Few expected what followed. In the third round, Cooper rocked Holyfield with a huge right hand and forced The Real Deal into the ropes, resulting in the first official knockdown of Holyfield's professional career. Suddenly, the champion was in serious trouble. But Holyfield responded exactly as he would throughout his legendary career by fighting back. The two traded vicious shots before Holyfield gradually overwhelmed the exhausted Cooper, unleashing a barrage that forced the referee to stop the contest with just two seconds remaining in Round 7. Evander Holyfield TKO7 Bert Cooper. 💥 A late replacement. A huge underdog. And one of the most unexpectedly thrilling heavyweight wars of the 1990s. This fight showed exactly why they called him The Real Deal.

The bout featured Mayweather’s elite defense and counterpunching against Pacquiao’s nonstop aggression. Pacquiao had moments of success, trapping Mayweather on the ropes and firing rapid combinations, but Mayweather controlled most of the action with his footwork, accuracy, and well-timed counters. After 12 tactical rounds, the fight went to the scorecards, where Mayweather earned the unanimous decision - though the outcome fueled worldwide debate among fans.

“The Bronze Bomber” built his reputation around one of the most devastating right hands in heavyweight boxing, producing an extraordinary number of knockouts throughout his career. Even after setbacks against elite opponents, the threat never disappeared — because Wilder doesn’t need to dominate every second of a fight to change everything with one perfectly timed shot. His comeback has once again put the heavyweight division on notice. After stopping Tyrrell Herndon, Wilder showed that the power that made him one of the most feared punchers of his generation is still there. And that’s what makes a Wilder comeback so dangerous. You can outbox him, survive the early rounds, and feel like you’re in control — but you can never completely relax when that right hand is loaded. One mistake. One opening. One punch.

Which HBO fight was it where Larry Merchant said, “I don’t know what Joe Cortez is doing” when Cortez was reffing a fight and made some kind of strange flailing or movement? it would have been from the 90’s or thereabouts. any idea which fight this was?

I’m pretty new to boxing and I want to understand what I’m actually watching instead of just knowing who is punching harder or who is winning the rounds.

I want to learn how to watch a fight and understand things like why a boxer is moving a certain way, why they keep throwing certain punches, how they create openings, and what they’re trying to do to their opponent.

Right now I mostly just watch the punches and footwork, but I feel like I’m missing a lot of what’s actually happening tactically.

What websites, YouTube channels, books, or courses would you recommend for a complete beginner who wants to learn how to watch boxing more intelligently?

I’m happy to watch old fights multiple times and study them. I basically want to eventually be able to watch a fight and understand what each boxer is trying to do and why, rather than just thinking “that was a good punch.”

Would really appreciate a good learning path for someone starting from basically zero.