BoxRec

Lets compile a consensus, trying to stick with bouts which remain a surprise even with hindsight (for instance, Tunney besting Dempsey was huge then, knowing how great Tunney was, and the way Dempsey was rusted and fading, its not a shock).

Three absolute must's, IMO...

Turpin-Robinson I, Douglas-Tyson, Leonard-Hagler.

There are lots of big ones, but the 10 biggest?

Leon Spinks vs Ali. Mike Spinks vs Larry Holmes. Zahir Raheem vs Erik Morales. Tyson v Douglas. Glen Johnson vs Roy Jones jnr. Lloyd Honeyghan v Don Curry. Jim Braddock v Max Bear. Max Schmelling v Joe Louis. Barclay v Hearns. Rachman v Lewis.

Nice guys, keep em coming.

Don't know if this Qualifies but I like Sanders vs Klit

Fernandez/ Arguello
Duran/Laing
Stracey/Napoles
Randall/Chavez

Holyfield/Tyson. Some people said Holyfield was going to get killed.

Tyson-Douglas
Ali-Spinks I
Honeyghan-Curry
Ali-Foreman

must be in there

I'll try to name some that havent been mentioned.

Mercado over Shavers
Cobb over Shavers
Rossman over Galindez
Anterfermo draw with Hagler ( a draw can count as upset imo )
Pat Lawler over Duran (Even though it was from a broken hand)
Willie Salazar over Danny Romero
Marcos Primera over Curtis Stevens

withoutthee88 wrote:Joe Calzaghe SD12 Bernard Hopkins

:??

...add corbett over sullivan.

corbett over mitchell...corbett winning was not an upset, but his scoring a knockout was not expected by anyone and was considered by man, a tank job...and is still suspect by some historians.

Young Corbett II - Terry McGovern

Tom Bethea - Nino Benvenutti

I don't know if they're great ones really but they were big.

Shavers was considered washed up after losing to Holmes in 79. While Cobb and Mercado beating him were upsets, I wouldn't call it near being one of the 10 greatest.

In terms of shock value (not neccesarily among the 10 best), Sanders-Klitschko has to be up there. Also Hamas over Schmeling, Johansson over Patterson, Siki over Carpentier, Levinsky over Sharkey, Tarver-Jones Jr II (wow some thought Tarver may win, practically no-one predicted an early KO for Antonio)

Here are my picks:

1. Tyson vs Douglas
2. Ali vs Spinks I
3. Tyson vs Holyfield I
4. Chavez vs Randall I
5. Clay vs Liston I
6. Robinson vs Turpin I
7. Hagler vs Leonard
8. Baer vs Braddock
9. Honeyghan vs Curry
10. Rahman vs Lennox Lewis I

Ali over Foreman has to be up there

Fights like Ali/Foreman, Hagler/Leonard & Holyfield/Tyson were very big. But I don't think any of them touch Fernandez/Arguello. That more than likely prevented Duran/Arguello from happening.

The more I think about it, the more I see the biggest upset coming down to two bouts...Spinks beating Ali, and Turpin over Robinson (Douglas-Tyson a stunner for the ages, but just a rung below).

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Fights like Ali/Foreman, Hagler/Leonard & Holyfield/Tyson were very big. But I don't think any of them touch Fernandez/Arguello. That more than likely prevented Duran/Arguello from happening.

You might be right about the upset preventing Alexis -Roberto. Im not sure though.I remember it as Fernandez out hustling him in a non title fight ten rounder. Arguello just got right back in the saddle and kept defending his title against good opposition. Later on he beat Fenandez in a rematch. I guess what Im saying is there wasn't a whole lot of historical significance to the fight. Champs used to drop occasional non title fights back in the day. Nobody really even fights them anymore. That said though, You"re right about it being a big upset. Nobody saw Fernandez beating Arguello at all.

Goodnight, Irene wrote:The more I think about it, the more I see the biggest upset coming down to two bouts...Spinks beating Ali, and Turpin over Robinson (Douglas-Tyson a stunner for the ages, but just a rung below).

Robinson had a lax training camp (to say the least) and Turpin was a very good fighter, was it mentioned in the press or the upset predicted before hand? My ring mags only go back to the 70s.

Expug wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Fights like Ali/Foreman, Hagler/Leonard & Holyfield/Tyson were very big. But I don't think any of them touch Fernandez/Arguello. That more than likely prevented Duran/Arguello from happening.

You might be right about the upset preventing Alexis -Roberto. Im not sure though.I remember it as Fernandez out hustling him in a non title fight ten rounder. Arguello just got right back in the saddle and kept defending his title against good opposition. Later on he beat Fenandez in a rematch. I guess what Im saying is there wasn't a whole lot of historical significance to the fight. Champs used to drop occasional non title fights back in the day. Nobody really even fights them anymore. That said though, You"re right about it being a big upset. Nobody saw Fernandez beating Arguello at all.

It was a non-title fight. But it was thought of as a prep for a challenge of Duran. When he lost it took the luster off of the fight. Agreed that is wasn't historically significant, but does it really need to be? I was only 5 for Ali/Foreman, but I won money on Leonard/Hagler & Holyfield/Tyson. Certainly big upsets from a public perspective, but i wasn't shocked by either.

DaveBoyMorrison wrote:

Goodnight, Irene wrote:The more I think about it, the more I see the biggest upset coming down to two bouts...Spinks beating Ali, and Turpin over Robinson (Douglas-Tyson a stunner for the ages, but just a rung below).

Robinson had a lax training camp (to say the least) and Turpin was a very good fighter, was it mentioned in the press or the upset predicted before hand? My ring mags only go back to the 70s.

You wouldnt call it one of the biggest two or three upsets ever?

Every upset this magnitude will involve a lax camp.

Goodnight, Irene wrote:

DaveBoyMorrison wrote:

Goodnight, Irene wrote:The more I think about it, the more I see the biggest upset coming down to two bouts...Spinks beating Ali, and Turpin over Robinson (Douglas-Tyson a stunner for the ages, but just a rung below).

Robinson had a lax training camp (to say the least) and Turpin was a very good fighter, was it mentioned in the press or the upset predicted before hand? My ring mags only go back to the 70s.

You wouldnt call it one of the biggest two or three upsets ever?

Every upset this magnitude will involve a lax camp.

Sorry I do agree its top three I was just curious.

Don’t know how it was perceived at the time but looking back Carter KO1 Griffith looks like a very unlikely result.

Barkley -v- Hearns 1.

Holyfield -v- Tyson 1.

McCall -v- Lewis 1.

Martin -v- Liston.

Backus/Napoles, albeit on a cut (or two)
Tarver/Jones Jr
Willard/Johnson
Foreman/Moorer
Braddock/Baer

He never gets a mention in these discussions, but Harold Dade was as much as a 12-1 underdog (and 3-1 simply to last the distance) when he won the bantamweight crown from Manuel Ortiz. The California commission had been under pressure from the NBA not to sanction the bout as a title contest, feeling Dade wasn't a worthy championship opponent.