The Big Brawls

In the 1970s, many people knew of Las Vegas primarily through boxing. Caesars Palace increased its iconic status through televised fight exposure, but modern Las Vegas boxing history started for many people when Sonny Liston defeated Floyd Patterson for the second time in July 1963, preceding the rise of young Muhammad Ali, who soon would defeat them both. The Hilton was in on the action before the end of the decade, but MGM Grand Garden Arena would carry the torch through the ’90s and beyond, with Mandalay Bay coming in a close second. Boxing may have lost some popularity to mixed martial arts in the last decade, but Las Vegas’ reputation as the world’s fight town remains secure. Here are 10 of the best bouts.

Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo

(Mandalay Bay, May 7, 2005)

The Ring’s Fight of the Year was the first of two meetings between two of the best lightweights of the decade. Corrales won the WBC championship after landing low blows on Castillo in the ninth round, then getting dropped to the canvas twice in the 10th. Eyes nearly swollen shut, Corrales took control with a devastating flurry, ending a superlatively dramatic match.

Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns

(Caesars Palace, April 15, 1985)

Hagler came out swinging, putting Hearns on the defensive until the “Hit Man” drew blood 45 seconds into the first round before going toe-to-toe with undisputed middleweight champ “Marvelous” Marvin. The two fighters continued to exchange hard rights, with natural southpaw Hagler switching stances to stay on the perpetually moving Hearns. “The War” earned its fight-hype nickname, but Hagler prevailed with a third-round knockout.

Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera

(Mandalay Bay, Feb. 19, 2000)

The first of three fights between super bantamweights “El Terrible” and the “Baby-Faced Assassin” may have been a perfect match. The Ring magazine named it the Fight of the Year before subsequently calling it the best fight of all time. The punching was constant, lightning fast and furious; the advantage passing between the two fighters frequently. Both men were bloodied by the 12th round, but after Morales delivered two left hooks he was knocked down for the first time in his career. He won the controversial split decision, but lost the next two fights.

Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali

(Las Vegas Hilton, Feb. 15, 1978)

Ali was aging, and Spinks was the kid. No one expected Spinks to take the heavyweight championship, but Ali (pictured training for the fight with Angelo Dundee) was out of shape and no longer floated like a butterfly. He could still sting, but his main strategy had become his rope-a-dope style. He couldn’t tire out Spinks, who won the fight that effectively heralded the end of the Ali era.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya

(MGM Grand, May 5, 2007)

Not the best, but the biggest pay-per-view fight ever with 2.4 million buys. The long-anticipated fight came too late for Mayweather to fight De La Hoya in his prime, but heralded Mayweather’s rise as De La Hoya moved full time into promoting. The split-decision and WBC light-middleweight belt went to Mayweather, whose next big rivalry would be against Manny Pacquiao.

Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson

(MGM Grand, June 28, 1997)

Perhaps the most memorably controversial fight of all time, Tyson literally took a bite out of Holyfield’s ear, later claiming the referee had been ignoring Holyfield’s head butts. It was the nail in the coffin for Tyson as a respected fighter, but Holyfield continued to dominate the heavyweight division and turned out to have a more distinguished career than “Iron” Mike.

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Antonio Vargas

(Mandalay Bay, Sept. 14, 2002)

De La Hoya and Vargas, rivals since their amateur days, exchanged the advantage every other round up until the eighth when the fighters, both bloodied, faced off in stalking stances. De La Hoya relied on his left-jab-right-cross combination to stun Vargas right before the end of the 10th round, then closed in for the kill in the 11th with a flurry of a dozen punches before the fight was stopped.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto

(MGM Grand, Nov. 14, 2009)

The bout marked Pacquiao’s unprecedented triumph of being the first fighter to win seven belts in seven weight divisions. He obliterated Cotto, showing amazing form and throwing beautiful punches against the WBO welterweight champion, who lasted 55 seconds into the 12th round before the TKO. Pacquiao then entered negotiations for the fight against Mayweather that—incredibly—never happened.

Mike Tyson vs. Trevor Berbick

(Las Vegas Hilton, Nov. 22, 1986)

It’s hard to believe Tyson was the unstoppable force he was in ’80s. A raw talent from the streets groomed by Floyd Patterson trainer Cus D’Amato to be the perfect heavyweight, Tyson’s fearsome reputation enabled him to win some fights before a punch was thrown. His left-hook-right-uppercut combination stopped Berbick in the second round, making him the youngest heavyweight champion in history.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Shane Mosley

(MGM Grand, May 1, 2010)

The fight that led De La Hoya to call Mayweather “the best in the game,” it was Mayweather’s second fight since coming out of brief retirement. Mosley got two good shots in the first round that appeared to weaken Mayweather, but boxing’s real-life Apollo Creed took control of the ring and outboxed Mosley while avoiding every power punch thrown.