It seems like when the biggest upsets are talked about, the focus is more on title fights. Perhaps one reason for this is that by the time of a title fight, we feel that the opponents are more established in their abilities, etc. Whereas, a young prospect losing may not be as notable, since we don't have as good of a gauge on how they will pan out as a pro fighter. What are some of the biggest or most notable upsets that occurred in non-title (or minor title) fights?
rugged Tom "The Bomb" Bethea upset Nino Benvenuti in a non-title fight...with the title on the line it was a different matter.
Manuel Ortiz lost a few non-title scraps, but he apparently drew a very distinct line in the sand about just how seriously he took non-title bouts. And his stance wasn't terribly unusual then; they were just "keep busy" things and there wasn't anywhere near the panic surrounding a loss as there is now, so he didn't really care if he dropped the odd decision here and there. Just a different landscape then. No ESB General Forum then to rip him apart for being less than perfect. Later on, we had fights like Oscar Muniz handing Jeff Chandler his first loss in a non-title bout. Vilomar Fernandez decisioning Alexis Arguello is another good one.
I should probably clarify, and I can see how I confused the situation... The intent was for pre-title/post-title fights. So, fights for an up-and-comer. I think it reads like I am specifically looking for "non-title" bouts where a champion is involved. In this case, I am looking for either no champions fighting, or, as many have read it, the title was not on the line. Sorry if I've made it more confusing.
The Arguello/Fernandez fight is alleged to of cost us Duran/Arguello. Danny Romero never quite lived up to the hype after the shocking defeat to Salazar.
Bob Pastor-Lem Franklin Ace Hudkins-Ruby Goldstein Dave Shade-Jimmy Slattery (I could tell you the story behind each of these and why they were considered so big if you're interested ;-) )
Yeah, I figured a Ruddock win, probably flattening the Lummox inside six. But if the fight went late, then maybe Lennox could sneak the decision...