Worst performances by defending Champions ????

Here is a list of so-called champions handing their belts over like change in a store......pathetic efforts galore.........

VAN HORN vs Barkley
HIDE vs Bowe
BRAMBLE vs Rosario
SMITH vs Tyson
JACQUOT vs Mugabi ........................

Douglas v Holyfield springs to mind.

You'd have to go a long way to match Buster Douglas's impersonation of a beached whale against Holyfield, Truss.

What about Mugabi himself against Terry Norris? Vaca was feeble in his defence against Honeyghan. McCrory against Lampkin was another that springs to mind. Dear old Frank, crossing himself feverishly before handing his belt over to Tyson.

Jeff Lacy coming here with hype galore and allowing Calzaghe to dance rings round him in the most 1 sided fight I can remember.

Rees vs Kotelnik

You know what..Douglas disappointed me..........I was really up for Douglas-Holyfield.........

Douglas three inches taller......longer reach with the best jab in the division could have given Holy a real nightmare..

But he reverted to type !!!!!!! Good call that one..

Mugabi got caught a little cold..........but it was a shocker and I won't argue..

Mugabi is a tough fighter to rate........The Duane Thomas thing...

Brian Magee vs Mikkel Kessler.

Magee only had the belt for about 5 seconds and lost in in about 5 minutes.

Jess Willard v Jack Dempsey should get a mention in my book.

Lewis v Klitschko

Magee-Kessler is a good one....

I'll chuck in Payakaroon vs Fenech !!!!

Strangely and for whatever reason, the Heavyweights keep popping in to my head when this question comes up.

Tubbs against Witherspoon springs to mind. If any proof was needed that the good ol' eighties Heavyweight scene wasn't always as wonderful as some like to remember, this fight is it! 'Spoon was an excellent fighter, but was nothing special on this night and it says much about how dreadful Tubbs was in that fight that Terrible Tim was able to walk away with a verdict.

Seldon against Tyson, too. Ok, fair enough, better fighters than Bruce were blown away early by Tyson as well, but that tended to be when Tyson was in his eighties pomp, and those fighters at least either a) came to try and fight, ala Berbick, or b) actually tasted a couple of full-blown shots from Iron Mike before capitulating. Neither box was ticked in this one before Seldon flopped.

Going back a bit, but Max Baer pretty much clowned the title away against Braddock as well. Not a 'great' performance by Braddock as history depicts, just good enough and in the right place at the right time to take advantage of an uninterested and ponderous Baer.

Back up to date and looking at another weight class, I thought Bailey's non-showing when basically passing over his Welterweight belt to Alexander last year, with a nice big bow wrapped around it, was extremely poor.

One card had it draw and the other to Witherspoon by a point.....

You're being harsh.........The styles cancelled eachother out...

Agree with Seldon and Baer.

Donald Curry v Lloyd Honeyghan anyone ?

Cheers Rodders

Old Rodders isn't happy these days!!

What about Bernard Dunne, Wwent life and death with Coroba, about 600 knockdowns until Dunne put him in a coma in the end (not literally)

But then got blasted all over the show by ponnsawaat (or whatever his name was) within 3 rounds.

Was embarrasing to watch. Hate Dunne after the disrespect he showed Martinez in the ring during an interview during a Duddy fight. Martinez was full of praise for Dunne were as Dunne has a smirk on his face saying how he was going to wipe the floor with Martinez in round 1.

90 seconds in and Dunne was lying like a banana trample on by an elephant haha

Never saw that fight reborn............

Slobodan Kacar vs Bobby Chyz...........

Oh,I just remembered "Vicious" Vivian Harris. Takes an unusually bad performance not only to be behind Carlos Maussa on one card and level on the other two after six, but to get yourself KO'd in the next round by one of the most limited "world" champions at any weight that I've ever seen.

Good call on Harris...Shocking performance............

I'll be contentious and chuck in Camacho vs Limon...........Limon just seemed to accept his fate to readily!!

Its on Youtube Truss.

When you watch it, just put on the Benny Hill Theme music while watching. It will cheer you up if you're having a bad day.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Old Rodders isn't happy these days!!

I keep telling the wife I enjoy being miserable mate !

Eubank would fall into this category for in his WBO reign on his sky tour, remember the awful performances against Dan Schommer in Sun City ? Clearly got robbed the limited South African. Eubank went through the motions in a lot if his fights and got the right end of some dubious decisions , Ray Close certainly deserved the nod over him and Watson clearly won the 1st battle.

Cheers Rodders

Gerrie Coetzee vs MICHAEL DOKES..........According to reliable sources Dokes was snorting coke in his dressing room before the fight and lost his title to a guy who'd had his butt handed to him by every decent heavy of the time..

Bruno/Tyson II

Hatton/Manny

Wlad/Sanders

Bruno-Tyson 2 was pathetic...good one.......

Was Hatton a champ against Manny??..........can't remember.

