Which wins saved a fighters career?

Manny Pacquiao avenging his "loss" to Timothy Bradley in the rematch really helped Pac's comeback after the KO loss to JMM two years prior.

In a way I think JMM's KO of Pac in their 4th fight also helped him a lot as well. Not sure where his career would have gone if he didn't land that right hand and ended up getting stopped in the following rounds.

 

Marco Antonio Barrera beating Naseem Hamed

Carl Froch beating Lucian Bute

Mark Johnson beating Fernando Montiel

Edwin Rosario beating Livingstone Bramble

Marcos Maidana beating Adrien Broner

 

Tim Tszyu recently over Spence.

 

Tommy Hearns vs Sugar Ray Leonard 2. Tommy got knocked out by Barkley, almost got stopped by James Kinchen, and a lot of sports writers thought Ray Leonard would get him outta there with only one clean shot but the Hitman stood his ground.

Although it was labeled a draw despite everyone knowing it should have been a win, it sparked a nice little resurgence in Tommy's career. Afterwards he beat Michael Olajide, and won the light heavyweight title from Vergil Hill it what looked to be Tommy's finest hour that late into his career.

 

That's a good example.

I think most recently it's Teofimo beating Rolly, Dubois beating Wardley, and Hrgovic beating Itauma.

 

These are good ones!

 

Did it tho? I do not see Tim being in any better position than he was 6 months ago. What he did was beat a retired welterweight with name recognition.

In cases like this, its too early to tell on the outcomes of such fights. It could be that Tim goes straight to the top after this, and wins some meaningful fights - but this has yet to happen.


But sticking to the topic: I recall Jorge Arce´s career going nowhere, until he met Wilfredo Vazques Jr. Arce was brought in as the old dog to be sacrificed for the upcoming star, but turned it into an opportunity to become a 3 division champion, and a couple of fights later he became a 4 division champion. And of course shortly after came the big money fight against Donaire too.
Arce´s 4 division status is a bit of smoke and mirrors, but the win over Wazques definitely extended his career and legacy.