If Renaldo Snpies beat Larry Holmes in November 1981...

No idea what the odds were, but Cinderella Man over Baer probably tops it.

 

That was the biggest up to Tokyo Tyson - Buster I think.

 

It would suck. Then again it might have also opened the door to more big fights being made among the best

 

It’s hard to say an undefeated who had just beaten Coetzee should count as the biggest upset. There apparently was no line though.

 

Snipes was knocked down twice vs Coetzee and the decision was voted robbery of the year. The bookies would have known this and makes it a much bigger upset than if he had beaten Gerrie legitimately, or impressively.

 

It wouldn't be the biggest upset in history if he'd beaten Holmes, though.

 

Apparently Holmes was considered such a big favourite that there wasn't actually any betting on the fight.

Would it be considered the biggest upset at Heavyweight at that point though ? i don't think so.

Surely James Braddock was a bigger underdog vs Max Baer ?

Here's a few other notable big Heavyweight upsets prior to Holmes vs Snipes.

Leon Spinks was a 10-1 underdog vs Muhammad Ali.

Max Schmeling was a 10-1 underdog vs Joe Louis.

Muhammad Ali was a 7-1 underdog vs Sonny Liston.

 

It would have been a huge upset, I don't think it would have changed much though, Holmers would have beaten him in a rematch or any of the other top heavyweights at the time. Snipes would be looked back as another Leon Spinks.

 

True. But at least Leon Spinks was an Olympic gold medalist, and Ali was very old and past-it. Holmes was an undefeated champion in his prime and Snipes, though undefeated, was not thought of very highly. Snipes only won a split decision over Gerrie Coetzee, in a fight in which Snipes was down twice, and he won by only one round on two of the cards. He couldn't stop a blown-up light heavy in Eddie Mustapha Muhammad. So yeah, it would have been the surprise of the century if he knocked out Larry Holmes, which he almost did.

 

I'm not so sure....it's HW history. I mean, there was no betting line because Holmes was so heavily favored. I'll have a look on the weekend and see what i can find.

 

Well.......

New York Times -

ONE punch. One punch had Larry Holmes spinning like the Las Vegas roulette wheels that must have stopped in shock Friday night, when the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion's anticipated $50 million showdown there in March with Gerry Cooney was momentarily in jeopardy. One punch, a roundhouse right that Renaldo Snipes threw from somewhere in Yonkers, almost created the biggest upset in boxing history. Almost. But before and after that one punch in the seventh round, Larry Holmes was in command. And when Referee Rudy Ortega stopped the fight in the 11th, he acted wisely and mercifully.

https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/08/sports/sports-of-the-times-mistaken-snipes-at-the-referee.html