BoxRec

In wake of the Joshua-Ruiz fight with people saying, "Is this the biggest upset ever?", I feel compelled to give something of a history lesson on upsets.

This is far from being the worst. There's been far more shocking upsets. Whether it be favorites losing unexpectedly or off-the-wall underdogs doing the impossible, there's been bigger heartbreaks in boxing.



Douglas vs Tyson, 1990, Tokyo

If you thought a 15-1 underdog winning the title was shocking, then 42-1 underdog Buster Douglas tops them all. There was nearly no casinos out there willing to take any action on the fight because everyone thought it was a foregone conclusion Tyson would win.



Bobick vs Norton

In many people's eyes the big Minnesotan was the heir apparent to the heavyweight crown. Even Muhammad Ali expected Bobick to be his next opponent. May 11th, 1977 the bubble burst for 38-0-0 (32) Bobick in a devastating first round knockout loss.



Klitschko vs Sanders

Wladimir Klitschko, WBO champion, was thought to be Lennox Lewis's next challenge. After all both men "fought" each other in the OCEANS ELEVEN movie. NOBODY thought the South African heavyweight who preferred golf would absolutely annihilate the giant Ukrainian.



Butterbean vs Rose

14-0-0 Eric Esch, Art Dore's latest attraction, gets stopped in the second round by 1-6-1 Mitchell Rose. Nobody expected this obvious "easy win" to go so badly as this. It'd take a long time for the Bean to rebuild himself after this damaging defeat.

Norton-Bobick was not an upset.

Tyson-Douglas was a shocker.
Sanders-Klitschko was a big upset because we didn't know yet that Klitschko had a glass jaw.
Joshua was untested; we really had little idea how good he was. We now have a better idea.

Alp, it was an upset. Various syndicates SINCE have always stated it was an upset. Norton may have been an odds on favorite in the bets but many people thought Bobick would end up as heavyweight champion one day.

Anyways, either contribute with videos of what you consider to be upsets, or stop derailing the thread with your negativity.

Shaw vs Stander

While not a pro sanctioned bout, this match between British hard man Shaw and former heavyweight world title challenger Stander was quite the upset. What many didn't know at the time was Stander had busted ribs going into the contest which gave Shaw the win.



McBride vs Tyson

Iron Mike makes the list again! The 6'6" Clones Colossus was seen as nothing more than an easy payday for the ex-champion, and wound up ending Tyson's career.



Morrison vs Mercer

The Duke had previously lost to Mercer in the amateurs but most people assumed the ROCKY V superstar would go on to fight for heavyweight title. Everything started to fall apart in round four and in round five one of the most devastating knockouts in history occurs.

Bentt vs Morrisson
Wlad vs Purity
McCall vs Lewis 1
Rahman vs Lewis 1
Vitaly vs Byrd
Byrd vs Tua

Woldemar wrote: ↑03 Jun 2019, 11:15 Bentt vs Morrisson
Wlad vs Purity
McCall vs Lewis 1
Rahman vs Lewis 1
Vitaly vs Byrd
Byrd vs Tua

Will get those videos up

Tua vs Byrd

Despite the loss to Lennox Lewis, many people perceived David Tua as being something like a Samoan Joe Frazier who would eventually become champion. Not many expected the former middleweight with the feather fists to make Tua look absolutely absurd.



Byrd vs Vitali Klitschko

Byrd, once again the killer of dreams. Vitali Klitschko quits in his corner, complaining of a shoulder injury. Boxing pundits write him off as having absolutely no heart, because in their minds eye Klitschko could have lost the next three rounds and still would have won a decision.



Morrison vs Bentt

Sighs.... Following the successful victory over George Foreman and a 'gimme' defense over journeyman Tomashek, nobody thought Morrison would lose to the lightly regarded Michael Bentt. Unfortunately for The Duke he gets blown out in the first round. Had he not lost to Bentt he'd of fought Lennox Lewis.



Rahman vs Lewis

Lennox Lewis was more interested in facing Wladimir Klitschko than he was the lightly regarded Hasim Rahman. He paid for it dearly.



Lewis vs McCall

The first loss of Lewis's career was quite unexpected. McCall was basically seen as something of a journeyman on the fringe, and out of nowhere embarrasses Lewis. This would be something of a pattern in Lewis's career taking people lightly.



Wladimir Klitschko vs Purity

The first loss of Klitschko's career was basically a rookie mistake. He thought he could knock out a man who had never really been stopped before. A young man's pride certainly was wounded that night. It'd take some time to rebuild his image, which was a theme throughout his career.

Ali vs Spinks

IN MY OPINION... an upset... I don't think too many people gave the six-fight professional a shot at actually beating Ali from bell-to-bell over fifteen rounds. Retrospectively, looking back, it was obvious Ali was ready for a fall. But at the time, everybody was backing him to win.



