10 biggest upsets in boxing

Lennox favorite 13-1. Rematch was Lennox 4-1. and some places 5-1. McCall #1 was a 4-1 underdog to Lewis . Ruddock a 2-1 favorite over Lewis.

 

must be just a mix-up over the way odds are percieved in the US and UK. Over here he would be either 13-1 ON or 1-13

 

Not really, at the time it may have looked as one but looking at it now retrospectively, it was nothing close to an upset. 35 year old DLH's long career and catch-weight(came down to 145 from 160) dehydrated him and seriously dimmed his chances to win such a fight, I don't think even if he was not dehydrated that he would win because he was way over the hill anyways, the last great fight he had in the tank, he used it up against Floyd.

With that being said, im surprised to see Ali vs Spinks I on here a couple of times...can we really even say that was an upset? The aging Ali had begun to near 40 years old and was way past his prime in 78, 3 years removed from his last great fight in Thrilla in Manila. After Manila he declined like crazy, while he did still defend his title against top notch contenders he still struggled, he narrowly defeated Norton in their rubber match, Evangelista gave him some trouble and was in a life and death war against Shavers. Still amazing that he was able to summon enough grit and determination to beat such solid contenders at this stage of his career but the point is that he was way past it and his loss against Spinks shouldn't really be considered an upset. Not to mention was under trained and had already begun to show declining health. I know he came back to beat Spinks but it was a combination of Ali training harder and Spinks messing up his life outside the ring. With that being said I would say:


1 - Clay vs Liston 1
2 - Douglas vs Tyson (it may switch with Clay vs Liston depending on personal choice)
3 - Ali vs Foreman (people actually thought Foreman might kill Ali, similar to Clay vs Liston)
4 - Spinks vs Holmes I
5 - Holyfield vs Tyson
6 - Braddock vs Baer
7 - Lain vs Duran
8 - Leonard vs Hagler
9 - Tunney vs Dempsey
10 - Willard vs Johnson

 

Tyson - douglas
Napoles - stracey
Lewis - rahman
Robinson - turpin
Curry - honeyghan
Duran - laing
Baer - braddock
Jones - tarver
Louis - max
Holmes - spinks

 

Ali v Foreman.

 

A couple more that have yet to be mentioned, I believe, and that deserve consideration:

* Al McCoy-George Chip
* Young Corbett-Terry McGovern 1

 

Upsets isn't restrospective. Otherwise, there isn't really any upsets!!

Upsets are results that differ significantly on how it was perceived AT THE TIME JUST BEFORE THE FIGHT!

Just look at betting odds and how experts predicted the fight.

So De la Hoya v Pacquiao is an upset, no matter how, in retrospect, it looked.

Just like Hopkins v Pavlik, and Lacy Calzaghe were upsets, even if looking at it retrospectively, they really shouldn't be upsets.

The point it that at that time, they were considered upsets.

And if the people AT THAT TIME viewed it as an upset, it most probably is an upset.

 

Espn + sky

 

Forget where the lines were. When I think upset I think of public perception. Barkley-Hearns was a huge upset in that regard. So was Benn-Watson. Another fond 80s classic memory of mine was Lockridge-Mayweather.
Lockridge had been stopped early before, and Mayweather was considered very dangerous. I don't know what the lines were, but the prefight hype was all about Mayweather. the young champion with three defenses in less than 20 pro fights. Lockridge destroyed him.

 

Me and including so many people around me thought De La Hoya shouldn't have even gotten in the ring in the first place. Being a fighter myself I could tell he was anemic-looking and was too old at that point to make 145 from 160. So again I don't see it as an upset considering I didn't think Oscar shouldn't have even laced em up in the first place. For people who saw it as an upset at the time, retrospectively, should not see it as an upset. I doubt we would see that "upset" if Pacquiao fought Oscar 2-3 years earlier. So once again, such fight shouldn't really be considered an upset, not considering the age difference and where both fighters were at their point of their careers, Pacquiao PRIME, Oscar WAY PAST IT and Dehydrated.

 

All good choices although I have to question Laing-Duran. For that particular fight Duran looked bloated and out of shape and looked to me like a fighter who hadn't properly trained. In his next two fights with Cuevas and Moore he looked to be in much better shape. That Duran would have more than likely defeated Laing.

 

Ali-Foreman is the most overrated upset and shouldn't be Top 10. Although in the minority, a few good writers picked the upset, some by stoppage. In fact 3 out of 5 writers in Boxing News picked Ali to win!!! Fewer people picked Foreman to beat Frazier than picked George to lose to Ali, whose win over Liston is a much bigger upset.

 

Benn vs McClellan has got to be up there