Fights that were big but turned out to be (almost) mismatches

Here are a few:


Holmes vs Cooney: Big hype, i'm sure all of those that followed boxing at the time can remember it. I actually wouldn't call it a mismatch, but from round 6 on, it became awfully apparant that Holmes was just so much better and not going to tire. Cooney had trouble getting his punches in and outside of the end of the 5th, didn't land all that many of his favorite hooks. His power kept him in the fight though, and the early knockdown made it exciting.

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Marciano vs Walcott II: I wasn't around, but i suppose there were a lot of sceptics picking Walcott to win a decision if he stayed away from Marciano's right this time. Not a crazy view considering Walcott did well on the scorecards the first time around. Also consider that many people (most notably Nat Fleischer) thought Rocky was a wild slugger without too much skill. Can't really blame them, that is the first thing that catches the eye.
Controversially or not, the fight was over in one round with Marciano retaining the heavyweight championship of the world.



Louis vs Schmeling II:Perhaps the biggest fight of all time, Louis lost the first match and didn't consider himself champ untill he avenged that loss. Millions were glued to the radio, but Joe paralysed Schmeling less than a minute into the fight with a bodyshot and no one finished better than Joe Louis.

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Lewis vs Tyson: A lot of historic revisioning on this on, with people claiming the outcome was a dead certain going into the fight. However, because of the one-sidedness of the fight, many people forget that going into it, Lewis was 36 years old and had just been knocked out by a lesser puncher in Rahman. He could've aged over night. Tyson was far from what he used to be, but he was still knocked guys out early and fast: Botha (one punch), Golota, Savarese. The fight hype was huge and the betting odds were even. However, after the 1st round it was hardly competitive, despite the most biased referee i've ever seen in a big fight.

Jones vs Griffith II: After the competitive early fight and the controversial disqualification, Jones wanted to set the record straight. He was a favorite to be sure, but not many expected it to be over so quickly in one round, by his signature leaping left hook.


Tyson vs Spinks: Spinks' promoter, Butch Lewis, had purposely waited a few years to sign this fight, in order to make it grow. And grow it did. Tyson was a clear favorite, but many expected a competitive fight as Spinks had never lost officially, and in his worst outing (Holmes rematch), he still held his own. Outside of die-hard fans without too much knowledge of the sport, i don't think many people predicted the fight to last a mere 91 seconds.

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Ali vs Liston II: Liston was still a big thing despite the embarrassing first match. Let's not forget that this was prior to Ali taking bombs from Foreman, Shavers, etc. He survived Liston the first time around, but was still layed out pretty bad by Cooper and dropped by Banks. I think the odds were slightly in Clay's favor, but there were many SuzieQ's who thought Liston was indestructible now that he would seriously train for the fight.
Controversial, though some people (notably: Larry Merchant and Jack Dempsey) thought it was a legit KO; it was over almost before it started.

 

Good shout. Thought you hated modern boxing, though.