Worst Resume Prior to Heavyweight Title Shot?

In the all things Shannon Briggs thread we were talking about how bad of resume Briggs had prior to his title shot vs. Liakhovich and how bad it is now assuming he gets one vs. Wlad. Another name that came up is Hasim Rahman's path to title shots.

To be fair, at least both of these guys held THE main title (lineal) at some point in their careers, and in the right places their names drew money. Also, in the case of Briggs and Rahman, I'm assuming their claim to a title shot was erased when they lost their title shot matches. For example, when Briggs lost to Vitali he went back to "zero" perhaps that isn't fair because of his past resume - a long long long time ago - but for the most part I think it's a fair way to look at it.

I've buried the lead a little, but my point of this thread is to ask - Which fighters have had the weakest path to a title shot in heavyweight history?

I have to imagine a number of the defenses Joe Louis had would fill the category, but again, I'm burying my answer to this question...

Vaughn Bean...I mean who exactly did this guy know to get his title shots?

His first came in 1997 against Moorer. It appears he beat nobody in the top 100, let alone the top ten, prior to getting this shot. To be fair, on the scorecards it seems he gave a good account of himself, but still

His second shot against Holyfield came after beating four people with a combined record of 38-41-1. Again, maybe he got a pass here as a credible opponent because of how he performed against Moorer, but I consider myself a huge fan of heavyweight boxing, especially 1980's and on and don't recognize a single name in either of his runs to a title shot.

His last match with any kind of title on the line was against Vitali Klitschko, for the WBA international title, in which he lasted 11 rounds. Most than most people.

This ends perhaps the most words ever dedicated to Vaughn Bean in not only the history of this forum but in the history of boxing.

Please forgive me.

 

Well played, at least he was a gold medalist though.

 

Alfio Righetti was the number 9th ranted heavyweight by the WBC when Spinks beat him. I don't think anyone Bean, Briggs, or Rahman beat in their latest runs to the title was in anyone's top 10.

Spinks crossed my mind though, he drew with Scott Ledeux beofre the Righetti fight, ick.

 

LOL, just the weird stuff I think about when the kid goes to bed. My initial post may asked more than just the question in my subject line. I could have just left it at "worst career resume prior to first heavyweight title shot." However, I like talking about the other part of it too.

 

Jack Roper would be hard to beat. Seems like he was a product of hanging around long enough and going on a random 6-0-1 streak to get the shot. He certainly doesn't meet my criteria of have beating a top ten ranked opponent prior to the title shot that I just made up a few posts ago, lol.

 

Totally valid points, and I noted that I should have set more strict rules for my question but I like that it's sort of two-fold. Yeah I mentioned Rahman/Briggs are "names" and that alone may be worth a title shot, even if it's going on 20 years since they had a legit claim to the title. Totally agree with all your points with the above.