as far as an inexperienced challenger actually beating a great champion(if slightly past prime)goes, Chan-Hee Park beating Miguel Canto is one of best examples and performances.
We have been looking for years to find another fight on Lovera BUT so far we can't. It was discovered after the bout that Lovera is making his pro debut
I accept what you say H but is there any info on an amateur career? Tell me your thoughts on this H. Ive a book somewhere, from about 20yrs back called 'The Guinness book of boxing' and it said he had no amateur fights at all and then said he'd a couple as a pro. I might be well off the mark here but i was always under the impression that 'Guinness' books on facts like world records and stuff, were pretty much as accurate as they come. I'll have to dig it out and have a look again. Imagine if the truth was a hybrid of the 2, and that not only he won the title in his first bout but he had no amateur experience? That would have to be the most remarkable thing to have happened in boxing arguabley
There is every indication, that the Lovera-Estaba fight was a complete sham! No one had ever heard of Lovera, but apparently he was given a bogus 20-1-1 record, and thrown in with Estaba.The late Pat Putnam mentions this in a piece he wrote for TheSweetScience 5 years ago: http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/1920/barrera-fana-hbo-ppv/