To this day, many fans and critics argue that Floyd Mayweather should actually be 49-1, not the perfect and flawless 50-0. Why? It was April 20, 2002, and Mayweather had moved up to the 135-pound division with tough Mexican Jose Luis Castillo. 12 tough sessions later, most of the crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas had Castillo winning the fight.

Officially, Mayweather, not yet “Money”, but “Pretty Boy”, won via UD with scores of 116-111, 115-111, 115-111. But since then, Mayweather has heard about the fight and how he lost it. To his credit, Mayweather gave Castillo an immediate rematch, this time winning without a debate (although this time it was closer according to the official cards). Recently, Mayweather was a guest on the Drink Champs program on Revolt TV, and Floyd said he went into the fight with Castillo injured. Mayweather also said that the Mexican won three rounds against him.

“Jose Luis Castillo, tough cookie. You just never saw me lose a round. It’s more like I can fight my opponent and win nine rounds. He can win three rounds,” Mayweather said. “Then they’ll say, ‘You know what – do a rematch.’ Or: “Mayweather didn’t win.” It’s been like that my whole career. Going into the first fight (against Castillo) I felt pain. The weigh-in took place on Friday. I was actually shaking to gain weight. The weight was 135 pounds and it was my second world title. I hit the massive bag and it was shaking. I was too close [to the bag]. The rotator cuff got really fucked up. So I thought, “Fuck it, my kids have to eat anyway.” A true champion can overcome anything. So I said, ‘Fuck it, let’s do it.’

Mayweather had the toughest fight of his HOF career that night, there’s no doubt about it. But did Castillo really deserve this decision? It was a close fight, as we can see when we watch it, and many fans are hoping to see flaws in Mayweather’s performance. Imagine if Mayweather woke up and never gave Castillo a rematch? How controversial would the April 202 fight and its decision be today?

Mayweather is adamant that he won the first fight, but this is one of those decisions that many fans will never stop complaining about. Floyd lost, his critics say. And even if Mayweather was indeed struggling with an injury, these people won’t give him a pass.

What were you doing 35 years ago when the fight called “One And For All” took place at the Convention Hall in Atlantic City? Maybe you were there… for all 91 seconds of the action. It was, of course, the fight between Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks; a fight that carried with it super fight bragging rights. Maybe. As it turned out, no, not at all.

It all ended in, well, you know how quickly, in those 91 seconds, arguably the most eminent and perhaps most ridiculed in heavyweight boxing history.

Tyson, who is not yet 22 and has a record of 34-0(30), against Spinks, who was a decade older and had a record of 31-0(21). Tyson, of course, stormed into the heavyweight division in all-consuming fire style in 1985. Nicknamed “Kid Dynamite”, Tyson, the prodigy of the behind schedule, great Cus D’Amato, took the WBC/WBA/IBF titles from good fighters, but the “Spinks Jinx” problem remained to be solved.

Spinks, who reigned as the king of the lithe heavyweight division and one of the best in the field, shocked the world and an aging Larry Holmes by becoming heavyweight champion the same year Tyson turned professional. And Spinks has faced some real killers in Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and Dwight Muhammad Qawi. But against Tyson, something happened to Spinks. Before the Tyson fight, Spinks was recognized as the lineal heavyweight champion. For some, Tyson didn’t fully rule the planet yet.

We’ve all heard the story of how Butch Lewis, going to Tyson’s locker room to check his gloves, witnessed in horror as Tyson punched holes in the wall. In the wall.

“And he was getting ready to fight my man… my little boy,” the always colorful Lewis repeated many times, looking back.

Tyson was indeed furious. According to boxing experts, Tyson was going through complex times with his wife Robin Gives and was only content in the ring. That may have been the case, but Tyson never allowed Spinks to smile for a moment when the war, such as it was, had just begun.

Tyson, as outraged as he was exceptional, dropped Spinks with a nasty right hand to the body after just a minute. Just seconds later, Tyson hit Spinks with a left-right combination to the head. That was the end. Spinks had been defeated and Tyson was now the undisputed heavyweight king of the world, beyond dispute.

As it turned out, Spinks never fought again, instead investing wisely and enjoying his millions of dollars. Tyson was in his prime and as great as he had ever been. There was only one way left and that was down. It took some time, almost two years, but Tyson himself was knocked down in spectacular fashion in February 1990.

But on this day 35 years ago (phew! I was a teenager), “Iron Mike” looked just like this: a real, unyielding piece of iron masquerading as a boxer.

With Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Dillian Whyte, Daniel Dubois and Joe Joyce currently among the top 12 in the world, Britain is dominating the heavyweight division in a way they have never done before. The USA fields only one candidate in this group – Deontay Wilder.

It’s a far cry from the 20th century, when there were so many great American heavyweights and so few from these shores. Most of the great American heavyweight champions have defended their world title against a Briton from time to time, such as the Tommy Farr vs. Joe Louis fight, the exaggerated annihilation of Don Cockell at lightweight heavyweight by Rocky Marciano and Henry Cooper, who put the great Ali on his back (see the photo of the fight below) still causes comments among fight fans. One of the few true champions who never fought a Briton was Jack Dempsey.

Dempsey reigned supreme from 1919 to 1926, and although he didn’t defend his title as often as he should have, there was no one on this side of the pond who could live with him in the ring.

In early 1919 our champion was Joe Beckett, who in December 1919 was defeated by the great Frenchman Georges Carpentier in less than a minute. Carpentier repeated the feat in 1923, this time defeating Beckett in just 15 seconds. Frank Goddard then won the British title in 1923, defeating Jack Bloomfield in a terrifying contest at the Royal Albert Hall. In 1920, Goddard was knocked out in two rounds by Frank Moran in a top American fight.

Goddard did not defend his title until 1926, when Phil Scott blew him apart in three rounds. Scott was the top heavyweight in the 1920s, but when he made his U.S. debut in 1927, he was knocked down in one round by Knute Hansen, a moderate Danish heavyweight. He managed to regain some status there, but quick defeats to Jack Sharkey and Teenage Stribling in 1930 brought his end.

Throughout the decade, Phil Scott was the only British heavyweight worthy of a top ten world ranking and it wasn’t until the mid-1930s, when Jack Petersen, Larry Gains and Tommy Farr restored some prestige, that we were able to maintain our position. head a little higher. Most of our “great” fighters of that era came from lower weight classes.

Jack Dempsey liked Britain and visited it more than once. He made his first visit in April 1922, when, after descending from… Akwatiahe was greeted in Southampton by Ted “Kid” Lewis and Boy McCormick. After meeting Joe Beckett, Jack advised the Briton to go to the United States, where he could earn a lot of money. Unfortunately, Beckett didn’t heed this advice and never fought there.

Dempsey returned in July 1925 as part of a European tour, hosted by Sir Harry Preston, a boxing impresario who rubbed shoulders with royalty. During this time, Preston occasionally performed enormous shows at the Dome in Brighton. After picking up Dempsey from the train at Victoria station, where Dempsey posed in typical fashion with a British policeman, he took the world champion to the south coast, where he arranged for him to have a series of exhibitions at one of his shows.

Dempsey boxed four times that evening, and his main opponents were Phil Scott and Harry Drake from Windsor. He handled both boys with ease and… editor John Murray commented: “Dempsey practically blew the press critics and the public off their feet. Few have ever witnessed such a display of combined strength, power, speed and skill. Several of these critics went into an ecstasy of admiration, seeing the almost uncanny genius in everything Jack did.”

Murray knew boxing and it was a real shame that we never had anyone good enough to face Dempsey at his best in a title fight.