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Call this a "Great Upsets" thread. Dedicated to all those journeymen who achieved fame, whether brief or lasting, by virtue of that one big victory against a great boxer in his prime.
I'll start with the obvious, which is Buster Douglas and his victory over Tyson, perhaps the biggest upset ever.
Michale Bentt when he beat Tommy Morrison
Bert Cooper for rocking Holyfield
Jesse Ferguson for beating Ray Mercer
Greg Haugen for the fights Hector Cmacho
None of the above achived greatness, but were average guys who enjoyed brief notoriety
Steve Robinson - When he won the featherweight (I think) WBO world strap. Made 4 defences I believe before he was scalped by Naseem
Carlos Baldomir
Corrie Sanders
Matthew Hilton. I actually thought at one time he was above an average joe. Man did he disappoint after achieving some belts.
Yeah me too, especially after he destroyed Wilfred Benitez, who was coming off an impressive victory. Benitez was never the same after getting knocked out by Hilton, IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by awdleyfuturehalloffamer
Good one he made 7 defences Naz was his 8th he weren't a bad little fighter good old StevoQuote:
Originally Posted by Althugz
Rahman did for a little while and then came the Lewis rematch
jim braddock did aswell
Would Henry Cooper count? I know he was well-known inside of the UK, but he was well-known internationally for knocking down Ali. Maybe I'm just showing my ignorance here :confused:.
Sure, we'll allow Cooper for striking fear into the hearts of Ali fans everywhere.
Another that sticks in my mind was Gene "Mad Dog" Hatcher, who was being hopelessly outclassed by JW champ Johnny Bumphus until he managed to plant a single left hand upside Bumphus' head in the 11th round of their 1984 fight, thereby achieving his brief moment in the sun.
Willy wise beating J.C Chavez.
A bit tough on Braddock, he was an outstanding Light Heavyweight for many years.Quote:
Originally Posted by HOMETOWN CHAMP
Dave tiberi beating James Toney......oh ..wait,Dave lost that one :fight:
These quickly spring to mind...
Douglas beating Tyson
Laing beating Duran
Vilomar beating Arguello
Salazar beating Romero
Philips beating Tszyu
Arturo Gatti was the ultimate average joe
Lou Del Valle for droppin Roy Jones Jr.
Fritzie Zivic’s beating henry Armstrong and Max Schmeling’s ko of joe louis were both huge and against far superior fighters
Ross purity 'TKO' Klitschko
Steve Little W.12 Michael Nunn
Darryl Pinckney KO 3 Junior Jones
Billy Backus TKO 4 Jose Napoles 1
Danny Williams for beating Mike Tyson
Lonnie Smith for icing Champ Billy Costello
Lightning Lonnie!! Interesting call. I watched that fight on TV with a few friends, and as I recall he just devastated Costello, he was really up for that fight. We all thought Smith was amazing. Do you remember at the end of the telecast, him yelling out "I am gonna be the greatest!!"? Then I never really heard much from him again. But I sure remembered that one fight.Quote:
Originally Posted by holmcall
Quote:
Originally Posted by CGMLightning Lonnie!! Interesting call. I watched that fight on TV with a few friends, and as I recall he just devastated Costello, he was really up for that fight. We all thought Smith was amazing. Do you remember at the end of the telecast, him yelling out "I am gonna be the greatest!!"? Then I never really heard much from him again. But I sure remembered that one fight.Quote:
Originally Posted by holmcall
I cover it in my new book so I don't want to say too much about it except that it appears under a chapter entitled, "Inspiration." Smith never did much after that monster fight.
Mike Rossman who beat Victor Galindez.
And Murray Southerland who I think beat Ernie Singletary for a world title.
James Buster Douglas
Kirkland Laing
Drake Thazdi
Jerry Quarry
Bennie Brisco
Tex Cobb
Chuck Wepner
The original idea do the thread was average guys who briefly achieved greatness by winning against great fighters, not average guys who achieved fame by losing badly against great fighters. But that's OK. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Trainer Monkey
p.s. I like how Cobb Went 18-0-1 with one no contest in his last 20 pro fights. Haha. The no contest was really a ko for Cobb except that according to boxrec both fighters tested positive for cocaine after the fight. LOL
Lonnie Smith did look awsome in the Costello fight. I remember Bill being very overconfident during the pre-fight interview. That may have contributed to Lonnie's excellent showing, or maybe Smith reallly fought a great fight. Then, in his next fight Smith ran away from Rene Arrendondo before being ko'd by one shot. He was never the same after that. He should have beat Arrendondo, who had power but a bad defense and no chin.
Quarry I figured since he fought all of the bestQuote:
Originally Posted by CGMThe original idea do the thread was average guys who briefly achieved greatness by winning against great fighters, not average guys who achieved fame by losing badly against great fighters. But that's OK. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Trainer Monkey
p.s. I like how Cobb Went 18-0-1 with one no contest in his last 20 pro fights. Haha. The no contest was really a ko for Cobb except that according to boxrec both fighters tested positive for cocaine after the fight. LOL
Same with Brisco
Cobb for the abuse he delivered to Shavers
Wepner for knocking down Ali
All of those guys were strictly bread and butter guys,who stepped it up on the big stage,but just came up short
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lyle
Still not sure how he beat Toney , he was awful against Hill.??
Ron Stander iced Ernie Shavers in 1970!
But then he beat John Scully in John's wrorse career performance, Drake caught guys when they were down and seized the opportunitiy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Lord AlStill not sure how he beat Toney , he was awful against Hill.??Quote:
Originally Posted by Lyle
Carlos Baldomir?
Not sure about that one.
Sharmba Mitchell....like Kirkland Laing he always had potential but very seldom lived up to it under the bright lights.
Monte Barrett after he beat Dominick Guinn and lost a close decision to Joe Mesi looked pretty good.
Leotis Martin, who was agreat amatuer fighter, iced Sonny Liston, but injured his retiina and that was that. He recently passed away. But had he not incurred that injury, who knows what h could have accomplished. It was his one very big day in the Sun. :confused: