Best performance by a ‘way past their prime’ fighter

[lefthook82]

Criteria:

Doesn’t have to be a win, just a good unexpected showing from a fighter who clearly meets the definition of being on the slide

Has to be against a prospect/prime fighter who was heavily favoured to win/win handily

British

Khan v Gomez.

Gomez was past, was coming up in weight. I expected this to be over long before the bell for the 2nd round

Non British

Morales v Maidana

I expected Maidana to absolutely obliterate Morales. Thought money on the stoppage would have been like taking candy from a baby. My admiration for Morales (used to be my favourite fighter) meant that I couldn’t bet against him and thank god I didn’t

[whiskey]

Two good shouts there mate.

Carl Thompson vs David Haye is another.

[exittored]

Danny williams vs Scott Gammer

At the time Danny was coming off 2 losses to Audley and Skelton and was seen as past his best and merely a stepping stone fight for the young hungry unbeaten Gammer.

[mrbassie]

Holmes v Mercer + Holyfield.

[Dioufy]

Mosley vs. Margarito.

[Deserter]

Duran against Barkley

[manno]

Duran against Barkley

D uran vs any1 after 1983, just prior to the Davey Moore pasting!!

[crusader]

Almost everyone thought Mark Johnson was on the slide when he upset the previously undefeated Fernando Montiel.

[Lenny]

Great thread and some good answers!

I'll go for McCullough against Larios in their first fight

[Ketchel]

Michael Carbajal V Jorge Arce

[Tomasino]

Michael Carbajal V Jorge Arce

Jorge Arce v Vasquez jnr

[johnswan1]

Douglas v Tyson

[CEO_Hoodlem]

Jason booth Vs mark moran

[Deserter]

Douglas v Tyson

It was a giant upset, but nobody was referring to Douglas as a shot fighter prior to the bout, he was just considered a vastly inferior fighter.

[Lenny]

Casamayor stopping an unbeaten Katsides after he needed a big helping hand from the judges to get past Santa Cruz. I know he was still the champ but definitely looked like he was on a downward spiral and was 10 years older than Katsides. Actually I don't think this is a very good example

[Darcy Delaney]

rocky

[keithmoonhangover]

Hearns vs Virgil Hill.

Hoyfield vs Tyson.

[Bricks]

obviously u can mention any number of duran fights but lower level stuff.........

lloyd honeyghan v mickey hughes 1991- lloyd was utterly shot but refused to brawl and boxed beautifully before ending it with one left hook against the powerpunching commonweath champ.

Herol Graham v Pazienze- Graham was shot no matter what people thought and pazienza was still fast and strong.

[Deserter]

Herol Graham v Pazienze- Graham was shot no matter what people thought and pazienza was still fast and strong.

Know what you're saying, but I would have thought Graham beating Chris Johnson was a better candidate given Johnson was a natural super-middle, undefeated and being tipped for the top at that time.
Edit: Just checked Graham's record and it was only his second fight back after four years out as well.

Hearns vs Hill is a great call Keith - had forgotten all about that.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Two good shouts there mate.

Carl Thompson vs David Haye is another.

Thompson was not 'shot,' neither was Morales. Thompson was coming off an excellent win over Sebastien Rothmann. who was top 10 ranked by two organisations coming into the fight.

Morales is past his prime, but he's given no impression of being shot before the Maidana fight.

People overuse the word shot.

Gomez however was pretty much shot.

[Autobarn]

Michael Carbajal V Jorge Arce

Jorge Arce v Vasquez jnr

i did think arce was well on the way out. the move up in weight clearly helped him. he is so slow these days but he was able to gut it out vs a talented fighter with vulnerabilities/yet to mature.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Duran against Barkley

D uran vs any1 after 1983, just prior to the Davey Moore pasting!!

Christ, how on earth was Duran shot?!!!!

[Deserter]

Two good shouts there mate.

Carl Thompson vs David Haye is another.

Thompson was not 'shot,' neither was Morales. Thompson was coming off an excellent win over Sebastien Rothmann. who was top 10 ranked by two organisations coming into the fight.

Morales is past his prime, but he's given no impression of being shot before the Maidana fight.

People overuse the word shot.

Gomez however was pretty much shot.

Without getting too much into semantics James, I think you're being a bit harsh on Gomez (the poster, not the boxer!) in terms of defining 'shot'.
I'd go so far as to say you're being a bit disingenuious when refering to the Rothmann win as excellent - as we all know, nobody would have complained if that fight had been stopped in Rothmann's favour before Thompson pulled out the honey punch when on the edge of defeat. He certainly looked like a shot fighter at times in that fight as Rothmann seemed to be shaking him to his boots every time he connected.

[stujones]

Mosley vs Margarito for me - some ones I think could be considered.

Ali vs Spinks 2 (the man had parkinsons and hadn't performed that well probably since the thriller in manilla).

McCullough vs Larios is an excellent call - although I'm not sure Wayne was a shot fighter at that stage mearly outsized against Harrison - great, overlooked performance by Wayne though.

Verno Phillips vs Cory Spinks - the man was written off after his upset loss to Paul Jones 13 years previous.

Julio Cesar Chavez vs Miguel Gonzales - credible draw in a nice bout.

[Counter-puncher]

Great thread and some good answers!

I'll go for McCullough against Larios in their first fight

Zaragoza vs McCullough/Morales/probably everyone else he'd fought in the previous 4 years....