Not really...
Maybe Muhammad Ali's rematch win over Frazier..
Ali lost the first fight to frazier 116-112..but won the rematch 117-111..
And maybe Pacquiao's two brutal KO victories over the Mexican legend Morales..after Pac lost the first fight
goosd question.....
some other comparisons to such improvement:
Roy Jones vs Montell Griffin:
this fight was a little different in that the rematch was immediate, so there wasn't much of a development period between fights...it seemed mored like Jones had finally figured Griffin out in the 9th round of their first, and he just picked up where he left off in the rematch
Floyd Mayweather vs Jose Luis Castillo:
first fight was supposedly Mayweathers toughest fight ever.....a lot of people (not everyone though) think he should have lost that firdt fight...but Floyd put any second thoughts to rest when he absolutely dominated and outclassed Castillo in the rematch, and proved who the better fighter was
Manny Packeow vs Erik Morales
to be fair, Erik Morales was a shot fighter the first time these guys fought, and he was only further down the tubes when they rematched a year later. Had Morales simply retired after upsetting the red-hot Packeow, his legacy would be much stronger today......but never the less, the rematch went ahead, and Manny Packeow avenged his loss as conclusively as you could ask....but you could tell by Erik's body language before the first bell that he was not going to go a full 12
No.
Schmeling came in great shape for the first fight, Schmeling was also a very technical fighter [watch Schmeling vs Sharkey 2 for a good taste on youtube]. Schmeling saw that Joe Louis kept his left hand low after jabbing [a flaw] so he capitalized on it. Louis was also reportedly not taking the fight very seriously.
For the second fight, Schmeling was a bit past it and Louis was dead serious. Louis also corrected his error, if you look closely every time he punched his left hand was held high. Schmeling and pretty much no one after the first fight could land the over-hand right on Louis.
The first fight was a lesson for Louis, he corrected his seemingly only error and this is why he had so many title defenses.
Yes ,there has definately been better improvements between rematches ,in a matter or fact two.
1) Lennox Lewis VS Oliver McCall. In their first match ,McCall got the KO over Lewis and they fought again and Lewis beat McCall by out boxing him to get a referee TKO.
2) Lennox Lewis VS Hasim Rahman. RahmanBrahman KOed Lewis in the 4th round or so and Lennox came back in the rematch and got a devisdevastating KO over Rahman.
evander holyfield vs dwight (braxton) muhammad qawi. 15 round split decision victory in the first fight and 4th round ko (qawi's first stoppage loss) in the rematch.
holyfield vs moorer deserves an honourable mention.
azumah nelson also deserves an honourable mention as he was the rematch king,
Was there ever a better improvement between rematches?
