Most disappointing performances by Brits in world title fight

[Bard of Boxrec]

johnny nelson v carlos de leon

Someone should do a 'Wawrzyk Waltz' style job on that fight. Those two were dancing round the ring in perfect harmony for 36 minutes.

[ThereByTheGrace]

Darren barker v sturm. Embarrassing whether he knew he was done beforehand or not.

[bigjack]

Akinwande vs lewis,an absolutely feeble effort if ever there was one.

Good call,i watched that the other day,was it George Benton shaking his head in the corner ?

[bigjack]

Frankie Gavin fought as though he wasn't convinced he had a chance v Brook.

he didn't have a chance,that's why lol

[Rexob]

Ricky Burns vs Nicky Cook was pretty shocking!

[Andrew]

robin reid, hugely disappointing in a number of title fights

He got robbed against Ottke though.

[littlepug]

Derek angol v Tyrone booze

[rio]

Barker vs Martinez. He's showed 0 ambition. Seriously looked as tho his game plan was to frustrate Martinez and lose a lop sided decision. Macklin however has a real go against martinez, if your going to lose a fight then that's the way he gained maximum respect for his effort.

[Switch hitter]

Scott Welch vs Akinwande......

[bripez]

robin reid, hugely disappointing in a number of title fights

He got robbed against Ottke though.

That was a bad, bad robbery that one.

Also, don't forget that he was very unlucky against Calzaghe - I thought that he won that fight and there was never a rematch.

[Finn]

What do you see as the most disappointing, flat, or pathetic performances by a Brit in a world title fight where the Brit either:

a) talked a big fight beforehand only to be humiliated or dominated by his opponent (e.g. Bellew vs Stevenson, Haye vs Wlad)
b) was a champion who people thought could win but ended getting beaten up and outclassed (e.g. Clev vs Kovalev)
c) underperformed massively based on ability (e.g. Naz vs MAB).

Ignore fights like Jennings vs Cotto where the Brit had no chance.

Barkers performance against Sturm is a contender although he was injured and arguably deserved to cash in.

Bruno-Tyson 2 is another that comes to mind. Bruno was already beaten during the ring walk.

In fairness to bellew he did drop Stevenson.

[Finn]

Barker vs Martinez. He's showed 0 ambition. Seriously looked as tho his game plan was to frustrate Martinez and lose a lop sided decision. Macklin however has a real go against martinez, if your going to lose a fight then that's the way he gained maximum respect for his effort.

I though he was out boxing Martinez until Martinez started to land the heavy shots.

[Finn]

Darren barker v sturm. Embarrassing whether he knew he was done beforehand or not.

Terrible but he's the one fighter I can't begrudge hiding an injury to finally get his big payday.

[Bodyshot3]

Nelson v De Leon really stank as others have said...there are probably people who were there who've never watched another fight again.
A couple more spring to mind as well...

David Starrie doing not very much at all against Calzaghe

Starrie genuinely had some talent, but just went missing in action that night. Was looking forward to that one at the time as well because Starrie could hit, was young and seemingly well on the rise and had won a few notable fights. Just never, ever went for it and let himself down a bit. Just never happened for David really.

Hide getting blitzed by Vitali K

Ok, so an upset was potentially on the cards and Vitali would go on to become a top drawer champ. But Hide was sniffy and arrogant before the fight and just did not do his homework either. Huge Ukrainian guy with multiple early stoppages = serious threat. Herbie had talent but just never seemed to listen, apply himself fully or want to follow a gameplan...and he got absolutely crushed and embarassed big time that night.

[Stuarty]

Big Enz was like a rabbit caught in the headlights vs Haye. Billy Hardy vs Naz was funny but always on the cards.

[mickey1975]

Big Enz was like a rabbit caught in the headlights vs Haye. Billy Hardy vs Naz was funny but always on the cards.

Why was Hardy-Naz funny?

[Stuarty]

Big Enz was like a rabbit caught in the headlights vs Haye. Billy Hardy vs Naz was funny but always on the cards.

Why was Hardy-Naz funny?

Because of all the talk from Hardy beforehand.

[dr_devious]

eastman against hopkins really p*ssed me off because he could have won that fight if he had pushed himself harder. he always boxed lazy.

Aren't you thinking of Eastman v Joppy, which Howard lost on a razor thin decision but would have won if he hadn't coasted so much? Hopkins won fairly comfortably against Eastman who put in a more credible effort than against Joppy

[magwitch]

What do you see as the most disappointing, flat, or pathetic performances by a Brit in a world title fight where the Brit either:

a) talked a big fight beforehand only to be humiliated or dominated by his opponent (e.g. Bellew vs Stevenson, Haye vs Wlad)
b) was a champion who people thought could win but ended getting beaten up and outclassed (e.g. Clev vs Kovalev)
c) underperformed massively based on ability (e.g. Naz vs MAB).

Ignore fights like Jennings vs Cotto where the Brit had no chance.

Barkers performance against Sturm is a contender although he was injured and arguably deserved to cash in.

Bruno-Tyson 2 is another that comes to mind. Bruno was already beaten during the ring walk.

I think that does MA Barrera a huge disservice actually. I wasn't so old at the time and I've heard say Hamed had lost his edge or wasn't training etc, he still had a huge amount of power, natural ability and considerable experience. I think he just ran into a tough c*nt that believed in himself, was his equal and knew how to box and wasn't about to be one of his doormats.
I say this as a Brit - I believe it to be one of the most satisfying outcomes in the history of boxing, and I suspect I'm not on my own in that as when Snr Barrera came to Manchester he was given a hero's welcome.


Back to your point. I remember seeing on KOTV boxing programme under their "Classics or From the Archive" bit a fight between Adrian Stone and Shane Moseley. Think it lasted 3 rounds. A bit like Whatshisface Minter against Hagler - Stone didn't actually do anything wrong. Just was up against a very good fighter on the night.

Michael Hunter another. Never put a foot wrong until he got gubbed by Molitor. Just the way it goes.

[Boxing Prospect]

Mitchell vs Katsidis and Burns?

[johnswan1]

In fairness to bellew he did drop Stevenson.

Don't know what fight you were watching. Bellew didn't drop Stevenson and won 0/5 rounds on two judges cards and 1/5 round on the other.

[davie]

Lewis vs Mccall and Rahman

[magwitch]

I can remember being in the crowd for Nicky Cook versus Roman Martinez in Manchester. Blimey - it was 6 years ago Cook went down twice in quick succession. I thought it was round 3 but I just looked, it was round 4. It just came out of nowhere. I think the brevity of that fight surprised a few in the audience that night, myself included.

Not saying anything negative about the lad here as I knew nothing about Martinez at all, so far be it for me to say it was disappointing.

[Tomasino]

Rhodes vs Alvarez. Ryan was intimidated the whole fight and didn't try to do anything but survive.

[samwbr]

In fairness to bellew he did drop Stevenson.

Don't know what fight you were watching. Bellew didn't drop Stevenson and won 0/5 rounds on two judges cards and 1/5 round on the other.

Bellew looked as though he knew what was coming throughout the buildup and it became obvious from the first bell. He was never in the fight.