Which was the bigger upset?

[SUGARRAYSMELEE]

Choose and explain.

[Scottrf]

Tyson vs Douglas because Tyson was seen in roughly the same way as Liston, but Douglas a journeymen, whereas Ali was seen as decent, if overmatched. Betting odds would reflect it, it's not even close. He'd already beaten Cooper and an old Archie Moore.

[Shpati]

Douglas was known to be a journeyman, just another HW ranked up there, but Ali was known to be a big prospect and a great upcoming HW in the future.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Yup, Sonny was also older while Tyson was at his absolute peak. Douglas was a solid guy, it was Tyson's dominance more than him being a bum that made the fight an afterthought. All of Mike's fights were like that at the time.

[The Great John L]

Yup, Sonny was also older while Tyson was at his absolute peak. Douglas was a solid guy, it was Tyson's dominance more than him being a bum that made the fight an afterthought. All of Mike's fights were like that at the time.

Well said. While Tyson was a heavy favorite, Douglas wasn't quite the hopeless underdog that most now think. Of course it was a much bigger upset than Ali beating Liston.

[gilgamesh]

Ali was an olympic Gold Medalist, and an undefeated young prospect that people felt were in over his head.

Douglas was a guy who had already lost to people Tyson had beaten, and had never showed any kind of fire that would've suggested he could've done what he did against Tyson.

Basically Ali had a slim/marginal chance of winning according to most boxing experts and ringside observers.

Douglas had no chance to win in the minds of almost everybody, the only question was which round will Tyson knock this bum out, and when will Tyson fight Holyfield after getting this chump out of the way. NOBODY outside of maybe Douglas' camp and Douglas' people thought he had any kind of chance at all. Douglas knocking out Tyson isn't just the greatest upset in boxing history, it's probably the biggest upset in the history of professional sports.

[Shpati]

Ali was an olympic Gold Medalist, and an undefeated young prospect that people felt were in over his head.

Douglas was a guy who had already lost to people Tyson had beaten, and had never showed any kind of fire that would've suggested he could've done what he did against Tyson.

Basically Ali had a slim/marginal chance of winning according to most boxing experts and ringside observers.

Douglas had no chance to win in the minds of almost everybody, the only question was which round will Tyson knock this bum out, and when will Tyson fight Holyfield after getting this chump out of the way. NOBODY outside of maybe Douglas' camp and Douglas' people thought he had any kind of chance at all. Douglas knocking out Tyson isn't just the greatest upset in boxing history, it's probably the biggest upset in the history of professional sports.

With no doubt, I cannot think of a bigger upset in sports.

Douglass-Tyson was the biggest upset in boxing history with no question.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

No doubt it's the most famous. But there have been several fights that I gave the winner the same odds, zero.

Laing/Duran & Fernandez/Arguello being two that come to mind.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Take out Ali-Liston & replace it with Turpin-Robinson & maybe you have a question. As it is, Tyson-Douglas with room to spare.

[Ezzard]

Not on the same level but Toney-Nunn was a big upset.

[elmersalsa]

How about Randall vs Chavez I...that was a huge upset at the time. But no upset was bigger than Tyson vs Douglas. The odds were 43 to 1 in Las Vegas.