What fights couldn't you have been more wrong about ?

[gilgamesh]

Hopkins Pavlik
Calzaghe Lacy

I was wrong on Calzaghe vs Lacy as well

[Benny The Kid]

Dillian Whyte vs Moses Ituma.

I never expected him to blow out Whyte faster than the bartender's he has been facing.

[giacomino]

Probably 100, but a few:

Wilfredo Gomez vs Zarate (thought he'd lose), Sanchez (thought he'd win), Lockridge (thought he'd lose, although the decision was bad), Layne (thought he'd win)

Hagler v SRL, Hearns vs SRL 1

Duran v Moore and Barkley

Baldomir v Judah

Hatton vs Tszyu

Dokes vs Coetzee

[keithmoonhangover]

Guessing Tyson-Douglas is too obvious for everyone. Not including that, probably Hagler-Leonard.

I just rewatched Tyson-Douglas and the follow up show hosted a few days later by Larry Merchant, which didn't air in the UK. One of the guests was Angelo Dundee and I learnt something I didn't previously know. Angelo was the only person Larry knew, who told him Douglas had a very good chance of winning the fight.

[Ambling Alp II]

That is interesting. He must have seen something from one of Douglas' earlier fights that made him think that.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

That is interesting. He must have seen something from one of Douglas' earlier fights that made him think that.

- Well chronicled that Tyson was completely outta control with the worst training camp of his career thanks to DKing.

Exacerbated by being heavily sedated into a zombie zone to get him into the ring where he kept sleep walking into vicious punches.

I'm hardly a boxing insider, but these tea leaves were easy to read because of King. Net result was King arranging a sexual assault trial for Tyson who was contractually obliged to use King's Tax Attorney for his defense which...bada Boomsky, resulted in a near 4 year prison where upon release from prison, Mike discovers that his $50mil Retirement Annuity has "mysteriously" disappeared...

Helps that Buster was much better than the usual knuckle dragging anthropoids gave him credit for. It was only an upset on the books where most of the betting for this fight had been suspended because of the anticipated upset that would've bankrupted the bookie industry...

[hhaehre]

Golota over Lewis, I didn't rate Lewis at all back then.
Romero to completely outclass Tapia.
Larry Donald to outbox Bowe.

[elmersalsa]

Golota over Lewis, I didn't rate Lewis at all back then.
Romero to completely outclass Tapia.
Larry Donald to outbox Bowe.

Riddick Bowe intimidated Larry Donald with a slap in the press conference. From then, Bowe had the fight won.

Andrew Golota was a head case. His mind was not adept for a sport like boxing.

[Ambling Alp II]

Golota over Lewis, I didn't rate Lewis at all back then.
Romero to completely outclass Tapia.
Larry Donald to outbox Bowe.

Are you pulling our leg?
I think you have something mixed up here. Lewis has been one of the top few heavyweights for 5 years by the time he fought Golota. Golota was a wildcard. We didn't know what to make of him.

You thought Donald would outbox Bowe? I had barely even heard of Donald before then. He actually looked pretty good in the middle rounds but overall was too tentative.

[hhaehre]

Golota over Lewis, I didn't rate Lewis at all back then.
Romero to completely outclass Tapia.
Larry Donald to outbox Bowe.

Are you pulling our leg?
I think you have something mixed up here. Lewis has been one of the top few heavyweights for 5 years by the time he fought Golota. Golota was a wildcard. We didn't know what to make of him.

Up until that point in time I just wasn't very impressed with Lewis. He had power sure, but I felt he could be outboxed. Hell, a wooden Bruno outboxed him until he was caught and Mercer out jabbed him for most of their fight. Golota was unhinged, but he had just beaten Bowe to a pulp twice and also showed that he could take Bowe's best shot. I thought he was a very live underdog and was strangely convinced he would win.

You thought Donald would outbox Bowe? I had barely even heard of Donald before then. He actually looked pretty good in the middle rounds but overall was too tentative.

The thread says fight you couldn't have been more wrong about, so obviously I was wrong about Donald. He was however undefeated and had looked very good against Jeremy Williams. A slick boxer who also had size, and I felt Bowe had looked a bit off in the second Holyfield fight. My "educated" guess was that he would come in underprepared and drop a decision.

Just two fights were I was oddly convinced that the underdog would win.

