Driving a cab as I did in those days I pulled into a north Fitzroy bar in Melbourne aust....around 10:30 on a Sunday morning and sat in amazement and watched a boxing gem alone in an empty bar; just me and the bar keep who didn’t seem too interested.....I sat on my one beer for the fight...sucked up the incredible moment and left to finish my shift. Nothing approached normality on that day; how could anything contrast in any way with what I had just seen. 31 years later I feel just the same about the fight and about both Harding and Andries performances.

The thumbs down has to be from a Dennis Andries fan. No one else would be dumb enough. It was fight of the year, Awesome!

A story goes that after the fight Harding was taken to local hospital for observations and a woman in the waiting room asked Oh what happened to that guy? The reply came "Oh that's Jeff Harding he just won the WBC light heavyweight title, Oh my lord she said What does the other guy look like????

This is awesome, what a great fight. I was there, sitting ringside with my brother next to Tyson and Fenech. Good times!

no guts,no glory!!!!! THE HITMAN,unsung hero of Australian boxing!

Probably my favourite fight of all time. The toughness, grit, no holding, all out action and Hardings absolute relentless body attack

This fight and Kambosos win over López are in my eyes the two greatest Australian boxing performances . Warriors

Amazing fight, magnificent performance by Harding.

I'm back. I have to say I think this is the most ruthless display of body punching I can remember. A couple of my favourite fighters are Joe Frazier and Mike McCallum and still I never seen them focus this much and so brutally on the body. This is why I keep coming back to watch this fight

Well done Jeff! Whatever happened afterwards, no-one can ever take that incredible night away from you. I am not sure I have ever seen a fighter in such incredible shape in all my 40+ years following boxing. Great fight! You should be proud. Deservedly fight of the year.

One of the best fights ever

Tough, tough guys. How Harding took the headshots and Andries took the bodyshots for so long.

Epic ebb and flow stoush , the body work by Jeff really was sublime , the belief in himself at the end of those closing rounds as he bounces n walks back to his corner, Brilliant.

Hardings head must be made of concrete. Andries landed a ton of right hands - straights, crosses, hooks, upper cuts. He couldn't miss early

Still gives me goosebumps.

damn - still get goosebumps!

Jeff ..a true Champ.. how does someone hold that mental space? that much stamina and determination? A true soldier

Great fight! The hitman Harding was a top fighter. Very underrated IMO.

Gotta be one of the best fights in history.. very entertaining

Great fight both had massive hearts amazing

One of the things I like about Johnny Lewis is how he has his guys have a Pavlovian response to the bell. They run to the corner.

Haven;t watched this for a few years, but like others I keep coming back, amazing display by both guys.

My favourite boxing bout of all time.

number 10 challenger to Andries;called up because original challenger was unable to fight... ...this is the real rocky balboa,cut to pieces but no surrender by Hitman Harding

The 2nd best lightheavyweight championship I've ever seen. Moore vs Durelle 1 being first.

That fight was a a perfect example of what a good body attack can do to a fighter.

3:39 Bell sounds for Round 2

Have you got Gerald McClellan vs Dennis Milton that was on this undercard?

Great Fight Jeff Harding ? What a Champ ! True Australian fighter just like Les Darcy, Remarkable ! One of the all time great Fights !

I love it after the eighth round..the commentator says that Andres takes a few rounds to warm up 🤣

Tyson might have been the biggest boxing fan in the world as the heavyweight champ. He totally embraced the sport as his anything and everything. Even when he did commentating he was so insightful, just purest that soaked up everything.

Best fight EVER

tough ,tough ,tough guy very little skill very big heart what a fighter harding was.

Kind of amazing to hear a former boxer and an analyst even suggest a judge should disregard a knockdown in a round. If the referee rules a knockdown you don’t take it upon yourself to adjust the score. You hear Minter and Alex Wallou both saying that they disregarded it. A judge is never going to do that unless he doesn’t want to be judging fights anymore.

Seen some great fights this one's up there with them

Where is the bell in this arena?

43:12 " Dennis Andries will not give up his title without a fight"...........................geee really?

Who is this Ondrayze guy?

I actually had Andries ahead 7-3-1 in rounds going into the 12th, and one of those rounds had an official knockdown called for Andries, even though it shouldn't have been. If he Andries were able to survive the 12th round, even if it was a 10-7 or 10-6 round, he might have won and gotten a draw, at least on my card. Crazy fight.

