The 10 greatest trilogies in boxing history

05.06.06 - By James Slater: The disappointment caused by Saturday’s fight between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo being a no-show robbed us - for the time being at least - of a rubber match that would have proven once and for all who the superior fighter of the two is. Therefore the names of Corrales and Castillo will not be found in the following top ten list. I’m pretty sure, however, that if the fight had gone ahead an action packed bout would have been witnessed and we would now have closure by way of the decider, and as such the trilogy between the warriors from Californian and Mexico would have its place in the list you are about to read. Maybe in time they will get it on again and give us the conclusion to one of the finest fight series of the modern era. For now though the following are, in my opinion only, the ten greatest boxing
trilogies ever.

1. Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier

Quite simply, when Ali and Frazier fought - the world watched! Yes, fight two was a disappointment, but the first and final bouts of the series, “The Fight of the century” and, “The Thrilla In Manila” are as mesmerising to watch today as they were when they occurred, some three decades ago. We can only dream of seeing a heavyweight fight this great today. Ali and Joe were willing to bear their souls in a bid to decide who was the better man and as a result we fans were treated to boxing that was both brutal and beautiful. Both men’s names will be forever linked. It is almost impossible to think of one of them without the other.


2. Marco Antonio Barrera v Erik Morales

The opening bout of the series was absolutely breathtaking. Neither man was willing to give in and the violent slugfest that unfolded will never be forgotten. As with the Ali v Frazier trilogy, fight two was something of a letdown. But the third and final instalment made up for it. The quality of boxing put on by both Mexican legends was first rate - some even favour fight three to fight one. What almost everyone agrees on though, is that there has never been a better three fight series among the lower weight classes. These fights were fought over three different weight classes, yet despite being heavier men in each subsequent meeting the pace never slowed!

3. Tony Zale v Rocky Graziano

Boxing Illustrated magazine, when looking back at this trilogy, wrote that these fights were not fights, they were wars without survivors! How could anyone dispute such a statement? All three fights were crammed full with savagery and violence - to such an extent that neither fight ever looked remotely like going the distance. Brutal KO’s were the order of the day when Zale and Graziano met. What is a crying shame though, is the fact that only one fight from the trilogy was ever captured on film - the final fight. As a result we can only read about the first two thirds of the most fierce trilogy of fights in middleweight history.

4. Arturo Gatti v Mickey Ward

More than a few experts made the comment that this three fight series was akin to the vicious and wild affairs fight fans were used to back in the 1950’s. The action packed fights Arturo and Mickey put on actually top most of boxing’s previous match-ups for toe-to-toe slugging and sheer drama. The first fight especially, was utterly mind boggling. Both men gave their all and, as with many of the fighters on this list, their names will always be correlated. Ward wisely retired after the third and final gruelling bout, whereas Gatti fights on still.

5. Floyd Patterson v Ingemar Johansson

These fights had it all. Not only were they extremely exciting and full of knockdowns - thirteen in total! - but history was made too. In the second fight, the recently deceased Floyd Patterson became the first man in history to regain the heavyweight championship of the world. To have done so after having been painfully KO’d in the first fight was a great achievement. All three fights were terminated by KO, but it is the second bout that is the most famous. Not only did Floyd make history, but he avenged the loss to Ingemar with a KO that is startling to watch. The Swede’s foot can actually be seen twitching as he lays unconscious on the canvas. The left hook Patterson connected with was an absolute thunder bolt!

6. Riddick Bowe v Evander Holyfield

Another heavyweight series, Bowe’s three fights with “The Real Deal” are the best from the big guy’s division in recent years. Fight one had an incredible tenth round in which both men took turns in landing hurtful shots. “Big Daddy” had the upper hand in the series’ opener though - only for Evander to extract his revenge (despite the idiotic actions of “fan Man”) in the rematch. Holyfiled almost won the rubber match too, courtesy of a stunning left hook that dropped Bowe at the halfway stage of the bout, only for the younger man to come back to stop him in the eighth round of a very dramatic fight, the only KO of the series.

