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Ennis-Lima: Five famous world champions from Philadelphia ahead of 'Boots' headlining in his home city
Philadelphia has long been a proud fighting city, renowned for its determination and no-nonsense approach to boxing. The city has produced some of the best champions in the history of the sport.
It’s not only the fighters that make Philadelphia a mecca of boxing, but their intensely loyal fanbase, who travel far and wide to support their own and have helped to create a community culture around the sport that is scarcely seen elsewhere.
The latest in this long tradition of elite-level fighters from ‘Philly’ is rising phenom Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, a former unified welterweight champion who is only days away from making his debut at 154lbs on the hunt to become a multi-division world champion.
Ennis has been heralded as one of the most talented and well-rounded boxers in the world today – and is hoping to make an impression on the super welterweight division against Uisma Lima this weekend in a fight on home soil, following in the footsteps of other ‘Philly’ greats.
But which other memorable champions has ‘the city of brotherly love’ produced?
Meldrick Taylor
Meldrick Taylor, in his prime, was one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and a former two-division world champion – but he is largely remembered for how close he came to an all-time great victory.
The ‘Philly’ born fighter was an excellent amateur, amassing a record of 99-4. In 1984, Taylor, at just 17, earned a spot on the United States Olympic team for the home games held in Los Angeles, where he would win gold.
Taylor challenged for his first world title after racing to an unbeaten 19-0-1 record. He came up against incumbent champion James ‘Buddy’ McGirt, whom he stopped in the final round to become the IBF super lightweight champion in September 1988.
He continued a further four fights unbeaten, including two defences of his IBF title to solidify himself as one of the pound-for-pound best, before coming up against one of the most feared fighters in the world, Julio Cesar Chavez, in a super lightweight unification bout for Chavez’s WBC title. Taylor was 24-0-1 and Chavez, 68-0.
Taylor put on the performance of a lifetime and raced out to an early lead over Chavez using his superior boxing IQ and hand speed to win the early exchanges – but Chavez, the heavier puncher, began to wear Taylor down and got a knockdown with just seconds to go in the 12th round. The referee controversially called the fight off with two seconds left, with Taylor comfortably ahead on two scorecards.
Taylor went on to become WBA welterweight champion, but a loss to Terry Norris in a unification bout would spell the end of his time as an elite-level fighter. He would have one final world title challenge in a rematch with Chavez, but got handily dismissed via stoppage in the eighth round.
He fought on and off until he retired in 2002 – but will always be remembered for being ‘Two Seconds From Glory’ – the title of his autobiography.
(Getty Images)
Matthew Saad Muhammad
Matthew Saad Muhammad was the epitome of ‘Philly’ style fighting – all-action, hard-hitting and able to absorb an unnatural amount of punishment and come back stronger, earning him the nickname ‘Miracle Matthew’.
His career had a mixed start, losing three times and drawing twice in his first 18 fights.
Muhammad won the WBC light heavyweight title on his first attempt, knocking out future three-time champion Marvin Johnson in 1979 – beginning a 2 1/2 year reign as champion.
After eight consecutive title defences, including a brace of victories of Britain's John Conteh and other wins over Yaqui López and Murray Sutherland, Muhammad’s reign and 18-fight unbeaten streak would come to an end at the hands of Dwight Muhammad Qawi in 1981 via tenth-round knockout.
He challenged for a world title once more in a rematch with Qawi in 1982, which he lost more convincingly than the first, via sixth-round stoppage.
Just as his career had begun with a mixture of results, so did the end, and he eventually retired in 2002 with a record of 39-16-3 (29).
Danny Garcia
Although Danny Garcia is still an active fighter, he has already secured his place in the annals of great Philadelphia fighters as a two-weight world champion and, in 2013, became the only boxer to ever receive the Philadelphia Pro Athlete of the Year award.
Garcia was a promising amateur with a record of 107-13 and a pair of national titles before turning pro in 2007.
Garcia reached 23-0 before getting his first chance at a world title in 2012 against a former pound-for-pound star in Erik Morales – who got stripped of his belt for missing weight, so Garcia would be competing for the vacant title.
Garcia beat a perhaps over-the-hill Morales via unanimous decision to win his first world title at just 24. This began an elite-level run for Garcia, who would claim wins over Amir Khan for the WBA belt, Morales again, and Zab Judah, in a two-year reign as the unified super lightweight champion.
The ‘Philly’ hero moved up to welterweight in pursuit of new challenges and made an instant impact by beating Lamont Peterson, Paulie Malignaggi and Robert Guerrero to become the WBC champion in 2016.
Garcia would forfeit his belt in an attempt to unify against Keith Thurman, losing a tight split decision in 2017, which marked the end of his time at the top of the sport.
He has since had three more attempts at a world title in between big career breaks, including losses to Shawn Porter, Errol Spence and a surprise title shot at middleweight against Erislandy Lara last year at 36.
Garcia has announced that his next fight will be his last as he begins his journey as a promoter with his company, Swift Promotions.
Amanda Wescott/SHOWTIME
Bernard Hopkins
Bernard Hopkins is the most successful fighter to ever come from Philadelphia and is ranked among the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time due to his longevity and defensive mastery that allowed him to compete at the top level until he was into his 50s.
‘The Executioner’ lost his professional debut in 1988 to Clinton Mitchell but would continue unbeaten until his first world title challenge in 1993 against another of the greats in Roy Jones Jr – losing a unanimous decision in an attempt to become IBF middleweight champion.
After Jones Jr vacated his IBF title, Hopkins swept in and, after a split decision draw in their first fight, claimed the title by knocking out Segundo Mercado in 1994 to begin a record-breaking reign as middleweight champion.
Hopkins went on to collect all three remaining major belts in the middleweight division, winning the WBC belt from Keith Holmes, the WBA from Felix Trinidad and became the first four-belt undisputed champion at 39 years old by beating Oscar De La Hoya for the WBO title in 2004.
After 11 years as the best middleweight in the world, Hopkins lost his undisputed titles to Jermain Taylor and made the move to light-heavyweight at 41 where he overcame Antonio Tarver in 2006, but lost to Joe Calzaghe in 2008 after only beating Winky Wright in between.
At 43, some thought this would be the end of Hopkins, but there were still world titles in his future as he impressively beat Kelly Pavlik and got his revenge over Roy Jones Jr to set up a world title fight against Jean Pascal in 2010.
The fight ended in a draw, but Hopkins would win via unanimous decision in the rematch to become the WBC light heavyweight champion and the oldest man to ever win a world title, beating the previous record set by George Foreman.
After losing his belt to Chad Dawson, Hopkins would climb the top of the mountain once again, beating Tavoris Cloud and Beibut Shumenov to become the unified light-heavyweight champion at 49, continuing to defy the odds.
Hopkins retired in 2016, at 51, after back-to-back losses to Sergey Kovalev and Joe Smith Jr.
(Getty Images)
Joe Frazier
Whilst Frazier was not born in Philadelphia, he relocated as a teen to ‘the city of brotherly love’ and became a symbol of the tenacity and gritty ethos of the city – remembered as one of the most feared punchers the heavyweight division has ever seen.
Frazier was an unlikely Olympic gold medallist in 1964 when he came in as a late replacement for another injured fighter and boxed his way to victory in the final despite having a broken thumb.
Frazier blasted past the competition as a professional, stopping all but four of his opponents on the way to a shot at the undisputed heavyweight title against Jimmy Ellis due to the forced absence of Muhammad Ali in 1970.
Ellis retired on his stool after the fourth round and Frazier was crowned the new heavyweight king.
‘The Fight of the Century’ was next as Ali finally returned to claim his titles in 1971 – but Frazier steamrolled Ali over 15 rounds to retain his belts and become a global superstar.
Frazier lost his heavyweight crown two years later in a demolition job by George Foreman, who knocked Frazier out inside two rounds before he and Ali would fight for a second time.
The second Ali fight was more lowkey than the first, and ‘The Greatest’ won a unanimous decision with no belts on the line to even the score with Frazier and set up a blockbuster third fight.
In 1975, the third fight took place, billed ‘The Thrilla in Manila’. The pair set a new standard of suffering, fighting 14 bludgeoning rounds before Frazier’s corner pulled him out of the fight – in what would be his final attempt at a world title.
Although Frazier only had a short-lived reign as champion, he played a pivotal role in a rivalry that transformed the landscape of boxing forever and is a true icon of the sport.
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