One-Hit Wonders in Boxing History

[JazMerkin]

Kirkland Laing
Rubin Carter
Chucho Castillo
Billy Backus
Montell Griffin (I know it was a DQ but still)
Randy Turpin

REALLY disagree with both Castillo and Turpin. Chucho beat a whole series of ranked bantams in Pinto, Medel, Caraballo, Nakane, Pimintel and of course Ruben Olivares. He was a heck of a fighter in the very best era of bantams there has ever been.

Turpin didn't have as many good wins but Tommy Yarosz was no joke and neither were Cockell or Humez or Buxton. Turpin also earns points for giving Robinson absolute hell is the rematch before getting KO'd.

I agree with this certainly regarding Turpin, I don't know enough about Castillo. Turpin beat some real solid guys, but let's face it Robinson stands out so far on his resume because of who he was.

Liston is the worst suggestion on this list (apart from what I hope were jokes about Duran & Pacquiao). He fought just 2 opponents with sub .500 records his whole career & was beating up on experienced guys from his 6th fight. Avenged his first loss, which he fought with a broken jaw. Apart from Patterson, he beat some really credible guys in Summerlin, Cleveland Williams, Folley & Machen. He's much more than a 1 hit wonder, he just happened to get defined by his losses to probably the greatest HW of all time.

Aside from the obvious such as Rahman, Douglas & Raheem, I'd make an argument for Freddie Norwood & Sergio Mora.

[Mars_ax]

Liston is the worst suggestion on this list (apart from what I hope were jokes about Duran & Pacquiao). He fought just 2 opponents with sub .500 records his whole career & was beating up on experienced guys from his 6th fight. Avenged his first loss, which he fought with a broken jaw. Apart from Patterson, he beat some really credible guys in Summerlin, Cleveland Williams, Folley & Machen. He's much more than a 1 hit wonder, he just happened to get defined by his losses to probably the greatest HW of all time.

I'm gonna stick with Liston being a 1 hit wonder, like I said earlier in this thread, he won the HW title from Floyd Patterson, defended it against Patterson 10 months later, then lost the HW title to Ali 6 months later. His main claim to fame at the Championship level was his two 1st round destruction's of Patterson which made everyone believe he was fuckin' superman.

Was Liston a feared above average HW, and did he have a few nice wins besides Patterson? Sure, but what he was actually able to accomplish in ring wasn't really all that special, especially in title fights. Remember, Ali was far from being a "legend" when he fought Liston, he was a 22 year old kid with 19 pro fights and was something like a 7 -1 underdog before their first fight.

[brocktonblockbust]

Liston is a good example. How about INgemaar Johanssen.

[Mars_ax]

Liston is a good example. How about INgemaar Johanssen.

Ingemar Johansson, was pretty much a one hit wonder in the sense that like Liston, he beat 1 man for the HW crown, then never owned a title again. The Swede did have some serious power in that right hand (he called Thor) and he did own a 5th round KO over Henry Cooper in 1957, and a 1st round KO over Eddie Machen in 1958. This was before he fought Patterson the 1st time in 1959, and long before Ali fought both these guys.

"Thor" in action. Ingemar Johansson - Tribute Video

[JazMerkin]

Liston is the worst suggestion on this list (apart from what I hope were jokes about Duran & Pacquiao). He fought just 2 opponents with sub .500 records his whole career & was beating up on experienced guys from his 6th fight. Avenged his first loss, which he fought with a broken jaw. Apart from Patterson, he beat some really credible guys in Summerlin, Cleveland Williams, Folley & Machen. He's much more than a 1 hit wonder, he just happened to get defined by his losses to probably the greatest HW of all time.

I'm gonna stick with Liston being a 1 hit wonder, like I said earlier in this thread, he won the HW title from Floyd Patterson, defended it against Patterson 10 months later, then lost the HW title to Ali 6 months later. His main claim to fame at the Championship level was his two 1st round destruction's of Patterson which made everyone believe he was fuckin' superman.

Was Liston a feared above average HW, and did he have a few nice wins besides Patterson? Sure, but what he was actually able to accomplish in ring wasn't really all that special, especially in title fights. Remember, Ali was far from being a "legend" when he fought Liston, he was a 22 year old kid with 19 pro fights and was something like a 7 -1 underdog before their first fight.