7. Jeff Harding v Dennis Andries

This choice may surprise some readers, but the tough and gruelling fights that the Australian and the Brit gave us definitely deserve to be included here. Fight one produced an upset when the defending champ Andries was stopped in the twelfth and final round of a fight in the U.S that was fought at a frenetic pace. Dennis then travelled to the new champion’s country and produced an even bigger shock by KO’ing the hard as nails Harding in the seventh. Winning so far from home, and at his advanced age, was a superb effort from Britain’s three time light heavyweight king. The best fight was saved for last though. In the rubber match, fought in the U.K, both men had to dig incredibly deep. Dennis was suffering from real exhaustion in the later rounds and despite hanging on to the final bell he lost the decider on a debatable majority decision. Three of the hardest fought bouts in the history of the 175 pound division had been witnessed in three different countries.

8. Muhammad Ali v Ken Norton

Another appearance by The Greatest. Ali sensationally had his jaw broken by Norton in fight number one, and lost a twelve round non-title fight. How Ali fought on while in such pain is a mystery. And even though the common misconception that Ali’s jaw was broken as early as the second round was corrected when the late Eddie Futch informed us that the damage was actually done much later in the fight, the fact that Ali made it to the final bell was still a very brave act. Muhammad got his revenge in fight two and then the final chapter in the series was fought, this time with the title at stake. Three years after the first match another desperately close fight ensued and though it was highly disputed, Ali got the win. Ken Norton tested Ali in a way no-one besides Joe Frazier ever did.

9. Roberto Duran v Esteban De Jesus

Duran was at his peak when he fought De Jesus at lightweight. Considered unbeatable my some, Roberto was shocked by Esteban in the very first round of fight number one when a sharp left from the Puerto Rican decked him. It wasn’t to be Roberto’s night and he lost the non-title affair on points over ten rounds - his first ever defeat. A rematch was fought two years later, this time with the world title on the line. Once again Duran was put down in the first round - De Jesus proved it had been no fluke the last time. In this fight, however, Duran showed his greatness and came back to prevail by eleventh round KO. There would have to be a decider though. In 1978, six years after the first bout, Roberto proved his superiority with a twelfth round TKO in his last fight as lightweight champion. Without doubt, he had been pushed to the limit by Esteban in all three fights.

10. “Sugar” Ray Leonard v Roberto Duran

Shortly after vacating his lightweight title, Roberto Duran challenged Ray Leonard for “Sugar’s” welterweight belt. What followed was the best fight from an eventual three fight series. Duran had rattled Leonard in the build-up to the fight and Ray fought the wrong way. He tried to be macho with “The Hands of Stone” and came off second best, losing in an epic fifteen rounder. The second fight, held five months later, is one of the most infamous bouts from boxing history. The now legendary words of “no mas” were uttered by Roberto as he announced his surrender to a disbelieving audience in round eight. Leonard had got his revenge. Unfortunately, the rubber match - fought nine years after fight one - was a drag. Both guys were past their best and Leonard won a boring decision. The first and second fights, however, were as great as they were fascinating.

Very cool list. I agree with it and just outside for me is going to be Pacman-EM,I think their fights are sensational and,well,if old lazy bastard JLC made weight,we may well have had another entrant on that list. :-\

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Originally Posted by The Game

Very cool list. I agree with it and just outside for me is going to be Pacman-EM,I think their fights are sensational and,well,if old lazy B****** JLC made weight,we may well have had another entrant on that list. :-\

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yeah, i think its an interesting list...

i love the gatti: ward fights just for sheer action

barrera: morales is always up there

the first ali: frazier fight is arguably the greatest heavyweight fight of all...i never tire of seeing that one...

What a list of fights!!

EM v MAB probabaly my favourite

Just think could've had Chico and Castillo up there >:mad

All in all, a very good list indeed, although I would have had Zale-Graziano at number one, when I saw this thread, that was the very first trilogy that popped into my mind.

I looked at that list and thought yes it is o.k. but I can do better…

Well that list is more than o.k. it is excellent, I never realised how hard it is to compile a top 10 trilogies list, it was so frustrating. Nearly every hunch I had, had been involved in two or four fight; Matt Saad Muhammad/Yaqui Lopez; Ike Williams/Beau Jack; Ike Williams/Bob Montgomery; the great series of bouts at 130 in the early/mid 80s, involving Chacon, Boza Edwards, Limon etc…

So anyway, I eventually came up with



10 Griffith/Rodriguez: Three excellent boxing fights, Griffith loses the first, but comes back to win two split decisions, a point deduction for a low blow, stops Rodriguez getting a draw in the finale, that is how evenly matched they were.

