AFTER losing to Joe Louis for the world heavyweight title in 1937, Tommy Farr lost his next four fights, all by decision, to James J. Braddock, Max Baer, ​​Lou Nova and Red Burman. Tommy is rightly remembered for his stand against Louis and was revered in the south Wales valleys where he was a boxing hero.

Farr won his next four fights, but in 1940, at the age of 26, with World War raging, Tommy’s career ceased to matter. He started as a professional in 1926, when at the age of 12 he won his first competition at Tonypandy, his birthplace, when, as “Kid Farr”, he overtook Jack Jones from nearby Clydach Vale.

In the 1930s, Tommy was one of the toughest fighters, winning the Welsh lithe heavyweight and heavyweight titles, followed by the British and Imperial heavyweight titles. He boxed in every weight, from flyweight to heavyweight, and the fight with Louis, when he was 23 and had participated in 150 fights, was the highlight of his career. That’s why it was a surprise when in 1950, after 10 years of absence from the ring, he announced that he would return at the age of 36. In those days, 36 was not the age to enter a boxing ring. most fighters retired before the age of 30.

In the United States, Farr’s ancient rival, Joe Louis, retired from the ring himself. He held the world heavyweight title for 11 years and defended it 25 times, the first of which was against Farr. Louis also announced his return to the ring and, like Farr, announced this in August 1950. Joe had tax problems and had to fight again to settle his debts.

TOmmy, on the other hand, wanted to come back because he didn’t rate the current crop of heavyweights, and he still enjoyed the game. Farr regained his license without difficulty and then announced that he would fight under the bill for promoter Albert Davies at Pontypridd in early September. The competition was then postponed three weeks to September 27.

Interestingly, Joe Louis was also supposed to return to the ring that same evening. He was selected to fight current champion Ezzard Charles in a 15-round world heavyweight title bout at Yankee Stadium in Recent York. No other fight would have been enough for Joe, who was one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, and many thought he would defeat Ezzard without much difficulty.

Tommy’s return was a bit quieter as he faced Jan Klein, an infamous Dutchman with a spotty history. Twenty thousand people turned out outdoors in the rain to watch Tommy flatten Klein in six rounds at Ynysangharad Park in Pontypridd. A few hours later in Recent York, 22,000 fans watched as father time via Ezzard Charles beat the substantial man for 15 rounds.

Many cried when the decision was announced, and Joe should have left the ring for good afterwards. However, like Tommy, Louis continued his activities throughout 1951 and both men suffered brutal knockouts that same year.

In March 1951, Frank Bell, from Barnoldswick, Lancashire, needed just two rounds to demolish Farr in a competition held at the Rhondda Transport Company garage in Porth. This unlikely place was the sorrowful place where Tommy was beaten. For Joe, his defeat was a much more public matter. Rocky Marciano murdered him in eight rounds at Madison Square Garden.

Marciano was on his way to the top at the time and was the hottest figure in boxing. His victory over Louis reminds me a bit of Ali’s death at the hands of Larry Holmes and was equally sorrowful. Louis never fought again, but Tommy continued to fight until 1953, losing his last fight to Don Cockell, who in turn was punched by Rocky Marciano just two years later.

Who is or was the greatest warrior who ever lived? For some, indeed for many, John L. Sullivan is that man. Terror. Beast. A born-to-fight warrior who had an insatiable appetite for fighting, drinking, and more fighting. Sullivan, born on this day in 1858 in Boston, Massachusetts, lived rapid, fought harder than strenuous, and died newborn; at the age of 59.

Over the course of his relatively tiny life, “The Boston Mighty Boy,” all 5’10” and about 190 pounds, did more than enough to fill the mind of a filmmaker who wanted to make not one, but two films dedicated to the man who according to some, he ranks in his own right when it comes to the greatest of the great to ever wear gloves. But of course, as we know, John L. didn’t put on padded gloves until he had reached the end as a player; and at that time, a warrior’s gloves didn’t have much padding.

Well, in John L.’s day it was much, much harder for a boxer, and Sullivan regularly destroyed any man who had no interest in the sport of which he was the king. And when it comes to the simply amazing fights Sullivan was involved in, there are too many that are generally undocumented, at least properly. While the valuable articles covering Sullivan’s superfight have opinions as to who is different, various authors of the time wrote the most correct description of what actually happened in the ring; or on the pitch.

However, in the opinion of most boxing historians, the fight that took place on July 8, 1889, the last bare-knuckle title fight in history, is the most unforgettable battle/war/fight until the end of Sullivan – call it whatever you want.

In what was probably his biggest and most notable fight, Sullivan, to most people the heavyweight champion of the world – the man who said he would “lick every son of a bitch in the house” and did – faced a challenge: Jake Kilrain. Kilrain himself had a claim to the heavyweight title (given to him by the publisher of the then influential newspaper The Police Gazette), and the two were to meet at an undisclosed location to settle their dispute.

Bare-knuckle fighting was illegal in 38 states at the time, and if you wanted to see a Sullivan-Kilrain fight, you had to rely on word of mouth. About 3,000 fans made it to the field in Richburg, Mississippi, where the fight was to take place. The first round was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., with the fight to determine the winner who would take home $10,000 per side, with the winner taking it all. The temperature at that time in the shade was 100 degrees. And, as the saying goes, there wasn’t much shade.

Sullivan’s reputation brought him great results. Sullivan, an extremely ponderous drinker, fought both drunk and sober, mostly with the former. Regularly sipping prescribed amounts of bourbon from a beer mug – yes, a beer mug – Sullivan boasted, rightly so, that no man could drink four rounds with him. Traveling all over the country, taking on everyone, John L. defeated 59 opponents with one bounce. None lasted beyond the fourth round, and most were dealt with in the first round.

