2008 your favorite fight so far?

[Andre]

OK, here it is:


In a fight that gave new meaning to the words “fury” and “courage,” Rogers “The Tiger” Mtagwa (25-12-2) and Mexican warrior Tomas “El Norteno” Villa (20-6-4) engaged in almost ten rounds of wild ebb and flow savagery.The battle was held on November 7 at the Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.

Things started fast. The first round was one of pure fury in which both engaged in legal, back-and-forth assault and battery and the crowd was up and roaring in disbelief when the bell rang. Villa’s punches were shorter and sharper; Mtagwa’s were wider but seemed to be more menacing. Both landed numerous times. This continued in rounds two and three..

In the fourth, Villa decked the Tanzanian with a sneaky right uppercut, but referee Rocky Burke missed it and called it a slip. Rogers then came back at the end of the round with a series of neck snappers. The fifth featured great body work by Villa including a rare triple hook ala Micky Ward. He also landed a number of jolting uppercuts that had the crowd ooohing and aaahing and chanting “Villa, Villa.” In the sixth, Villa continued his assault, but then Mtagwa suddenly opened up with a number of flush rights that stunned his opponent and likely won the round for him.

Mtagwa, whose face was now badly swollen, tired badly in the seventh and went down twice on slips--one of which easily could have been ruled a knockdown. Villa was now coming on and almost floored Mtagawa in the eight with a crunching left hook that landed flush at the bell. He finally caught up with and staggered the courageous Tanzania early in the ninth with malicious roundhouse punches and then decked him with two rattling rights that should have ended the fight right there and then. Somehow, someway, the “Tiger” survived the round after absorbing incredible punishment. He was even able to counter with some sharp punches of his own; perhaps signaling what was to come in the next and last round.

Mtagwa slowly went to his corner at the bell and Referee Burke gave him a long and hard look. While both fighters were swollen around the face, Villa was much the fresher. He raised his hands before the start of the last round acknowledging to the crowd that he was poised to soon end matters decisively and to their satisfaction.

However, it was not to be. As the bell sounded, Mtagwa immediately caught the shockedr Villa with a crunching right that sent him down hard. He then chased Villa across the ring like a madman launching a series of looping punches most of which seemed to land. After throwing about fifty of these wild unanswered shots, “El Norteno” again went down from a final malefic right. Miraculously, he too was able to get up, but Mtagwa quickly ended matters with one well-leveraged right at the 1.20 mark that sent the valiant Mexican crashing into the ropes for the third and final time in one of the wildest brawls you will ever hope to see.

Rogers Mtagwa resides in Philadelphia and more than lived up to that city’s reputation for producing rough and tough fighters. Meanwhile, Tomas Villa’s 12-fight win streak was ended by this crushing defeat, but he has nothing of which to be ashamed.

I would categorize this fight as a closet classic except that it may very well end up as Fight of the Year. It was that exciting.

Also:

Cotto-Margo
Katsidis-Casamayor

I'll go with the last two as I dont get to see most fights.

Is that classic you mention, anywhere online do you know?

[Spicoli]

Antonio Margarito TKO 11 Miquel Cotto numero uno followed by Hopkins turning back the against Kelly Pavlik...what a show

[ICB]

OK, here it is:


In a fight that gave new meaning to the words “fury” and “courage,” Rogers “The Tiger” Mtagwa (25-12-2) and Mexican warrior Tomas “El Norteno” Villa (20-6-4) engaged in almost ten rounds of wild ebb and flow savagery.The battle was held on November 7 at the Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.

Things started fast. The first round was one of pure fury in which both engaged in legal, back-and-forth assault and battery and the crowd was up and roaring in disbelief when the bell rang. Villa’s punches were shorter and sharper; Mtagwa’s were wider but seemed to be more menacing. Both landed numerous times. This continued in rounds two and three..