[JC]

Golota over Lewis, I didn't rate Lewis at all back then.
Romero to completely outclass Tapia.
Larry Donald to outbox Bowe.

Riddick Bowe intimidated Larry Donald with a slap in the press conference. From then, Bowe had the fight won.

It was a bit more than a slap. He clocked him clean with two sucker punches. You could hear them land. Crazy.

[Controversial]

These debates just highlight how pointless it is discussing who wins fantasy fights or arguing how one fighter would dominate in another era. Boxing predictions are often wrong, even the so called experts, trainers and people in the know get predictions wrong all the time and you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right.

[Controversial]

Can you imagine the ridicule and abuse someone on here would have got if they predicted Douglas would KO Tyson, they would’ve been laughed at and the knowledgeable posters on here would be telling them how ridiculous they were.

[Seamus]

I remember a shock prediction I once made that had my best friend telling me I was insane. I said Andy Ganigan was going to knockout Alexis Arguello, because he's a southpaw with power who comes out swinging, and AA can occasionally be a slow starter. He wasn't sold on the argument, but he looked like he saw a ghost when Ganigan dropped Arguello in the 1st round. It all downhill after that though.

[gilgamesh]

Probably the most maddening pick I ever made because of HOW it went wrong is Jose Luis Castillo vs Diego Corrales 1.

I had picked Jose Luis Castillo to win by KO in the 10th round. When he dropped Corrales I was over the moon I was losing my sh*t in celebration mode. When he dropped him again, I was beaming ear to ear, IT'S OVER THE FAT LADY IS SINGING!

And then......


It's funny in retrospect. I didn't think it was too funny at the time.

[Ambling Alp II]

I thought Cooney had a serious chance against Foreman. I remember ESPN showed each of them sparring with sparring partners. Cooney looked much better.

[gilgamesh]

I thought Cooney had a serious chance against Foreman. I remember ESPN showed each of them sparring with sparring partners. Cooney looked much better.

George kinda often does look a little sloppy. Even in fights he winds up winning he'll be off balance, and just kinda awkwardly lunge when he misses.

Lucky for him he hit like a sumbitchin' mule

[Theoson]

This one sounds crazy but I guess that's the point of this thread ? How about Tyson vs Bruno II ?

I thought Tyson was over the hill. Three years in the big house followed by a couple of warm up fights against very mediocre opposition against Frank Bruno who confounded everyone by not only becoming world champion but doing so by a points decision over twelve rounds which must have done wonders for Bruno's confidence. Tyson was probably far from ready and was there for the taking. Even if Bruno was going to lose it was going to be a glorious defeat that would make everyone in the UK proud to be British

As it turned out after the fight I switched over to Mike Dicken's show on Talk Radio and a long line of callers phoned up to say they were ripped off by paying to watch the fight on Sky Sport's subscription channel and perhaps the most memorable and tasteless call was someone claiming "That woman Tyson raped put up a better fight than Bruno !"

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

They paid mccall to drop the fight to bruno. Tysons camp deemed mccall too dangerous

I read this in charles farrells book

[Controversial]

They paid mccall to drop the fight to bruno. Tysons camp deemed mccall too dangerous

I read this in charles farrells book

Tyson paid McCall step aside money? That doesn't make sense as McCall was champ and Bruno was his mandatory. Tyson had only had one fight since leaving prison (McNeeley). Bruno beat McCall and fought Tyson 6 months later. There was no rematch clause, the winner had to fight Tyson.

I doubt McCall would've wanted to fight Tyson even if it were possible as Bruno was the easier pick of the two (and his mandatory) and the winner would have to fight Tyson anyway. If anything it would make more sense for McCall to pay Tyson step aside money so McCall could defend against Bruno, but that wasn't an option as Tyson wasn't in line for a title shot at that time.

Talking of Bruno and Tyson although I didn't think Bruno would win I remember thinking he had a much better chance in the rematch. He looked a lot stronger and had a few more fights under his belt and the confidence of being champ. Tyson had lost, been in prison for a few years and was ring rusty. So I thought Bruno would give him a tougher fight but as we saw Bruno looked petrified and fell apart quicker than a cheap suit.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

They paid mccall to drop the fight to bruno. Tysons camp deemed mccall too dangerous

I read this in charles farrells book

Tyson paid McCall step aside money? That doesn't make sense as McCall was champ and Bruno was his mandatory. Tyson had only had one fight since leaving prison (McNeeley). Bruno beat McCall and fought Tyson 6 months later. There was no rematch clause, the winner had to fight Tyson.

