I was conversing today with @Saintpat on the Roberto Duran v Wilfredo Benitez bout and I mentioned how I thought Duran was done after his next bout, losing to Kirkland Laing. Pat referred to his next bout against Pipino Cuevas as one of the most career-reviving, new-lease-on-life wins in boxing history. And I would agree. But it got me thinking of how many others had that great re-invigorating, jump-start to a career that looked like it was nose-diving. I thought of 2 off the bat, but I'm sure there are oodles out there. I thought of: Danny Lopez - really went through a bad patch starting with his 9th round stoppage at the hands of Bobby Chacon. He then stopped Masa Toyoshima in 3 rounds but was dropped in the process. Then came the Shig Fukuyama debacle where his corner dumped eye medication into his eye causing him to have to retire after 8 rounds or so. And finally he was easily outpointed by Famoso Gomez. He looked like he was done at world class. But his next fight against former bantamweight champ Chucho Castillo proved the catalyst as he stopped Chucho in 2 rounds and went on a 7 bout streak that took him to the title and a very successful reign. Ron Lyle - was on a great streak taking him to the verge of the title when he lost a 10 round decision to unheralded Jimmy Young. Amazingly, he got the title shot anyways and was stopped in 11 by Muhammad Ali. I won't say he was done-like-dinner, but at 34 it appeared he had gone as far as he was going to. However, in his next fight he takes on KO artist Earnie Shavers and, peeling himself off the canvas in the 2nd round, he takes out Shavers in 6. That bout kept him in high profile matches with George Foreman, Joe Bugner, Stan Ward and Scott LeDoux over the next several years. Who else do we got?
Holyfield against Tyson in '96 would be an obvious one. Hagler against Cyclone Hart. Having lost the first two big Philly encounters against Monroe and Watts, he had to have a win in this one. He got it emphatically.
Johnny Nelson had lost a decision for the IBF cruiserweight title to James Warring in 1992. He ventured up to heavyweight soon after and tapped, losing 7 of 11 to foes including Corrie Sanders and Adilson Rodrigues(twice). Looked like the end of the trail for The Entertainer. Then, after an inconsequential win over journeyman Tony Booth, he beat Dennis Andries for the British cruiserweight title in late 1996, won a few more in a row and that set him on a path that saw him best Carl Thompson for the WBO cruiser crown in 1999. After the Andries win, he never lost again in 21 fights (one draw with Guillermo Jones) before retiring in 2005.
Guys, these are great examples. Sal, your mention of Hagler v Cyclone also had me thinking of Hart as well. In the mid-70s he appeared to be done with 3 losses in a row to Willie Monroe, Bobby Watts and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (then Eddie Gregory), the last two by KO. He started to regroup quietly enough against somewhat modest opposition, but then took on the streaking Sugar Ray Seales and handed out a battering to Seales. That win got him a big Philly encounter with Bennie Briscoe in what was a contender for fight of the year. I don't think that won Ring magazine's recognition, but the magazine did award Hart Comeback of the Year for that year, which was well-regarded at the time.
James Braddock. I guess that’s too obvious. I’ll try think up some other, less mentioned Cinderfellas or comeback kids.
That’s a great example. That was a devastating loss and many careers have ended for less. IIRC, just 1 or 2 fights later and Kostya was back fighting the cream of the crop and winning in typical style. Tbh, I forgot about the Phillips loss, prob a testament to Kostya getting back in the saddle with some awesome victories yet to be had, his later successes pushing the defeat well back down on his resume.
I loved the fight despite the outcome as a big Tszyu fan. I didn't exactly like Phillips or Hatton after they ruined Oscar-Tszyu and Mayweather-Tszyu respectively. Hatton was a dirty cheat I really despised that fight. Vince on the other hand just dogged Tszyu walked through fire and broke his will. All the respect in the world for Phillips.
Joichiro Tatsuyoshi having a 'jump start' re-winning the WBC title from Singwancha (who he was not expected by anyone to beat and was outsized by - side note: Joe was lucky he had Teiken backing him for matchmaking) and making successful defences over decent opposition, including Ayala. Many people thought his career was completely over due to his ****ed eyes and x2 losses to Zaragoza (though I thought he won the second, I need to score it properly).
A couple of more to think about: Rodolfo Martinez - after getting KO'd by Carlos Zarate he was amazingly knocked out in his next bout by Roberto Rubaldino. Appearing to be on his way out and signed as fodder for an unbeaten hotshot he absolutely schools the popular Mike Ayala in San Antonio, no less, stopping him in 7 rounds. He then takes on Gilberto Illueca who had recently challenged Alfonso Zamora for the bantamweight title and beaten undefeated Jorge Lujan over 10 in his last fight. Martinez cops a close decision, which garners him a title eliminator against Albert Davila. He may have lost the eliminator, but it began with the Ayala KO. Joey Giambra - after 13 years of fighting and almost 31 years old, Joey appeared to be coming apart at the seams. Going 2-2 in his last 4 bouts he could only get past 2 clubfighters and the 2 that beat him (Yama Bahama and Farid Salim) wouldn't have had a chance against him a few years earlier. So when he was signed to fight the dangerous Florentino Fernandez, everyone knew he was the opponent to get Fernandez back on track (although still world-rated, Floro had lost his last two bouts, but they were hard bouts against Gene Fullmer for the title and Dick Tiger). Joey didn't read the script. He controlled the bout and stopped Floro in 7 rounds on cuts. Joey then parlayed that win into a shot at the inaugural world jr. middleweight title with Denny Moyer.
We can quibble over if I’ve identified the correct game-changing win, but Buster Drayton deserves a mention here. He was 16-8-1 after a loss to Fred Hutchins in 1983 with several failed step-up fights (and a couple nice wins over Duane Thomas and Clint Jackson) but going straight to nowhere in his career. Then he went to South Africa and beat three-loss Gregory Clark, which at least changed his trajectory, and to the UK to upend Jimmy Cable (two losses), but I think the win that corrected his course was a month later when he knocked off once-beaten Mark Kaylor in Wembley on the Frank Bruno-Bonecrusher undercard. Kaylor was a middleweight with wins over Boogaloo Watts and Ralph Moncrief who was being groomed, it seemed, for bigger things. After Buster stopped him in seven weighing 155 1/2, he settled in and won an IBF junior middleweight title and took 13 of his next 14 fights (losing only to James Kinchen) before dropping the strap to Matthew Hilton. Drayton ended up 40-15-1, so more than half his losses came before the turnaround.