My City was definitely the boxing capital back in the day Sheeeeeeeeees what a great fight

2 toughguys 👊🥊

At the beginning of the fight it sounds like the whole auditorium is empty. And everyone in the place can hear exactly what the commentators are saying. I would be so uncomfortable if everyone could hear me like that, even the fighters.

Great fight. Two gladiators

Love to see Harding vs Gassiev

Best fight ever jeff harding was the the champ that night very hard man.

After the eighth round..that insane commentaor says.. Dennis is just warming up?.. after the eieighth round, mind you

Watch his lips CHAMPION OF THE WORLD over and over again.The best and most brutal of fights the leather didn't stop

I think Emanual Steward gave Andries bad advice about the 6th round. He told him to pick up the pace, that he was losing. Andries was getting tired by the 6th round, his punches were getting wider, they were slower and very easy to see coming. His arms were heavy, but Andries kept trying to throw a big shot, then he would tire again. He should have organized between rounds, been patient, restore strength by playing defense for one round, unless that big shot opened up. If he had saved energy waiting for a 2nd wind, it's likely he would have had several chances to land a huge shot. I would have told him to take the 7th round off for the most part, don't throw any heavy shots the entire round. Instead, he went right back to winging nuclear bombs, would wear down, 20 seconds later a few more wild shots, easy to see and avoid. If he would have jabbed and held his guard high in the 7th, he could have regained nearly full power on his shots. The next round, the 8th and thereafter, I would have told him to play defense, block shots and jab, an occasional hook or right hand. He had 4 rounds left, could have kept waiting and watching, saving it for a big shot and having enough power left to follow up if he hurt Harding. Once or twice a round, look for that big shot, but don't wing big punches when there's no opening, wasting energy. If Andries had done that, he would have finished the fight with good power in reserve to land a KO shot if it came, anywhere from the 8th or 9th thru the 12th. The way he was doing it, he wore down to the point of exhaustion, never got in a full power shot that may have taken Harding down/out............................... It was a remarkable fight, 2 very tough individuals.

Final Round Knockout

Unfortunately for Andries, his legs just gave out on him at the end of the 11th round. He couldn't stand up to the punches in round twelve because of that..

Probably the greatest ever moment in Australian boxing history was this effort by Harding: to KO an WBC champion in the USA.

1:15 Round 1 3:43 Round 2 7:01 Round 3 11:04 Round 4 15:05 Round 5 19:02 Round 6 23:02 Round 7 27:01 Round 8 31:07 Round 9 35:01 Round 10 39:08 Round 11 43:06 Round 12 44:09 Final Round TKO

Donald Trump sitting next to Don King at the 41:44 mark.

Jeff Fenech, Mike Tyson, Don King and Donald Trump sitting next to each other, 34 years later and there all still alive in 2023, respect to them all regardless of who or what they did.

jeff is great ,what ever happened to him

What a great fight! Both fighters fought their hearts out! If one was to pour a mould for the perfect fighter, one wouldn't do much better than with Hardings physique, heart and chin... and what a venue for a legend to be born...TRUMP! PLAZA!!

Fenech great fighter average trainer

Brilliant - just finished Charlie Staunton's book 'The Good Bloke' (on audio) an NSW Copper for 10yrs and Drug money mule - Charlie had such an interesting life - Born 1958 in London. Charlie attended this fight (chapter 10) set up in Trump Plaza, Atlantic City - by our wonderful President 45 soon to be POTUS 47 Donald John Trump - and so I am here about to watch. Love Boxing and the Book is great fun / interesting too. Trump 2024

After the eighth round when Watson says that Dennis takes time to warm up..🤣🤣it's the eighth round,, how many rounds do you need to warm up?..tosser 😂

I think Dennis Andries in his prime could have beaten Jeff Harding!

هههههههههه هههههههههه هههههههههه هههههههههه هههههههههه هههههههههه هههههههههه هههههههههه هههههههههه هههههههههه تايسن في وقتها يقتلهم الاثنين على الحلبه

And to think Jeff is blowing bubbles into his beer in some dark pub in Newcastle as I speak.

I had Dennis winning this. This was a robbery as far as I’m concerned

Hardings will and determination incredible, body punching exemplary, johnny lewis hats off to you for training jeff into a great Australian fighter 🥊🥊 and for believing in himself to be world champion. 🥊🥊🥊🙏🦘