Biggest Let Down Performances Of All Time

[Seamus]

Starting with our favorite division

Trevor Berbick vs ST Gordon
Bonecrusher Smith vs Mike Tyson
Andrew Golota vs Lennox Lewis
David Tua vs Lennox Lewis

[Goodnight, Irene]

I suppose, keeping with the Heavies for the moment, Conn's return with Louis (1946) would rank very highly.

After the effort they put forth in their respective first fights, likewise from Walcott against Marciano (1953) & Johansson against Patterson (1960). Liston probably takes the cake (in any division, ever) for his 1965 debacle with Ali.

How about Morales in the final fight with Pacquiao (2006)? To clarify, I'm not placing any blame on the man --- just weighing a complete blow-out against his two previous efforts --- a glorious success (the only loss Pacquiao suffered for the entire decade) & a close fight in which he was stopped late-on.

Morales after the second fight...

"He didn't hurt me. I was never hurt in that fight."

Pacquiao's Rebuttal...

"This time I'll hurt him. You watch."

Again, like Morales, this guy was old at the time, & had fore-announced his retirement going into the fight, but Lampley & I agree on Barrera's, "effort" in the second fight with Pacquiao (2007). It was pathetic for such a ring legend. Truly abominable.

Four more at Heavyweight --- Etienne against Tyson (2003), Cooper against Gross (1986 - WTF!? LOL), Cooper against Foreman (1989), & Lewis for his rematch against Holyfield (1999).

[HomicideHenry]

Haugen/Camacho still breaks my heart....the tough SOB was thrashed, butchered, destroyed by the great JCC.

[raylawpc]

The biggest one that comes to mind for me on a historical level was Bill Squires against Tommy Burns.

Squires came to the USA after a series of impressive wins down-under, and tried to lure Jim Jeffries out of retirement. When Jeff refused to make a comeback for the dollars offered, Squires challenged Tommy Burns, who had claimed the title. Many expected Squires to easily handle Burns, and then force Jeffries out of retirement since Jeffries had said he would fight again if a "foreigner" ever won the title. But Burns took Squires apart in one round, (and defeated him twice more for good measure), and Squires subsequent career showed him to be very ordinary indeed. But when he first arrived on American shores everybody was convinced that only Jeffries could beat him.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Starting with our favorite division

Trevor Berbick vs ST Gordon
Bonecrusher Smith vs Mike Tyson
Andrew Golota vs Lennox Lewis
David Tua vs Lennox Lewis

You should start a thread on guys who went the opposite way --- exceeding both public & expert expectations of them in bouts, whether having won, lost, or drawn

[Seamus]

Go ahead. You can start with Dave Tiberi who beat James Toney and it wasen't even close.

[Goodnight, Irene]

How could I forget...

Corrales in his rematch with Castillo.

Similarly, Fullmer must've felt he let himself down pretty badly in the second fight with Robinson. Out-muscles & outpoints him in their first clash, is ahead on points through four rounds of their second, & then loses the one way an iron-jawed fighter shouldn't...one good shot.

[Seamus]

Jeff Harding vs Dennis Andries 2nd fight

[Expug]

There are many for sure.
Some in title shots, and some where a prospect gets tuned up by a veteran.
Bobby Czyz was rolling along pretty good with the whole tommorows champions thing going for him.
He used to come into the ring with the music from the movie "fame" going,popular with the fans, the girls,honor student in school,solid citizen, the whole bit.
Problem is, Mustapha Hamsho didnt read the script.

[alexpaterson]

Doug DeWitt vs James Toney that was a disgraceful performance he gave up after the 1st round and just stood there taken everything and then gave up in the middle rounds

[Counter-puncher]

How could I forget...

Corrales in his rematch with Castillo.

Similarly, Fullmer must've felt he let himself down pretty badly in the second fight with Robinson. Out-muscles & outpoints him in their first clash, is ahead on points through four rounds of their second, & then loses the one way an iron-jawed fighter shouldn't...one good shot.

be fair, Ray set him up for that left hook beautifully.

right hand to the body. right hand to the body. right hand to the body.

eye-fake to the body, left hook to the head. perfect set-up.

[Ezzard]

In the history of the sport it has to be 'No mas'.

For me personally it would be Honeyghan-Starling. Marlon could be outworked and outhustled if you pressed him intelligently. If you went in all guns blazing he'd chop you down. It was as if Lloyd wanted to lose.

Arguello in the second Pryor fight. He was not the same fighter so I don't blame Alexis, but it was disappointing.

Hamed versus MAB. Okay he lost to a better fighter but he went out with a whimper. For a guy with such great power I expected him to go out all guns balzing in the last few rounds. Instead he fought like a scolded puppy.

Toney v Jones. Toney looked like a different fighter to the one who beat Nunn. Too fleshy to walk through fire and give himself a chance of victory.

Aren't any of my American cousins going to crack on about British HWs? Seems like the perfect thread, fellas...

[Goodnight, Irene]

Just saying how he must have felt, Counter-P --- not that he necessarily should've felt that way.

