Worst Title Defenses

[jrc26]

Last night I was filing through some unmarked DVD's and labeling them and I came across Shannon Briggs title "defense" against Ibragimov. It was one of the most pathetic attempts to retain a crown as I have ever seen. So I was just curious what you all thought were some of the most lackluster title defenses you have seen. I am not talking about being out classed or dominated, but just laying down and being pathetic.

Buster Douglas coming in a fat slob against Holyfield comes to mind.

Bruce Seldon against Tyson was pathetic.

Roberto Duran "no mas"

[bjermaine]

even though he won, wlad kiltschko's defense vs ibragimov was about as lackluster as it gets.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Diego Corrales against Jose Luis Castillo. Not technically for the belt, but...

[allworld80]

Diego Corrales against Jose Luis Castillo. Not technically for the belt, but...

That's the fight where Castillo weighed in a 2lbs over the first time, and then twice at 138.5 later on

The didn't he weigh in at 8 lbs over for the the third scheduled fight? Corrales finally told him to eff off.

[iamasadlittleboy]

Morrison v Bentt...I love that fight

[Goodnight, Irene]

Diego Corrales against Jose Luis Castillo. Not technically for the belt, but...

That's the fight where Castillo weighed in a 2lbs over the first time, and then twice at 138.5 later on

The didn't he weigh in at 8 lbs over for the the third scheduled fight? Corrales finally told him to eff off.

Corrales was pathetic during the fight. Castillo outclassed him for three rounds, then ended it with one shot. It was an abysmal showing from the champ.

[Diamond WEAPON]

Diego Corrales against Jose Luis Castillo. Not technically for the belt, but...

That's the fight where Castillo weighed in a 2lbs over the first time, and then twice at 138.5 later on

The didn't he weigh in at 8 lbs over for the the third scheduled fight? Corrales finally told him to eff off.

Corrales was pathetic during the fight. Castillo outclassed him for three rounds, then ended it with one shot. It was an abysmal showing from the champ.

I think it had a lot to do with Corrales having to struggle mightily to make 135, he actually weighed 2 or 3 lbs. more than Castillo on fight night despite being lighter at the official weigh-in. Castillo looked clearly stronger.

[bjermaine]

That's the fight where Castillo weighed in a 2lbs over the first time, and then twice at 138.5 later on

The didn't he weigh in at 8 lbs over for the the third scheduled fight? Corrales finally told him to eff off.

Corrales was pathetic during the fight. Castillo outclassed him for three rounds, then ended it with one shot. It was an abysmal showing from the champ.

I think it had a lot to do with Corrales having to struggle mightily to make 135, he actually weighed 2 or 3 lbs. more than Castillo on fight night despite being lighter at the official weigh-in. Castillo looked clearly stronger.

that and fact that corrales aged a great deal after the first meeting. that was his last win and it was one of the greatest fights ever. corrales didn't have it in the second fight but i don't think it belongs in this topic.

[armageto]

Byrd vs T.O.S.

[dempseyfire]

Diego Corrales against Jose Luis Castillo. Not technically for the belt, but...

That's the fight where Castillo weighed in a 2lbs over the first time, and then twice at 138.5 later on

The didn't he weigh in at 8 lbs over for the the third scheduled fight? Corrales finally told him to eff off.

Corrales was pathetic during the fight. Castillo outclassed him for three rounds, then ended it with one shot. It was an abysmal showing from the champ.

He landed some good shots, it wasn't as one-sided as you're saying. Definitely far from one of the worst title defense in history. Corrales gave it his all, which is a lot more than many others have.

I think Lyakovich-Briggs and Briggs-Ibragimov both showcased putried efforts by the respective titleholders. Hel, throw in Wlad-Ibragimov (for both fighters) . . .the WBO HW title has not had a good run in this regard.

[Goodnight, Irene]

No, I wouldn't call Corrales' appearance one of the worst in history, but I dispute he gave it his all. He was disinterested from the outset. Why was he caught with that shot from Castillo? Why couldn't Castillo put him out like that a few months earlier, for all the additional punches & rounds he had? Corrales, as was a hallmark of his career, wasn't paying attention...all night, & it caught up with him after Castillo had dominated proceedings.

Corrales never faced a bigger, more menacing adversary than his own distinct lack of focus. It permeated through his whole life. From spousal abuse & drink-driving outside the ring, to struggling to make weight & watching Jumbotrons when he should have been observing incoming punches inside it.

Like so many fighters before him, Corrales' problem was predominantly from the neck-up, & he was anything but about giving it his all in that rematch.

[Jpreisser]

Was Kendall Holt`s fight with Mike Arnaoutis for that illegitimite WBO title? That fight was atrociously boring.