Well, if he won twice, surely he would be a two hit wonder

You've also got to remember that he beat the shit out guys like Folley & Machen who the Champ really wanted no piece of. It's like saying that Charley Burley wasn't great because he never fought at Championship level. Beating everyone available is all that a guy can do. He lost to Ali, but he was somewhere between 34 & 39 by that point. I see him as the Tyson of his day. Just with a much worse publicist.

[Mars_ax]

Liston is the worst suggestion on this list (apart from what I hope were jokes about Duran & Pacquiao). He fought just 2 opponents with sub .500 records his whole career & was beating up on experienced guys from his 6th fight. Avenged his first loss, which he fought with a broken jaw. Apart from Patterson, he beat some really credible guys in Summerlin, Cleveland Williams, Folley & Machen. He's much more than a 1 hit wonder, he just happened to get defined by his losses to probably the greatest HW of all time.

I'm gonna stick with Liston being a 1 hit wonder, like I said earlier in this thread, he won the HW title from Floyd Patterson, defended it against Patterson 10 months later, then lost the HW title to Ali 6 months later. His main claim to fame at the Championship level was his two 1st round destruction's of Patterson which made everyone believe he was fuckin' superman.

Was Liston a feared above average HW, and did he have a few nice wins besides Patterson? Sure, but what he was actually able to accomplish in ring wasn't really all that special, especially in title fights. Remember, Ali was far from being a "legend" when he fought Liston, he was a 22 year old kid with 19 pro fights and was something like a 7 -1 underdog before their first fight.

Well, if he won twice, surely he would be a two hit wonder

You've also got to remember that he beat the shit out guys like Folley & Machen who the Champ really wanted no piece of. It's like saying that Charley Burley wasn't great because he never fought at Championship level. Beating everyone available is all that a guy can do. He lost to Ali, but he was somewhere between 34 & 39 by that point. I see him as the Tyson of his day. Just with a much worse publicist.

Hey, it's all good, this topic is subjective, I just believe that Liston was a very good but over-hyped/overrated HW, and much of his fearsome reputation was based mainly on his 2 demolitions of Patterson, who was a blown up crusierweight with bad chin.
As for the comparison to Tyson, perhaps Liston needed a better promoter/publicist, but I don't see it, Mike faced and defeated much better competition, and accomplished much more. Mikes reign of terror lasted for the better part of 10 years, Liston's began with Patterson and ended with Ali 2 years later.

[JazMerkin]

Liston is the worst suggestion on this list (apart from what I hope were jokes about Duran & Pacquiao). He fought just 2 opponents with sub .500 records his whole career & was beating up on experienced guys from his 6th fight. Avenged his first loss, which he fought with a broken jaw. Apart from Patterson, he beat some really credible guys in Summerlin, Cleveland Williams, Folley & Machen. He's much more than a 1 hit wonder, he just happened to get defined by his losses to probably the greatest HW of all time.

I'm gonna stick with Liston being a 1 hit wonder, like I said earlier in this thread, he won the HW title from Floyd Patterson, defended it against Patterson 10 months later, then lost the HW title to Ali 6 months later. His main claim to fame at the Championship level was his two 1st round destruction's of Patterson which made everyone believe he was fuckin' superman.

Was Liston a feared above average HW, and did he have a few nice wins besides Patterson? Sure, but what he was actually able to accomplish in ring wasn't really all that special, especially in title fights. Remember, Ali was far from being a "legend" when he fought Liston, he was a 22 year old kid with 19 pro fights and was something like a 7 -1 underdog before their first fight.

Well, if he won twice, surely he would be a two hit wonder

You've also got to remember that he beat the shit out guys like Folley & Machen who the Champ really wanted no piece of. It's like saying that Charley Burley wasn't great because he never fought at Championship level. Beating everyone available is all that a guy can do. He lost to Ali, but he was somewhere between 34 & 39 by that point. I see him as the Tyson of his day. Just with a much worse publicist.

Hey, it's all good, this topic is subjective, I just believe that Liston was a very good but over-hyped/overrated HW, and much of his fearsome reputation was based mainly on his 2 demolitions of Patterson, who was a blown up crusierweight with bad chin.
As for the comparison to Tyson, perhaps Liston needed a better promoter/publicist, but I don't see it, Mike faced and defeated much better competition, and accomplished much more. Mikes reign of terror lasted for the better part of 10 years, Liston's began with Patterson and ended with Ali 2 years later.

