In less than a week, IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook welcomes the WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin to these shores in a fight nobody saw coming. Britain’s own unbeaten Brook faces his toughest challenge to date moving up two weight classes for perhaps the best pound-for-pound boxer today.
It comes mere months after a similar scenario saw Amir Khan step up to face Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, a fight which ended in a knockout defeat for the Brit. Having these two bouts occur this year instead of the far more logical Khan vs Brook and Canelo vs Golovkin bouts – both of which we have seemingly been building towards for some time now – is peculiar to say the very least.
What it isn’t, however, is completely unprecedented.
In fact, the history of boxing is littered with occasions where the best of these two divisions decided to test themselves against one another and add a little extra reality to the often-hypothetical pound-for-pound rankings compiled by experts.
On the countdown to the latest chapter of the welterweights vs middleweights story, here’s a look back at some of the all-time classic encounters between fighters from the two worlds.
It’s also worth noting that there have been many more welter vs middle fights than are being listed here, so if you have any particular favourites we didn’t highlight, tell us all about your recollections of them in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
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July 2, 1925: Mickey Walker vs Harry Greb
Walker was the reigning welterweight champion. Greb, who won a 15-round decision, was the defending middleweight champ. And legend has it that the two got into a brawl at a lobster shop on Broadway just hours after their 1925 Fight of the Year at New York’s Polo Grounds. Read more on both interactions here.
March 1, 1940: Henry Armstrong vs Ceferino Garcia
Armstrong was the reigning welterweight champ while Garcia was recognized as the middleweight kingpin by the powerful New York and California boxing commissions. They fought to a 10-round draw. ‘Homicide Hank’ had beaten Garcia at MSG a couple of years beforehand, but controversy surrounded their stalemate in Cali. Read more here.
1940s: The Sugar Ray Robinson vs Jake LaMotta series
Robinson went 4-1 against his crosstown rival in four hotly-contested 10-rounders and one 12-rounder. He was a top welterweight prospect and contender and LaMotta was a top middleweight prospect and contender. It made for quite series and though Jake only won on from six (they fought again in 1951), his victory was the first defeat of the legendary Robinson’s career. Read more on their rivalry here.
April 1, 1954: Kid Gavilan vs Carl “Bobo” Olson
Gavilan was the reigning welterweight champ. Olson, who won a 15-round decision, was the defending middleweight champ. Read more about this hot ticket encounter here.
September 23, 1957: Carmen Basilio vs Sugar Ray Robinson
In the 1957 Fight of the Year, Basilio, the reigning welterweight titlist, won a 15-round decision over Robinson, the defending middleweight belt holder. The two greats would do it again the following year and claim a second consecutive FOTY award from The Ring magazine as Robinson regained the belt to become the first-ever five-time champion in any weight class.Read more about their bouts here.
November 22, 1969: Luis Rodriguez vs Nino Benvenuti
Rodriguez, a former welterweight champion, was knocked out in Round 11 by Benvenuti, the defending middleweight kingpin. Rodriguez was thought to be winning the fight at the time of stoppage. Read more about that here.
1980s: Roberto Duran vs Marvin Hagler/Iran Barkley
Duran, a former WBC welterweight champion and reigning WBC 154-pound titleholder, dropped a 15-round decision to Hagler, the defending undisputed middleweight king and won a 12-round decision over Barkley, the defending WBC middleweight titleholder. Duran-Barkley was The Ring’s Fight of the Year for 1989. ‘Hands of Stone’ Duran was also the former lightweight champ. Read more here.
April 6, 1987: Sugar Ray Leonard vs Marvin Hagler
Duran wasn’t the only one who would test the pound-for-pound waters on multiple occasions. Leonard, a former welterweight champ and WBA 154-pound titleholder, won a 12-round decision over Hagler, the defending WBC titleholder in the Fight of the Year for 1987. The result of the ‘Super Fight’ remains a hot topic and widely disputed to this day. It would be Hagler’s last fight and was also one of Leonard’s many ‘final’ bouts. Read more about the fight here.
1990s: Simon Brown vs Lonnie Bradley/Bernard Hopkins
Brown, the former IBF and WBC welterweight champ who briefly held the WBC 154-pound belt, dropped a 12-round decision to Bradley, the defending WBO middleweight beltholder, and was stopped in Round Six by Hopkins, the reigning IBF middleweight kingpin. Read more here.
May 12, 2001: Felix Trinidad vs William Joppy
Trinidad, the former IBF and WBC welterweight top dog and reigning WBA/IBF 154-pound titleholder, stopped Joppy, the defending WBA middleweight champion, in Round Five to go 40-0. Find out more about one of the best bouts around the turn of the century here.
May 19, 2007: Cory Spinks vs Jermain Taylor
Spinks, the former IBF/WBA/WBC/RING welterweight champ and reigning IBF 154-pound beltholder, dropped a 12-round decision to Taylor, the defending WBC/WBO/RING middleweight champ in what SecondsOut and others have branded the worst decision of the year. Read more on the controversial outcome here.
May 7, 2016: Amir Khan vs Canelo Alvarez
And of course, the rival of Kell Brook was dropped cold after six exciting rounds by (hopefully) the future opponent of Golovkin earlier this year in Las Vegas. Here’s a ringside report from Yahoo’s own Kevin Iole.
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While there is certainly a great degree of shock and risk to Brook’s decision to step up to the GGG plate, it’s worth remembering that the fight will likely be fondly remembered in boxing history, as many of these bouts were, even if he loses as expected to Golovkin.
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