If boxing has taught us anything, it’s that you can accomplish a lot in just three minutes. You can turn your life around and win everything, or lose focus for just a split second and become one with misery and despair. These selected rounds provided many of the boxing’s most thrilling moments in 2013 and reminded us why the Sweet Science is the sport where no lead is safe, down to very last second.
HONORABLE MENTION
SAKIO BIKA VS. MARCO ANTONIO PERIBAN, ROUND 12
No one, and I mean NO ONE, has an easy night with Sakio Bika. Just ask then-undefeated Marco Antonio Periban, who took a cut forehead into the final round of this title challenge. Periban went through abolsute hell in taking massive hooks from Bika and landed his own arsenal of shots. As of right now, the entire round (and fight, for that matter), isn’t readily available online. But watch the below clip to get an idea of the brutality.
[youtube http://youtu.be/t-u4BFCbgS0]*********************************
5. JAMES KIRKLAND VS. GLEN TAPIA, ROUND 3
Kirkland had eaten some hellacious shots in the first and started to warm up to the task in the closing minute and second round. The third round is the one where Kirkland and Tapia where at their peaks of throwing their best with bad intentions. After this career-shortening three minutes, you can start to see the toll it took on Tapia. This stanza just shades the second round.
(16:05 MARK)
[youtube http://youtu.be/14VZNEnIMAs?t=16m5s]*********************************
4. DANIEL GEALE VS. DARREN BARKER, ROUND 6
Without question, this was the most inspirational rise from a knockdown seen in some time. Barker was dropped hard by a body shot and couldn’t breathe. 99.9% of the time, fighters stay down. But Barker, who dedicated the fight to his daughter and brother (the latter dying a few years earlier in a tragic car accident), shut out the pain and rose to beat the count.
Referee Eddie Cotton yelled “Show me something!” as Barker looked defenseless and almost turned away in submission as Geale hammered him on the ropes. Barker summoned more strength to throw haymakers which shocked and backed off Geale, driving the crowd into a frenzy. Barker’s gallant stand drove him over the second half to pull out a hard-fought split decision
[youtube http://youtu.be/-dflYpWgFCg]********************************
3. RUSLAN PROVODNIKOV VS. TIM BRADLEY, ROUNDS 2, 6, AND 12
Take your pick from these nine minutes of BeatsBoxingMayhem’s Fight of the Year. Bradley fought on instinct these rounds, relying on his conditioning to see him through the concussive right hands Provodnikov was landing.
(7:28, 23:28 AND 47:30 MARKS)
[youtube http://youtu.be/NIlVQO71PbQ?t]************************
2. OMAR FIGUEROA VS. NIHITO ARAKAWA, ROUND 3
A young aggressive volume puncher vs. an iron-willed veteran with a strong chin. That recipe brought us the best round of sustained action seen this year. Simply amazing.
[youtube http://youtu.be/Ys1E8lWEru0]*******************************
1. JOHN MOLINA VS. MICKEY BEY, ROUND 10
Martin Scorsese couldn’t have written a better ending. The round started with one fighter looking to close the show in emphatic fashion. It end with that same fighter desperately trying to fend off finishing blows. A great round with a breath-taking, definitive ending. Make sure to watch Floyd Mayweather and Leonard Ellerbe’s reactions in the front row.
[youtube http://youtu.be/VcNJ46sAsPM]
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 