BoxingScene's 2010 Year End Awards: Upset Of The Year

By Jake Donovan

2010 UPSET OF THE YEAR: GILBERTO KEB BAAS MD12 OMAR NINO ROMERO

At no point in his 15-year career has Mexican junior flyweight Gilberto Keb Baas enjoyed an unbeaten streak that has lasted longer than six fights.

That changed in a very big way in 2010, as did his career status.

Forever known as a journeyman in the lower weight classes, Keb Baas can now add “junior flyweight titlist” to his resume thanks to his shocking 12-round points win over Omar Nino Romero on November 6 in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.

How big of an upset was it? Keb Baas already beat Nino Romero once before – 12 years ago in what was Romero’s first loss – yet few if anyone believed the result could ever again be replicated.

Their 1998 meet was the first of two times Nino Romero would suffer a stoppage loss, bowing out in five rounds when both fighters were still in the prospect stages of their respective careers.

The Mexico City native went on to have an up and down career, though mostly up in recent years, having twice won alphabet titles at junior flyweight, including a win over Rodel Mayol in their rematch last June to reclaim the well-traveled title he lost two years prior.

His win over Mayol was the second among the six-fight unbeaten streak that was the result of exacting a measure of revenge. The two had met four months prior, ending in a technical draw when an unintentional headbutt (though hard to tell with Mayol since they happen so frequently in his bouts) halted their bout less than three rounds into the evening.

Prior to the two-fight set with Mayol came a decision win over Juanito Rubillar, the same man who 51 weeks prior put an end to his first title reign.

Having reversed two non-wins among his current stretch, Nino Romero figured why not attempt to continue on the revenge tour – even if it meant a fight that represented no other means of reward.

Gilberto Keb Baas’ career has mostly been down since his shocking win over Nino Romero 12 years ago, as evidenced by the 16 losses that have piled on to his record. The announcement of his receiving a title shot at this stage of his career was met with shock and outrage, even by today’s non-existent alphabet standards.

How could a man with 20 career losses – and very few wins against live competition – be allowed to compete for a title of any kind, it was asked?

Whether or not he deserved the title shot, Keb Baas proved less than three minutes into the bout that he belonged in the same ring as this particular champion.

A knockdown in the opening round sent a shocking reminder to the fans – and Nino Romero - that perhaps 1998 wasn’t a fluke after all. Another knockdown in the eighth round served as confirmation that something big was about to occur.

By that point, whispers of Nino Romero not looking so great in training camp were now taken into far greater consideration than they were prior to the bout, when everyone believed the outcome was little more than a foregone conclusion.

As far as Keb Baas was concerned it was – he told anyone who would listen that history would repeat itself. The problem was that nobody would listen, so he had to show them.

Actions speak louder than words, and action he provided for 12 rounds. By fight’s end, all that was left to make the unthinkable occur was the reading of the scorecards to make it official.

Even with one idiotic scorecard of 113-113, destiny would not be denied. Scores of 115-111 and 116-110 were far more indicative of what took place in the ring. 

What took place on that night in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico was an event that resulted in history repeating itself, in terms of precedence and personal scoreboard between the two fighters.

That nobody saw it coming despite the suggested evidence that it could happen, makes it Boxingscene’s 2010’s Upset of the Year.

Take away the aforementioned result and there wouldn’t be any hesitation to hail Jason Litzau’s out-of-nowhere performance against pound-for-pound entrant Celestino Caballero as the most shocking event to take place in the ring this year.

Their November 27 HBO preliminary bout was so widely regarded as a foregone conclusion that both the cable network and promoter Lou DiBella (for whom Caballero toils) were widely criticized for even putting together the fight.

The odds were 13-1 that Litzau could win, with popular belief that the one-time promising prospect-turned-journeyman wouldn’t last longer than a few rounds, despite Caballero moving up in weight.

Ten rounds later, the boxing world was thrown for a loop. Gone was any chance of Caballero landing a high-profile bout with notable featherweight contemporaries Juan Manuel Lopez or Yuriorkis Gamboa. Such fights are still on the table, though the asking price for the former two-division titlist goes way down in pursuit of such fights.

Meanwhile, Litzau – who has fallen short every time he stepped up prior to 2010 – most likely lands at least one more notable payday in 2001, perhaps even in a rumored showdown with Gamboa.

Chances are, Litzau is brought back to reality in such a fight. However, the damage is already done as the all-action Minnesota product makes the highlight reel for all of the right reasons for a change.

Also receiving votes:

Fernando Montiel negated hometown advantage and a three-round deficit on the scorecards with a shocking 4th round knockout of then-division best Hozumi Hasegawa in their April alphabet bantamweight unification bout in Japan… Reality show winner Garth Wood secured his future financially in shocking the world with a 5th round stoppage over Anthony Mundine in December… Ricky Burns overcame insurmountable odds and an opening round knockdown to outfight previously unbeaten Rocky Martinez in a massive shocker which also doubled as one of the year's best fights... Career opponent Walter Estrada ended the career of former lightweight king Nate Campbell with a decision win in their November off-camera bout… Chad Dawson was tabbed as a franchise player for HBO before getting derailed by Jean Pascal in their August world light heavyweight championship bout… The up and down career of repeat junior flyweight titlist Brian Viloria took another spill downward after dropping a decision to Carlos Tamara… In sticking with the 108 lb division, power punching Giovanni Segura put an end to the lengthy world championship reign of perhaps the best pure boxer in the sport, stopping then-unbeaten Ivan Calderon in eight rounds in the champion’s homeland of Puerto Rico… Kendall Holt was one fight away from re-entering the title picture, before being thrown for a loop in a sixth-round knockout loss at the hands of Kaiser Mabuza.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to

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