Has a world level fighter ever gone into a fight thinking they'd lose?

According the legend, Joe Gans told those around him that they should simply bet that he could last twenty rounds with Battling Nelson in the third and final fight of their trilogy, instead of placing bets on him to win.

And to respond to what Addie will likely say: Yes, Gans was still a world level operator at that point. Past prime, to be certain (and likely in the early stages of the bout of TB that killed him) but, even so, The Old Master had been world lightweight champ throughout much of that year and wouldn't have been able to hang nearly as long with The Dane had he not retained at least some of what he once had.

 

Patterson brought a disguise to the Liston rematch because he knew he was gonna get his Glass Jaw shattered and wanted to slip out unnoticed.

 

Mosley vs Pac

Mayorga vs Cotto

Sosnowski vs Klitschko

 

Yeah In spanish in the late rounds, he said " ****ing ***git this is like a loss for him" and just came to demonstrate his superior survival skills.

 

naseem hamed vs barrera really didnt think naz could think he could beat him

 

Razor Ruddock did look a little uneasy or nervous going in against Lennox Lewis. And I can't understand why. Ruddock was heavily favored to beat Lewis, and Ruddock was much more battle tested than was Lewis. There must have been something about Lewis' calm, calculating demeanor that spooked Razor.

 

Morales in the 3rd Pacquiao fight
In the ring entrance he looked like a guy walking towards his execution.
So much different in his ring entrance in the first Pacquiao fight, he looked like a guy with a determined look on his face.


Im more interested in fights where a fighter gone into a fight thinking he'd lose but end up winning.

Griffin/RJJ I ???

 

Buster Douglas?

 

It happens. The best example I can think of is Spinks vs Tyson.

 

I dont think so.. Abraham won some of the early rounds and fired some nice bursts.. I think that Abraham believed that he could upset Ward..

 

I didn't read that rest of the thread so I don't know if anyone pointed this out yet, but thats a terrible example.

McCall was pumped for the fight and the way he ran in the ring had me believing that he would win again. McCall looked confident coming into that fight, just broke down in it.

 

Not sure about the rest of you but recently it has to be Pascal and Ortiz for me. Both didn't look convincing on the buildup of their respective fights and Ortiz in particular had to resort to headbutts to gain an unfair advantage. Just watching the face-offs showed how mentally off they were from their opponents. Floyd and Bhop won before they stepped into the ring.

 

anyone vs (tyson age 19 - 22)