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Where would boxing be without rematches and trilogies? Can you imagine how much less interesting our sport’s history would be? Could you imagine the great moments that we would have missed? In fact, if not for rematches and trilogies, there would not only be a lot less history in our sport, but there would be many a fighter who may have faded into obscurity.
Those who hadn’t faded into obscurity would not have developed into the all time greats they became due to that certain second meeting. Especially since we as fans have a tendency to be unforgiving sorts when it comes to losses; these men who had not been able to redeem themselves would always carry that black eye from the loss that occurred.
What if Joe Louis had not had a second fight against Max Schmeling? Would he have became the great champion that he went on to be? Of course, it’s possible, since Louis won the title before they faced off for a second time but the question is would he have been as endeared to the public if he had never beaten the German symbol of boxing superiority?
If Ray Robinson had not met Jake LaMotta six times, there would have been no “St Valentine”s Day Massacre”, one of the sport’s most memorable fights throughout history and one that that to this day is used as a measuring stick for ring brutality.
Where would Muhammad Ali stand in the history books if not for rematches? So many of us would have written off his first win over Sonny Liston as a fluke. Ali would of been left with a loss at the hands of Joe Frazier that was never redeemed. There would have been no third title reign.
In fact, without the rematch, Ali may have gone down as just a “good” fighter, another title holder in a long list of title holders. If not for the rematch, Muhammad Ali’s only distinction from those other title holders may have been the controversy of his refusing induction into the US Army, instead of becoming the most famous athlete in the world as he did.
But the rematch has had its down side as well. Jack Dempsey suffered the long count in his second bout against Gene Tunney, Floyd Patterson suffered another first round KO loss to Sonny Liston in his third bid at the heavyweight championship, Benny “Kid” Paret lost his life in what was his third match with Emile Griffith.
So, while rematches have made career defining moments for some, they have certainly been the downfall for others and not all rematches have been great moments of past eras.
In the 1980’s and up until today, we have seen such great rematches as Thomas Hearns v.s Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield, Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward, Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales and just this past Saturday, Rafael Marquez vs. Israel Vasquez.
Each and every one of those rematches was as worthy as their predecessors and in some ways, even more so.
The reasons vary for these men stepping into the ring against each other more than once. Sometimes it is for another big payday due to the public interest generated by the all out action of the first meeting. Other times, it is for redemption.
In worse case scenarios, it is due to the fact that a division is weak and those two men are the only worthy opponents that will draw a gate. Champions put rematch clauses in their contracts in case of an unexpected loss. Promoters use them to assure another payday if the bout is better then expected. In the end, the reason matters none, only the results.
Can we credit rematches for the path of some fighters legacies? The answer to that question is that we will never know for sure, as we can only speculate.
But we can, without question, credit the rematch for some of our sport’s colorful history, that much is for sure. Well, that and the fact that without rematches, we as fans would have missed out on many a great night of boxing in the past and more than likely, many a great night to come in the future.