In the fourth, Villa decked the Tanzanian with a sneaky right uppercut, but referee Rocky Burke missed it and called it a slip. Rogers then came back at the end of the round with a series of neck snappers. The fifth featured great body work by Villa including a rare triple hook ala Micky Ward. He also landed a number of jolting uppercuts that had the crowd ooohing and aaahing and chanting “Villa, Villa.” In the sixth, Villa continued his assault, but then Mtagwa suddenly opened up with a number of flush rights that stunned his opponent and likely won the round for him.

Mtagwa, whose face was now badly swollen, tired badly in the seventh and went down twice on slips--one of which easily could have been ruled a knockdown. Villa was now coming on and almost floored Mtagawa in the eight with a crunching left hook that landed flush at the bell. He finally caught up with and staggered the courageous Tanzania early in the ninth with malicious roundhouse punches and then decked him with two rattling rights that should have ended the fight right there and then. Somehow, someway, the “Tiger” survived the round after absorbing incredible punishment. He was even able to counter with some sharp punches of his own; perhaps signaling what was to come in the next and last round.

Mtagwa slowly went to his corner at the bell and Referee Burke gave him a long and hard look. While both fighters were swollen around the face, Villa was much the fresher. He raised his hands before the start of the last round acknowledging to the crowd that he was poised to soon end matters decisively and to their satisfaction.

However, it was not to be. As the bell sounded, Mtagwa immediately caught the shockedr Villa with a crunching right that sent him down hard. He then chased Villa across the ring like a madman launching a series of looping punches most of which seemed to land. After throwing about fifty of these wild unanswered shots, “El Norteno” again went down from a final malefic right. Miraculously, he too was able to get up, but Mtagwa quickly ended matters with one well-leveraged right at the 1.20 mark that sent the valiant Mexican crashing into the ropes for the third and final time in one of the wildest brawls you will ever hope to see.

Rogers Mtagwa resides in Philadelphia and more than lived up to that city’s reputation for producing rough and tough fighters. Meanwhile, Tomas Villa’s 12-fight win streak was ended by this crushing defeat, but he has nothing of which to be ashamed.

I would categorize this fight as a closet classic except that it may very well end up as Fight of the Year. It was that exciting.

Also:

Cotto-Margo
Katsidis-Casamayor

I'll go with the last two as I dont get to see most fights.

Is that classic you mention, anywhere online do you know?

Andre you know where to check mate if you want to see the fight, Holmcall mentioned

[holmcall]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRdSrb3GBho

[albsur2006]

My favorite fight was JMM vs Pac II. It had everything. It had JMM going down thanks to Manny's power. It had JMM coming back and landing hard shots. It had great action. The fight flowed really well.

I would have said Cotto vs Margarito because of the drama of the fight. But honestly, that fight was just Margarito basically getting his ass whooped for 8 rounds until Cotto got tired and couldn't take the pressure anymore. It wasn't competitive all that much, it was a whitewash for Cotto until he got tired and then Margarito took over.

Manny vs JMM II was competitive in very round basically. You didn't know which way the fight was gonna turn.

[C-Lo]

My favorite fight was JMM vs Pac II. It had everything. It had JMM going down thanks to Manny's power. It had JMM coming back and landing hard shots. It had great action. The fight flowed really well.

I would have said Cotto vs Margarito because of the drama of the fight. But honestly, that fight was just Margarito basically getting his ass whooped for 8 rounds until Cotto got tired and couldn't take the pressure anymore. It wasn't competitive all that much, it was a whitewash for Cotto until he got tired and then Margarito took over.

Manny vs JMM II was competitive in very round basically. You didn't know which way the fight was gonna turn.

I get what you mean. Cotto dominated the first half of the fight, then the momentum shifted towards Margarito the second half and that was all she wrote.

I like the Pacquiao vs Marquez and the Vasquez vs Marquez fight for the same reasons. It was a roller coaster with no man really holding momentum for more than 2 rounds. There were knockdowns, there were times when both fighters were hurt, they were both split decision victories, they were both TRUE rivalries, both fights were close coming into the championship rounds, and finally the most important aspect for me, they were for the RING title. Can't match those facts in any other fight this year.

There may have been more exciting or similarly exciting fights this year, but those two I just mentioned had EVERYTHING going for them..