[bollox]

Jeff Fenech - Greg Richardson for the WBC 122 title. Fenech must have outweighed Richardson by about a stone. Fenech literally threw him around the ring at will and Richardson was lucky he wasn't seriously hurt

[Counter-puncher]

Corrales, as was a hallmark of his career, wasn't paying attention...all night, & it caught up with him after Castillo had dominated proceedings.

Corrales never faced a bigger, more menacing adversary than his own distinct lack of focus. It permeated through his whole life. From spousal abuse & drink-driving outside the ring, to struggling to make weight & watching Jumbotrons when he should have been observing incoming punches inside it.

Like so many fighters before him, Corrales' problem was predominantly from the neck-up, & he was anything but about giving it his all in that rematch.

this is an excellent point. I've always said Corrales' problems didn't stem from a bad chin per se (took plenty abuse vs Castillo first time out), or even necessarily a series of technical shortcomings (though he did tend to make the same fundamental errors throughout his career), but i will always maintain his biggest problem was losing concentration when he was between long and mid range. he just let himself get hit by totally stupid 5hit when he seemd to think he was at a safe distance, but wasn't. also he was always badly open to left hands from either stance, but mostly like you say GI his problem was havingthe concentration spell of a gnat.

[Flump]

Bruce Seldon, hands down, at least the others attempted to stand up for longer than two minutes, he just rolled over.

[Counter-puncher]

Jeff Fenech - Greg Richardson for the WBC 122 title. Fenech must have outweighed Richardson by about a stone. Fenech literally threw him around the ring at will and Richardson was lucky he wasn't seriously hurt

good point, they didn't call him 'flea' for nothing

[palooka]

Bobby Gunn was a bad defence for Enzo maccarinelli. Some of Johnny Nelsons' title defences put me to sleep.

[jrc26]

Byrd vs T.O.S.

Yes sir. That is what always drove me nuts about Chris Byrd. He really did have all the talent in the world, and if he had had any sort of killer instinct he could have looked like a master boxer in a fight like this. He should have run circles around Williamson and looked like a star, but instead he almost had his purse held back because of this sorry excuse. I believe he and Williamson were close friends though, and knowing what a Jesus lover Byrd is he probably didn't want to slap TOS too hard

[bjermaine]

Corrales never faced a bigger, more menacing adversary than his own distinct lack of focus. It permeated through his whole life. From spousal abuse & drink-driving outside the ring, to struggling to make weight & watching Jumbotrons when he should have been observing incoming punches inside it.

i think you're reading way too much into corrales. from a boxing standpoint, i understand your views on diego's lack of focus. it showed in some of his later bouts but he also had some fights where he had to be completely focused to get through them. if you want to list fighters throughout history who had problems outside of the ring like corrales, we'd be writing forever. monzon beat the shit out of women and eventually murdered while ray robinson was pound for pound the #1 woman beater in history. my point is that just because a fighter has problems outside of the ring doesn't necessarily mean it effects their performance in the ring.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Corrales never faced a bigger, more menacing adversary than his own distinct lack of focus. It permeated through his whole life. From spousal abuse & drink-driving outside the ring, to struggling to make weight & watching Jumbotrons when he should have been observing incoming punches inside it.

i think you're reading way too much into corrales. from a boxing standpoint, i understand your views on diego's lack of focus. it showed in some of his later bouts but he also had some fights where he had to be completely focused to get through them. if you want to list fighters throughout history who had problems outside of the ring like corrales, we'd be writing forever. monzon beat the poop out of women and eventually murdered while ray robinson was pound for pound the #1 woman beater in history. my point is that just because a fighter has problems outside of the ring doesn't necessarily mean it effects their performance in the ring.

Yes, but Monzon & Robinson bore out a consistency in the ring Corrales couldn't have duplicated if he spent his career fighting the population of BoxRec. We saw what Corrales could do when on-song --- Freitas, Castillo first-go around, even when he won his first title, against Garcia, it was a guy with his head screwed on properly, & his opposition paid for it.

His outer-ring exploits impacted him in the ring --- at least --- on one occasion. The fight with Mayweather. Never would have won anyway, but that whole scenario was hanging right above his head. It had to impact him. I think it manifested itself with that truly unique & truly moronic Jumbotron fiasco during the fight. Sometimes, he would try that within face-touching distance of Mayweather's fists. Crazy.

I think inconsistency is as much a hallmark of Corrales' performances & career as any other quality, achievement or attribute.

[HomicideHenry]

Probably the worst that I can think of was when Jeffries defended the title [some argue it was merely an exhibition] against a man named Jack Finnegan, who was easily outweighed some 60 pounds; Jeffries stopped Finnegan inside 55 seconds

[iamasadlittleboy]

Probably the worst that I can think of was when Jeffries defended the title [some argue it was merely an exhibition] against a man named Jack Finnegan, who was easily outweighed some 60 pounds; Jeffries stopped Finnegan inside 55 seconds

This is a bout I'm always curious about...whats the "official" line with it?