9 Duran/DeJesus: Duran was the phenomenon, who had just beaten the brilliant Scot, Buchanan, and was having a non title defence against the unknown DeJesus; after hitting the deck in then first ten seconds, and dropping a decision, the Hands of Stone, would not forget the Puerto Rican again, in a hurry. Duran was floored early again in the rematch, with the title on the line, but got up to win in 11; and won the final bout of the trilogy, in 12, this time avoiding the early knockdown!

8 Griffith/Benvenuti: Griffith is the King of trilogies, this time though he lost two/one trading the Middleweight crown. The first fight saw both hit the deck in The Ring’s fight of the year, as the Italian won the title by Unanimous decision. The rematch saw Griffith regain his title, knocking Nino down in the 14th, and wining a majority decision. The third bout saw Benvenuti knock Griffith down in the ninth, to regain the Middleweight title, on a Unanimous decision.

7 Patterson/Johansson: Three fights, that have gone down in history, their finale, was great fun.

6 Duran/Leonard: If the third bout did not suck, this trilogy may have been #2 on the list.

5 Barrera/Morales: These two hate each other with a passion, and all that hate comes pouring out in their bouts; perhaps there has never been a more intense trilogy.

4 Bowe/Holyfield: Seemingly every November in the early/mid 90s we got our latest instalment of Bowe/Holyfield, and we were never disappointed.

3 Ali/Frazier: The second fight sucked, but fights one and three were truly historical.

2 Ward/Gatti: Not a weak round, let alone a weak fight, these two warriors gave it their all, it took something truly amazing to rob of them of the #1 spot but…

1 Zale/Graziano: Was the trilogy for which all other trilogies are judged, three brutal brilliant fights, that kept twisting and turning, and had two shocking endings.

The others I considered for the list were:

Nelson/Gans: Fight one was brutal, Gans winning on a 42nd round dq; a savage fight that had Nelson famously throwing up over the ropes! Nelson got his revenge in the other two bouts by 17th and 21st round KO’s.


Moore/Charles: Anyone who thinks Charles is overrated needs to read up on these three bouts. The Cincinnati Cobra, made his reputation dominating this trilogy, over a near prime Moore.

Griffith/Paret: Infamous for the ring death, but these two hated each other with a passion and had three intriguing fights, trading the Welterweight title.

Ali/Norton: Three famous bouts that ended in 1977, when Ali controversially snatched the ‘Clash of the Titans’ by close 15 round decision.

Hagler/Monroe: The making of Hagler; The Worm dominated the Marvellous one, in their first bout (IMO, Hagler’s only true defeat as a pro), but despite struggling with Willie in the rematch, Hagler eventually got on top to win in 12, and then blew Monroe away in two, in the finale.

Toney/McCallum: Two excellent fighters, who fought three superb boxing matches, McCallum was unlucky to only get a draw in their first bout, Toney came back strong to win the rematch and the third bout at Cruiserweight, showed both to be excellent boxers, despite being way past their primes, both in ability and weight.

Chavez/Randall: Two exciting and shocking bouts, started the trilogy, then much like Duran/Leonard, you had the sad final bout.

Excellent posting, Britkid :coolclick:

i wouldnt mind seeing footage of that 3rd zale: graziano fight....never seen it before...

What about castillo/corrales....oh wait :-\

too bad we cant add dlh-mosley to that list :(

CC Britkid :goodpost:

Morales - Pac could be a great trilogy but Erik is too far gone to give an honest performance .

Chico - Castillo is another ?" could have been " great trilogy but we can thank the Mexican for ruining that 1 .

My favourite has to be Barrera - morales . The first fight will never be elclipsed in my eyes . I enjoyed the Bowe - Holyfield fights too but think the better man didnt win the trilogy

Great list, those fighters provided the fans with some excellent fights.

Good list....who know where JLC and Corrales mite of ended up if that bastard got in shape ;D

Zale-Graziano has to be the most brutal. The second fight was unbelievable, Rocky was a madman on a mission. after that it has to be Barrera-Morales and then Ali-Frazier for me.