Good fighters beaten in mismatches by higher weight class opponents

Prime Jack Johnson? Did you actually, really truly just say that? For real?

 

Bobo Olsons challenging Archie Moore apart from ending in failure also probably helped soften him up for Robinson.
Emile Griffith stepping in with Hurricane Carter ended in disaster, but of course Griffith later on would have quite a bit of success at MW.
Otherwise the most classical cases are light heavy champs stepping up against heavys. Apart from those mentioned already you have Carpentier being butchered by Dempsey and Delaney and Loughran making Jack Sharkey look like a KO artist.

 

Agreed, tho i reckon Gomez was a lot more competitive than Zarate. I was going to name both, but just held off. Sanchez deffo put on an exhibition tho.

 

Gomez certainly flogged Zarate which is amazing considering Carlos was 52-0 with 51 KO's going in.

Agree with you on Gomez -Sanchez.After his disastrous start Gomez fought a lot more competitively until the stoppage although you wouldn't know it to look at him.

 

He was a mess wasn't he. Trying to remember if he sustained a broken cheekbone.

 

Weights for that fight:
Hopkins 156
DLH 155

DLH was competative and Hopkins did not use his size advantage. That was not a mismatch.

 

Additionally, Johnson was nowhere in his prime. He was old at 37, fat and undertrained.

 

I'd be interested to see weights on the night.

 

Well, it´s known that Hopkins wasn´t much above 160 between fights so I don´t think he weighed much more on fight night.

 

Tyson-Spinks.

 

Gomez/Pintor ...

Whitaker/Nelson

Marciano/Moore

Dempsey/Carpentier

Dempsey/Gibbons

Hagler/Hearns

Hagler/Duran

Benitiez/Duran

Cervantes/DeJesus

Pryor/Arguello

 

There's be a decent argument for a few of those not being "mismatches".

 

Hopkins has always been a big middleweight, in fact i think his pro debut was at light heavyweight, whereas Oscar's debut was at lightweight. De la Hoya was far above his natural weight class, Hopkins was right in it. Most people can't help but think it being one of those cases of a great big man beating a (semi)great smaller man.

But yeah, the fight wasn't really a mismatch.

 

Monzon-Napoles
Hearns-Duran

 

I'll confess I haven't watched the fight a second time. That's because I was pretty disappointed with it the first time. How do I remember it? Pretty much a non event, De la hoya couldn't and Hopkins wouldn't. Hopkins too strong and as soon as he did force it, it was over, body shot. Pound for pound I rate Oscar above Hopkins but he just wasn't strong enough in that fight at that weight.