Ali vs Liston

Back when Ali was Cassius Clay. I don't think nobody gave the loudmouth from Louisville a chance of surviving let alone winning against the seemingly invincible Sonny Liston.



Foreman vs Ali

Just like with Liston nobody thought Ali could win. After all he went "life and death" with Frazier & Norton, while Foreman annihilated both in a combined four rounds.

Foreman vs Moorer

In 1994, nobody was really giving the lovable George Foreman a chance. Twenty years removed from being heavyweight champion of the world. He lost to Evander Holyfield and Tommy Morrison and was gifted a win over Alex Stewart who practically broken his face to pieces. Moorer, who sent Holyfield into retirement, was looking to send a clear message to the division by running through the legendary icon. Winning every single second of nine rounds, in the tenth, Moorer would fall. The biggest upset of my lifetime.

Foreman v Moorer is a very sound call

Easy to forget that Foreman was viewed with a good deal of amusement-cynicism at this particular juncture. And the fight with Moorer was largely considered as wholly underserved.

His age, waistline, a tendency to send himself up and previous losses to Morrison and Holyfield as well as a toughie with Stewart meant this shot with Moorer was almost considered as another case of boxing making bucks in v.poor taste.

Conversely, Moorer was 35-0 and in terms of the way he was perceived....well, he was taken very seriously indeed. Moorer was not considered as flaky at this point; far from it in fact and he had beaten some proper people and early.

I still think it is 'the' heavyweight upset of my lifetime....simply because Foreman's second coming was seemingly grinding to a somewhat ignominious halt and even felt a tad absurd by this point.

Douglas v Tyson runs it close though.

HomicideHenry wrote: ↑03 Jun 2019, 11:02 Alp, it was an upset. Various syndicates SINCE have always stated it was an upset. Norton may have been an odds on favorite in the bets but many people thought Bobick would end up as heavyweight champion one day.

Anyways, either contribute with videos of what you consider to be upsets, or stop derailing the thread with your negativity.

Don't mean to negative, just accurate. Some people thought Bobick would win, many thought Norton would. It was not an upset. Neither were Mercer-Morrison, Tua-Byrd, V. Klitschko-Byrd. The higher ranked fighter won all all of these. They were all expected to be competitive fights going in.

Braddock-Baer was a shocking upset.

Ambling Alp II wrote: ↑03 Jun 2019, 15:35 Braddock-Baer was a shocking upset.

This we certainly agree on.

"The Greatest Upset Since Corbett Beat Sullivan" is how the press described the championship fight. Baer was riding high after kayoing Schmeling and Carnera and starring in the blockbuster PRIZEFIGHTER AND THE LADY.

Still to this day Baer is considered one of the top 100 greatest punchers in history regardless of weight class, and at his peak he was a damned difficult task for anyone to deal with--- toughness, recklessness, decent speed, and good conditioning. Most pundits believed he'd be the champion for many years.

Braddock, long considered washed up, managed to make his way into being the number one contender beating Corn Griffin, John Henry Lewis & Art Lasky. Even with the "Cinderella" comeback, everybody thought he'd get killed--- and for good reason because years before Baer did kill Frankie Campbell.

Some have said that Baer disliked being champ. He loved the money and the fame and all the perks that came with it but not the training or the responsibility. Some have suggested Baer basically "threw away" the title on purpose, pointing to the 15th round as the only round where Baer went full out, but that's to ignore all the back hands & low blows Baer did throw off and on throughout the fight.

I do think he didn't believe Braddock would win, which is why he didn't really train in earnest. I think he thought that he could half ass it and beat Braddock. However, even at that, I think after the fact he was relieved to have lost the match. He was still wildly popular, good looking, and it didn't damage him too much because the public shrugged it off with, "Oh that Maxie he's a funny guy," and figured the next time he'd get serious and regain the title. Unfortunately for him he never did.

Johnson vs Jeffries

In retrospect, this wasn't at all an upset. This was a mismatch, an accident waiting to happen. However, in the 1910s people didn't have knowledge of the limitations of human performance, let alone what it would take to successfully pull off something like this coming out the winner or at least losing competitively. People just assumed an undefeated ex champion could come back at any time regardless of circumstance and regain the crown without the benefit of any tune up's.

Jeffries hadn't fought in six years. He had to lose 110 pounds. He had to get in shape for a fight scheduled for 45 rounds. The fight would be held under the blazing sun in Reno. And with the standard equipment of the day: little three ounce horse hair gloves.

No man in 2019 would ever consider doing such a thing under such perameters. Even Tyson Fury wasn't gone for six years when he fought Wilder, and he had at least two set-up matches beforehand. Oh and did I forget that this was a winner-take-all purse at $101,000 dollars?

Most of the press and various boxers and trainers picked Jefferies to win. Even Sam Langford picked Jefferies. The only man in the business who said that Jeffries couldn't was Bob Fitzsimmons trainer, the one voice of reason, who said that nobody could be gone longer than three years and still win.

