Ever watched a fight where the loser gained your respect?

For me its:

Holyfield vs Bowe I
Jackson vs McCellan I

I rooted for Holy, but Bowe's game IMO would never be more tight. Round 10 was an OMG round.
Holy was defeated, but gained respect in the boxing world. He went from being called the Real-Deal to the Warrior.

Gman & The Hawk fought in a 1/2 empty arena throwing bombs at each other. In fact it was billed as "Bombs Away."

When it was all over Julian was defeated, but it took a greater fighter to beat him. No shame in either losses.