One of the things that makes boxing so interesting is the constant threat of an upset. There have been countless "all set" fights over the years that have been derailed because of an upset. What are some fights that you wanted to see that didn't happen, or were delayed, because one of the fighters lost a fight everyone thought he'd win? Riddick Bowe - Ray Mercer in May 1993 didn't happen because Mercer lost to Jesse Ferguson. Larry Holmes - Ken Norton II didn't happen because Norton lost to Shavers. Larry Holmes - Jimmy Young didn't happen because Young lost to Ocasio twice. Mike Tyson - Evander Holyfield didn't happen in the autumn of 1990 because Tyson lost to Douglas. Muhammad Ali - Ken Norton IV didn't happen because Ali lost to Spinks (though I'm not sure it would've happened anyway.) Deontay Wilder - Anthony Josua is, for the moment, off the table because of Wilder's draw with Fury and Joshua's lost to Ruiz. Mike Tyson - Tim Witherspoon didn't happen because Witherspoon lost to Bonecrusher. I don't know if this one was in the works at all, but Bonecrusher, in beating Frank Bruno, got a shot against Larry Holmes. Would Bruno have gotten that shot in 1984? Rocky Marciano - Nino Valdes didn't happen because Valdes lost to Archie Moore. Floyd Patterson - Eddie Machen didn't happen in 1959 because Machen lost to Johansson. And that's just some examples at heavyweight...
Roy Jones vs William Guthrie. He was a tall dangerous lightheavyweight. Roy admitted being concerned about facing him. I think Reggie Johnson upset him and got the fight with Jones.
Vilomar Fernandez upsetting Arguello stuck the knife in an Arguello -Duran fight. Nazario stopping Rosario did the same for Whitaker - Rosario. Nazario got the shot and was iced by Pea in a round. Harada beating Jofre stopped a much earlier prime matchup between Jofre and Saldivar.
Tyson missed out on an easy payday against Michael Moorer when he lost to Holyfield. Tszyu - De La Hoya didn't happen when KT lost to Vince Phillips
