He came from nowhere

[Stuarty]

Prescott when he chinned Khan

[Stuarty]

That Rosario dude who battered Williams not so long ago was relatively unheard of.

[milpool]

We knew Terence Crawford was decent but when he came over to take on Ricky Burns, I'm not sure I realised he was as good as he was.

[kevo]

Den Lebedev was pretty much unknown when he came over as a comeback opponent for Enzo, of course Den battered him and went on to become a unified world champ and longtime major player

Same with Ola Afolabi in the fight before that.

Enzo ended up with quite a few 'better than advertised' opponents.

I was at that fight, the knockout blow was the loudest punch I’ve ever heard. Echoed right around the arena

[bripez]

Sergio Martinez and Winky Wright both went unnoticed and then ended up high in the P4P rankings.
.

Wright ended in the IBHOF and so will Martinez eventually...

It’s mad that Winky was fighting the Viking at Bowlers and Martinez was travelling Europe looking for fights for shite money

[Cyclops]

No one really cared about that fight and was only 4 round technical draw. I remember peole ridiculing it as a defence for Joe especially as Calzaghe was expected to be fighting top opponents then

He almost beat Joe!

He gave Andre Ward a tough fight too if I remember correctly. He had an ugly style but I always liked Bika. He fought a lot of top names and nobody got him out of there, even Adonis Stevenson. He won the Contender after losing to Joe and the final was extremely entertaining (can't remember who he fought though), although he didn't show much boxing skill. I was really pleased for him when he finally picked up the WBC belt. I know it was for the vacant belt but still, its not like it was the WBA regular or something. He achieved quite a lot if you think about it.

I also found the fact that his wife wasn't a gold-digging Playboy model type quite endearing.

[Bigdogsnose]

Danny garcia had a solid record and had beat a well over the top morales but was a huge underdog against khan. Khan was almost expected to make it a routine win after losing to paterson, some shouting robbery. Garcia clipped him with the same hook that he has now went into to stop many fighters at world level and is probably heading for hof.

Not out of nowhere, but pretty unexpected as well.

[Deserter]

No one really cared about that fight and was only 4 round technical draw. I remember peole ridiculing it as a defence for Joe especially as Calzaghe was expected to be fighting top opponents then

He almost beat Joe!

No he didn't! It was an ugly fight and harder than most of us anticipated at the time, but two scores of 117-110 and a score of 116-111 tell the story. There was no point Calzaghe actually looked like losing.

[Steveh583]

He almost beat Joe!

No he didn't! It was an ugly fight and harder than most of us anticipated at the time, but two scores of 117-110 and a score of 116-111 tell the story. There was no point Calzaghe actually looked like losing.

joe outboxed him, but bika certainly bashed him up a fair bit. I remember him posing with enzo for pics afterwards with a face like a watermelon. I think it was the fight after Lacy and showtime were in town. I remember thinking hes def trying too hard to put on a show to impress Jay Larkin (???). He was making silly faces and showboating, which really wasn't joes persona, and it was clear he wasnt enjoying himself either.

[Counter-puncher]

No he didn't! It was an ugly fight and harder than most of us anticipated at the time, but two scores of 117-110 and a score of 116-111 tell the story. There was no point Calzaghe actually looked like losing.

but bika certainly bashed him up a fair bit. I remember him posing with enzo for pics afterwards with a face like a watermelon.r.

either mostly, or entirely with his head IIRC

[Deserter]

No he didn't! It was an ugly fight and harder than most of us anticipated at the time, but two scores of 117-110 and a score of 116-111 tell the story. There was no point Calzaghe actually looked like losing.

joe outboxed him, but bika certainly bashed him up a fair bit. I remember him posing with enzo for pics afterwards with a face like a watermelon. I think it was the fight after Lacy and showtime were in town. I remember thinking hes def trying too hard to put on a show to impress Jay Larkin (???). He was making silly faces and showboating, which really wasn't joes persona, and it was clear he wasnt enjoying himself either.

Yep, that's how I recall it, particularly in terms of the 'trying to impress' element, but as Counter Puncher just pointed out, Bika was incredibly dirty and awkward. Just wanted to address the claim Joe nearly lost - he nearly lost to Reid, but definitely not to Bika.

