Take a look at this list - Clay-Liston 1964 Ali-Foreman 1974 Spinks-Ali 1978 Duran-Leonard 1980 Honeyghan-Curry 1986 Leonard-Hagler 1987 Douglas-Tyson 1990 All fights where the underdog bit the big dog odds on the ass ! How many of these did you have a strong feeling about prior to the fight,and turned out to be right ?
All I can really say is Douglas-Tyson was the first Tyson fight I didn't stay up for (I live over in England so it's a bit of a ritual staying up until like 5 in the morning for the big fights) - considering Tyson fights are like the most exciting events in the calender for me - to not stay up shows you how much of a bum/nonentity/complete no hoper people were led to beleive he was over here at that time - I didn't think he'd make it out of the first minute to be honest. Leonard-Hagler was pretty much a 50-50 split really at the time Honeyghan-Curry was a bit of a turn up - but in England people weren't really that shocked because he had quite a fan base at the time as I remember - my brother loved him back then haha My dad said he genuinely thought Foreman would finish Ali in a couple of rounds - my grandad thought maybe 3 - my dad was worried because he thought Ali might be permanently injured and didn't want to see that happen because he loved Ali - they both thought Ali was being rushed too soon into the ring with Liston aswelland thought it was a bit like boy against man
Clay-Liston As I had n't even turned nine years old,at the time,I did n't understand what the signifigance was,although i vaguely recall watching it with my Dad on the Saturday following. Ali-Foreman By this point,I was nineteen,and had been an Ali fan for ages. I was talkng Muhammad's chances up,but I have to confess,I was scared !!!!! Hand on heart,I saw him doing marginally better than Frazier and Norton. I was overjoyed when my Dad woke me up for work the morning after and told me the result. Spinks-Ali At this juncture,I was wishing that Ali would retire and get out with his title and health intact. I knew that he was ready to be taken,but not by a novice with eight pro bouts to his name. Duran-Leonard In 1980 only us serious boxing fans in England had heard of Roberto Duran. A lot of my mates,who were casual fans,were asking me about this Panamanian bloke. Of Course,I'd read about him for some time in Ring Magazine and suchlike. I thought,at the time,that he'd give Leonard a good go. He certainly did that :good Honeyghan-Curry Curry was the anointed successor to Hagler as pound for pound in the world,at this time. I had a very strong feeling about Honeyghan's chances,funnily enough. Leonard-Hagler Because of inactivity,like a lot of people,I thought that Leonard was n't only going to lose,but get seriously hurt ! Douglas-Tyson What can anyone say about that one ? Nelson Mandela got released less than 24 hours after Tyson losing to an all time underdog.
The second Bonecrusher Smith-Witherspoon fight was another shocker !!! Especially after what happened in their first bout.
Too young to be aware of Clay-Liston but of the rest I was confident in picking Duran over Leonard :bbb ..... but I also picked him in the 2nd fight :roll:
I cant say I called any of the fights in the first post correctly, but in most of them (Save Spinks-Ali, which flabbergasted me) I gave the underdogs a better chance then most. I thought Leonard, in particular, had more speed and boxing savvy in combination then anybody Hagler had ever fought, and I also had heard through the grapevine that he had sparred like a mad man sharpening up for that one. I thought he'd surprise en route to dropping a close one. Duran and Leonard I figured to be a good scrap, with Leonard pulling away late. The two Ali fights, I was a bit too young to have an educated opinion. I was an Ali fan from sentience, as my Dad followed him closely and predicted big things, and I "picked" him to win both fights, but it wasn't for any boxing related reason. Douglas was gonna do better than people thought, I swore. If Tyrell Biggs could last seven, I was reasonably sure Buster was talented enough to go 5, atleast. But to win? Hell no. If I'd have thought that, truly, I'd be so rich today I'd be paying somebody to type this for me. Foreman-Moorer, I gave Foreman a better chance then most. I can't say I picked him, but I thought he had a great shot, as we had a great camp together, easily the best I got to be a piece of, but I also knew how formidable the challenge was. I was more ecstatic when George won than shocked, though, I will say.
