The Upset of The Decade?

In the moment, I think Honeyghan vs Curry was the outcome that surprised everyone the most.

Laing vs Duran was certainly unexpected, but at that point Duran was coming off a decisive loss to Benitez, and that was on the heels of two uninspiring wins over MInchillo and Nino Gonzalez. A lot of observers were about ready to write off Duran as a fighter and the Laing fight that just seemed to bolster that viewpoint. In contrast, Curry was considered, at the very worst, the 1B to Hagler's 1A in the p4p rankings and had spent the last three years scoring resounding wins over fighters considered as good or better than Honeyghan was at the time. Even if you could envision Honeyghan winning, I don't think anyone considered the possiblity that he'd destroy Curry in the manner that he did.

 

Surprisingly Barkley was actually only a 2 1/2-1 favorite over Duran. Curry was a 5-1 fave.

Per the bookies Spinks - Holmes was the biggest. Spinks didn't even have a warm up at heavyweight for it. Holmes was fast fading but eeking thru lower level contenders. Spinks was given very little chance by anyone. Honeyghan too, of course. As previously noted there weren't even odds on Duran - Laing lol. As Drew says however, Duran was coming off some very ordinary efforts and getting written off as a fighter.

 

Jeff Chandler's loss to Richie Sandoval always gets forgotten. Chandler had been dabbling in drugs, and tho heavy favorite was like a zombie that night. He had nothing at all. It was bizarre.

 

Whoops mind fog lol. I meant to write Barkley-Hearns!

 

Yeah, that was a sudden shocking stoppage.

 

There was no year 0 so the 80's Decade technically ended on December 31st, 1990, and I will go with Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson.

 

1990 is definitely part of the "90's" to me