Obscure Near Upsets

[Russell]

Copied from an older thread in regards to Lolenga Mock vs David Haye.

"How about David Haye vs. African Fighter Lolenga Mock?

Very obscure fighter, Lolenga, and Haye faced him in only his 7th contest.

Bad idea.

Taking advantage of Haye's ridiculously low left, Mock hit him with a gorgeous hook. Haye goes down, and barely gets up at the count of eight after wobbling on the canvas.

Seconds afterwards, Haye reels forward grabbing onto Mock and friggin' powerslams him onto the canvas. This buys Haye quite a bit of time as the ref gets them apart, slowly.

Later on Mock almost knocks him down again.

Haye eventually lands one of the hardest uppercuts I have ever seen on Mock. Vitali/Lennox Lewis type shot.

Mock goes forward a bit into the ropes with Haye, falls over... On the canvas Mock is already half off the canvas. He untangles his head from beneath the bottom rope.

He easily gets up, brings his gloves together. No wobbling.

Ref stops the fucking fight.

Crowd goes wild booing. Even Haye looks embarrassed."

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"What really pisses me off about the Haye/Mock fight is that Mock is a SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT who's fought as low as middleweight.

That's his actual, normal weight class and after such a ballsy, good showing against the best Cruiserweight of the last some odd years he gets screwed out of so many things by a bullshit hometown call.

Mock's chin was tested in a dozen other losses against some other divisions hardest punchers at SMW (Never off his feet against Bute over 12 rounds even though Mock lost all 12 rounds on one judges card)

Mock also went the distance with Cruiserweights Lasse Johansen, Jesper Kristiansen, Kai Kurzawa, and Giovanni Alvarez.

He's a SMW/MW with a chin tested against a collection of friggin' Cruisers and including a now 230 Haye and he got screwed."

So what near upsets come to mind for you? Home cooking, flukes stopping a underdog win, anything really. The more obscure/interesting the better.

[HomicideHenry]

Dee Collier, coming out of nowhere to knock out Randall Tex Cobb, when Conn just the year or two before wouldnt go down for Larry Holmes. But then again, thats an under dog story actually winning the contest. You want near misses....closest thing that was razor edge in my opinion, was when Tommy Morrison had a draw against Ross Purretty, and Morrison was knocked down twice I think, but managed to still get the draw.

[Vantage_West]

lee meager vs lazlo komjathi, meager looked horrficcly bad and komjathi started strong and cam swarming with these pretty good combinations and had lee in a load of awkward positions...then a cut opend up and that was it.

darnell boone vs lajuan simon simon (who now might face art abe) was a cross roads fight as the commentators call it...but in reality it was a fight for simon to beat up an opponant and go the distance for some expereince. boone toyed with him, countered him and swarmed him when ever he wanted. then it's ruled a draw?!?!??! tessatore quote "im not buying that"

nigel benn - sanderline williams.....actually williams being matched with any ooponant you could say a near upset was on the cards, very good technician and stylist. got rocked by benn but came back to win about 4/5 rounds on my card.

[TBooze]

Jeff Sims almost upsetting Jose Ribalta, and in doing so changing boxing history drastically!!!!

(Ribalta was pencilled in to fight Tyson next, but looked so bad against Sims, DKP decided to give the Tyson fight to another winner on that bill, by the name of James Douglas, who beat a tough journeyman called Oliver McCall).

[Russell]

nigel benn - sanderline williams.....actually williams being matched with any ooponant you could say a near upset was on the cards, very good technician and stylist. got rocked by benn but came back to win about 4/5 rounds on my card.

Great stuff Vantage, thank you very much.

Didn't Sanderline also draw with Toney?

[Vantage_West]

Great stuff Vantage, thank you very much.

Didn't Sanderline also draw with Toney?
wow i have been quoted...first time ever in the classic forum

erm yeah toney barely got by and salveged a draw but toney didnt really give a fuck he just looked to knock him out then noticed by round 4 that he had lost every round and needed to win big, so he just kept his guard high and just kept throwing to barely square a draw.

in the rematch toney didnt make the same mistake twice and just kept landing some fine counters and didnt get fooled into trying to ko him.

nice fighter to study. i dont think he was immensly talented but had a solid A-game and technical prowess over most of his opponants...even top contenders and future champions. sadly he was usually beaten by his low workrate and his dodgy stamina in the later rounds.

[TBooze]

Imagine if Sugar Boy had been given the decision (which he should of) in the anything Eu can do, Benn tour?

Possibly no Eubank rematch or McClellan....

Does Bomber Bruno's career take off if the ref stopped the Cummings fight in the first?

[MRBILL]

A classic near upset was Larry Holmes edging Ollie McCall over 8 rds in 1995, but fading bad down the stretch to lose the decision....... I was pissed...... I like Ollie McCall, but Holmes is my man........

MR.BILL

[Russell]

How about the then unbeaten Hussein vs Pacquiao?

The body puncher extraordinaire that was Nedal Hussein somehow dropped Pacquiao with a jab, and Manny went down like he had been shot. The ref of course literally takes forever with his count, and then takes even MORE time wiping his gloves.

Not too terribly subtle home cooking.

Who knows what another early career loss would have done to Pacquiao. At the time of the Nedal fight he was almost exactly a year removed from his loss to Medgoen Singsurat.

[Russell]

Has anyone else here seen the Mock/Haye fight?

Am I the only one disgusted by it?

