Looking for fights with the criteria of having not only a sizeable underdog who wins, but during the pre-fight lead up, he was generally expected to look bad, but instead the underdog wins by an absolute schooling. Not a lucky punch, or a close decision, but a fighter who more or less walked into the ring ready to stink up the joint and lose badly and then put on a whirlwind masterclass.
Does such a fight exist? I am sure they probably do and I've probably seen a couple but my mind is blank.
Appreciate any recommendations.
- - Barrera was highly Ring Ranked as their champion as anyone not in grade school knew then. That was that was one of the hottest fights of the era that announced Manny as the top P4P fighter in the entire history of Ring Rankings.
What grade was U in then?
College :D
I'ma post a video of that one just for those who ain't seen it, I m getting to age where I forget just how long ago some of these fights were... somehow in my head even the turning of the Millennium doesn't feel like it was long ago lol..
Simply a masterclass although TBF whilst the narrative at the time heavily favoured Lacy the odds were actually much closer than you'd think, opening with Lacy at something like -110 Joe at +150 and of course Joe was the champ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VSjzPJ-p-U
another one that turned out against expectations was the young bluechip Danny Jacobs getting thoroughly bamboozled and ultimately KOd by relative unknown Russian Dmitry Pirog who was about a +300 'dog. The great Manny Steward's commentary is measured and on point as ever. Miss that dude.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsBppgGwVts
EDIT: Ha ha.. I forgot about that, at about 24:25 you can literally see the shock and dismay on Valcarels (then WBO pres for those who don't know) face on the second row - yellow/black tie - as his plan to install Jacobs as their champion goes up in smoke. Priceless.:lol1:
I didn’t do all my homework but I did not know that the odds for Calzaghe vs Lacy the odds were that close
In my head they were much wider ????? Hmmmm maybe my head is going also , as that was a while ago
Barrera vs Pacquiao 1 :D
- - Barrera was highly Ring Ranked as their champion as anyone not in grade school knew then. That was that was one of the hottest fights of the era that announced Manny as the top P4P fighter in the entire history of Ring Rankings.
What grade was U in then?
A fight that obeys to your required criteria is the first Terry Norris vs Simon Brown.
Norris was hot at the time, whereas Brown was considered as good as shot, many boxing insiders deeming the fight a total mismatch. But Brown pulled out a small masterpiece of resistance and punch selection, taking advantage of Norris' weak chin.
EDIT: Ha ha.. I forgot about that, at about 24:25 you can literally see the shock and dismay on Valcarels (then WBO pres for those who don't know) face on the second row - yellow/black tie - as his plan to install Jacobs as their champion goes up in smoke. Priceless.:lol1:
I remember this fight and that KO was exceptional. Never noticed striped tie. He may have bet one of his houses from the look on his face.
Kelly Pavlik - Sergio Martinez - not sure if people expected Sergio to look bad, but it was considered an upset, he dominated, and styled on him.
Erik Morales - Zahir Raheem - I bet some people saw this one coming. Morales was dominated and styled on.
Denis Lebedev - Guillermo Jones
Marco Antonio Barerra - Junior Jones
Juanma Lopez v Orlando Salido
Wlad Klitschko - Corrie Sanders
Paul Williams v Carlos Quintana
Chris John - Juan Manuel Marquez I - not sure if this was even an upset odds wise. But my Dad and I were big JMM fan at this point, he got on LA TV a good amount coming up. It was finally supposed to be the JMM's coronation after the loss vs Freddie Norwood; Chris John was supposed to hand over his belt as far I was concerned. I didn't see the fight live, I just heard about the result on a boxing radio show hosted by Rich Moiratta the next morning\- JMM got upset, and the scores were wide. that's all I knew about that fight for a while, so it felt like he was dominated and I was shocked. Devastating loss for JMM at that point.
I've seen most of these and pretty much agree on all of them - have NOT seen Rios vs Abril or Lacy vs Calzaghe, going to check them out!
I'ma post a video of that one just for those who ain't seen it, I m getting to age where I forget just how long ago some of these fights were... somehow in my head even the turning of the Millennium doesn't feel like it was long ago lol..
Simply a masterclass although TBF whilst the narrative at the time heavily favoured Lacy the odds were actually much closer than you'd think, opening with Lacy at something like -110 Joe at +150 and of course Joe was the champ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VSjzPJ-p-U
another one that turned out against expectations was the young bluechip Danny Jacobs getting thoroughly bamboozled and ultimately KOd by relative unknown Russian Dmitry Pirog who was about a +300 'dog. The great Manny Steward's commentary is measured and on point as ever. Miss that dude.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsBppgGwVts
EDIT: Ha ha.. I forgot about that, at about 24:25 you can literally see the shock and dismay on Valcarels (then WBO pres for those who don't know) face on the second row - yellow/black tie - as his plan to install Jacobs as their champion goes up in smoke. Priceless.:lol1:
I've seen most of these and pretty much agree on all of them - have NOT seen Rios vs Abril or Lacy vs Calzaghe, going to check them out!
Lacy vs Cal was on par with Maidana vs Broner :lol1: !
Biggest upset ever...in any sport....
Tyson vs Buster
Followed by Tyson vs Holy :lol1:
And unbelievably Foreman vs Frazier (Joe was the heavy favorite)
Ali vs Foreman, where Ali was the huge under dog
kabayel vs. chisora, makhmudov and sanchez
bivol vs. canelo (boxing fans knew bivol is good but fans of stars didn't)
fury - vladimir k.
sullivan barrera - shabransky
Brandon Rios vs Richard Abril was this but it wasn't.
Rios was very overhyped at the time and very heavily favoured, Abril a short notice replacement people was disappointed with as he was practically unheard of and Abril took him to school, a literal shut out , he boxed the ears off Rios from start to finish and they still robbed him.
Worst robbery I have ever seen. I'm not sure Rios even deserved a round.
...on that note, I guess DDD vs Joshua, kind of? I wouldn't call that a masterclass from DDD but it was a proper bulldozing. And I don't remember the odds disparity on that fight either.
Those are decent examples I suppose but I was thinking more along the lines of the underdog just putting on a show all around. I'd say both of those fights were more "close until they weren't" sort of deals, at least to me.