[Counter-puncher]

Just saying how he must have felt, Counter-P --- not that he necessarily should've felt that way.

aye point taken, i'm hoping he was magnanimous to think, 'shit, that was ray robinson the world's greatest ever boxer pulling a textbook move on me with one of the most perfect hooks of all time, oh well, if you swim with sharks and all that....'

ezzard- good call on honeygan- starling. rumours had it that honeygan was tight at the weight and not as fit as previously, by this time in his career. he started to fight as though he was a murderous-punching slugger with a big equaliser, not the intelligent box-fighter who made his way to the top.

as crushing and emphatic as the Breland defeat was, i was HORRIFIED at how sloppy and wild Honeygan- a man who Jim Watt no less always credited with being very hard to hit cleanly- looked against Starling. like you say, he could barely have fought a more stupid fight.

my call for greatest disappointments:

the shape Toney turned up in vs RJJ

[Seamus]

Not trying to sound like an expert, since I could just list some of my most embarassing picks, but in all honesty, I was telling my friends who followed boxing, that Honeyghan is just made for Starling. In fairness, Honeyghan didn't just lose to a guy who had one big fight. He got beat by a rugged counterpuncher.

[Counter-puncher]

that Honeyghan is just made for Starling. In fairness, Honeyghan didn't just lose to a guy who had one big fight. He got beat by a rugged counterpuncher.

the honeygan who turned up that night was made for starling. a honeygan that we british fans saw in the runup to his shot at Curry, who would use his feet and great head movement, would have been a much more difficlut proposition IMO

Starling's kryptonite was workrate combined with movement and at his best Honeygan had enough of both. standing in place after throwing a couple of wold swinging bombs was never going to work against starling.

[Idisagree]

Roberto Duran vs Leonard II - what a disappointment
Wilfredo Gomez vs Salvador – Gomez was badly beaten on that fight
Marvin Hagler vs Leonard – I thought I was going to an easy fight for Hagler, well not that easy but I thought there was no way for Hagler to lose. For the record I score the fight for Leonard even though growing up Hagler was one my favorite fighters at that time.
Morales vs Pac II – Based on their first fight I thought Morales was going to win again

[Ezzard]

I saw Honeyghan as an intelligent swarmer who could dig. He was fearless and ready to step into his opponents comfort zone and unsettle them. Starling was a talented boxer, with a tight defence who could hold a shot when they got through but he was prone to laziness. It was always going to be a tough fight. But it should have been much closer than it was.

The warning signs were there when Lloyd proclaimed Starling a shot fighter after he got KO'd by that punch after the bell by Molinares (was it Molinares?).

Counter-puncher... I was told that Honeyghan's hands had deteriorated throughout his career and by this point he thought his only chance was to try and end it early. So he went for broke.

[Counter-puncher]

perhaps thats true with the hands ezzard, thanks. 'intelligent' swarming was the key for LLoyd.

[Ezzard]

perhaps thats true with the hands ezzard, thanks. 'intelligent' swarming was the key for LLoyd.

I honestly thought Mittee would beat Honeyghan. The way Lloyd fought that night I knew he was real world calss fighter. But I thought that, like Colin Jones, he was good enough to hold a title but was just unlucky being in the same division as Curry.

The Ring ran an article on him running in the rain post Chernobyl. Lloyd wanted to soak up some radioactivity. The Nuclear welterweight or something they called him. The thing was Lloyd knew no fear and Curry had looked so devastating that he was at that stage where he was beating people before they even set foot in the ring.

It was an amazing result.

Those are my favourite moments in boxing when a good fighter suddenly comes through and takes people by surprise at just how good he really is. Mike McCallum, James Toney, Azumah Nelson and Carlos Monzon all fit that profile. I much prefer that to the Olympians whose every waking moment is poured over.

[Counter-puncher]

Those are my favourite moments in boxing when a good fighter suddenly comes through and takes people by surprise at just how good he really is. Mike McCallum, James Toney, Azumah Nelson and Carlos Monzon all fit that profile. I much prefer that to the Olympians whose every waking moment is poured over.

[dempseyfire]

Foreman vs Ali would be number 1 in my let-down performances of all time, as Foreman fought the stupidest game-plan he could've fought.

Oscar-Tito: Both fighters

I remember before the fight thinking Shannon Briggs-Sergui Lyakovich would be an entertaining slugfest . . .

[matthewcb]

Second Bruno-Tyson fight.

Bruno sounded so confident and Tyson had not proved himself at all in his comeback. I didn't think he'd win, but didn't expect him to just fold the way he did.

All that hard work to win the belt, and he just meekly gave it up.

I remember BN at the time asked if a Bruno that was 50% improved could be a Tyson that was only 50% of what he used to be.

The answer was no!

[Grimm]

Not trying to sound like an expert, since I could just list some of my most embarassing picks, but in all honesty, I was telling my friends who followed boxing, that Honeyghan is just made for Starling. In fairness, Honeyghan didn't just lose to a guy who had one big fight. He got beat by a rugged counterpuncher.

I don't think Starling vs Honeyghan was much of an upset.

However Honeyghan vs Curry was a hell of an upset.

[Controversial]

Second Bruno-Tyson fight.

Bruno sounded so confident and Tyson had not proved himself at all in his comeback. I didn't think he'd win, but didn't expect him to just fold the way he did.

All that hard work to win the belt, and he just meekly gave it up.

I remember BN at the time asked if a Bruno that was 50% improved could be a Tyson that was only 50% of what he used to be.

The answer was no!

Don't know about biggest let down of all time, but I felt really let down by Brunos performance. It was 7 years after they first fought and Tyson had been beaten and been in prison. Bruno had fought fairly regularly since the first fight and was now world champion, and by all accounts bigger, better and more confident. Tyson had lost his edge and the British press really built the fight up, with Bruno having a good chance of causing an upset.

What happens was he lasted 2 rounds less than the first time. Doh.