Top 10 Boxing Upsets In The Past and Present

[GJC]

man, hell yes. i was just thinking about this fight

Being older than dirt I remember this one and it never really gets mentioned how much of a shock it was.

[GameGod]

I'll give my top 3. After there, it diverges. But I'm pretty sure these are the three longest odds.

1. James "Buster" Douglas vs. "Iron" Mike Tyson (Odds: 45/1): Tyson was the King. The undefeated, undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the world, with a record of 37-0 with 34 KOs, against a second-rate middle class fighter with no less than 4 losses and a draw in 35 fights (Tyson normally knocked out people with records like 40-1 in Round 1). Who wins? The bum!
2. Kirkland Laing vs. Roberto Duran (Odds: 32/1): The real-life Rocky story. Laing had a simply shocking record of 23-13-1 (easily comparable to Rocky Balboa's), and while Duran was no longer anything like Apollo Creed, he was still incredibly powerful, fast and skillful. Laing won, rather shockingly.
3. James J. Corbett vs. John L. Sullivan (Odds: est. 17/1): Granted that James Corbett was far from a bum, no one knew that before his fight with John L. Sullivan. The undefeated Sullivan, with his "unrealistic" record of 184-0-1 going into the fight, and having won his last 170 bouts and defended his "title" around 30 times (it was not a real title then, unfortunately), Sullivan took on a rookie in Corbett, who was 14-0. Astonishingly, Corbett managed to win in another huge upset.

[paSSion]

1)Muhammad Ali Vs George Foreman
2)Mike Tyson Vs James "Buster" Douglas
3)Bernard Hopkins Vs Felix Trinidad
4)Ricky Hatton Vs Kostya tszyu
5)Hasim Rahman Vs Lennox Lewis I
6)Evander Holyfield Vs Mike Tyson I & II
7)Michael Moorer Vs Evander Holyfield
8)George Foreman Vs Michael Moorer
9)Corrie Sanders Vs Wladimir Klitchsko
10)Roy Jones Jr Vs Antonio Tarver II

who do you guys have??

good list, but why foreman vs ali? ali the greatest fighter ever, foreman was also great for his time, one of them had to lose the fight xD

[sonnyboyx2]

I'll give my top 3. After there, it diverges. But I'm pretty sure these are the three longest odds.

1. James "Buster" Douglas vs. "Iron" Mike Tyson (Odds: 45/1): Tyson was the King. The undefeated, undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the world, with a record of 37-0 with 34 KOs, against a second-rate middle class fighter with no less than 4 losses and a draw in 35 fights (Tyson normally knocked out people with records like 40-1 in Round 1). Who wins? The bum!
2. Kirkland Laing vs. Roberto Duran (Odds: 32/1): The real-life Rocky story. Laing had a simply shocking record of 23-13-1 (easily comparable to Rocky Balboa's), and while Duran was no longer anything like Apollo Creed, he was still incredibly powerful, fast and skillful. Laing won, rather shockingly.
3. James J. Corbett vs. John L. Sullivan (Odds: est. 17/1): Granted that James Corbett was far from a bum, no one knew that before his fight with John L. Sullivan. The undefeated Sullivan, with his "unrealistic" record of 184-0-1 going into the fight, and having won his last 170 bouts and defended his "title" around 30 times (it was not a real title then, unfortunately), Sullivan took on a rookie in Corbett, who was 14-0. Astonishingly, Corbett managed to win in another huge upset.

Kirkland Laing had a record of 23-3-1 with 2 of those defeats coming against Colin Jones in fantastic fights with Laing way ahead on the judges scorecards only for Jones to catch up with him in both fights scoring a KO

[GJC]

[*]James J. Corbett vs. John L. Sullivan (Odds: est. 17/1): Granted that James Corbett was far from a bum, no one knew that before his fight with John L. Sullivan. The undefeated Sullivan, with his "unrealistic" record of 184-0-1 going into the fight, and having won his last 170 bouts and defended his "title" around 30 times (it was not a real title then, unfortunately), Sullivan took on a rookie in Corbett, who was 14-0. Astonishingly, Corbett managed to win in another huge upset.[/LIST]

Tricky doing these things when looking back, which is why I stuck to fights in my living memory.
Corbett having only 14 fights and being a rookie is debatable given the amount of unverifiable cash fights these guys had then.
In the fights that are verified you have Choynski and more importantly Jackson, the fact that they gave 14-1 against a man that fought Peter Jackson to a standstill a year before was very generous.
Also take into account Sullivan was in his mid 30's which was probably the equivalent of being late 40's these days and wasn't in good shape.
Like I say I'm speaking with hindsight here but not that big a shock in my view.

[GJC]

good list, but why foreman vs ali? ali the greatest fighter ever, foreman was also great for his time, one of them had to lose the fight xD

At the time it was perceived that Ali's best days were behind him.
I'm trying to think of a current equivalent, I was leaning to RJJ but that would probably be a bit of an exageration.

[GJC]

Kirkland Laing had a record of 23-3-1 with 2 of those defeats coming against Colin Jones in fantastic fights with Laing way ahead on the judges scorecards only for Jones to catch up with him in both fights scoring a KO

Laing always had great skill and was always capable of pulling out a great performance but was unfocassed, Duran hit unlucky basically.
Laing after this biggest win of his career then disappeared for 6 months or so and a year later loses to a journeyman. Such a waste.

[sonnyboyx2]

Laing always had great skill and was always capable of pulling out a great performance but was unfocassed, Duran hit unlucky basically.
Laing after this biggest win of his career then disappeared for 6 months or so and a year later loses to a journeyman. Such a waste.

very true... Britain had some very good fighters in the late 70s early 80s in almost every weight division.

Roberto Duran fought 2 more British fighters after he fought Laing... any ideas who they were?

[GJC]

very true... Britain had some very good fighters in the late 70s early 80s in almost every weight division.

Roberto Duran fought 2 more British fighters after he fought Laing... any ideas who they were?

You sure Bundana's not your alt lol.
Wasn't there an Irish guy Cuthbert ish? No clue on the other.
Must admit to pretty much tuning out on Duran after the 3rd SRL fight .

[GJC]

You sure Bundana's not your alt lol.
Wasn't there an Irish guy Cuthbert ish? No clue on the other.
Must admit to pretty much tuning out on Duran after the 3rd SRL fight .

I cheated and checked boxingrec, Mike Culbert?
As for the other I could click on them individually but none of them ring a bell without going the long way.
Please tell me its Terry Thomas I would so love that Not sure whether the significance would register with non English or younger posters though.