The Boxing History Blog

On the 26th August 2017 Conor McGregor, the featherweight and lightweight UFC champion will make his professional boxing debut against one of the best boxers in the last twenty years, Floyd Mayweather Jnr, in the 154 lbs weight class. There are many opinions and predictions on how this contest will pan out, but here are a few fights where the novice challenger have taken on the more experinced champion: 22nd August 1957, Sticks' Stadium, Seattle, Washington, USA World Heavyweight Title Floyd Paterson Vs Pete Rademacher  Thomas Peter Rademacher was born on 20th November 1928 in Tieton, Washington USA. His Amateur record stood at 72-7, which included four Seattle Golden Gloves Championships (1949, 1951 to 1953), he lost out on the 1950 title when  Zora Foley, the future heavyweight title challenger, beat him. He qualified for the 1956 Olympic Games held in Melbourne, Australia. He knocked out Josef Nemec from Czechoslovakia in the second round. Next he be...

The last time these two fought was in the 1988 Olympic Super-heavyweight final, where Lewis; who was representing Canada; took gold with a second-round stoppage of the American Bowe. Both men turned professional, with Lewis taking his original British roots under the promoter Frank Maloney. Even though Lewis was born in London and didn't up sticks until he was twelve years old, the public took time to warm to this man claiming to be British with a Canadian accent. Lewis turned pro on 27th June 1989 against Al Malcolm, who he stopped in the second round. Bowe turned professional with Rock Newman's promotional outfit, under the tutelage of the great trainer Eddie Futch. On 06th March 1989 he defeated future danger-man Lionel Butler (who had a record of 0-1-0) in two rounds of his professional bow. Both Lewis and Bowe stayed unbeaten in their first twelve months in the paid ranks. You could say arguably Bowe was the more impressive of the two as Lewis struggled to win ...