Which heavyweight champions were just contenders who got lucky?

Braddock, Briggs,Carnera, if you think he was lucky,Ruiz,and Hart if you consider them lineal.

 

Leon Spinks. Perfect time to bank off an old Ali who was clearly just fighting for money at that point.

 

Muhammad Ali won the title from a shot mafia victim with shady interests and arthritic joints, then beat him in a suspicious rematch due to NOI sniper threats. Lost to a man with an impaired arm and compulsive singing tendencies. Got brutalised on the ropes by a cheeseburger addict before he realised he'd missed his daily dose and then lead down from some soft shots. Robbed a PATRIOT of the best wins of his career.

Lucky bum doesn't even describe it.

 

Surprised nobody mentioned Buster Douglass yet.

 

I'd say that's a pretty solid reason.

 

Most of those men were a standout of some sort.

 

Briggs probably fits the description best. Got what most consider a gift decision against an ancient Foreman who hadn't looked good in ages.

At least Spinks's win over Ali was wholly uncontroversial, and Ali himself, though well past it, had also beaten his Schultz (Evangelista) without controversy.

Braddock beat a Baer in prime age without controversy. Basically what we're saying in that case is that simply the fact that he, unexpectedly, beat him makes it a lucky break, even though we don't have much other reason to say so.

Foreman wasn't considered near world class anymore when Briggs controversially beat him. He seemed to be more or less retired and avoided everyone and anything, even a rematch with the (in the big picture) very average Schultz.

 

True. But I'd say he was lucky (in boxing terms, not in his personal life), because the events of his and Tyson's lives, from the recent death of Douglas's mother to Tyson's controversies, poor training, and the departure of Rooney, put Douglas in a position to defeat Tyson.

On a side note, that 10th round knockdown of Tyson is brutal. It's not like the combo that knocked him down was particularly technical, but you can clearly tell he was dazed as he didn't block or dodge a single punch in that whole string. And they were all power punches, too.

 

Here's a problem with this mindset.

There are dominant Champions than there are Champions that weren't meant to last. Both are Champions. Just because one didn't turn out to be dominant doesn't mean they were lucky, they had the tools to get the job done when they had the opportunity. That isn't luck.

The only truly lucky guy I can think of is Briggs who took the lineage via dubious decision.

 

Can't agree that Sharkey, Patterson, maybe Corbett were lucky or undeserved but Willard...

 

I think Corbett was clearly a cut above Slavin (as was Jackson), and Peter Jackson was much better than a contender, having a good case for being the best in the world.

I think Goddard was better than Slavin too, but not as good as Corbett or Jackson, but it's much less clear.