• Seabiscuit vs. War Admiral

Seabiscuit, the horse that lacked breeding, was untrainable, and was `too small'; Pollard, abandoned by his parents, beaten in many prize fights, secretly blind in one eye and `too big' to be a top jockey; Smith, a gifted horse tamer and trainer reduced to riding the rails and hoboing; Bridges, the self-made millionaire devastated by the destruction of all his hopes in a ruined economy and the sudden death of his young only son. They bond together to make Seabiscuit into one of the greatest racehorses in history. Who wouldn't be moved by this? Only the conventional fat man who's War Admiral's snobbish Maryland owner. It's all about heart, and Seabiscuit's got it, plenty of it.

• Brooklyn Dodgers vs. New York Yankees


In 1954, the Yankees won over 100 games. In 1955, the Dodgers finally beat the Yankees in the World Series, after five previous Series losses to the them.

• Milan High vs. Munice Central


The real life Hoosiers , Milan High, a school from nowhere beat the favorites Munice Central. In 1954, Milan was a quiet rural town in the southeastern part of Indiana, with a high school of 161 total students, 75 being boys. But it became the scene of one of the greatest basketball stories in history when they beat Munice Central. the Indians were the smallest school ever to win a single-class state basketball title in Indiana. The team and town are the inspiration for the 1986 film Hoosiers.

• Ali vs. Liston

At the time of the first Liston-Ali fight in 1964, Liston was the world heavyweight champion, having beaten Floyd Patterson by a first round knockout in September 1962. With an impressive knockout record to that point, Liston was a fighter whom many other heavyweights were reluctant to meet in the ring. The will smith scene from the movie does more justice to the whole scene.

• Ali vs. Foreman

The classic Rumble in the Jungle fight. Ali was now a 32 yr old boxer. Foreman had quickly risen from his gold medal victory at the 1968 Olympics and into the top ranks of professional heavyweights. Foreman was greatly feared for his punching power, size, and sheer physical dominance. Still, Joe Frazier and his promoters believed that despite Foreman's ever-growing list of knockouts and victories, he would be too slow and unrefined to stand up to Frazier's relentless attacks. This would turn out to be a grave miscalculation, as Foreman won the championship in grand fashion by knocking Frazier down six times in two rounds before the bout was stopped. Foreman further solidified his hold over the heavyweight division after he demolished Ken Norton, who was the only man besides Frazier at that time to defeat Ali, also in two rounds. Though Ali had avenged his losses to both Norton and Frazier in the years since, the younger Foreman seemed an overwhelming favorite against the 32 year old Ali.

Ali started the first round attacking Foreman with the unconventional (and provocative) 'right-hand leads'. This was notable, as Ali was famed for his speed and technical skills, while Foreman's raw power was his greatest strength; close range fighting would, it seemed, inevitably favour Foreman and leave too great a chance that Ali would be stunned by one or more of Foreman's powerful haymakers. Ali made use of the right-hand lead punch (striking with the right hand without setting up with the left) in a further effort to disorient Foreman. However, while this aggressive tactic may have surprised Foreman and it did allow Ali to hit him solidly a number of times, it failed to significantly hurt him. Before the end of the first round, Foreman caught up to Ali and began landing a few punches of his own. Foreman had also been trained to cut off the ring, preventing escape. Ali realized that he would tire if Foreman could keep making one step to Ali's two, so he changed tactics.





• North Carolina State vs. Houston

Houston had entered the tournament with a swagger and rightfully so. They were a group of high fliers who were dubbed Phi Slamma Jamma. There was Akeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Larry Micheaux, Michael Young and Benny Anders. The Cougars were big and athletic and they could sky like no team before. North Carolina State's win over Houston in the 1983 title game was all that. And more. And even a little more. When Lorenzo Charles slammed home Dereck Whittenburg's errant shot at the buzzer, no one knew the exact ramifications of this game. Oh sure, everyone understood the David vs. Goliath angle.

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• Villanova vs. Georgetown


After defeating 2-seed Memphis State in the national semifinals, Villanova met defending champion and ten-point-favorite Georgetown, led by Patrick Ewing, in the title game.

Top-seeded Georgetown had beaten conference rival Villanova twice during the regular season, and had reached the title game with tenacious defense, which gave up less than 40% of their opponents' shots from the field in both the regular season and the postseason. But in perhaps the greatest shooting performance in NCAA history, the Wildcats went 22-of-28 from the field to convert a blistering 78.6% of their shots, including a second half where they missed only one basket.

 

• Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson


Almost everyone assumed that Douglas' fight versus Mike Tyson was going to be another quick knockout for the champion. Only one betting parlor in Las Vegas would hold odds for the bout, and many thought it was just an easy tune-up for Tyson before a future mega-fight with undefeated cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield (who was ringside for the event). Douglas' mother, Lula Pearl, died 23 days before the title bout.Douglas, who had trained hard, surprised the world by dominating the fight from the beginning, utilizing his 12-inch reach advantage to perfection. He seemingly hit Tyson at will with powerful jabs and right hands and skillfully danced out of range of Tyson's own punches. The champion had not taken Douglas seriously, expecting another quick and easy knockout victory. He was slow, refusing to move his head and slip his way in (his usual effective strategy) but rather setting his feet and throwing big, lunging hooks, repeatedly trying to beat Douglas with single punches. By the fifth round, Tyson's left eye was swelling shut from Douglas' many right hands, and ringside HBO announcers proclaimed it was the most punishment they had ever seen the champion absorb.

Tyson came out aggressively in the ninth round and continued his attempts to end the fight with one big punch. Douglas continued to utilize his strategy and held Tyson at bay with his jab. Douglas dominated the tenth round from the outset. Douglas scored a huge uppercut, followed by a rapid combination, and knocked Tyson down for the first time in his career, making boxing history. Tyson struggled to his knees and picked up his mouthpiece lying on the mat next to him. He awkwardly attempted to place it back into his mouth. The image of Tyson with the mouthpiece hanging crookedly from his lips would become an enduring image from the fight. He was unable to beat the referee's count, and Douglas was the new heavyweight champion of the world.

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