Wait does this mean we're not accepting as gospel that Tyson suddenly grew old overnight just before the Douglas fight?

I think Liston was the Tyson of his day, but I do rate Tyson above him. That said, he has going for him a few things Tyson did not. He beat really tough guys on his way to the title shot & once there he beat a great prime HW. You also have to remember how old Liston was. Officially (according to boxrec) he was 32 when he faced Ali, but most believe that he was at least 3 or 4 years older than that. Bearing in mind his style & that it took him 9 years of fighting tough motherfuckers to get a title shot, he had far less ability to have longevity than even Tyson did.

Anyway we should stop before this becomes a Tyson thread. My feeling he is not a 1 hit wonder, at worst he is a 2 hit.

Kirkland Laing is best example of a 1 hit wonder I've seen. One great fight & then disappeared.

[marbleheadmaui]

Liston is the worst suggestion on this list (apart from what I hope were jokes about Duran & Pacquiao). He fought just 2 opponents with sub .500 records his whole career & was beating up on experienced guys from his 6th fight. Avenged his first loss, which he fought with a broken jaw. Apart from Patterson, he beat some really credible guys in Summerlin, Cleveland Williams, Folley & Machen. He's much more than a 1 hit wonder, he just happened to get defined by his losses to probably the greatest HW of all time.

I'm gonna stick with Liston being a 1 hit wonder, like I said earlier in this thread, he won the HW title from Floyd Patterson, defended it against Patterson 10 months later, then lost the HW title to Ali 6 months later. His main claim to fame at the Championship level was his two 1st round destruction's of Patterson which made everyone believe he was fuckin' superman.

Was Liston a feared above average HW, and did he have a few nice wins besides Patterson? Sure, but what he was actually able to accomplish in ring wasn't really all that special, especially in title fights. Remember, Ali was far from being a "legend" when he fought Liston, he was a 22 year old kid with 19 pro fights and was something like a 7 -1 underdog before their first fight.

Well, if he won twice, surely he would be a two hit wonder

You've also got to remember that he beat the shit out guys like Folley & Machen who the Champ really wanted no piece of. It's like saying that Charley Burley wasn't great because he never fought at Championship level. Beating everyone available is all that a guy can do. He lost to Ali, but he was somewhere between 34 & 39 by that point. I see him as the Tyson of his day. Just with a much worse publicist.

Hey, it's all good, this topic is subjective, I just believe that Liston was a very good but over-hyped/overrated HW, and much of his fearsome reputation was based mainly on his 2 demolitions of Patterson, who was a blown up crusierweight with bad chin.
As for the comparison to Tyson, perhaps Liston needed a better promoter/publicist, but I don't see it, Mike faced and defeated much better competition, and accomplished much more. Mikes reign of terror lasted for the better part of 10 years, Liston's began with Patterson and ended with Ali 2 years later.

Man I dunno about that. Sonny was the #1 ranked challenger for three years or so before he got his title crack. Prior to beating Patterson he took out a whole series of ranked guys like Bethea and DeJohn and Nino Valdes and Eddie Machen and Harris and Zora Folley.

[Violent Demise]

Liston is the worst suggestion on this list (apart from what I hope were jokes about Duran & Pacquiao). He fought just 2 opponents with sub .500 records his whole career & was beating up on experienced guys from his 6th fight. Avenged his first loss, which he fought with a broken jaw. Apart from Patterson, he beat some really credible guys in Summerlin, Cleveland Williams, Folley & Machen. He's much more than a 1 hit wonder, he just happened to get defined by his losses to probably the greatest HW of all time.

I'm gonna stick with Liston being a 1 hit wonder, like I said earlier in this thread, he won the HW title from Floyd Patterson, defended it against Patterson 10 months later, then lost the HW title to Ali 6 months later. His main claim to fame at the Championship level was his two 1st round destruction's of Patterson which made everyone believe he was fuckin' superman.

Was Liston a feared above average HW, and did he have a few nice wins besides Patterson? Sure, but what he was actually able to accomplish in ring wasn't really all that special, especially in title fights. Remember, Ali was far from being a "legend" when he fought Liston, he was a 22 year old kid with 19 pro fights and was something like a 7 -1 underdog before their first fight.

That kind of makes him not a one-hit wonder, you know. You can't say he had a "few nice wins" and still call him a one-hit wonder.