Sacrificial lambs that won in boxing

I'll start. " And there goes Tommy Morrsion's 8 million dollar payday"

 

Jim Braddock.

 

Both the Spinks

 

Clay / Liston
Douglas / Tyson
Turpin / Robinson
Backus / Napoles

 

So you're a heavyweight with a 48-0 record. One more win gets you equal pegging with a guy who couldn't hold your jockstrap.

(Given the contents of his suitcase, it's inevitable that the word 'pegging' would crop up in a Marciano thread but I digress. That's just for the enjoyment of @Pugguy ).

You're 48-0 and you're slowing down. Any decent heavyweight's a risk. But never has a light heavyweight won the heavyweight title. There's my passage to the record, says the 48-0 Larry Holmes, and gets the mint sauce ready for Michael Spinks.

I mean. He's a light heavyweight. What could possibly go wrong?

 

Breidis Prescott.

Was supposed to be another guy Khan could breeze past...

 

Frankie Randall

 

I sort of don't get why he went with Spinks. Spinks was really talented, and Holmes wasn't a big enough puncher to assume he could knock him out. Wasn't Norton enough of a lesson that awkward pure boxer types can give him a really rough time? I guess it was some calculus of risk vs. money, and Spinks would draw enough of a payday to be worth the risk?

 

Okay, I’ll bite - you mean Rocky’s “Carry On….” luggage, as in “Up the Khyber”.

Otherwise, WHY would would anyone want and enjoy being Simon Pegged? - though someone in The Lounge did dedicate an actual thread asking the question - some strange ones in The Lounge.

But I further digress, upon your digression.

 

I read One Punch from the Promised Land about the Spinks brothers. They had is so bad off right from the start of their lives. What they accomplished was so amazing! Michael Spinks is my favorite boxer ever.

 

This is the beauty of living an era. Spinks had never fought at Heavyweight in his life. He'd been making 175 for an eternity and was quite frankly seen as having no chance. Sure Holmes had been visibly waning but he was still turning back big heavyweights even if they weren't the best in the division. Spinks was chosen because he was seen as a safe bet and in fact Holmes was a whopping 6-1 favorite. Virtually nobody foresaw the upset and in particular Holmes who thought he was in for an easy nights work. Tho sporting a good but not great punch People for sure thought Holmes could knock out the much smaller completely unproven (at heavyweight Spinks). Holmes did actually hurt him numerous times across the two encounters but lacked the youth and zest to take advantage.

 

Not quite a lamb cause I believe he held a belt, but Ricardo Mayorga was supposed to be showcase fodder for the newly minted Vernon Forrest (God rest his soul), who had one of the greatest ring walks ever

 

Andy Ruiz. AJ has fallen in a lot of estimations but at the time of their first fight Ruiz was considered going to slaughter.

Heavyweight is probably division this happens most in because of physics of punching power once you get above a certain size.

Gabe Rosales vs bek the bully. Was seen as a nice payday for Rosales and a good name for beks resume on his way up.

 

Real question:
I get Leon.........but how is someone that is close to the best LHW of all time fighting one of the best HWs of all time a sacrificial lamb?

Bernard was supposed to be a sacrificial lamb against Pavlik:
That staredown to press row after that fight was probably the greatest one ever.

 

I guess I'm using hindsight logic.