Fighters who looked out of their depth first time stepping up but raised their games

Eusebio Pedroza. Kayoed in 2 at his first go at a title but turned out to be quite a good fighter in the end.

 

Exact same thing happened with Terry Norris, who was stopped in 2 by Julian Jackson. Jackson himself was stopped in 2 in his first title fight by Mike McCallum. Both went on to become Champions, and both had several defenses.

I'll add another that probably won't be popular here: John Ruiz. He got smoked in a hurry by Tua, but ended up winning a belt, and put together a pretty good career, however ugly it may have been along the way.

 

Bob Foster, a late substitute for Zora Folley in only his 10th pro fight, gave a good showing against the more experienced Doug Jones in a nationally televised bout in which he was floored in the first round and stopped in the eighth. But the tall slender light heavyweight went on to a storied career as a knockout artist and world champion in his division.

 

Bones Adams. He was in way over his head against Canizales, being just 18. He was nearly blown out early but composed himself and fought hard until being stopped. He had some injuries and losses, got himself together and beat my friend Nestor Garza for a world title.

 

Alexis Arguello lost to Ernesto Marcel in his first shot at a title but fell short. A few months after the loss he gets another crack at a title against Ruben Olivares and ends up knocking him out to become a champion.

This thread is a perfect example on how a loss can make a fighter better. A mindset that seems to be lost in modern boxing.

 

Julian Jackson against Mike McCallum ... and, in turn, Terry Norris against Julian Jackson.

Both Jackson and Norris got starched inside two rounds in their first title challenges.

Both rebounded and ended up making the Hall of Fame.

 

Sorry. Didn't see this. I agree with all of the above.

 

Marcos Villasana had a up and down kind of career that I think would qualify.

 

Ever see/hear about Berbick/Crabtree? It was criminal.

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Joe "Old bones" Brown had something like 20 loses before being crowned Lightweight champion. He made 11 defenses before running into all time great Carlos Ortiz.

 

Go and watch Bernard Hopkins vs Roy Jones 1 ….and tell me if Hopkins looks like a future hall of fame fighter

 

Now I think about it…I can remember the first time KO magazine put Bernard Hopkins in their pound for pound top ten …I wasn’t too sure about it