Biggest Boxing Upsets
It is an inherent trait to root for the underdog. Why do we torture ourselves by backing the losing horse, continually cheering someone (or something) that, logically, seems destined to lose? It turns out that this affinity for the underdog is overwhelmingly common. The underdog story is in the same remit as the biggest upsets in boxing.
Let’s have a look at the biggest upsets in boxing history, the shocking, jaw-dropping moments which have galvanised boxing fans the world over and transformed the image of the boxers involved elevating them to the upper echelons in the boxing ecosphere.
12. Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko
Tyson Fury’s redemption story is that of legend. The technically gifted boxer completed one of the greatest comebacks in modern sports history, from the bottom of a bottle to dispatching knockout artist Deontay Wilder.
Prior to Fury unearthing his demons, which had been buried for many years, the man was a force to be reckoned with and Wladimir Klitschko was one of the first in the queue to taste the leather of his gloves.
The Mancunian effectively demonstrated why he is held in such high regard on the boxing circuit when he went to work on one of the most dominant champions in the history of boxing. Before the bout, the Ukrainian was an unstoppable force, bulldozing through anyone that got in his way.
Fury employed his silky speed and slowly sedated the heavyweight champion, gliding inside and out, wearing Klitschko down. Fury’s defence seemed the product of smart, systematic training. Fury slipped and rolled and the damage started piling up for Klitschko as he executed a flawless gameplan.
Many believed that the Ukrainian didn’t turn up, or simply elected not to fight. Through precise planning and near immaculate execution, Tyson Fury kept Klitschko from fighting the same fight he’s been successfully replaying over his time sitting on the heavyweight throne. Fury’s hand was raised and a new boxing reign had begun.
11. Corrie Sanders vs. Wladimir Klitschko
A young Wladimir Klitschko had successfully defended his WBO heavyweight title on five different occasions before he faced underdog Corrie Sanders. Klitschko had dismantled every opponent that stepped into the ring with him and then came the unmovable South African.
Klitschko was expected to make easy work of Sanders but the underdog had other ideas. Sanders flew out of the blocks in the opening round knocking Wladimir off his stride. Sanders caught the 6-foot-7, 240-pound Klitschko with a thundering short left, then sent the heavy-favourite to the canvas three more times.
It was Klitschko’s sixth defence of the WBO belt. He was regarded as a boxing giant, conquering whoever was in front of him. It took Sanders twenty-seven seconds into the second round to topple the favourite and to claim the fabled WBO belt. The outcome drew anger and frustration from the crowd of 11,500, infuriated over the brevity of the fight and the unexpected result.
10. Ken Norton vs. Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is considered the greatest heavyweight of all time, leaving an immovable imprint on the sport, but even the untouchable can be dethroned. Ken Norton’s name had some considerable weight to it and the man’s boxing resumé had enough accolades to fill a myriad of boxing careers.
Before Norton’s fight with Ali in 1973, the man was at a career crossroads. He was not financially secure in his boxing career and considered hanging up the gloves and returning home. Norton, an awkward boxer with an unorthodox style, decided to stick it out earning a chance in the ring with Ali, this is when Norton produced one of the most legendary moments in boxing history.
Ken Norton vs. Ali did not have the writings of a blockbuster event, and few gave Norton the chance to better the greatest boxer of all time. Ali stepped into the ring thinking he was going to cruise to victory, Norton’s 6-foot-3 frame alone said otherwise. Norton’s unforgiving and thundering punches changed the narrative early on, as those in the crowd would realise.
As Norton asserted himself in the ring in the opening round, it would be the second round where he yielded his most memorable moments, knocking Ali’s chin into orbit and fracturing the champion’s jaw. Ali managed to go the distance with a broken jaw, although he suffered a 12th-round split decision defeat, which marked his second pro loss.
9. Michael Bentt vs. Tommy Morrison
Tommy Morrison’s career was a revolving door of fate, swinging fast and wild. Morrison seemed to walk through that door with confidence, power and finesse. He was on the path to boxing glory and possessed some of the hardest-hitting fists in boxing.
Michael Bentt, a man riding a ten-fight winning streak, was brought in for a mere tune-up fight against Tommy Morrison. Morrison, at the time, was a superstar in America and the knockout artist had amassed a 38–1 record with most coming via stoppage. The man was constructing a boxing legacy.
Morrison was looking down the barrel of $7.5 million dollars after having signed to fight Lennox Lewis. Tommy “The Duke” Morrison came flying out of the blocks, searching for an opening through which to fire his lethal left hook. Bentt remained calm and composed as the overwhelming favourite unleashed his show-stopping punches.
A thundering right uppercut got Bentt’s attention, as did a follow-up left hook to his head. The British-born boxer had realised he had hit the big leagues as he was pegged back forced to swallow a barrage of punches. Bentt, who was sagging on the ropes, responded, firing a flush right-hand counter to the head downing the champion.
Morrison beat the count but wore a dazed expression. The challenger wasted no time swarming Tommy with huge gloves sending Morrison to the canvas yet again. The third time Morrison went down the referee had seen enough and Bentt had stunned the world reducing Morrison’s purse significantly for his next fight and future earnings.
8. Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman
Before the upset by Muhammad Ali in 1974, George Foreman was a boxing titan. The man was considered an unbeatable terror holding a stranglehold on the heavyweight boxing division. The man had no fear and simply butchered any heavyweight who stepped in the ring with him.
In fact, “Big George” had dispatched Ali’s nemesis Joe Fraizer in just two rounds the year prior and bullied Ken Norton the year after that. Ali was made of steel but stepping in the ring with a man who had laid waste to the only two men that had beaten the former champ was a brave thing, many believed Ali to be foolish to take the fight.
The man formerly known as Cassius Clay had been involved in the biggest boxing matches ever but this was another huge step. But yet again, Ali demonstrated why he is the greatest heavyweight ever to roam the planet. The former-champ solidified his boxing legacy in history by defeating the most feared man on the planet at the time.
Ali bested Foreman by employing a strategy he described as “rope-a-dope”. Fundamentally, Ali did what no fighter was supposed to do by standing with his back to the ropes absorbing punches. Foreman threw the kitchen sink at Ali but the loquacious fighter continued to swallow everything Foreman dished out.
“The Greatest” made the powerful finisher miss, forcing him to tire while landing devastating counters in return, until he stopped Foreman in the eighth to secure the upset win.
7. Hasim Rahman vs. Lennox Lewis
With the heavyweight division being densely populated in the 1990s and 2000s, Hasim Rahman was a man overlooked on many occasion. The man was considered a good pound-for-pound fighter but never placed in the great category.
Lennox Lewis on the other hand was at his boxing prime, the destructive power of Lewis was frightening and the man hadn’t lost a fight in six years. “The Lion” had vanquished Michael Grant, Francois Botha and David Tua in 2000 and seemed on a collision course with Mike Tyson.
Lewis decided to use Rahman as a stepping stone, a tune-up fight before his dream match-up with “Iron Mike”. Lewis failed to prepare for anything other than a routine win and was shocked when Rahman came out in the opening round fists flying.
Lewis cemented wins in the second, third and fourth rounds and started the fifth strongly. He began the fifth round stalking Rahman and it appeared the powerful hitter was setting up a knockout, but Rahman avoided the huge shots from Lewis and turned the tables on the heavy favourite.
With 45 seconds remaining in the fifth round, Rahman let his hands fly throwing five straight left jabs to send Lewis on to the ropes and then the underdog’s leather connected with a mammoth right hand that sent the champion flying down to hit the canvas. Hasim Rahman was the new heavyweight champion of the world.
6. Max Baer vs. James Braddock
Max Baer was unstoppable. Max Baer the boxer, aka “The Clown Prince of Boxing” was a formidable force. The unforgiving hitter won the heavyweight championship of the world on June 11, 1935, by knocking out the Italian giant Primor Canera. Baer had scored 11 knockdowns on the way to his KO win over Canera and at 25 was thought to be invincible.
Baer’s murderous punching power was responsible for the death of Frankie Campbell and contributed to the death of Ernie Shaff, who died in his next fight after a brutal knockout by Baer previously. The man was far superior to the other heavyweights and was considered a grim reaper claiming lives in the ring.
James Braddock, aka “The Cinderella Man” had the same plight as many other Americans in the Great Depression and fell upon hard times. Braddock was regarded as a journeyman of boxing with a 44–2–2, with 21 knockouts. Due to a string of injuries to his right hand, Braddock had to shelve his boxing career and work on the docks to put food on the table for his family.
The dock worker’s left hand became stronger than his right and the boxer’s right hand healed to the point he was able to resume his career. After a run of victories, Max Baer’s camp cherry-picked Braddock to challenge the dangerous champion.
The renowned party boy and womaniser thought he was in for an easy night when he invited Braddock to fight for the heavyweight title. Braddock seemed to have other ideas. The fiercely proud son to Irish immigrants was ashamed to have been reduced to drawing social welfare and saw the Baer fight as an escape from poverty.
During the fight, Baer was dumbfounded at Braddock’s grit and determination as he doggedly pursued him while showing no fear. Round after round Braddock succeeded in beating his bigger, stronger and younger opponent putting in a herculean performance.
Braddock, who had been the 10–1 underdog, won a well deserved unanimous decision and captured the heavyweight of the world championship belt. James Braddock vs. Max Baer had given the public what they wanted, a cinderella story.
5. Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr
Andy Ruiz Jr sprang one of the biggest heavyweight championship upsets in the modern-day boxing era. Ruiz filled in as Joshua’s opponent as Jarrell Miller failed a drugs test and the evening was supposed to be a routine win for the Brit.
Anthony Joshua, the overwhelming favourite and undefeated pugilist gladiator, saw Ruiz as a stopgap to move on to a lucrative unification showdown with either WBC champion Deontay Wilder or lineal king Tyson Fury. How very surprised the British champion was when he stepped into the ring with a determined and lionhearted Ruiz Jr.
Ruiz, who was ridiculed because of his weight and shape before the bout performed the unthinkable, dethroning Joshua becoming the unified heavyweight champion of the world. The Mexican had a locker full of ambition and came to do a job, which he executed with pinpoint precision.
Joshua drew first blood by throwing a beautifully executed three-punch combo forcing Ruiz to taste the canvass. Joshua strode back to his corner as he has done so many times throughout the years coupled with a smile and boyish swag.
The challenger rose to the occasion and also off his feet. Ruiz steamrolled back into the battle as he stood toe-to-toe with Joshua trading leather, the two titans swapped huge exchanges until Ruiz’s left hand plunged into Joshua’s temple. Joshua’s legs instantly started shaking and the champion of the world came crashing down.
Ruiz was seamlessly sowing the seeds of destruction and with Joshua nullified by Ruiz’s thundering blows, it seemed the opportune time to pile on the punishment. Ruiz knocked the North-Londerner back to the floor with a straight right hand.
Joshua picked himself up once more dazed and confused in the fifth-round, but Ruiz, running on galvanizing fuel, had a taste for ascendancy and ended the show with two more knockdowns in the seventh. Referee Michael Griffin checked Joshua and decided that he’d seen enough crowning Ruiz the new heavyweight king.
4. Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks
Muhammad Ali was the most famous athlete on the earth at the time of the pairs’ bout and the trash-talking superstar was riding a 14-win streak. Ali had propelled himself into the upper echelons of boxing and had hardly missed a beat.
Ali possessed the touch of Midas and traded barbs nearly as hard as he traded blows, that was before he met a kid out of St Louis in 1978, named Leon Spinks. The unheralded boxer from the ghetto shocked the boxing world as he battled his way to a 15-round split decision win against “The Greatest”.
A crowd of 5,300 watched on at the Las Vegas Hilton Sports Pavillion as a 24-year-old Spinks proved too young, too determined and too hungry for the veteran champion. Ali’s face was puffed and swollen, a cut occupied the inside of his mouth and the man looked on the verge of exhaustion by the time Spinks got the nod.
“Neon Leon” had stunned the world and more importantly astonished Muhammad Ali. Leon Spinks defied the 10–1 odds and outpointed an ill-prepared Ali after 15 gruelling rounds. The greenhorn deserved the hand raise and never emulated the success he expressed against Ali, it seemed Spinks was a one-and-done fighter.
3. Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield
Too often forgotten is the huge heavyweight championship upset of Mike Tyson at the hands of a swashbuckling Evander Holyfield. “The Real Deal”, who opened the market as a 25–1 underdog, dismantled a durable and dangerous Tyson over 11 rounds.
Entering the contest Tyson was the clear front runner and had dispatched all four of his opponents during his comeback after a four-year hiatus due to being incarcerated. Tyson possessed dynamite in both fists and was the best heavyweight on the planet despite his boxing interlude.
Holyfield, on the other hand, was 2–2 in his last four fights and had suffered his first stoppage loss against Riddick Bowe one year earlier. Holyfield’s brutish and robust style was menacing but Tyson had a wealth of experience and held the chalice of success. Some of the boxing media even expressed their fear for Holyfield’s life before the bout.
But when the bell rang on November 9, 1996, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, Holyfield surprised everyone when he courageously stood toe-to-toe with Tyson in the center of the ring exchanging colossal blows.
Both fighters were swallowing punches in the first round and the main-event matchup mirrored the days when frightening boxers like Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali and George Foreman held a stranglehold on the heavyweight circuit.