[AnthonyJ74]

A classic near upset was Larry Holmes edging Ollie McCall over 8 rds in 1995, but fading bad down the stretch to lose the decision....... I was pissed...... I like Ollie McCall, but Holmes is my man........

MR.BILL

Even though Holmes is a cocky, boorish a-hole at times, I was rooting for him in this fight. He was sooooo close to beating McCall it was insane. I actually though at the time that Holmes might have done enough to get the decision, but after rewatching the fight several times, he just faded too much down the stretch and lost to many late rounds, especially the 9th round, a round he lost big! If Holmes had trained harder and come in around 225-230 he probably would have won.

[AnthonyJ74]

Larry Holmes vs. Jesse Ferguson............Holmes was rocked badly by a Ferguson left hook and was nearly knocked out as he tried to recuperate up against the ropes. Holmes was in a daze for at least a good minute, and the fight overall was a very close fight. The decision was booed in the end.

[jaywheel]

Santa Cruz vs Casamayor.

[ThinBlack]

Jorge Amparo vs James Kinchen.It was a draw but many felt Kinchen lost.

[patscorpio]

wow i have been quoted...first time ever in the classic forum

erm yeah toney barely got by and salveged a draw but toney didnt really give a fuck he just looked to knock him out then noticed by round 4 that he had lost every round and needed to win big, so he just kept his guard high and just kept throwing to barely square a draw.

in the rematch toney didnt make the same mistake twice and just kept landing some fine counters and didnt get fooled into trying to ko him.

nice fighter to study. i dont think he was immensly talented but had a solid A-game and technical prowess over most of his opponants...even top contenders and future champions. sadly he was usually beaten by his low workrate and his dodgy stamina in the later rounds.

yeah sanderline fought a damn who's who in 80s-90s light middle/middles..yet was only stopped once against lindell holmes...has anyone ever seen that fight?

[AREA 53]

Irish Kevin Finnegan Bought in as opponent for for Marvin Hagler, at Marvins Boston Gardens, shocked the crowd with his spirited effort, he as stopped afer the 8th on severe cuts, but they were level on the cards, but Kevin had won the two preceeding rounds and looked to be closing like a train, Could be without the cuts Kevin would have joined the Worm ? - Kevin was prone to cuts, and could be prone to going through the motions when fighting abroad, but when "Up" for a contest Kevin was world class, The Hagler camp nearly found a Bannana skin in Mr. Finnegan, - Despite the horrendous cuts from Marvins Slashing Fists, surprisingly only two month later Kevin was back to do it all again, and Again Kevin was stopped on cuts but his time was not competitve on the scorecards, They were going in different directions - Kevin, high class trailhorse - Marvin All time great status.

As an upcoming Lt Middle, Bad Bennie Briscoe Ran into Mexican Puncher Rafeal Guttireaz (?) Bennie was floored twice in the first round, and looked to be seconds from extinction, when he hit Rafeal Low, flooring Rafeal, an amazing first round, in the second Bad Bennie had obviously recovered the better, and battered Rafeal to stoppage defeat - a two round bombfest all but forgotten.

[lora]

Kalambay vs Dell'Aquilla


Kalambay looking mentally affected by the Nunn loss, comes out stiff and frozen...gets put down a few times by the solid hitting-but otherwise nondescript-italian, in what initially looks like the end of his career.

However, he manages to ride things out, regains his poise and slowly dismantles the unbeaten prospect.Del'Aquila never did anything meaningful after this domestic showdown loss, yet somehow got a title shot against Toney.

[Russell]

Awesome past few posts. Thanks guys.

[Nemesis]

SRR - Levine, not very obscure though

[red cobra]

Troy Waters vs Terry Norris

[MagnaNasakki]

Allen Green vs. Donnie McCrary.

Green was viewed, by and large, and the next big contender at 168 pounds, and took a fight with a smaller, overmatched former sparring partner on an ESPN card to get more visibly, show off his stuff, and further strengthen his position to sign a big fight.

The bout started out completely predictably. Green soundly outboxed McCrary, and almost saw him off with some really hurtful body shots.

Suddenly, when it looked like McCrary was literally seconds from being stopped, he lashed out against Green, caught him with a hail mary left hook, and completely short circuited the favorite's brain. Green didn't know his own name, and McCrary went absolutely ballistic with bar-room style haymakers, landing absolutely laughable looping power shots and literally battering Green to his knees.

It looked like one of the largest upset knockouts of the decade loomed.

But, inexplicably, Donnie didn't press his advantage. Green appeared shaken for several minutes, mauling and clinching and barely working, but the upstart journeyman just wouldn't respond.

Finally, in the sixth, Green, with his legs back under him, averted disaster by reasserting himself, and knocking McCrary out clean with a classic left hook to the jaw.

[zadfrak]

Barkley--Nunn comes to mind. Nobody was giving Iran any sort of chance whatsoever and this was at the peak of the Nunn career. It sure looked like a softie defense going in.

Cobb--Dokes #1. That was supposed to be all Dokes, and he was digging deep early against a guy he likely widely outclasses a few years earlier. Kind of like Young/Occasio or Occasio/Dokes 1, come to think of it.

Eubank--Schommer. Sure did not see this as a close bout either.

Foreman--Crawford Grimsley. All the matches to make and we got this. Spited effort and kind of like George underestimating Stewart.


Hagler--Geraldo. What a spoiler and Marvin was trying to get that Vito rematch. He should've fought a face first guy instead of this guy.

Snipes--Scott Frank. Snipes blew hot and cold alright, but who really thought much of Frank?