Most pathetic/disappointing championship performance ever?

Was reading Ray Leonard's book over the holidays. As a HUGE Roberto Duran fan, it was a great reminder of just how many people Duran disappointed with the NO MAS fiasco, and the shame he brought on himself.

So what do you guys think is the most disappointing championship performance of all time?

For criteria, I think we should limit answers to "big" names who much was expected from.

Also, I think it's a little unfair to list early KO's where a guy got caught and finished. Of course that is always disappointing, but anyone can get caught and put out. I'm talking about guys who undertrained, showed no courage, quit, ect ect.

Good topic.

Haye vs Klitschko definitely.

Audely Harrison against David Haye

The most pathetic hands down is Oliver McCall vs Lennox Lewis II.

The most disappointing? Hmm maybe Zab Judah vs Khan? Zab has all the talent in the world just never lived up to the potential.

Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson is up there.

Johnny Nelson vs James Waring

Nicky cook v ricky burns?

Derrick Gainer vs Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez thought they were gonna fight. Gainer thought they were running track

Lewis v Tyson without a doubt

I remember at the time thinking they should have with held Douglas' purse from the Holyfield fight.

Tyson/Holyfield II was both pathetic and disappointing. For that matter, you could have just about every Tyson fight from 1990 until the end of his career on here.

Nothing is more pathetic to me than when a fighter clearly has no intention of trying to win a fight. I have always loved Mosley, but his performance against Pac was a payday.

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Originally Posted by erics44

Nicky cook v ricky burns?

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It wasnt a big fight....but if the criteria is simply that it had to be a championship fight, then this wins imo. It was an absolute farce

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Originally Posted by armyash

Good topic.

Haye vs Klitschko definitely.

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I don't know about "EVER", but for damn sure in recent memory. No one else even comes close.

I've seen some good answers on this thread.
In the "They shouldn't have gotten paid" category, I would place the following three from earlier posts (and in order of "worst" to "less horrible"):

WORST - McCall vs Lewis (There's no crying in boxing).
2nd place - Seldon vs Tyson (I would've kept Seldon from exiting the ring).
3rd place - Haye vs Klitschko (Simply pathetic).

William Joppy vs. Tito Trinidad has to be up there.

Joppy came out very overconfident and rather than box he stood in front of tito with his hands down and got destroyed.

Also Spinks vs. Tyson was a joke.

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Was reading Ray Leonard's book over the holidays. As a HUGE Roberto Duran fan, it was a great reminder of just how many people Duran disappointed with the NO MAS fiasco, and the shame he brought on himself.

So what do you guys think is the most disappointing championship performance of all time?

For criteria, I think we should limit answers to "big" names who much was expected from.

Also, I think it's a little unfair to list early KO's where a guy got caught and finished. Of course that is always disappointing, but anyone can get caught and put out. I'm talking about guys who undertrained, showed no courage, quit, ect ect.

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Only Roberto Duran knows why he quit in that 2nd fight, he wasn't out of it according to the judges as the scores were 66-68 66-68 and 66-67 at the time of No Mas, that is hardly a shut out and Duran had plenty of time to turn those scorecards around. It is without doubt the most disappointng end to a championship fight. The most bizarre is Oliver McCall. I've watched some former greats lose because they simply shouldn't have been in the ring at all. Ali V Holmes, Leonard V Camacho and more recently Mosley V Pacquaio and Jones V Green. We all sometimes think our boxing heroes can go on forever, we also have short memories of their former greatness and this gets tarnished when we see them fighting well below their peak of ability.

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Originally Posted by THE THIRD MAN

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Was reading Ray Leonard's book over the holidays. As a HUGE Roberto Duran fan, it was a great reminder of just how many people Duran disappointed with the NO MAS fiasco, and the shame he brought on himself.

So what do you guys think is the most disappointing championship performance of all time?

For criteria, I think we should limit answers to "big" names who much was expected from.

