Friday 25 August 2017 21:45, UK
As Floyd Mayweather returns to the ring to partake in his 50th career fight against Ireland’s Conor McGregor, we look at how five other boxing stars fared in their half-century bout...
In January, 1999, Tyson, after his fair share of problems outside the ring, had made his second winning return to boxing following another lengthy career lay-off. Nine months on from that and he lined up to face former WBA cruiserweight champion Orlin Norris.
The fight with Norris would only last one stanza, Tyson the clear aggressor throughout, landing heavy power shots that forced Norris on to the defensive over the three minutes.
As the bell rang to end the opener though, 'Iron Mike' dropped Norris with a left hook and was consequently deducted two points by the referee. Norris then notified officials that he had injured his knee following the fall and was unable to continue, leaving the bout to controversially be ruled a no-contest.
A three-weight world champion at the time, Pacquiao faced Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera in 2007 in a long-awaited rematch of their 2003 battle.
The Filipino great again got the better of Barrera, taking the verdict via a comfortable unanimous points decision, putting himself in prime position for a shot at the WBC super-featherweight title.
After Leonard had inflicted the first career defeat on Hearns in 1981, in an undisputed welterweight fight billed 'The Showdown', the two pound-for-pound greats finally returned to again go toe-to-toe eight years later in Hearns' 50th career bout.
The return would take place at the Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, with the WBC and WBO super-middleweight world titles at stake.
In a memorable encounter, Leonard would be dropped twice by the hard-hitting Detroit native, and many felt Hearns had done enough to get the verdict. The fight though was scored a draw by the judges sitting ringside.
'Sugar', a three-division world titlist at the time, would notch up his 50th career fight against Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto at the Madison Square Garden, New York in 2007.
Cotto's WBA welterweight title would be the prize at stake and it was he who got the better of the 12-round contest, winning via scores of 115-113 twice and 116-113, handing Mosley his fifth career defeat.
Having previously lost his WBC super-featherweight world title to fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera, Morales returned to the ring to face another almighty task as he went up against Pacquiao at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
The Filipino was the favourite going into the contest, but it was Morales who produced a stellar, half-century deserving, performance to earn a unanimous decision.
Despite 'El Terrible' being comfortably ahead on the scorecards, Morales decided to stand and brawl with 'Pacman' in the final round, afterwards saying that he wanted to give the fans their ultimate money's worth.
