Best first title winning performances?

Remember, first title winning performances, so fights like Jones-Toney and Pac-Barrera don't count.

The notables that come to mind:

Ali-Liston 1
Napoles-Cokes 1
Foreman-Frazier 1
Olivares-Rose
Benitez-Cervantes
Leonard-Benitez
Hearns-Cuevas
Bowe-Holy 1
Tyson-Berbick
Sanchez-Lil Red 1
Harada-Kingpetch 1
Locche-Fuji
Nunn-Tate
Taylor-McGirt

Others?

 

Duran vs Buchanan
Laguna vs Ortiz I

 

X, I started pulling a list together the other day off the back of the Olivares-Rose thread.

No doubt I've missed some and not all of these are on film so there's a degree of speculation about some of them.

• Terry McGovern KO1 Peddlar Palmer (1899) - World Bantamweight Championship
• Benny Leonard TKO9 Freddie Welsh 3 (1917)
• Jack Dempsey KO4 Jess Willard (1919) - World Heavyweight Championship
• Ike Williams TKO2 Juan Zurita (1945) - NBA Lightweight Title
• Fighting Harada KO11 Pone Kingpetch 1 (1962) - World Flyweight Championship
• Hiroyuki Ebihara KO1 Pone Kingpetch 1 (1963) - World Flyweight Championship
• Muhammad Ali RTD7 Sonny Liston 1 (1964) - World Heavyweight Championship
• Vicente Saldivar RTD12 Sugar Ramos (1964) - World Featherweight Championship
• Lionel Rose W15 Fighting Harada (1968) - World Bantamweight Championship
• Jose Napoles RTD13 Curtis Cokes 1 (1969) - World Welterweight Championship
• Ruben Olivares KO2 Lionel Rose (1969) - World Bantamweight Championship
• Carlos Monzon TKO12 Nino Benvenuti 1 (1970) - World Middleweight Championship
• Roberto Duran TKO13 Ken Buchanan (1972) - WBA Lightweight Title
• George Foreman TKO2 Joe Frazier 1 (1973) - World Heavyweight Championship
• Rodrigo Valdez TKO7 Bennie Briscoe 2 (1974) - WBC Middleweight Title
• Wilfred Benitez W15 Antonio Cervantes (1976) - WBA Junior Welterweight Title
• Pipino Cuevas TKO2 Angel Espada 1 (1976) - WBA Welterweight Championship
• Sugar Ray Leonard TKO15 Wilfred Benitez (1979) - WBC Welterweight Title
• Salvador Sanchez TKO14 Danny Lopez 1 (1980) - WBC Featherweight Title
• Thomas Hearns TKO2 Pipino Cuevas (1980) - WBA Welterweight Title
• Marvin Hagler TKO4 Alan Minter (1980) - World Middleweight Championship
• Julio Cesar Chavez TKO7 Mario Martinez (1984) - WBC Super Featherweight Title
• Rocky Lockridge KO1 Roger Mayweather (1984) - WBA Super Featherweight Title
• Azumah Nelson KO11 Wilfredo Gomez (1984) - WBC Featherweight Title
• Barry McGuigan W15 Eusebio Pedroza (1985) - WBA Featherweight Title
• Lloyd Honeygan TKO6 Donald Curry (1986) - World Welterweight Championship
• Mike Tyson KO2 Trevor Berbick (1986) - WBC Heavyweight Title
• Michael Nunn TKO8 Frank Tate (1988) - IBF Middleweight Title
• Lennox Lewis KO2 Razor Ruddock (1992) - WBC Heavyweight Title
• Felix Trinidad KO2 Maurice Blocker (1993)

 

Any suggestions for the 30s and 40s?

 

Forgot to add Hagler-Minter

 

Qawi-Saad 1

 

Armstrong vs Ross
Lewis vs Bob Olin

 

Rose-Harada
Zarate-Martinez
Canizales-Seabrooks 1
Happy Lora-Zaragoza

 

I just realized Armstrong vs Ross wasn't Henry's first title. However, he was supposedly equally potent vs Sarron.

 

Foster-Tiger

 

Dony agree on tyson berbick. Sure it was a massacre, but Berbick wasnt good enough for that performance to make the list.

Quite a few other fights mentioned that i would put in that category. I think we should limit ourselves to performances where the beaten titlist was an atg himself, or at least close to one, and the winner became an atg afterward. If not, there's way too many fights that fit the bill (if not, even fights like mancini frias or six head-page could be mentioned)

 

I dont think Pryor-Cervantes was mentionned

 

Hard to Top Foreman-Frazier I or Hearns-Cuevas, Considering the DESTRUCTIVE Nature of Those Bouts and the Pre-Fight REPUTATIONS of Frazier and Cuevas...




REED

 

Kid Pambele was far from the fighter he was 5-6 years before, but yes, it was impressive how The Hawk went through him.

 

I would add Yuri Arbachakov vs Kittikasem 1

 

I'd give it to Foreman-Frazier I, personally.

 

Cervantes was a washed out, protected 40 year old champ. He was there to be taken out by any good boxer.

 

Didnt realised he was this old.

Just checked, he was 35. Old but not that old. But sure, he jad a lot of wear and tear

 

Floyd Patterson vs. Archie Moore

 

Marciano vs Walcott?

Saddler vs Pep I?

 

Fair point. That definitely shortens the list.

 

I thought about Marciano-Walcott 1 but it wasn't necessarily a great performance from Marciano. Tremendous heart but he was behind for much of the fight.

Saddler-Pep 1 ticks lots of boxes, though, including a great upset as well as a great performance.

 

There was some debate over Cervantes' age. Officially he was 34/35 but people reckon he was older. I'm not sure. I think Cervantes was just one of those guys who looked old even when he was young, like Azabache Martinez.

 

Seems rather improbable to me. Cervantes was pretty much a journey man before the first locche fight, and he turned a corner afterward. Officially, he was 26, which would make sense for a fighter entering his prime. Would be pretty weird to se a 31 yo boxer making such a turn around in his career

 

Or Marvin Johnson.

 

I would add:

McGuigan-Pedroza
Esparragoza-Cruz

 

Cervantes' age is accurate imo. He was in his late 20s when he won the junior welter title.

 

Also would add Gomez-Yum, which is fresh in my mind as I rewatched it last night.

Gomez got off to a shaky start, but after the early rounds, he really showed off his full tool kit of amazing skills in taking apart Yum.

 

My crack at a top ten.

#10. Moore vs Maxim I
#09. Leonard vs Benitez
#08. Olivares vs Rose
#07. Benitez vs Cervantes
#06. Hearns vs Cuevas
#05. Sanchez vs Lopez I
#04. Foreman vs Frazier I
#03. Ali vs Liston I
#02. Saddler vs Pep I
#01. Napoles vs Cokes I

 

Napoles-Cokes 1 is my choice if we're talking pure perfection. If we're talking historical significance, then the winner is Ali-Liston 1.

Was Curtis Cokes as good as Liston or Frazier? No. But, he was an excellent welterweight, and Nap just put on a clinic for the ages.

I'd rank Hearns-Cuevas above Sanchez-Lopez. Reason being, Pipino was at his peak, whereas Lil Red was starting to slip when Sal got ahold of him.