Fighters Who Lost Badly on Home Soil ?

A couple from Canada...

Bert Cooper smashing Willie DeWit is another

Simon Brown-Shawn O'Sullivan

 

I'll never forget it. I've been to a lot of sporting events in my life but I have never heard a louder crowd than when Nelly walked Spinks to the ring. I was even at two St Louis Blues Stanley cup games against the Bruins and it wasn't as loud as that ring walk.

 

I forgot how I scored the first fight…I remember it being very close and it could have gone either way.

The rematch is one of those great back-and-forth short fights with multiple knockdowns, like Foreman-Lyle, Moorer-Cooper, Hamed-Kelley, Liles-Littles 2.

 

It was loud. I was talking to Cory about that a few months ago when he was in Springfield.

 

Gerrie Coetzee was 0-for-3 in fights in his native South Africa for the heavyweight title.

John Tate pretty much dominated him over 15 rounds for the vacant WBA title.

After Tate lost to Mike Weaver, Hercules went to SA to defend against Coetzee and stopped Gerrie.

After Coetzee finally won that belt, his first defense was in South Africa against Greg Page and he got KO’d again.

Ironically, his only title fight win (over Michael Dokes) came in Richfield, Ohio, of all places.

 

Both these fights made me a fan for life of both. The way Cooper destroyed DeWitt, 4 devastating knockdowns in 2 rounds in front of a huge noisy crowd. Brilliant.

To look at the broken nosed DeWitt that night and to think he would turn his life around by becoming a successful lawyer gives us all hope when things go spectacurly wrong.

O´Sullivan was a big thing, robbed of a Gold medal in the Olympics, terrific puncher who looked destined to become champion but all the wars he´d had in the amateurs plus his pourous defence all unraveable against the once beaten (Starling) unknown US based Jamaican.

Brown took his best shots and massacred Shawn who never won anything as a pro. He reminds me a lot of Errol Christie in that respect.

Brown became a brilliant World champion whose career went on for far too long we I think tarnished his standing. His title winning effort vs Tyrone Trice was one of the best fights you´ll ever see and racked up 7 straight defences before koing Maurice Blocker in another titanic struggle in an unification fight.

Unfortunately McGirt (beautiful boxer) outboxed him before he koed Terry Norris in another cracker for the light-middleweight crown. Norris outboxed in the return before he lost one of the greatest light-middleweight fights vs Vince Pettway that still gives me knightmares.

He lost 7 ot his last 9 fights including brutal koes vs Bernard Hopkins (title fight) and a young David Reid.

 

• John H Stracey v Carlos Palomino