Fights that would have derailed a fighter’s career significantly had they lost

Maybe if Holyfield had gotten stopped by Cooper in the 3rd round?

 

Chavez if he had lost to Taylor.
Chavez if he had lost against Whitaker and Randall in the rematch.
Robinson if he had lost to Turpin in the rematch.
Hagler if he had lost to Hearns due to the cut.
Duran if he got DQ'd against Buchanan.
Maybe Ali too if the ref DQ'd him against Frazier in 1974 due to the excessive clinching.

And because it has to be mentioned, half of Burley's career if he had done the opposite, and won some fights he didn't. It was terrible, one of the most robbed fighters ever.

 

Ali if he’d lost the second fight with Norton.
Louis if he’d lost the rematch with Schmeling.

 

This is not exactly what you’re looking for, @Flo_Raiden, but it’s still an example of a path an ATG didn’t travel down that might have changed the trajectory of his career adversely.

Alexis Arguello was seemingly on an eventual collision course from the mid-70s onwards with Roberto Duran. In fact, he was most probably one fight away from meeting Duran for the undisputed lightweight title in 1978 when he tested the waters at 135 against former Duran challenger Vilomar Fernandez in the summer of 1978. He lost a 10 round points decision and immediately stepped back down to 130 where he would reign for another couple of years before stepping back to lightweight and taking the title in 1981.

Had he beaten Fernandez and faced off against Duran, he would likely have suffered a more serious, career derailing defeat at the hands of The Hands of Stone. As it was, the Fernandez fight was merely a bump in the road on his way to cementing his greatness.

 

Actually, Arguello very nearly suffered a more significant loss when he met Jose Luis Ramirez, again at 135. He was dropped and very fortunate to come out with a split decision win that kept him on track for a shot at Jim Watt’s WBC title. So that one definitely fits the bill!

 

Larry Holmes was in serious trouble against Earnie Shavers in the title fight rematch. Had Shavers been able to follow up and stop Holmes, he would never have got within sniffing distance of Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record or made 20 straight title defenses.

That refusal to lose and innate toughness is why a fighter like Holmes became an ATG and a fighter like John Tate didn’t.

 

The difference is that the former nearly happened, while the latter did not.

That makes the former much more interesting in my eyes.

Now if Norton get's the decision in the third Ali fight, then Ali's legacy is secure, because most of his legacy wins are behind him.

However the title woudl go on the magical mystery tour, and it might never come back into Ali's hands.

 

Jofre in the first Medel fight circa the 9th. He'd taken a proper pasting in that round and his nose was all over his face. Medel is just unleashing a barrage of evil-looking shots, most of them landing, and right on the bell, Jofre throws one of the best left hooks you're ever likely to see. A genuine hail mary, and Medel looks as though all the bones in his body have upped sticks and f*cked off. It's like something from a film. Had Jofre lost that fight, it would've been Medel fighting Eloy Sanchez for the title.

Medel was similarly shite out of luck in the Harada rematch. He had Harada all over the place in the final 20 seconds of the 15th and nearly out on his feet. A bit like Ali-Cooper where you wonder what might have been had the hammer fallen earlier in the round.

 

It’s funny that Arguello has been mentioned twice in different stages of his career because I was thinking of he and Rocky Marciano in the Olivares and Walcott fights respectively. In both instances these two all time greats were trailing on points before pulling the fat out of the fire with a one-punch shot in the 13th round. Would they have lost heart if they had lost? I think not but it could have derailed their timelines and perceptions on how those thought of them historically.

 

Excellent examples.

What if Ali lost to Cooper in ‘63 (by KO)? Wow.

Ali might’ve immediately rematched Henry (as Ali did later as Champ) - he wins the rematch, not necessarily impressively as Cooper was always somewhere awkward for Ali - as we saw even in their actual rematch.

It might not amount to a derailment but it could’ve set Ali back a year or two I guess.

As it actually was, the ‘63 KD made Ali look like even more easy meat for Liston - but styles make fights - as does being duly wary of a renowned puncher and scary dude like Sonny.

No way was Ali going to **** around with Liston as he did first time around with Cooper.

 

George Foreman already had a fearsome legacy from his first career, but if he lost the Moorer fight he probably never sniffs the title scene again in his ‘Old Man George’ career and his legacy isn’t the same — being able to pull off the upset (in spectacular one-punch fashion) to win it again at an advanced age (oldest heavyweight champ ever) gave him a unique legacy no one else can quite ever match.

I also wonder what James Toney accomplishes if he gets outpointed by Michael Nunn rather than coming through with the big punch to win it. He probably wins a title (or two) somewhere along the way as he goes up through the weight classes but his entire foundation was built on stopping Nunn and I don’t think he’s ever regarded as highly if he loses that fight.

 

What happens to Mike Spinks if Cooney just boxes a little and that bout is stopped with that bad cut? One guy's stock goes way up while the other goes way down.