slugfest.
23. Diego Corrales TKO10 Acelino “Popo” Freitas, Aug. 2004, Mashantucket, Connecticut: Corrales, the WBO junior lightweight titleholder, moved up to challenge WBO lightweight titlist Freitas in a highly anticipated fight between big-time punchers. Freitas easily outboxed Corrales for most of the first seven rounds before Corrales came storming back to drop a tiring Freitas in the eighth round, hard in the ninth round and again in the 10th. It was surprising that Freitas was able to make it to his feet after each knockdown but after the third one, he signaled to the referee he was done, giving Corrales another world title and dramatic comeback.
24. Andre Ward W12 Carl Froch, Dec. 17, 2011, Atlantic City, N.J.: When Showtime bankrolled the Super Six World Boxing Classic, Ward was viewed as an also-ran in the six-man round-robin tournament meant to crown the No. 1 168-pounder in the world. By the time it reached the final three years later, Ward was the favorite and turned in a superb performance against Froch — despite entering the fight with a left hand injury — to unify the WBA and WBC titles and take home the winner’s trophy.
25. Ricardo Lopez Tech. Draw 7 Rosendo Alvarez I, March 7, 1998, Mexico City; Lopez W12 Alvarez II, Nov. 13, 1998, Las Vegas: The undefeated strawweights met to unify titles in their first fight in which Alvarez dropped Lopez in the second round for the first knockdown of his career. He battled back but an accidental head butt in the seventh round left Lopez cut over the right eye and unable to continue, resulting in technical draw — the only blemish on Hall of Famer Lopez’s record — that begged for a rematch. It was immediate and Lopez showed his greatness. Despite Alvarez getting stripped of the WBA belt for being 3¼ pounds overweight, Lopez went through with the fight. He suffered cuts around both eyes but came on strong in the final two rounds to win a close decision to claim the vacant WBA belt and retain the WBC title for the 22nd and final time in a career-defining win before moving up.
26. Sergei Liakhovich W12 Lamon Brewster, April 1, 2006, Cleveland: Liakhovich won the WBO heavyweight title in a tremendous action-packed thriller that was one of the best heavyweight fights of the decade. Although we didn’t know it at the time, Brewster suffered a detached retina in the opening round, making his performance even more impressive. The fight’s pace went into another gear with the frantic sixth round and then Brewster knocked Liakhovich down in the seventh. The rest of the fight was an intense, all-out brawl.
27. Acelino “Popo” Freitas W12 Joel Casamayor, Jan. 12, 2002, Las Vegas: Big puncher Freitas was 30-0 and slick southpaw Casamayor was 26-0 when they met in their primes to unify junior lightweight titles in a fight Showtime had been building toward. It was very close with the difference in Freitas’ 114-112 decision win across the board being that he dropped Casamayor in the third round and Casamayor lost a point for hitting on the break in the sixth round.
28. Carl Froch TKO12 Jermain Taylor, April 25, 2009, Mashantucket, Connecticut: Making the first defense of the WBC super middleweight title, Froch came stateside to defend against former undisputed middleweight champion Taylor and needed an all-time, drama-filled comeback to retain his title and preserve his undefeated record. Taylor dropped Froch in the third round, the first time he’d ever been down, and was winning handily until Froch broke through in the 12th round when he staggered Taylor and finally dropped him with a barrage. Taylor rose but had nothing left and as Froch teed off, the referee stopped it with just 14 seconds left.
29. O’Neil Bell KO10 Jean-Marc Mormeck, Jan. 7, 2006, New York: The undisputed cruiserweight title fight was wildly exciting and historically significant as Bell retained his title and took Mormeck’s two to become the second undisputed cruiserweight champion, and he did it the hard way in a punishing brawl. Although Mormeck had some huge moments, Bell finally pounded Mormeck to the canvas for a 10-count to end a riveting battle.
30. Carl Frampton W12 Leo Santa Cruz I, July 30, 2016, Brooklyn, New York: Expectations were high for an action fight and they delivered even more than expected as Frampton moved up to featherweight to take Santa Cruz’s WBA belt in an absolutely thrilling fight. As Frampton’s Irish fans chanted and sang throughout the slugfest, he and Santa Cruz waged a blazing war in a very competitive fight.
