Fighters who were incredible on one night. I don't necessarily mean one lucky punch. Even if they weren't ahead on the cards, they looked so far above their normal recognised and expected level during that one performance on the way towards their win against a great. Douglas is the obvious choice. What are some others? I'm particularly fascinated to learn about non-heavyweights, but I'm interested in all. Thanks.
I'm thinking Mugabi against Hagler off the top of my head. Mugabi was a good fighter but that was one hell of a tough performance. Spoon never fought as good as the night against Holmes. Jerry Martin laid a beating on James Scott. I dont think Martin ever put it together as good again. I hope these meet your criteria.
Carl Williams to some extent. Like Douglas, he was pretty good boxer too, but he performed better than expected against Holmes, fight could've gone either way. Keep in mind that Williams was 16-fights novice with just one serious opponent in Tillis.
It's a really difficult subject, as most fighters who were brilliant in one fight, at least showed flashes of that elsewhere in their career. Douglas is very rare in having a single performance that appears an anomaly with his career before and after. You can argue that Turpin is a high-level example, but he showed enough in the rematch with Robinson and his other fights to avoid the label. Vince Phillips has the big win over Tszyu that stands out, but he was always regarded as a talent even if his performances didn't always reflect that. Alejandro Gonzalez looked like a monster when he beat Kevin Kelley, but lost the title soon afterwards and never quite got back to that level. Honeyghan was exceptional between 1985-87, beating multiple world titlists, many by quick demolition jobs. He had a short prime, but has too many quality wins to be a one fight wonder.
Randy Turpin, the welsh fighter that beat Ray Robinson and then lost the rematch and never reached those heights again so he committed suicide! It`s been stated that he may have also had learning difficulties.
Yeah, it would be a real stretch to describe him as great. He was highly regarded at the time though, and Gonzalez wiped the floor with him. At 21 he looked like being a real force from 126-135 for years to come, but dropped a decision to Medina and then was knocked out by Espinosa, before setting into life as a lightweight fringe contender.
Witherspoon is a perfect example. I have him at number 31 on my all time heavy list.... Would he be top 40 (or even 50) without it?
