The Twelve Rounds Of Christmas
It’s a timeless Yuletide classic, a tune sung for centuries at this time of year, but now “The Twelve Days Of Christmas” has a special pugnacious and pugilistic version, courtesy of your friends at The Fight City. It’s sure to delight the most discerning aficionados of furious fisticuffs and add some carnage to your Christmas Day. So check it out! And you’re welcome!!!
1. On The First Day of Christmas your true love presents the all-time greatest opening round in the long history of fisticuffs, that wild, chaotic, thrilling three minutes that shocked a massive crowd of some eighty thousand in the Polo Grounds in New York in 1923. Featuring no fewer than nine knockdowns and non-stop heavy artillery, round one of Dempsey vs Firpo is a gift that just keeps giving!
2. On The Second Day of Christmas we show you nothing but love with the second round of Terry Norris vs Troy Waters in 1993, the ninth world title defense by “Terrible” Terry. Round two of this short but torrid encounter is an absolutely savage three minutes of non-stop combat that sees both men shaken and stirred more than once before its end.
3. On The Third Day of Christmas we couldn’t possibly do better than to bring you the gift-wrapped bonanza of frenetic action that is round three of the second donnybrook between Israel Vázquez and Rafael Márquez. While the entire fight is a glorious, action-packed brawl, its third round is the peak: three minutes of non-stop, high-intensity throwing and catching.
4. On The Fourth Day Of Christmas your true love gifts you the high point of an absolutely insane heavyweight slugfest, the fourth and penultimate round of the legendary George Foreman vs Ron Lyle clash in Las Vegas in 1976. Three knockdowns and all three times it appears as if the fight has to be over, but instead both warriors just keep getting back up to exchange more vicious power shots.
5. On The Fifth Day Of Christmas it’s not five golden rings we bring you, but instead round five of the first great battle between Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera in February of 2000, the best action round in an all-time great action fight and that year’s Round of the Year.
6. On The Sixth Day Of Christmas it’s time for round six of Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s grueling war against John Mugabi in 1985. The relatively inexperienced Mugabi showed he could more than hold his own against the great Hagler as he endured tremendous punishment, only to stand his ground and fire back in one of the great rounds of toe-to-toe action from the 1980’s.
7. On The Seventh Day Of Christmas there’s no swimming swans but instead three minutes of intense fistic fireworks from an all-time great donnybrook, Roberto Duran vs Iran Barkley in 1989. The legendary “Hands of Stone” could feel the fight slipping away to his bigger and younger opponent and so in round seven he bore down and went toe-to-toe with “The Blade,” both men pitching and catching in a great round from a truly extraordinary fight.
8. On The Eighth Day Of Christmas we go back to 1980 and the second war between light heavyweight gladiators Matthew Saad Muhammad and Yaqui Lopez. Round eight of this tremendous, all-action clash saw Lopez hurt the champion badly and then unleash a hellish barrage of punishment, only to see “Miracle Matthew” shrug it off and come roaring back. The turning point of an all-time great battle.
9. On The Ninth Day Of Christmas it can only be round nine of the first Gatti vs Ward slugfest, a round that has reached truly legendary status. And for good reason.
10. On The Tenth Day Of Christmas your true love doesn’t believe in sacrificing thrills, spills and legendary action to surprise you. If the ninth day had to be Gatti vs Ward I, then the tenth must, of course, be Corrales vs Castillo I, round ten, an unforgettable finish to a battle many regard as the greatest fight of the 21st century.
11. On The Eleventh Day Of Christmas you’re a very lucky fight fan as your true love bestows upon you nothing else but one of the most intense rounds from an all-time great fight, round eleven of the first epic confrontation between Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard in June of 1980, the famous “Brawl In Montreal.” Three minutes of sheer fistic greatness.
12. And On The Twelfth Day Of Christmas it’s the edge-of-your-seat thriller that was the final round of Sergio Martinez vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas in 2012. Far ahead on points, the lineal champ found himself on the canvas and then battling furiously for survival as the clock ticked down and the much bigger and heavier Chavez Jr. came within a punch or two of scoring what would have been a monumental come-from-behind victory. No doubt, one of the most thrilling final rounds in recent boxing history. Merry Christmas, fellow fight freaks!
