On September 16, 1981, WBC welterweight champion ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard faced WBA welterweight champion Thomas ‘Hitman’ Hearns in a unification fight, billed as ‘The Showdown’, at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. In a classic encounter between boxer and puncher, it was the puncher, Hearns, who held sway in the early rounds. His height and reach advantage caused Leonard problems, allowing him to land his jab and dictate the pace of the fight. However, in rounds six and seven, Leonard connected with a series of heavy shots to head and body that had Hearns reeling about the ring on more than one occasion.

Over the next three rounds, in a case of role reversal, Leonard continued his aggressive pursuit of Hearns, in search of a knockout punch. However, Hearns kept him at bay and, in so doing, regained his composure. By round eleven, Hearns was once again in control, but a timely intervention by trainer Angelo Dundee at the end of the twelfth reinvigorated Leonard. With renewed urgency, Leonard connected with a vicious right hand and followed up with a flurry of unanswered blows that twice sent Hearns tumbling through the ropes. Hearns answered the bell for the fourteenth round, but clearly had nothing left and, with Leonard landing more heavy, unanswered shots at will, the referee stepped in to stop the contest. No-one in Hearns’ corner questioned the stoppage.

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On November 13, 1999, in a unification contest billed as ‘Unfinished Business’, WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis faced WBA and IBF champion Evander Holyfield at theThomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas. The pair had met at Madison Square Garden, New York the previous March when, despite Lewis appearing to dominate, the result was a draw, which HBO commentator Jim Lampley described as a ‘travesty’.

Boasting a 2½” height advantage, 6½” reach advantage and 25lb weight advantage, Lewis started positively, utilising his jab to keep Holyfield at bay and smothering him when he attempted to move in close. In round three, a flush right hook gave Holyfield cause for encouragement and, in round five, Lewis sustained a cut over his right eye caused, he claimed, by a headbutt. Holyfield enjoyed more major success in the seventh round, which he dominated against his tiring opponent.

For the next four rounds, while Holyfield landed some sharp, eye-catching punches, Lewis refused to yield and continued to trade blows in the middle of the ring. Heading into the final round, Holyfield needed a knockout to win but, while he was arguably the busier of the pair, he could not find a telling blow. The result of a scitillating, skilful contest went, once again, to the judges. Thankfully, there was to be no further controversy, with Lewis declared the winner by unanimous decision, 115-113, 116-112,117-111.

Read about the fight here