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When Joe ‘The Brown Bomber’ won the world heavyweight title by stopping champion James Braddock in June 1937, he said, “Until I beat Max Schmeling, I’m not champion!” He talked about his KO loss in 1936. He avenged it in 1939 at Madison Square Garden, knocking out Schmeling in the first round.
When ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, 27-0, lost to Robert ‘Hands of Stone’ Duran, 71-1, in June 1980 in the Durans fight, he got a rematch. He boxed Duran so hard that Duran gave up the chair in November.
In April 1987, Leonard defeated Marvin Hagler for the middleweight title. Hagler retired and moved to Italy, not wanting a rematch.
In April 2002, lightweight champion Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather won a submission decision over Jose Luis Castilla. Eight months later, he gave him a rematch, easily defeating him.
In June 2012, Tim Bradley Jr. robbed Manny ‘Pac Man’ Pacquiao, but in April 2014, he defeated Bradley in a rematch.
In November 2016, Andre “SOG” Ward won a split decision over Sergey Kovalev in a light heavyweight title fight and immediately gave him a rematch, stopping Kovalev and then retiring.
Heavyweight champion Rock Marciano won a close, if not controversial, decision over Rolando LaStarz in March 1950 before winning the title. After stopping ‘Jersey’ Joe Walcott for the title and again in his next fight, he stopped LaStarza.
In November 1986, super welterweight champion Alfredo Escalera won in Philadelphia by a split decision over Philadelphia’s Tyrone Everett. He never got a rematch, and the Pennsylvania judge who voted for Escalara never did another show.
Historian Jim Jacobs told me the worst decision he ever saw was in June 1963, when light heavyweight champion Harold Johnson was robbed by Willie Pastrano by split decision and never won a rematch.
Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali lost to Ken Norton and Smokin’ Joe Frazier in his first fights, but beat both of them twice in rematches.
In June 1983, heavyweight champion Larry ‘The Easton Assassin’ Holmes, 42-0, won a gift decision defending against ‘The Terrible’ Tim Witherspoon, 15-0, and was never given a rematch.
What fight did you want to see in the rematch that never happened?