31. Floyd Mayweather W12 Manny Pacquiao, May 2, 2015, Las Vegas: It took five years and agonizing on-and-off negotiations for the two best fighters of their era to finally meet in what was by far the richest fight in boxing history and a joint pay-per-view with rival HBO. Although they set every conceivable revenue record, the fight did not come remotely close to meeting the worldwide hype as Mayweather boxed his way to a clear decision win to unify welterweight titles. It was an unforgettable event but a forgettable fight.
32. Floyd Mayweather W12 Canelo Alvarez, Sept. 14, 2013, Las Vegas: In the biggest fight in years, Mayweather took on 23-year-old rising superstar Alvarez in a junior middleweight title unification fight many believed would be his toughest test in years. But Mayweather dominated in a fight made to look close only by the incompetent judging of C.J. Ross, who turned in an unconscionable 114-114 scorecard. The fight was all Mayweather, who used his superb skills to box circles around Alvarez in a fight that set boxing’s all-time total revenue record ($150 million), which has since been broken.
33. Evander Holyfield KO3 James “Buster” Douglas, Oct. 25, 1990, Las Vegas: This wasn’t a great fight but makes the list as one of the most historic in Showtime history. Holyfield was supposed to fight Mike Tyson in a long-anticipated fight but he shockingly got knocked out by Douglas, who won the undisputed heavyweight title. That left mandatory challenger Holyfield to face Douglas instead. Douglas was out of shape mentally and physically after months of celebrating the Tyson win and Holyfield dusted him. When Douglas missed with a wide uppercut, Holyfield countered and starched him with a right hand to win the title and become a two-division undisputed champion.
34. Felix Trinidad W12 David Reid, March 3, 2000, Las Vegas: Moving up to junior middleweight, Trinidad had some trouble with Reid in the first half of the fight, including getting knocked down in the third round. But he stormed back to pound Reid, dropping him in the seventh round and three times in the 11th of an entertaining battle to take his WBA title.
35. Julio Cesar Chavez TKO5 Greg Haugen, Feb. 20, 1993, Mexico City: WBC junior welterweight champion Chavez was near his peak when he squared off with the trash-talking Haugen, who before the fight derisively said of Chavez, “All he’s fought are Tijuana taxi drivers.” Chavez promised to give Haugen the beating of a lifetime and he did, including dropping him in the first and fifth rounds in a one-sided destruction. But what made this one special was that it took place before an all-time boxing record crowd of 132,247 fans at the Estadio Azteca.
36. Floyd Mayweather TKO10 Conor McGregor, Aug. 26, 2017, Las Vegas: The spectacle of pound-for-pound legend Mayweather coming out of a two-year retirement for one final official fight to go to 50-0 against UFC superstar McGregor, who would cross over to boxing, made for the second-biggest PPV event of all time. In the ring, Mayweather seemed to carry McGregor in their 155-pound bout, but at least it was entertaining, including the inevitable end when Mayweather put away the fading McGregor with an onslaught of punches.
37. Gervonta Davis KO7 Ryan Garcia, April 22, 2023, Las Vegas: Two of boxing’s biggest stars, both undefeated, finally met in a long-awaited showdown for which Garcia crossed over from DAZN to meet Garcia on Showtime PPV in a 136-pound catch weight fight. Thanks to each man’s enormous fan base and social media following it was a massive event and the biggest nontitle fight in years, even if it was disappointing in the ring. Davis dominated before knocking Garcia out with a body shot.
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Photos: Showtime, Getty
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Can't argue with this comprehensive list. I don't know if these two were amongst the best. But they were meaningful I think. Joe Calzaghe vs Jeff Lacy. Finally proved to the American audience that Calzaghe wasn't some overrated Euro Bum. And Nonito Donaire vs Vic Darchinyan. Great back story and another shocking KO. (My bad, Dan did include Lacy/Calzaghe)
Was involved with HBO Sports and our fights for 21 years, but always enjoyed watching Showtimes fights as well, led by my friend Mark Greenburg..