I doubt McCall would've wanted to fight Tyson even if it were possible as Bruno was the easier pick of the two (and his mandatory) and the winner would have to fight Tyson anyway. If anything it would make more sense for McCall to pay Tyson step aside money so McCall could defend against Bruno, but that wasn't an option as Tyson wasn't in line for a title shot at that time.

Talking of Bruno and Tyson although I didn't think Bruno would win I remember thinking he had a much better chance in the rematch. He looked a lot stronger and had a few more fights under his belt and the confidence of being champ. Tyson had lost, been in prison for a few years and was ring rusty. So I thought Bruno would give him a tougher fight but as we saw Bruno looked petrified and fell apart quicker than a cheap suit.

No mccall was paid to lose to bruno

[Controversial]

They paid mccall to drop the fight to bruno. Tysons camp deemed mccall too dangerous

I read this in charles farrells book

Tyson paid McCall step aside money? That doesn't make sense as McCall was champ and Bruno was his mandatory. Tyson had only had one fight since leaving prison (McNeeley). Bruno beat McCall and fought Tyson 6 months later. There was no rematch clause, the winner had to fight Tyson.

I doubt McCall would've wanted to fight Tyson even if it were possible as Bruno was the easier pick of the two (and his mandatory) and the winner would have to fight Tyson anyway. If anything it would make more sense for McCall to pay Tyson step aside money so McCall could defend against Bruno, but that wasn't an option as Tyson wasn't in line for a title shot at that time.

Talking of Bruno and Tyson although I didn't think Bruno would win I remember thinking he had a much better chance in the rematch. He looked a lot stronger and had a few more fights under his belt and the confidence of being champ. Tyson had lost, been in prison for a few years and was ring rusty. So I thought Bruno would give him a tougher fight but as we saw Bruno looked petrified and fell apart quicker than a cheap suit.

No mccall was paid to lose to bruno

Of course he was

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Tyson paid McCall step aside money? That doesn't make sense as McCall was champ and Bruno was his mandatory. Tyson had only had one fight since leaving prison (McNeeley). Bruno beat McCall and fought Tyson 6 months later. There was no rematch clause, the winner had to fight Tyson.

I doubt McCall would've wanted to fight Tyson even if it were possible as Bruno was the easier pick of the two (and his mandatory) and the winner would have to fight Tyson anyway. If anything it would make more sense for McCall to pay Tyson step aside money so McCall could defend against Bruno, but that wasn't an option as Tyson wasn't in line for a title shot at that time.

Talking of Bruno and Tyson although I didn't think Bruno would win I remember thinking he had a much better chance in the rematch. He looked a lot stronger and had a few more fights under his belt and the confidence of being champ. Tyson had lost, been in prison for a few years and was ring rusty. So I thought Bruno would give him a tougher fight but as we saw Bruno looked petrified and fell apart quicker than a cheap suit.

No mccall was paid to lose to bruno

Of course he was

Im just telling you what farrell said

He had some interesting stories

[Controversial]

No mccall was paid to lose to bruno

Of course he was

Im just telling you what farrell said

He had some interesting stories

I don't believe that for a second, it makes no sense, why not wait to see the outcome of the fight first as McCall might have lost anyway and they would've saved themselves a load of money paying him off. If McCall won they could've paid him to throw the Tyson fight, surely that's the time you'd do it, not the fight before.. That's if we believe that's what was going on. What proof has he given for this?

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Of course he was

Im just telling you what farrell said

He had some interesting stories

I don't believe that for a second, it makes no sense, why not wait to see the outcome of the fight first as McCall might have lost anyway and they would've saved themselves a load of money paying him off. If McCall won they could've paid him to throw the Tyson fight, surely that's the time you'd do it, not the fight before.. That's if we believe that's what was going on. What proof has he given for this?

Farrell said because mccall was so nuts they feared he wouldnt comply and could theoretically ko tyson at this point in their careers. So they paid him to drop a decision to bruno and luckily he complied

Farrell had a wild idea to have mitch green meet with tyson in prison and sucker punch him - and king was interested until green balked at it

Again this is from his book. Its a good read. Is some of it bs? Probably

He claimed holyfield and holmes made a side agreement to let holmes win some rounds and not get hurt (he didnt name them i surmised it from his telling)