Most of these naturally are worst losing performances. Think the captains ahead on points so far, douglas and harris were pitiful, im convinced harris was on something that night, he looked sky high. For truss' benefit I'd throw in honeyghan's back slapping capitulation against starling.

I'd like to nominate worst winning performance, for chris' benefit to our favourite salad dodger, mr james toney for his abject defence against dave tiberi. A special mention to two of the judges for matching his uselessness.

There can't be a poorer effort than Seldon against Tyson.

He went down without taking a shot (second time) and then pretended to be woozy to get himself pulled out. At least Bruno took his lumps.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Bruno-Tyson 2 was pathetic...good one.......

Was Hatton a champ against Manny??..........can't remember.

Didn't he have some worthless IBO belt or something

Honey vs Vaca was worse.....

Honey's problem against Starling was.... he'd train-rolled Hatcher....Bumphus and Vaca in the return and thought he could just blow people away.....

Funnily enough he lost his title with the same false mind set of the guy he took it off in 86.........

It's a tad unfair on Lloyd seeing as how he lost after a head clash opened up a horrid cut on Vaca's eye and then won his title back via stoppage.

Anyone for Minter/Hagler?

If you'd seen Brown vs Vaca...You wouldn't think it unfair....

Thought Minter was doing okay until he couldn't see...

DAVE667 wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Bruno-Tyson 2 was pathetic...good one.......

Was Hatton a champ against Manny??..........can't remember.

Didn't he have some worthless IBO belt or something

Yep, Hatton had the IBO belt and the Ring belt.

If we're including Ring belt holders then what about Michael Spinks against Mike Tyson? I think Spinks was the Ring champ going into their fight.

Include it mate..........Spinks was scared stiff and the Ring champ.....Hatton also.

Witherspoon vs Smith if it hasn't been mentioned already.

I've often heard it said that Witherspoon was quite happy to lose so he could escape the clutches of Don King.

Shame he lost....

An in shape Tim in 87 would have been a good test for Tyson!!

Have we had Sphinks vs Tyson yet? Unfairly held against Sphinks that performance, but looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but in that ring!!

The money didn't help..............Buster got 25 million and Spinks got 13 million for their shockers....

Probably thinking....all that money and I want to be around to use it!!

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Shame he lost....

An in shape Tim in 87 would have been a good test for Tyson!!

Don't know too much about Tim or how good he cold have been.

Always hear how he was treated appallingly by Don King and that seems to have had a major demotivating influence on his career.

Just for comedy, Montell Griffin's title defense against RJJ didn't go to well

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Honey vs Vaca was worse.....

Honey's problem against Starling was.... he'd train-rolled Hatcher....Bumphus and Vaca in the return and thought he could just blow people away.....

Funnily enough he lost his title with the same false mind set of the guy he took it off in 86.........

Truss, after many many years of bickering on the subject of honey/starling/curry it would be remiss of me to not say, that I agree with every word of that.

I'd forgotten spinks was a champion against tyson. Bruno may have crossed himself a few thousand times but spinks was most definitely the most terrified I've ever seen anyone look in a ring. And he delivered a non performance to match the terror. Surprised he didn't wear brown shorts.

Due to them both spitting out their dummies in their fights rather than just being outclassed:

Liston vs Ali 1
Duran vs SRL 2

Spinks-Tyson?

Enzo v Haye even though it was an unification.
Samuel Peter v Vitali and Bute v Froch also deserves a mention for Bute's sheer inadequacy.

Nicky Cook

Think he got stopped by Roman Martinez in 2 or 3 rounds and barely threw a punch.

Patterson vs Liston, bit harsh considering he was fighting against a man who was a nearly unstoppable wrecking machine at the time, but should have had the skills to stay away from Liston for at least a few rounds.

John h Stracey v Carlos Palomino,the very wise and respected corner man Ernie Fossie was asked why Stracey had kept wincing every time he got hit with a body shot because he didn't train for the fight said Fossie.Shocking display against an unknown Mexican who Stracey underestimated.

Palomino was just better..........

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Palomino was just better..........

Not disagreeing but not training for a fight because you think you have a nohoper in front of you is inexcusable, was distressed from every bodyshot he was hit with, doesn't say much about his body conditioning.

He must have trained for the fight...

Have you ever tried to box 3x3 minutes at amateur level??

My lungs were splitting..after two rounds and I was in shape..

Don't buy it..

What about Peterson vs Matthysse??? Oh, hang on he's STILL the IBF Champ despite being poleaxed. Cheating, being KO'd; what next? I'm guessing he has to be beheaded to lose that belt. Shows how meaningless belts can be...

Thought Lewis-Rahman 1 was a p-poor performance given what he'd achieved previously.

Hilton vs Hines....Lost to the fridge...and Hines took his title.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:He must have trained for the fight...

Have you ever tried to box 3x3 minutes at amateur level??

My lungs were splitting..after two rounds and I was in shape..

Don't buy it..

Yes, "round" is a shape.