BoxRec

when andrew selby and kal yafai beat cris rosales, he'd never fought outside nicragua except for those 2 fights, and basically had little credibility. but then he eventually went on a very nice run that saw him score good wins abroad and become a wbc champ


what other wins are there like this? excluding dq style wins where the winning fighter was clearly inferior

lee selby has a bit of his own win like this. he widely beat then 20-0-3 eduardo ramirez in a title defense at home

ramirez at the time had pretty much just crushed cans and had little credibility. but since then he's been on a very respectable run

i guess one question arises though, how should we rate these types of wins? one might say the defeated fighter was that good all along and just hadnt had the chance to show it, but you could also argue they improved after the fight and so the original in doesnt have the same value beating them now would

Joe C vs Bernard Hopkins aged well.

^ Was a big deal at the time it went down though.

Richie Wenton beating Mark “too sharp” Johnson early on, Johnson had a fair run after, was close to the top of the pound for lists, international hall of fame and multi weight world champion.

Pele Reid’s kickboxing knockout of Vitali Klitchsko! For many years it was considered myth until the video surfaced.

Parker beating a very motivated Ruiz?

Jim McDonnell beat Colombia's Ruben Palacios in a nothing fight at the Albert Hall in 1986. Palacios, who was stopped on cuts in seven rounds, later challenged for world titles at super-bantamweight and featherweight, licking Colin McMillan to win the WBO title.

How about Carl Johanneson beating Ricky Burns for the British? Never would have guessed Ricky would go on to do what he did after that.

Najib Daho beat Barry Michael on points and then lost to him in a world title fight in Manchester.

Fray Bentos wrote: ↑30 May 2022, 05:59 Najib Daho beat Barry Michael on points and then lost to him in a world title fight in Manchester.

Remember watching it live on ITV's World of Sport on a saturday afternoon. Najib hung in there for the full 12 rounds but took a brutal beating.

Hopkins beating Glen Johnson.

Wayne Braithwaite v Yoan Pablo Hernandez

gilgamesh wrote: ↑30 May 2022, 03:23 ^ Was a big deal at the time it went down though.

All the yanks I knew downplayed it on account of bhop's age but the run he went on after provided the perfect counterpoint.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑30 May 2022, 03:23 ^ Was a big deal at the time it went down though.

It was but if Bernard retired that night, the victory would have only been a symbolic one (like Brook V Khan) as opposed to growing for every year Hopkins hung around the world scene and added victories.

Wee Tommy wrote: ↑30 May 2022, 06:35 Hopkins beating Glen Johnson.

brilliant performance

Crawford v Burns

The one I can remember is Dave Boy Macauley knocking out Baby Jake Matlala. Jake was regarded as a joke defence at the time and Dave kod him flat.
Years later Matlala was a big name.

Ernesto Marcel outpointing a relatively unknown Alexis Arguello for the WBA feather title in 1974 - at that point, Arguello had fought almost exclusively in Nicaragua.

Similarly, Alfonso Zamora's W KO 2 bantamweight title defence in 1976 over a fairly unknown Panamanian, a 14-1 Eusebio Pedroza, looked a lot better by about 1985.

And I hope this chap - https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/1415 - is dining out on his PTS 4 win in his debut. It certainly looks good now.

Wee Tommy wrote: ↑30 May 2022, 06:35 Hopkins beating Glen Johnson.

Great example. Glen was still a long way off, from his best run that gained him a lot of notoriety, he was unbeaten going into this fight.

garethhop wrote: ↑30 May 2022, 07:39

gilgamesh wrote: ↑30 May 2022, 03:23 ^ Was a big deal at the time it went down though.

It was but if Bernard retired that night, the victory would have only been a symbolic one (like Brook V Khan) as opposed to growing for every year Hopkins hung around the world scene and added victories.

That's true. It's definitely a fight that aged well that's for damn sure. Hopkins was what? 42 or something at the time I think? Who would've thought he still had so many significant achievements left in him.

boxing_rob wrote: ↑30 May 2022, 05:56 How about Carl Johanneson beating Ricky Burns for the British? Never would have guessed Ricky would go on to do what he did after that.

Brilliant example this mate

dookus wrote: ↑30 May 2022, 07:54 Crawford v Burns

The opposite of ageing well, surely? Crawford winning looked better at the time. Not as impressive now. Burns winning would have aged very well.

Devon Alexander beating a pre-FMJ Maidana by shutout never really gets a mention.