Which Heavyweight had the worst resume prior to getting a title shot?

Pete Rademacher,,,,,,,,,,


August 1957 versus Floyd Patterson

And your not going to believe this,,,,,,,

Cus D'amato and Floyd Patterson were going to give Rademacher an
immediate re-match, because he floored Floyd and won the first two rounds.

Pete Rademacher may also be the only heavyweight challenger who
received 'Zero' dollars for his fight purse.

Ziggy lasted 96 seconds.

 

After the Woodcock fight wasn't it "Oma, coma, aroma"

 

How about Tommy Gibbons? Who fought Dempsey for free.

 

could it b any1 other than Mike Weaver and Max Schmelling ?

 

Leon Spinks would have to be up there 6-0-1 before a title shot at Ali.

 

Ye gods...was that for the title?

Wait, yes...you're right. Tomasheck was a last-minute replacement for some guy, forget who now.

Come to think of it, Michael Bentt, while being far from the worst ever, was a novice when he fought Morrison. And he flattened Tommy as well.

Morrison. :-(

 

Dave 'Ziggy' Zyglewicz,,,,,,,,,,

Fought Joe Frazier in April 1969

Ziggy was 28-1-0 (15 KO's), and a size of 5' 10" 190 lbs.

All wins versus 'Texas Tomato Cans', borderline journeyman and old shopworn fighters.

Not one of Ziggy's victories was over a 'live' opponent.
And he had been beaten 1 year earlier, by Sam Wyatt who had a record of 6-7-1.

Approved by the New York State Athletic Commisio for the World Heavyweight Championship.
The same group that would not approve a Frazier vs. Floyd Patterson title bout.

The bout was sanctioned by New York, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maine and Massachussets.

Regarded by the Boxing Press, as nothing more than a Joe Frazier paid holiday. No
one from Sports Illustrated even covered the bout.

When Jimmy Webb, the referee was asked to comment on the upcoming bout.
'I only need to know how to count to 10.'

Ziggy lasted,,,,,,,,,,,96 seconds.

 

Patterson was down more than any other HW Champ (20) but most of the knockdowns were vs. Johansson (3 fights) and Liston (2 fights). He went 2-3 (2) in these 5 fights.

 

Patterson was the first 2x HW Champ and he was the youngest HW Champ until Tyson.

 

I know it's not even a real alphabet soup title, let alone the world title, but look at shot-to-**** Rahman's resume of recent years, which earned him his upcoming "title shot" at Povetkin... Since taking a one-sided pounding from Wlad in '08, Shot Rahman has beaten; 5 crapola nobodies.

 

Mike Weaver and Bonecrusher Smith had pretty crappy records... not the worst ever but not great.

Jesse Ferguson upset Mercer to get a shot but did little else to deserve it. He had lost to Tubbs, Dokes, Seldon, and McCall in recent fights.

Dokes was washed up when he fought Bowe... he had beat Ferguson and Ribalta in recent fights though.

 

Pete Rademacher and Leon Spinks do it for me here.

But remember that both won Olympic gold and that rightfully puts you ahead of "seasoned pros" with more pro fights but no pro or amateur titles.

 

Seriously, none of the above come close to the ineptitude of Tony Ross.

http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=39874&cat=boxer

 

Rademacher, followed by Scott Frank.