Thread: What's the most unlikely rivalry in the history of boxing?

By this I mean a superstar or great fighter taking on someone who was completely unheralded and losing, only to fight them again in a rematch and get beat again.

Boxing history is full of upsets, Hasim Rahman KO'ing Lewis, Brewster KO'ing Wlad, Montiel winning via DQ over a prime Roy Jones etc but in each case when the rematch was set they were simply dismantled and blown away by the superior fighter who didn't make the same mistake again.

My question though is has there ever been a fight where a completely unheralded guy wins against a huge name in his prime, and then in the rematch stuns everyone by winning again?

I don't count guys like Tarver here as Tarver however much people hate on him is a world class fighter, and Jones was past his prime but I mean guys of the calibre of Rahman or Corrie Sanders etc KO'ing a highly fancied prime fighter and then against all odds doing the same thing again in the rematch?


The best example I can think of is Ricardo Mayorga twice beating Vernon Forrest but is there a better one, boxing historians and ICB this is directed at you.

Luis Santana "w" x 2 Terry Norris .....Iran Barkley KO 3 W.12 Tommy Hearns ??

Campbell V Peden comes to mind.

Nate Campbell has enormous talent in the Ring and how he lost to Robbie Peden i will never know except for this, in boxing or any sport underestimate your opponent at your peril and don't drop your hands and stick out your chin

Mosley and Vernon Forrest kinda. Forrest ain't really done shit since.

And of course like Biblo said, THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND...

Ricardo Mayorga over Vernon Forrest.

like SSN the one that sprang to mind was Barkley Hearns

Collins Eubank ??


Golota Bowe (yes I know Bowe 'won' both he got hammered !!!)

Junior Jones over Barrera

Carlos Monzon vs Nino Benvenuti
Salvador Sanchez vs Danny Lopez

Originally Posted by BIG H

Junior Jones over Barrera

ah yeah great call with Junior Jones, Barrera twice beaten by a man who shouldn't have been fit to lace his gloves.

Originally Posted by Bilbo

Originally Posted by BIG H

Junior Jones over Barrera

ah yeah great call with Junior Jones, Barrera twice beaten by a man who shouldn't have been fit to lace his gloves.

Barrera vs Jones II hhhhhmmmm didn't really think Jones one that one just like ODLH vs Mosley II. Oh well .

But yeah, Terri Norris vs Santana was unbelievable. The guy taking 2 dives, wow. I savored the 3rd fight how Terri Norris jumped and celebrated aggressively yelling at Santana.

I guess you guys missed the part where Bilbo said:

"someone who was completely unheralded..."

So far IMO the only ones that I think appliy are Santana-Norris & Peden-Nate & Monzon-Nino and Lopez-Sanchez.
Talk about guys who had not seen world stage yet and they did it.

The rest IMO the fighters had already been on world stage.

No way does SSM-Forrest, Mayorga-Forrest, MAB-Jones, Golota-Bowe etc. etc. apply.

Here at work and started thinking...

Jorge Castro beating Johnson twice.
Galindez beating Kates.

Originally Posted by CutMeMick

Here at work and started thinking...

Jorge Castro beating Johnson twice.
Galindez beating Kates.

Jorge Castro "La Locomotora" oh yeah! I remember that fight. He was loosing badly and all of a sudden...BAM!! one punch its all it took to turn the fight around.

Originally Posted by Chino

Originally Posted by CutMeMick

Here at work and started thinking...

Jorge Castro beating Johnson twice.
Galindez beating Kates.

Jorge Castro "La Locomotora" oh yeah! I remember that fight. He was loosing badly and all of a sudden...BAM!! one punch its all it took to turn the fight around.

I think your confusing this fight I'm talking about Castro-Reggie Johnson.
I think your thinking of Castro-Jackson FOTY 1994.

Originally Posted by CutMeMick

I guess you guys missed the part where Bilbo said:

"someone who was completely unheralded..."

So far IMO the only ones that I think appliy are Santana-Norris & Peden-Nate & Monzon-Nino and Lopez-Sanchez.
Talk about guys who had not seen world stage yet and they did it.

The rest IMO the fighters had already been on world stage.

No way does SSM-Forrest, Mayorga-Forrest, MAB-Jones, Golota-Bowe etc. etc. apply.

Good points Mick and well noticed.

I think Barrera Jones and Mayorga Forrest fit the criteria though as take away Jones wins over Barrera and Mayorgas wins over Forrest and neither of them would have very much at all. Same would have been true for Rahman had he beaten Lewis a second time.

It's an interesting topic though I think, trying to think of a big name elite fighter who got beat by an unheralded fighter not once, but twice.

I reckon Forrest and Barrera losing to Mayorga and Jones are the best examples but you are far more familiar than me with older fighters so I'm sure there are several more.

Had Randy Turpin won the rematch with Sugar Ray that would have been another decent example, and maybe Ingemarr Johansson came close over Floyd Patterson, certainly he's only famous for beating Patterson.

Originally Posted by Bilbo

Originally Posted by CutMeMick

I guess you guys missed the part where Bilbo said:

"someone who was completely unheralded..."

So far IMO the only ones that I think appliy are Santana-Norris & Peden-Nate & Monzon-Nino and Lopez-Sanchez.
Talk about guys who had not seen world stage yet and they did it.

The rest IMO the fighters had already been on world stage.

No way does SSM-Forrest, Mayorga-Forrest, MAB-Jones, Golota-Bowe etc. etc. apply.

Good points Mick and well noticed.

I think Barrera Jones and Mayorga Forrest fit the criteria though as take away Jones wins over Barrera and Mayorgas wins over Forrest and neither of them would have very much at all. Same would have been true for Rahman had he beaten Lewis a second time.

It's an interesting topic though I think, trying to think of a big name elite fighter who got beat by an unheralded fighter not once, but twice.

I reckon Forrest and Barrera losing to Mayorga and Jones are the best examples but you are far more familiar than me with older fighters so I'm sure there are several more.

Had Randy Turpin won the rematch with Sugar Ray that would have been another decent example, and maybe Ingemarr Johansson came close over Floyd Patterson, certainly he's only famous for beating Patterson.

You see to me Jones was not unknown/unheralded.
Neither was Forrest or Moyarga at the time each won.
But I see your points.

Turpin-SRR would have possibly been the biggest.