Holyfield continued to dictate the tempo of the contest throwing everything at Tyson, but “Iron Mike” always posed a threat and in the fifth-round unleashed a right to Holyfield’s body and a scathing uppercut to his chin, reminding everyone of his unbridled power. Holyfield remained on his feet, staring into his rival’s face with that of hatred.
The two fighters continued to clash, tie up and get broken apart by the referee, and there Holyfield would be, still standing in front of Tyson. The Alabama boxer caught Tyson in the 6th-round and let the former champion taste the canvass.
The fight was effectively over after “The Real Deal” turned on the style peppering Tyson from every angle. 37 seconds into the 11th round, when Holyfield let a big right connect with Tyson’s head, the referee waved the bout off as Holyfield was crowned the new heavyweight of the world.
2. Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston
Sonny Liston was a boxing wrecking ball, striking fear into men before stepping into the ring and was considered by many as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Sonny Liston’s fists were compared to meat hooks and the man had gloves specially made to fit the monstrous bear paws he possessed.
Liston was raising eyebrows and dismantling opponents with the hammers in his gloves in the early rounds. The man was making a huge splash. Liston’s career was highlighted when he inexorably battered Floyd Patterson, knocking him out at 2:06 in the first-round with a left hook capturing the heavyweight of the world title.
Patterson requested a rematch in 1963 and Liston, again, cemented his boxing legacy by making quick work of “The Gentleman of Boxing”, beating him in a fight that lasted four seconds longer than the first. Sonny Liston seemed an indestructible force, that was until a young man with a razor-sharp tounge from Louisville Kentucky, named Cassius Clay decided to enter the heavyweight party.
Many believed that Clay had a screw loose fighting Liston, that the ex-convict would likely kill the young challenger. On February 5th, 1964, 22-year-old Cassius Clay shocked the world by dethroning the fearfully venerable and durable Sonny Liston.
The dreaded Liston was putting his opponents in the grave before Clay emerged and was the overwhelming favourite. However, Clay predicted victory, claiming he would “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” and knock Liston to the canvass in the eighth-round.
The fleet-footed and loquacious youngster who would later be known to the world as Muhammad Ali needed even less time to make his claim. Clay danced around Liston as if it was a choreographed routine and beautifully sculpted Liston’s face with a barrage of punches. Liston was nullified. Resorting to dirty tactics, allegedly “The Big Bear” applied a blinding agent to his gloves and rubbed it in the 22-year-old’s eyes.
Clay, deprived of vision, was forced to avoid the whirlwind attacks of Liston by utilising his silky and lightning-quick footwork. The “Louisville Lip” recovered and continued to dance around Liston’s powerful swings while delivering venomous jabs that Liston’s head absorbed.
Clay, clearly with more gas in the tank, demonstrated to the public why he held himself in such high regard continually taunting the champion. The blistering attacks had been piling up and Liston started to showcase the damage he had been building. It proved to be too much and Liston threw in the towel after the sixth round. It made a champion out of Clay who claimed he “shook up the world”.
1. Buster Douglas vs Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson was a name to be feared. There was no stopping him at the time and the Brooklyn-born fighter was already coining his signature early knockouts. Tyson packed a powerful punch and was dictating the heavyweight division. Not many fancied their chances.
Tyson was victorious in his first 37 bouts. His first 19 fights were won by knockout. Twelve of those knockouts happened in the opening round, the man had a taste for blood early on. Tyson made quick work of his opponents leaving a trail of bodies in his rear-view mirror. Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion ever when he was just 20 years of age.
Buster Douglas on the other hand had lost four times and more importantly, the man’s credibility was being questioned, claiming he lacked heart and guts after his loss to Tommy Tucker in 1987. Douglas was meant to be another stepping stone to chalk another ‘W’ in the win column of Tyson’s unblemished fight card.
Douglas dreamed an alternate tale and took it upon himself to perform one. Douglas bulldozed into Tyson, throwing unbroken and stiff jabs, carving out space to throw big right hands and not falling back when taking an onslaught of ‘Iron Mike’s shots’.
Douglas seemed to be exploiting Tyson’s emotional Achilles heel and pursued his gung-ho approach against the undefeated champion. Tyson jolted back into action in the eighth round sending a crashing uppercut into Buster’s lower jaw forcing the challenger to the ground.
Round ten was the most pivotal for Douglas and the most detrimental for Tyson. Douglas landed a huge right-hand sending the champion toppling to the ground. The champion was sprawling on the canvas groping for his mouthpiece when the referee realised “the baddest man on the planet” was in no state to continue.
Buster Douglas had caused the biggest upset in boxing history giving the world a plethora of excitement when he knocked out the most prominent boxer on the planet.