Also, I think it's a little unfair to list early KO's where a guy got caught and finished. Of course that is always disappointing, but anyone can get caught and put out. I'm talking about guys who undertrained, showed no courage, quit, ect ect.

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Only Roberto Duran knows why he quit in that 2nd fight, he wasn't out of it according to the judges as the scores were 66-68 66-68 and 66-67 at the time of No Mas, that is hardly a shut out and Duran had plenty of time to turn those scorecards around. It is without doubt the most disappointng end to a championship fight. The most bizarre is Oliver McCall. I've watched some former greats lose because they simply shouldn't have been in the ring at all. Ali V Holmes, Leonard V Camacho and more recently Mosley V Pacquaio and Jones V Green. We all sometimes think our boxing heroes can go on forever, we also have short memories of their former greatness and this gets tarnished when we see them fighting well below their peak of ability.

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that should change, people think that a boxer is always a boxer in his prime when he faces the best and beats the best no matter if he is 38 or 40 years old. the prime of a boxer should be when his body and mind are at their peak to support and transform a potential peak training into a peak fighter better than at any other age, and they can face bums in their prime and still be in their prime

the most disappointing performance: liston vs ali and i didnt even live in those ages but it was disappointing

david tua vs lennox lewis, haye vs klit, mosely vs mayweather

Briggs vs the White poodle.

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Originally Posted by J_C

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Originally Posted by erics44

Nicky cook v ricky burns?

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It wasnt a big fight....but if the criteria is simply that it had to be a championship fight, then this wins imo. It was an absolute farce

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Can we include this fight? Cook blew out a disc in his spine almost as soon as the fight started..surely that's not a fault in his performance?

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Originally Posted by Hulk

William Joppy vs. Tito Trinidad has to be up there.

Joppy came out very overconfident and rather than box he stood in front of tito with his hands down and got destroyed.

Also Spinks vs. Tyson was a joke.

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I don't see how Trinidad-Joppy applies. Joppy might of come in overconfident, but he at least tried to win. He got up every time he went down and continue to try and win the fight. The result might of been disappointing to him and his fans but there was nothing disappointing about his performance. At least not to me

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Johnny Nelson vs James Waring

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This was a warrior performance by Nelson , compared to his first title effort against Carlos DeLeon , Nelson in that fight showed us all that it is possible not to hit or be hit by your opponant.
Johnny "The Pacifist" Nelson.

Oscar vs Trinidad
Douglas vs Holyfield

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Johnny Nelson vs James Waring

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Nelson v De Leon

Lewis V Akinwande :o shocking

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Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Johnny Nelson vs James Waring

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This was a warrior performance by Nelson , compared to his first title effort against Carlos DeLeon , Nelson in that fight showed us all that it is possible not to hit or be hit by your opponant.
Johnny "The Pacifist" Nelson.

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Yes Al I remember both fight's, yes Mr Nelson covered himself not in glory
but in shit did he stink the place out, the worst fight's I have ever seen.?
Yes Al still can't believe how bad he was.;D

Camacho/ Chavez springs to mind. Terry Norris v Paul Vaden

in a way I'd put Toney v Jones jr there. I still think Jones got in his head and Toney left some of his fire in the locker room

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Originally Posted by Althugz

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Originally Posted by J_C

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Originally Posted by erics44

Nicky cook v ricky burns?

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It wasnt a big fight....but if the criteria is simply that it had to be a championship fight, then this wins imo. It was an absolute farce

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Can we include this fight? Cook blew out a disc in his spine almost as soon as the fight started..surely that's not a fault in his performance?

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That fight was faked, plenty of bets on round 1 KO before the fight when everyone knows Burns can't punch at this level.

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Originally Posted by Spicoli

Camacho/ Chavez springs to mind. Terry Norris v Paul Vaden

in a way I'd put Toney v Jones jr there. I still think Jones got in his head and Toney left some of his fire in the locker room

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well it depends really, Camacho pretty much redeemed himself a bit in the sense that he took his beating against Chavez and stood a bit with him rather than running all night like he had been doing since his close call against Rosario, but I guess you can say it was a bit disappointing in the sense that the fight was so lopsided

Derrick Gainer deserves the honor for THE MOST PATHETIC championship performance ever in the history of Boxing..