[Counter-puncher]

joe outboxed him, but bika certainly bashed him up a fair bit. I remember him posing with enzo for pics afterwards with a face like a watermelon. I think it was the fight after Lacy and showtime were in town. I remember thinking hes def trying too hard to put on a show to impress Jay Larkin (???). He was making silly faces and showboating, which really wasn't joes persona, and it was clear he wasnt enjoying himself either.

Yep, that's how I recall it, particularly in terms of the 'trying to impress' element, but as Counter Puncher just pointed out, Bika was incredibly dirty and awkward. Just wanted to address the claim Joe nearly lost - he nearly lost to Reid, but definitely not to Bika.

i've seen it said Chocolatito 'nearly lost' to Estrada. I mean, i feckin love Estrada, but common, winning (what?) maybe 4 rounds does not make for a near-defeat for the winner of 8

[banjo]

Buster Drayton

Aye, proper bolloxed Kaylor, same card as Bonecrusher vs Bruno too.

[polecateddy]

Manuel Medina surprised people by giving Hamed his first tough fight. Although Prince Naz said he had a cold. I’d guess it might have already been a sign that the spartan approach was out of the window and he was in full-blown ‘I’m a celebrity’ mode.

[Coco]

He almost beat Joe!

No he didn't! It was an ugly fight and harder than most of us anticipated at the time, but two scores of 117-110 and a score of 116-111 tell the story. There was no point Calzaghe actually looked like losing.

But he made things difficult enough, often with his head, to make JC change tactics during the fight, it was only really Kessler who also made him do it.
Clear win for the Welshman but he was forced to work hard for it

[Coco]

That yank who fought Freddie Flintoff, I have never seen someone try and not hit someone in that way since Joe Bugner!

And the shock on his face when Flintoff hit the deck! His punch output went to zero after that

[littlepug]

Steve Robinson, Glenn Mcrory and Dennis Andries.

[Rockytony67]

Dick Tiger

[Old bones Ian]

Carlos Palomino coming here and beating John H Stracey, at the time Stracey was a big favourite going in.

Mickey Duff even stated, that Palomino's record of 19-1-3 (9 KO's) was more
impressive than the fighter himself. "We saw his last '3' fights, and he was the
easiest of all the fighters we screened. We were looking for a nice easy fight
for John. Carlos looked like a predictable plodder, nothing more than a good club fighter."

After the fight won Palomino in the 12th round.

"It was a voluntary defense by Stracey, not a command one, and, to be perfectly honest, we picked what we took to be a competitive, saleable, but least dangerous opponent for Stracey. We were never more wrong." - Mickey Duff.

[rio]

Bika turned out to be no joke. I still maintain he gave ward one of his toughest nights. Brutal fight, headbutts, elbows the lot. He was as tough as they they come. Stepped up to light heavy vs Stevenson......no one was ever gonna stop him. Ended up winning the WBC. Him vs Froch would have been a real war.

[Counter-puncher]

Bika turned out to be no joke. I still maintain he gave ward one of his toughest nights. Brutal fight, headbutts, elbows the lot.

Lol Ward - Bika was always going to be foul-filled

[(craig)]

Remember when Baldomir beat Judah then Gatti and then got the Mayweather fight. He didn't even bother to pay the sanction fees for some of Judah's belts so didn't get them, he did end up with the ring ww belt though.

The less said about him now though the better!

[Londonirish]

Although 16-0 Kiko Martinez came over to Dublin as a massive underdog and smashed Dunn in the 1st round, went on to have a great career, is still going.

[punchers chance]

Carlos Palomino coming here and beating John H Stracey.

"It was a voluntary defense by Stracey, not a command one, and, to be perfectly honest, we picked what we took to be a competitive, saleable, but least dangerous opponent for Stracey. We were never more wrong." - Mickey Duff.

Duff was also the man who picked Dick Tiger (already nominated in this thread) to fight Terry Downes.

[Coco]

Mpush Makambi came over as a nobody and prob did a better job on Dodson, Bingham and Foster than Wright!