Dream Boxing Match-ups That Never Happened

As some massive fights have started the year and even bigger ones are still to come, it seems that boxing is in a good period again. With fights like Usyk and Fury happening this year and the potential of the winner to fight Joshua, it seems to be a big year for the heavyweights, but it was not always this exciting.

With the Usyk and Fury fight being delayed because of injuries and scrapped and the Joshua and Fury fight being delayed because of COVID-19 and then Joshua starting to lose and Fury not needing the fight, it was a worry that neither of these fights would happen, and this got us thinking, what dream fights never happened.

Edwin Valero Vs Manny Pacquiao

In the 2000s Edwin and Pacquiao were known as 2 of the most entertaining boxers on the planet. In 2010 the potential fight was a big rumor and got the boxing world talking. By this time Pacquiao was a multiple-division champion and arguably the best boxer in the world.

In 2009 he beat Ricky Hatton with a vicious knockout in the second round, this was when Pacquiao was at the peak of his powers and his most destructive. Later in the same year, he fought Miguel Cotto in a much more even fight until the last round when the referee stopped the fight.

Edwin Valero was one of the best fighters in the world at this point, being 27-0 and fighting two times in 2009. He comfortably beat Antonio Pitalua in the second round and dispatched Hector Valazquez in round 6. He was on top of the boxing world and seemed to be on track to be one of the best fighters in boxing until tragedy struck

Edwin Valero was known as a troubled soul and this came to a head when the worst happened. In 2010 Edwin Valero murdered his wife in cold blood before admitting this to the police and hanging himself in his prison cell, causing the fight to never happen.

Lennox Lewis Vs Riddick Bowe

As heavyweight boxing was in its heyday dream bouts were seen to be ever more popular. What is different about this fight is the story behind it. The two had fought previously in a fight at the Olympics in 1988. Lennox Lewis won after a well-known controversial stoppage which was the start of this feud.

There was a massive war of words between these two fighters and the verbal sparring between them created gold and much anticipation for the fight which unfortunately never happened even though the two got very close to fighting on several occasions.

In 1994 and 1996 the fight was at its closest to happening, unfortunately, even though the boxing odds had Lewis to win, he was surprisingly defeated by Oliver McCall in 1994. This and Bowe’s 8-year-long departure from the sport put these plans to rest. With the fight never happening this was always remembered as a massive missed opportunity in the heavyweight division.

Mike Tyson Vs George Foreman

This fight was seen as a dream generation fight until 1987 when 38-year-old George Foreman came out of retirement and went on a 24-fight winning streak. During this time the Tyson vs Foreman fight was offered to both fighters who decided against fighting.

George Foreman came out and said that he “Didn’t want anything to do with that guy… He was a monster” and considering the 18-year age gap and the stylistic differences between the fighters we do understand the decision to not go ahead with the fight.

Conclusion

Whether it was a mental issue or people’s careers being at different places, we understand why all of these fights did not happen although we would have loved to see all of them. We hope for the next generation of boxing fans to have some of their dream matchups come to fruition.