Which loss was more of a upset?

Lewis/Rahman

 

Didn't Norton give Ali problems in the gym prior to their actual bout due to his style?

Futch trained Norton beating Ali is not as big of an upset as Rahman blasting away Lewis with one shot ... Rahman was not even known for one punch KOs

 

Rahman is the bigger black mark by a long shot.

Publicly when Lewis lost to Rahman very few people outside the proper fans cared when Norton lost to Ali however that wasn't exactly a consensus eye roll by the mainstream fan.

So you could argue that Norton's was more shocking?

 

If you go by the odds.....well Lewis was a 20-1 favorite, and Ali was a 5 to 1.
As to which loss is more embarassing?
Well Norton is in the hall of fame.
Rahman is not the hall of fame.
Norton won the fight by a Split decision.
Rahman knocked Lewis out.
It is that damn simple.

 

Hard to say. Both men ( Lewis and Ali ) had been previously beaten before. And neither Rahman nor Norton were seen as huge threats. Although I think Rahman had mixed it up with more contenders

 

I believe Norton was the bigger upset. Lewis was four years older and closer to the end of his career than Ali. Norton had not beaten one fighter of quality before the Ali fight. The only good fighter he fought, Jose Luis Garcia, knocked Norton out in the eighth round. His best win up to that point was, perhaps, California heavyweight Henry Clark. As mr. magoo noted, Rahman had been in with numerous good fighters and had recently beaten Corrie Sanders.

 

Good points

 

Glass jaw Lennox.

 

Would have been interesting to see how Lewis career would have panned out if he didn't link up with Steward

He was one shotted twice in his career

 

The Ali bout. Not even close. Nobody was very familar with Kenny and he was just another regional circuit heavyweight--like lots of others around at the time. But hardly a blip on the radar screen at the time.

Rahman was a far more proven commodity and had been in some top 10 bouts. Everyone knew who he was and hardly an unknown---that would have been more of a Brian Neilsen or an Alex Garcia type in worldwide context.

 

This about cinches it for me.

 

Lewis - Rahman easily.

Before the fight Rahman was best known for getting knocked out cold by Maskaev. And right before Lewis-Rahman Maskaev was knocked out cold in 2 rounds by Lance Whitaker (and before that, Kirk Johson KO'd him cold in 4).

No one thought Rahman lasts 4-5 rounds against Lennox, let alone wins.

 

You know, losses are always relative to how the rematch goes or the career of the loser transpires. Hearns lost to Barkley, but to me that loss was not as bad because of the fact he had a better career in a way or win after Barkley than Barkley ever had. Same with Ali and Norton.