what where the 10 greatest upsets in boxing history?

Well i guess you and me have different interpretations of an 'upset'.
Maybe if you have seen a selection of fights in which he didn't look too impressive, they may not have looked like upsets.

If i had only seen Holmes' fights with Carl Williams, Witherspoon and Mike Weaver, and some of Spinks' fights, then Holmes-Spinks I would not have looked like an upset to me either.


But having seen all the fights, they certainly were. Douglas' victory over McCall meant very little at that time. Basically, the only time he stepped up he lost by knockout (to Tucker).
Tyson just destroyed Williams in less than 2 minutes, who had a very close fight with Holmes, destroyed Spinks in 90 seconds, who beat Holmes, and broke Bruno down after a rough start. The 42 to 1 odds attest to it: this upset cannot be overlooked.


The same basically goes for Holyfield. He looked horrible in recent outings vs cruiserweight Czyz, got knocked out by Bowe in which he looked very frail and he got outboxed by a lightheavyweight in Moorer. He was considered to be washed up.
Tyson, on the other hand, stopped Bruno in only 3 rounds and looked sensational in doing so.



By the way, in what cave have you been hiding that you managed to miss those fights?

 

1. Liston-Clay I
2. Louis-Schmeling I
3. Tyson-Douglas
4. Tyson-Holyfield I
5. Baer-Braddock
6. Johnson-Willard
7. Dempsey-Tunney I
8. Robinson-Turpin I
9. Sullivan-Corbett
10. Foreman-Ali

:good

 

Ahhh Chris, I was under the impression that ESB Classic was a cavernous bomb shelter from the morass which boxing has declined into during the 12 round supported steroid era!

As I've extensively discussed elsewhere on this forum, my interest in boxing pretty much evaporated with the removal of the 15 round championship distance. Boxing amputated itself of much history and drama when that happened, and with the elimination of the 15 round distance, steroid inflated competitors blew up like balloons. The human element of strategy, intelligence, resourcefulness, and resiliency became subsumed by a premium on anaerobic athleticism. Skittish referees began stopping matches prematurely (robbing Mike Weaver of his WBA Title, and yes, Lennox Lewis against Oliver McCall in their first match).

If I had any genuine interest in contemporary boxing, I wouldn't be hanging out on this classic boxing forum exclusively. I have no use for the distorted and diluted mutation which has passed for boxing in recent years.

Bless Arthur Mercante Sr., for vowing to never invoke the standing eight count while still perfoming as a referee. Although a mandatory eight count after a knockdown seems sensible to me, the standing eight count deprives strategic boxers of using the time honored feigning of distress as a clever tactic for creating openings in an adversary's attack. (I haven't seen a boxer do this well since Weaver suckered Williams into his shrewd web of deceit.)

Truthfully, I hadn't watched or read anything about boxing in eons, before finding myself being uncontrollably sucked into ESB Classic. (The kindest thing these moderators can do for me now is to ban me for life, so I don't feel myself compelled to spew forth my vile rhetoric about a glorious past.)

 

Jack Johnson EARN his 2nd shot at Willard and perhaps Dempsey. Louis could have goting a shot earler if Charles was not stuck with the Walcott battles. And when Charles won, he sat on the title for about 6 months before he rematch Charles. I belive Louis should have goting a return for the title in 1951 shortly before faceing Marciano.

 

Lots of people EVEN today claim Johnson was the greatness. Even Jack Blackburn rated Johnson over Louis.

 

Well, I hate to break it to ya pal, but he wasn't.

So what? Louis wasn't better than Ali either.

 

Fair enough.

It just suprises me that a pretty die-hard boxing fan (correct me if i'm wrong) like yourself goes from following the sport to completely leaving it for a change in the rules. I agree that 15 rounds allows for more strategic fighting and imposes higher standards on conditioning. Nethertheless you are missing out on some great fights that have happened the last twenty years. Watch them. You can thank me later.

 

You are exactly right. Louis had earned a second shot at Charles with his knockout of Savold, the #2 contender, and a man actually recognized as champion by the British Board of Boxing Control. The fight was penciled in for September in Yankee Stadium. Charles had one scheduled fight first, a third match with Walcott--one not expected to be a tough one. Walcott pulled an upset and Louis was out in the cold. He signed for Marciano in the Polo Grounds, but when the Giants and Dodgers went into a playoff, the fight was moved to Madison Square Garden and postponed a few weeks.
Given Louis' great record in rematches, it is intriguing to consider what he might have done against Charles if the match had come off.

 

:huh Why hasn't anyone mentioned Taylor-Hopkins 1?

For a guy who has "many more options than Hagler", X didn't prove to be much of a match for Jermaine Taylor, a fighter with 23 fights, in a one sided affair.

Being the great fighter he's been proclaimed by so many, I was surprised to watch as Hopkins literally did nothing to defend his title. What some may mistake for patience on Bernard's part, I call reluctance to move in as he gave away the early rounds and several others before warming up and displaying some sloppy infighting in the middle rounds while failing to slip past Jermain's jab.

Other than that, about the only thing other he managed to do in that time was stand straight up and make funny faces. By the tenth round I was thinking "congradulations, you finally won a round"


Bernard HOPKINS, THE THINKING MAN'S FIGHTER

the quick change of expression on his face was the best part for me upon hearing the words "and new undisputed middleweight champion"