It was an IBF/WBA unifications match but it was so sad and pathetic, I dont wanna talk about the details..

Watch Marquez-Gainer and see how a fake champion performs under pressure..

Barrera was pretty pathetic in his second attempt against Pacquiao.

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Originally Posted by Jimanuel Boogustus

Barrera was pretty pathetic in his second attempt against Pacquiao.

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On a similar not Eric Morales 3rd fight with Manny.

Wlad vs. Haye wasn't the worst i've seen, but it wasn't only Haye that was pathetic, Wlad never let his hands go, and fought like he was afraid of getting knocked out the whole fight, that was also disappointing.

Douglas V Holyfield - Easy pay day and no pride from Douglas

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Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Johnny Nelson vs James Waring

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This was a warrior performance by Nelson , compared to his first title effort against Carlos DeLeon , Nelson in that fight showed us all that it is possible not to hit or be hit by your opponant.
Johnny "The Pacifist" Nelson.

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That's the one I was thinking of mate - got mixed up.

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Originally Posted by Mars_ax

Wlad vs. Haye wasn't the worst i've seen, but it wasn't only Haye that was pathetic, Wlad never let his hands go, and fought like he was afraid of getting knocked out the whole fight, that was also disappointing.

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:rolleyes:

Wlad won the fight, won every damn round as a matter of fact, and you complain? Haye ran, Wlad would get him cornered or in range and HAYE would rush in a clinch and fall down claiming fouls. Hard to KO someone that's always running away yet has some dangerous weapons....Haye had no sack but dangerous speed and power. Wlad fought smart and won easily. Wlad's not exactly Bruce Seldon.

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Originally Posted by DAWGSWIN

Nothing is more pathetic to me than when a fighter clearly has no intention of trying to win a fight. I have always loved Mosley, but his performance against Pac was a payday.

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Good call and I agree 100%.

People always slag boxers for being boring, ect, but IMO a boxer's concern shouldn't be to entertain, it should be to win the fight. This is a sport and his #1 goal should be to win, and in that I think the #1 responsibility the fighter owes to the paying public is the legimate EFFORT to win the fight and make it a contest.

There's nothing worse than seeing guys in there just for the cheque.

Recently Audley Harrison v David Haye
future Shane Mosley v anyone with a title
Past Lloyd Honeyghan

job bisuit (Happy New Year)!!!

eh eh!!!

i remember Paul Vaden talking the talk before his fight vs Terry Norris then spent the 12 rounds running away from him hardly landing a punch

also the Luis Santana guy who faked it twice vs Terry Norris and the Coggi fight when he faked injury vs Frankie Randall

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

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Originally Posted by Mars_ax

Wlad vs. Haye wasn't the worst i've seen, but it wasn't only Haye that was pathetic, Wlad never let his hands go, and fought like he was afraid of getting knocked out the whole fight, that was also disappointing.

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:rolleyes:

Wlad won the fight, won every damn round as a matter of fact, and you complain? Haye ran, Wlad would get him cornered or in range and HAYE would rush in a clinch and fall down claiming fouls. Hard to KO someone that's always running away yet has some dangerous weapons....Haye had no sack but dangerous speed and power. Wlad fought smart and won easily. Wlad's not exactly Bruce Seldon.

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We both know Wlad was content to go the safest route to a ud in this supposed 'grudge match'.

Both men talked like the other was going home in an ambulance, but neither even tried to deliver on it. A let down from both fighters... More so Haye, but Wlad too (though to be fair he did exactly what was expected of him and fought as usual)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myd-GG_4YZg

Everyone has forgot and likley blocked from their minds, the huge efford of the one and only Henry Akinwande!:)