Jeffries, the night before, apparently knew that he couldn't win the fight. Telling his wife he couldn't win, she tried to talk him out of going through with the match, but he said that he was a man of his word and would do what he promised to do. In retrospect, I'm sure Jefferies thought after the fact it'd of been better to have pulled out.

Props to Jeffries for his bravery and toughness. He received a dozen cuts all over his face, as well as a bloody gashed mouth. In the fifteenth round he finally hit the deck and the fight was stopped before the referee could count "Ten!" so that Jeffries wouldn't suffer the further humiliation of having been counted out.

For the world-at-large this was completely unexpected and considered an international calamity. Jefferies was thought to be invincible. He was basically the ideal male of his time, and to see him destroyed was too much for people to take. In today's world, such a match would most likely never have been sanctioned.

Louis Monaco vs Michael Dokes

Marco Huck vs Krzysztof Głowacki

Huck was about to set the record of title defences at CW, he was making his USA debut, he planned to become a star there and make the CW a popular division but he got stopped by unknown underdog from Poland Krzysztof Głowacki in one of the best fights in 2015. Before the fight Huck said that he will clean the ring with Glowacki's ass.

Honeyghan v Curry was a big upset at the time

Woldemar wrote: ↑04 Jun 2019, 05:24 Louis Monaco vs Michael Dokes

Monaco had a few upset wins in his career. He was very much a spoiler. You never knew whether or not to bet on him, though. He'd pull off some great victory and soon after fall back into mediocrity, only to come back when you least expected it.



Monaco kayoes Douglas

Monaco was robbed of the victory, though, because they claimed he was hit after the bell when it was clear that the punch was simultaneous with the bell.

Monaco also annihilated the 6'6" 19-0-1 Kevin McBride when he was just 4-6-2 as a professional. The kayo was actually featured in the movie THE GREAT WHITE HYPE when they were searching for a viable white challenger for James Roper. Very scary stuff as McBride's jaw was visibly broken.



Monaco also kayoed Peter McNeeley when he was only 3-3-2 as a professional. McNeeley was 40-2-0 at the time.

And not only that, one can argue Monaco was outright robbed against kickboxing champion Rick "The Jet" Roufus (6-1-0 as a boxer at that time) in Monaco's third fight as a professional. It was a split decision draw.

HomicideHenry wrote: ↑04 Jun 2019, 07:38

Monaco kayoes Douglas

Monaco was robbed of the victory, though, because they claimed he was hit after the bell when it was clear that the punch was simultaneous with the bell.

Check the video around the 14.05 mark: it really was after the bell.

in the heat of throwing leather I doubt he heard it with the crowd yelling. When the decision was announced saying it was a DQ loss for Monaco the crowd booed.

It has to be noted that after Monaco he'd only fight four more times: Quinn Navarre, Lou Savarese, Warren Williams, and Andre Crowder. Savarese kayoed Douglas in one round--- so the Monaco fight, retrospectively, was quite telling.

Darryl Pickney vs Junior " Poison " Jones

Junior Jones vs Barrera I

I'd have gone with that too ^ but I assumed the thread was about heavyweights.

At the time, Holyfield/Tyson I was a big upset, as Reg called it on the night "the biggest upset in the fight game, bar none" which is possibly overplaying it but most people thought Holyfield would actually die or something, based on their respective prior performances.

Nah this is about upsets in general regardless of weight class.



Roberto Duran vs Kirkland Laing

RING MAGAZINE's Upset of the Year in 1982. Later on in Duran's career he'd suffer another upset loss to Pat Lawlor in 1991 due to a freak shoulder injury.



Duran would get revenge over Lawlor in 2000 via unanimous decision when both men were basically "senior circuit" fighters.

Kimbo Slice vs Ray Mercer

Not quite boxing but.... I don't think many thought Ray Mercer (old or not) was going to lose in the first round to YouTube streetfighter Kimbo Slice.

It was supposed to be the Florida native's pro debut in MMA but the commission REFUSED to sanction it as a pro contest, so it was made an exhibition bout. So even the commission didn't believe that Kimbo had a chance.

It must be noted, though, that Mercer took mental notes of this loss into his MMA fight with former UFC champion Tim Sylvia, never allowing the 6'8" cagefighter to get started by just knocking him out off the bat inside of ten seconds.



Unfortunately for the wildly popular Kimbo Slice, he himself would suffer an upset loss when complete non-starter Seth Petruzelli stopped him in the first round--- because of this, along with Petruzelli claiming ELITEXC basically was paying their fighters extra dollars to throw punches instead of wrestling so the fights would be more entertaining, combined with the devastating loss Gina Carano suffered at the hands of Cris Cyborg, that particular MMA brand completely folded and went out of business.

HomicideHenry wrote: ↑04 Jun 2019, 07:38 Monaco was robbed of the victory, though, because they claimed he was hit after the bell when it was clear that the punch was simultaneous with the bell.