Found this in an old edition of Boxing News.A top 10 of former champions who lost in the first round I : Jack Dempsey v Fireman Jim Flynn 2 : Floyd Patterson v Sonny Liston 3 : Sonny Liston v Muhammad Ali 4 : Ken Norton v Gerry Cooney 5 : John Henry Lewis v Joe Louis 6 : Michael Spinks v Mike Tyson 7 : Tony Zale v Jimmy Clark 8 : Randy Turpin v Tiberio Mitri 9 : Carl Olsen v Jose Torres 10 : Emile Griffith v Ruben Carter One by me - Roy Jones Jnr v Danny Green Can you mention any others?
Not necessarily in the first round but both Roberto Duran and Eusebio Pedroza were stopped in less than 2 rounds.
Not the best but these fighters were very established champions at one point. Chad Dawson lost to Adonis Stevenson in the 1st round. Abner Mares lost to Jhonny Gonzalez in the 1st round. Edwin Rosario lost to Akinobu Hiranaka in the 1st round.
It’s actually amazing how many of these first round KOs begin to unpack on you when you start having a good think about it. Intuitively you might think there wouldn’t be so many but as the excellent posts thus far have proven, they’re not exactly in short supply.
"Neon" Leon Spinks vs. Gerrie Coetzee Gerrie Coetzee vs. Frank Bruno Max Schmeling vs. Gipsy Daniels Michael Moorer vs. David Tua John Ruiz vs. David Tua Tony Tubbs vs. Lionel Butler & Jimmy Ellis Bermane Stiverne vs. Deontay Wilder Sergei Liakhovich vs. Deontay Wilder Arturo Frias vs. "Boom Boom" Mancini Gene Hatcher vs. Lloyd Honeyghan Sumbu Kalambay vs. Michael Nunn Carlos Quintana vs. Paul Williams Mike Weaver vs. Bonecrusher Smith Pinklon Thomas vs. Tommy Morrison Michael Dokes vs. Riddick Bowe Bruce Seldon vs. Riddick Bowe & Mike Tyson Tommy Morrison vs. Michael Bentt Carlos De Leon vs. Corrie Sanders Alfred "Ice" Cole vs. Corrie Sanders Badou Jack vs. Derek Edwards
Iran Barkley getting stopped by Nigel Benn Wilfredo Vazquez getting stopped by Israel Contreras Kaokor Galaxy getting stopped by Luisito Espinosa
