Vote Now: ESB Classic's vote for Top 10 most unnecessary losses

Lewis-Rahman was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the thread title.

 

1.Jones-Tarver II
2.Jones-Tarver III
3.Jones-Johnson
4.Jones-Calzaghe
5.Jones-Green
6.Jones-Hopkins II

Jones could have retired an ATG legend as a heavyweight champion, with one DQ loss in his half-century.

Instead, he couldn't let it go, and had to **** his body by going back down to lhw. Pointless, horrible decision that is still having miserable results to this day.

 

Agreed.

 

Taylor-Chavez I (he should have stayed away in rd 12)

Morales-Raheem (he should have went straight in vs a Barrera level fighter to capitalize on the high of the MP victory rather than the B level Raheem)

 

Arguello vs Pryor I because Pryoror Panama lewis(whoever you wanna blame) cheated he walked to the wrong corner before the last round ended he was ready to go. That should have been Arguellos name in front that said KO 14.

 

In a way he got what he deserved, I & many other fans felt that Roy should have reached for the stars by tackling Lennox Lewis (or at least another HW better than Ruiz) because win or lose, he`d have went down with Robinson & co without question as among the 5 or 10 best boxers who ever did it (most fans preferred retirement for Roy before a return to 175 lbs if he wasnt gonna stay at HW, myself included).... but typical of Roy & his career, he choose the easiest option, the one he felt was the least risk, ignoring the fans... & it backfired.

 

Agreed.

 

I agree with this also. Motivation was clearly a problem for Morales against Raheem. He was used to high-profile thrillers versus Barrera and Pacquiao, and then he was supposed to get motivated to fight a little-known runner. It's little wonder his performance was sub-par. The best opponents bring out the best performances in the best fighters, and Morales certainly fit this description.

 

Herol Graham vs Julian Jackson...sheer idiotic incompetence

Hilario zapata vs Amado Ursua....sheer overconfidence

 

Any Watanabe fight he lost.

 

I think one of the good one's on that list was Muhammad Ali vs Leon Spinks. I realize that Ali was very far past his prime and having a difficult time maintaining his physical conditioning. He entered the ring however, looking as though he hadn't trained a week for the fight, and was clowning most of the time. Leon was a 7 fight novice who had only won 6 of those fights and had recently drew with Scott Ledoux... He also wasn't exactly a glutant for hardcore training himself. There are some who have speculated that there may have been an agenda behind this fight and its outcome.... In either case, winning the heavyweight title for the third time, was definately NOT worth losing to Leon Spinks.

 

I have that fight and thought Victor won. Mustafa was ALWAYS lazy in the ring. Safety first sucks. But Victor was an animal in his prime in the later rounds.:-((

 

Bowe / Golota, for obvious reasons.

 

Norris/Santana 1 and 2. (for the same reasons as Bowe/Golota)
Norris/Brown (Norris got overconfident, elected to slug, and git sparked.)