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Great fighters that lost to non-great ones


BoztheMadman
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I was just thinking about this, the instances when a great fighter lost to someone who was either just good or average, for various reasons. Here is the instances I know of:

 

8 August 1987: Aaron Pryor losing to Billy Joe Young- Pryor was obviously on the slide after abusing drugs and had taken on a much younger and stronger opponent. Alexis Arguello showed up in his dressing room before the fight to beg him not to go on with it, but to no avail. As a result, Pryor got stopped in 7 rounds and got the worst beating of his life. This was a case of a great fighter being in bad shape and getting beaten by a journeyman.

 

3 December 1970: Jose Napoles losing to Billy Backus- This was a case of Napoles perhaps taking his opponent too lightly and also being unlucky, getting cut up badly and having to retire in the 4th round. Backus was a good boxer, not a journeyman but never great either. Napoles got his revenge in the rematch where he stopped Backus in eight rounds.

 

10 April 1992: Edwin Rosario losing to Akinobu Hiranaka- Perhaps the worst and most brutal case. Poor Chapo was enjoying a good comeback at 140 pounds after dismantling Loreto Garza easily to win his last world title, when he ran into Japanese power puncher Hiranaka, who left him outstretched and counted out on the canvas after only 92 seconds. His career would unravel after that, although he came back once again but death cut that comeback short. Hiranaka lost title in his first defense against Morris East by TKO11.

 

6 December 1997: Terry Norris losing to Keith Mullings- Terrible Terry was on the slide and was ahead after 8 rounds but got hurt in the end of the 8th and stopped in the 9th round by a hard hitting and tough Jamaican journeyman Mullings. Actually, Mullings was better than a journeyman really but his career wasn't successful enough to earn him a higher classification and he lost his title in his second defense and would never win a fight again.

 

11 February 1989: Donald Curry losing to Rene Jacquot- Jacquot was a rough and tough fighter but he already lost nine fights before he took on Lone Star Cobra and shocked the world by winning a decision against him, thus becoming the first Frenchman in 30 years to win a world title. He would lose his title in the first defense to John Mugabi thanks to bad luck, as he slipped and hurt his ankle in the very first round. Curry stated that he got tired too early and wasn't in as good shape as he thought he was. It was also a case of Jacquot being too strong physically. Perhaps the biggest upset ever.

 

13 March 1970: Nino Benvenuti losing to Tom Bethea- Another huge upset, Benvenuti was one of the best p4p boxers at the time while Bethea was a journeyman with a 9-5 record but a big punch also. Benvenuti was down in the seventh and injured his rib and had to quit after the eight. He would get revenge in the rematch where he stopped Bethea also in the eight.

 

4 September 1982: Roberto Duran losing to Kirkland Laing- Laing was a solid fighter but never spectacular so this was also a very big upset. It seems Duran just wasn't in the right mindset that year as he also got outclassed by Benitez in january. Laing was unable to build on this tremendous victory and got koed in the very next fight by Fred Hutchings, the man Hitman Hearns stopped in 3 rounds.

 

31 May 1997: Kostya Tszyu losing to Vince Phillips- Perhaps the lessest of all the upsets here, as Phillips always showed a great potential but it took him time to fulfill it while Kostya was not in best shape I hear. Phillips would make three defenses of the title he won from Kostya before getting stopped in five by Teron Millett...pretty disappointing end to a reign.

Edited by BoztheMadman
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  • 2 weeks later...

Re: Great fighters that lost to non-great ones

 

Great thread @BoztheMadman surely Tyson-Douglas is in here ? Would Wlad's losses count?

 

Well, I thought about it but in my estimation Buster was not a nobody and he COULD HAVE been great imo had he taken better care of his body and been more motivated after the Tyson fight. So, I feel its kind of unfair to put that fight here, esp since Tyson's skills had deteriorated about a year prior to this fight. Thanks anyway, appreciate your feedback.

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Re: Great fighters that lost to non-great ones

 

Well, I thought about it but in my estimation Buster was not a nobody and he COULD HAVE been great imo had he taken better care of his body and been more motivated after the Tyson fight. So, I feel its kind of unfair to put that fight here, esp since Tyson's skills had deteriorated about a year prior to this fight. Thanks anyway, appreciate your feedback.

 

No worries man, ye good point, i suppose he was heavyweight champion of the world so you're right its harsh to include him here, hhmm ill have a think about this for some examples

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Re: Great fighters that lost to non-great ones

 

No worries man, ye good point, i suppose he was heavyweight champion of the world so you're right its harsh to include him here, hhmm ill have a think about this for some examples

 

Gee, wish we had more members like you here...way too many who just won't agree with me and insist on being difficult. :ranger:

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Re: Great fighters that lost to non-great ones

 

I think like the author himself suggests, you can't really have Vince Phillips in there. We'd seen him in the Ring with a lot of top fighters like Anthony Baby Jones, Harold Brazier, Olympian Romallis Ellis and he'd even been on HBO once before in getting blown away by Ike Quartey in a title fight. Upset YES, Unknown NO. I'm sure that's the same reason Buster Douglas isn't on there, it was a monumental upset but he'd fought Tucker for the IBF title and a few other name fighters.

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Re: Great fighters that lost to non-great ones

 

You will soon find out its what he does constantly :laugh:

Really, this aversion you've had for me lately now is getting out of hand! When did I last STEAL an entire thread and post it as mine, you muppet? You really think I'm that sort of man, don't you? A daft and dishonest Bosnian, right...damn Scouser.:tsk:

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Re: Great fighters that lost to non-great ones

 

Non-title defences used to be more common years ago but always a risk. I think Promoters have learned not to risk their meal-tickets these days. (In Western boxing)

 

Only Thailand do, but even then it's hardly risking meal tickets as the fights are effectively public sparring. The Koreans, Indonesians and Japanese don't do it. The closest, other than the Thai's, would be the Argentinian exhibitions that a few top females (notably Bopp) having been doing.

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Re: Great fighters that lost to non-great ones

 

Kirkland Laing was a special talent but messed up his own career - enjoyed partying too much. If he'd been dedicated then he would have been a World champion.

 

What got me was that right after the upset of Duran, Al Bernstein was interviewing Mickey Duff and he talked about how this was the turning point after all the disappointments and now he was serious/motivated......and I'll be damn if it didn't happen yet again. :deadhorse:

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Re: Great fighters that lost to non-great ones

 

Alexis Arguello losing to Scott "Pink Cat" Walker.....and coincidentally (and sadly), BOTH guys ending up committing suicide years apart.

 

Another one I just thought of was Sugar Ray Robinson losing to Memo Ayon in a Bull Ring down in Mexico. In his autobiography, all Robinson mentioned how all he was worried about was having his corner wipe the dust/dirt off him between rounds.

Edited by davemurphy
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