However, the prevailing thought in the Kilrain camp was that Sullivan only had good legs for about 20 minutes and that his legs, like the legs of all drunks, would fail him after that point in the fight if he made it that far. Kilrain was extremely prepared and his plan was to take Sullivan into the later rounds and then take control and win. Kilrain was a clever boxer who knew how to box and move.

In the first rounds of that historic day, Kilrain took the lead (a round only ended when a man went down and could therefore last minutes or mere seconds) as he refrained from fighting Sullivan, focusing instead on avoiding the gigantic one…hitting John’s throws L. Furious, Sullivan roared at his rival, “Why don’t you fight! You’re supposed to be a champion, right?”

In round seven, Kilrain landed a ponderous shot to the head that drew blood from Sullivan’s ear. In the next session, Sullivan scored his first knockdown of the fight. Both men were already suffering, the heat and intensity of the battle was punishing. But the fight was just beginning. The fight lasted 30 rounds, the blood of both men flowed, and the fierce heat harmed the naked backs of both fighters.

After the 30th round, it was Kilrain who was tired and slowing down, not Sullivan. It turned out that Sullivan could fight for long periods of time after drinking enormous amounts of alcohol; or was Sullivan “on the wagon” preparing for this fight? In any case, Sullivan was in command now, with more knockdowns and falls. But there was no end to Kilrain and he kept raising the level again and again. Amazingly, but also painfully, there are still over 40 rounds of battle left! Finally, in the 75th round, the doctor informed the Kilrain supporter that if they allowed their man to go out for more, “he would die”. That was the end. The last title fight in the history of bare-knuckle fighting lasted an exhausting, almost unimaginable, 2 hours and 16 minutes.

John L. Sullivan was the king of kings. There was no doubt about it.

Sullivan lost his next fight over three years later, this time fighting Jim Corbett in the first world heavyweight title fight fought under Marquees rules. The great man died in February 1918 at the age of only 59. One of the pallbearers was Jake Kilrain, who lived to be 78 years ancient.

It wasn’t just a great fight – imagine, fight fans, being there live that day – it’s a history lesson.

Talk about a boxer who could blow heated and frosty in a significant way. Puerto Rican hunk Carlos De Leon was able to box masterfully in one evening, also displaying good punching power and venom. On another night, De Leon might have looked disinterested and inactive. However, at his best, the man known as “Sugar” was actually quite sweet. De Leon, who made history twice – by becoming the first man to regain the cruiserweight title and then, later, by becoming the first fighter to win the cruiserweight title four times, had a long career and faced many huge names.

Turning professional in August 1974, at the age of just 15, De Leon scored eight straight victories before losing a four-round decision to Roberto Colon in 1975. Fighting at home in Puerto Rico as well as in the Virgin Islands, De Leon was 29-2 by the time he won his first world title; De Leon lost another fight on points, this time to Ray Hammond in 1977. Facing Marvin Camel in Fresh Orleans on November 25, a fight taking place on the Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran “No Mas” card, De Leon defeated Camel by majority decision . The fight was not a classic one, but De Leon became the WBC champion at the age of 21.

Back with Camel, De Leon showed his strength by stopping Camel in the eighth round. Then, surprisingly, De Leon was knocked down in two rounds by ST Gordon. De Leon bounced back with wins over Ivy Brown and Leon Spinks before making history by avenging his loss to Gordon by scoring over 12 points to become the first-ever two-time cruiserweight champion. There were good stops on Yaqui Lopez and Bash Al before De Leon was outworked and outpointed by Alonzo Ratliff in the summer of 1985.

De Leon, incredibly, still had ten years of fighting left in him.

De Leon defeated Bernard Benton to become a three-time champion a year after losing to Ratliff, and then, three defenses of the title later, “Sugar” had the biggest fight of his career. Facing Evander Holyfield in Vegas in April 1988, De Leon and his bag of tricks somewhat frustrated Holyfield, and Evander had to figure De Leon out. Holyfield finally did just that, stopping De Leon in the eighth round of their WBC/IBF/WBA unification clash.

Now 28 years venerable and with a record of 44-5, De Leon moved on and headed to the UK for the first of two fights, one of which is still considered one of the most unimaginably uninteresting “fights” ever seen. First, in May 1989, De Leon stopped Sammy Reeson in London, and with the victory he became a four-time ruler, and the WBC belt was vacated by Holyfield. Then, the following January, De Leon drew against the completely ineffective Johnny Nelson. In fact, Nelson barely landed any significant punches all night long, with the challenger only occasionally coming within range. It was shockingly bad, a real cure for insomnia. De Leon wasn’t much better than Nelson, but he was fortunate enough to keep the belt, and there was controversy during De Leon’s next fight, as he was ejected for punching Massimiliano Duran after the bell in the 11th round of the Fight Hero event in Italy. This would be De Leon’s last world title fight.

Continuing and trying his hand against several heavyweights, De Leon went 8-2 in his last ten fights before being stopped by Corrie Sanders (in the blink of an eye, the fight was over within a minute) and Brian Nielson. Finishing with a record of 53-8-1(33), De Leon began training his son, Carlos Jr. Sadly, De Leon died at the age of just 60 from a heart attack in January 2020.

How great was De Leon? Was he even great? Carlos could box; He knew a lot of tricks and moves and of course he went down in the history books. De Leon was truly useful to anyone when motivated enough. Other times, De Leon seemed like nothing special. Still, for some, a enormous portion of experts and fans, De Leon is one of the ten best cruiserweights of all time.