He didn't show much till he got his shot...

Thaxton is a brilliant shout Kos really good fighter came up the hard way and just kept learning throughout his career really. That knockout was spectacular Ryan was pretty much nailed on for a world title shot until Thaxton bombed him out you can see he tries that left hand a few seconds earlier and misses by a whisker the second one he was out for the count.

 

Vernon Forest, unpopular amateur standout beats the **** out of Shane Mosley for the Welterweight Title. Mosley was seen by many as the £4£ king after beating De La Hoya. He won a rematch that was ****ing boring but was seen by everybody as one of the big names in the sport until.....................

Ricardo Mayorga. A crazy ****er that was seen as nothing but a crude brawler and was given no chance to beat a rangy boxer like Forrest who was coming off back to back wins over Shane Mosley. Mayorga won the title in 3 rounds then proceeded to spark up a ciggy. Cult status was gained forever when he won the rematch on points after giving Forrest some free shots. Then............

Cory Spinks. Despite being a Spinks nobody gave a **** about him and he was being served up as cannon fodder to Ricardo Mayorga who was fast becoming a superstar. Spinks out boxed him and became a big draw in his home town where he split a series with Zab Juddah. Who then came up against...........

Carlos Baldomir. After Juddah won a rematch with Spinks he was being lined up for a huge showdown with Mayweather. All he had to do was get past an old no-mark from Argentina with a 100 losses on his record and less mobility than a statue. Baldomir walked him down, rocked Zab and won on points. He then went on to beat Arturo GAtti and get soundly out pointed on PPV against Mayweather, who still fought Juddah only with much less interest from the fans.

 

Maybe Jonny Nelson? Alot of early losses, not all deserved and had to go all over the world and got better with experience. after he got that WBO title he never looked back.

Azumah Nelson is a terrific shout

 

Ricardo Torres when he nearly stopped Miguel Cotto.

 

Just looking at Ryan's record on Boxrec - how did he get a British title shot in his next fight after this? Maybe unsurprisingly he got KO'd in the first round of that fight too against Andy Holligan

 

He still held the British and Commonwealth as he, for whatever reason, didn't defend the belts against Thaxton and he wasn't stripped of them despite the loss.

 

Sergio Martinez

Kelly Pavlik

 

Didnt he lose his next fight to Evander??

 

Yes, and in one of the most pathetic defences in the moden era of THE Heavyweight title.

 

A bit of an unknown one is Paul spadafora, i heard he looked fairly mediocre in some of his early fights but he fought his first experienced world class opponent in Cardona he dominated him.

 

To an extent, Ronald "Winky" Wright.

He had nobody of any note on his record, boxing mostly in Europe against low calibre opposition, then got well beaten by Julio .C Vasquez in '94 (including a few trips to the canvas if I recall correctly). Then he won his first world title in the first Bronco McKart fight, and apart from one or two blips in the road (Harry Simon, Vargas robbery, draw with Taylor), he went on to have a pretty decent run.