SHOWTIME Boxing Analyst And Historian Gives Wish List Of Top Mythical Matchups Spanning Generations
NEW YORK (September 18, 2018) – International Boxing Hall of Famer Steve Farhood celebrates four decades in boxing this Tuesday, exactly 40 years since he started working exclusively in the business in 1978.
Farhood began his career writing for various boxing publications at London Publishing on Monday, September 18, just three days after Muhammad Ali regained the heavyweight title vs. Leon Spinks on Friday, September 15.
After launching KO Magazine in 1980 and serving as editor-in-chief of The Ring Magazine for nearly a decade, Farhood joined SHOWTIME in 2001 and has been a staple on the ShoBox: The New Generation series since its inception more than 17 years ago.
Over the past 40 years, Farhood has nearly seen it all in the Sweet Science. Now, as he prepares for consecutive Fridays of ShoBox telecasts, the lifelong New Yorker lists a handful of mythical matchups he’d love to see, regardless of the generation.
FARHOOD’S TOP MYTHICAL MATCHUPS:
Joe Frazier-Mike Tyson (heavyweight): The ultimate dream fight. No jabs allowed.
Roberto Duran-Alexis Arguello (lightweight): They were both 135-pounders, just not at the same time.
Sugar Ray Robinson-Sugar Ray Leonard (welterweight): Biggest crime in boxing history: There’s no video of Robinson as a welter, when he was at his very best.
Sugar Ray Leonard-Floyd Mayweather Jr. (welterweight): The best fighter I’ve ever covered versus the best fighter of this generation.
Jack Dempsey-Rocky Marciano (heavyweight): Boxing’s big men were smaller back in the day, but pound-for-pound, nobody hit harder than these two.
Marvin Hagler-Carlos Monzon (middleweight): All-timer vs. all-timer. My guess: Monzon’s style would be all wrong for Hagler. Match B-Hop (Bernard Hopkins) with the winner.
Salvador Sanchez-Eusebio Pedroza (featherweights): My opinion on this delicious matchup of Hall of Famers is an unpopular one: Pedroza wins on points.
Wilfredo Gomez-Manny Pacquiao (junior featherweights): In the early-‘80s, Gomez was as close to a perfect fighting machine as there was. But would his chin hold up vs. a 122-pound Manny?
This Friday on ShoBox: The New Generation, top undefeated super featherweight prospect Jon Fernandez (16-0, 14 KOs) will clash with O’Shaquie Foster (13-2, 8 KOs) in the 10-round main event of a four-fight card featuring eight fighters with a combined record of 81-2-1 with 56 knockouts.
Next Friday, September 28, ShoBox returns for a tripleheader headlined by 19-year-old blue-chip prospect Devin Haney (19-0, 13 KOs) taking on former three-time world title challenger Juan Carlos Burgos (33-2-2, 21 KOs).
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About ShoBox: The New Generation
Since its inception in July 2001, the critically acclaimed SHOWTIME boxing series, ShoBox: The New Generation has featured young talent matched tough. The ShoBox philosophy is to televise exciting, crowd-pleasing and competitive matches while providing a proving ground for willing prospects determined to fight for a world title. Some of the growing list of the 77 fighters who have appeared on ShoBox and advanced to garner world titles includes: Errol Spence Jr., Andre Ward, Deontay Wilder, Erislandy Lara, Shawn Porter, Gary Russell Jr., Lamont Peterson, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Nonito Donaire, Devon Alexander, Carl Froch, Robert Guerrero, Timothy Bradley, Jessie Vargas, Juan Manuel Lopez, Chad Dawson, Paulie Malignaggi, Ricky Hatton, Kelly Pavlik, Paul Williams and more.