Sitting in the Premier Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa, with WBF Executive Committee member Eddie Marshall just prior to our double world title fight in Soweto a few weeks ago, another boxing personality sitting with us, asked me to list my favorite fights that I have supervised as the President of the World Boxing Federation.
There are and were so many that it was hard to actually find definitively the favorites but being on the spot I decided on the following fights for the following reasons.
1. Juan José Montes vs. Oscar Ibarra (Guadalajara, Mexico, WBF Fight of the Year 2012). This fight was exceptional and fought by two extreme warriors. Both fighters went toe to toe for 12 rounds without taking a backward step. Blood flew in all directions, and the crowd was on its feet throughout. An unforgettable fight.
2. Holly Holm vs. Ann Sophie Mathis (Albuquerque, USA, WBF Female Fight of the Year 2012). The two best women in the world fighting for the second time. A great fight with the power of Mathis against the slick skills of Holm.
A packed arena of a few thousand were thrilled by the skills of two of the best woman fighters of all time.
3.Evander Holyfied vs. Francois Botha (Las Vegas, USA, WBF Fight of the Year 2010). Legend Evander Holyfield against my good friend Fransie Botha. Perhaps both slightly past their best at this point, but the excitement within the crowd to see Evander fighting, which was possibly one of his final fights, was just so memorable.
Botha of course almost upset the party winning the first half of the fight but his usual lack of conditioning resulted in Holyfield acquiring our title.
The final fight I have chosen will surely be a surprise to many but which was a fight that I will remember forever.
4. Thembani Mbangatha v Mayihlomo Mjonono (Cape Town, South Africa, 2017). This was a fight for the regional WBF All-Africa title and was exciting and toe to toe again until the drama unfolded in round seven.
Unbeaten Mbangatha was boxing beautifully against the tough Mjonono when he threw a wild left hook only to miss and for the crowd to witness his shoulder popping out. It was a frightening sight and one which everyone thought would result in Mbangatha’s team having to concede.
There was much discussion during the one minute break, and astonishingly Mbangatha came out in round eight, still with his shoulder hanging helplessly and decided he would box one handed. He did, and did so incredibly, actually winning the round on all three judges’ scorecards.
In the next one minute break, his team managed to pop the shoulder back in place, and Mbangatha now 9-0 proceeded to win the fight.
There are many other memorable fights I have either supervised, refereed and judged (in the old days) and the list is too long to mention in this column, but it is not always the high profile fights that are the most memorable.
Until next time, keep boxing.
Howard Goldberg
PRESIDENT: World Boxing Federation
