What "non champion" in history do you think in theory "may have the right style" to upset a historical LEGEND?

Question

EXAMPLE

"Smokin"Joe Frazier is a Legend to be sure. He had a problem however with a tall strong guy coming forward "winging wide wrecking balls at him" like Foreman did. Gerry Cooney is by no means George Foreman, but I honestly could envision a scenario where Gerry gets lucky on a given night and overwhelms Joe early with his giant physicality, and wide winging wrecking balls shots.

PLEASE DON'T MISSUNDERSTAND ME! I am in no way saying that Gerry Cooney is any where near a Frazier or a Foreman. I'm simply saying I can envision Gerry's style and power prevailing over Frazier a few times out of 10.

What is your "POSSIBLE" GREAT UPSET based on the styles of fighters of ANY ERA?

Answer 1

There are too many to list, that is from what I've seen in my time.  It's all about HEART, like in Rocky One, which reminds me of the original Rocky, Chuck Wepner.  God, that guy had Heart.  He was a great brawler and bleeder and refused to quit.

Foreman ko'd him in three, Listen ko'd him in ten, Roman only beat him by decision and then Bugner ko'd him in three.

And then he came back strong winning nine out of eleven fights, then came Ali.  Knocks Ali down with a powerful shot to his chest, but then of course he loses.

Wepner had a famous quote after the Ali fight, "I've been a survivor my whole life."  God I can relate to that!  If everybody had Heart like Wepner then there would be many Legends getting upset in the ring.  And then finally like in Rocky Three, Wepner decides to wrestle Andre the Giant.  

d**n I loved that mans HEART!  It's a d**n shame that Wepner lost his law suit against Stallone.  Just reminds me of an old fight movie titled "Ripped Off!"  Have you ever seen a fight like that?  And you will as long as you're a fight fan.

Answer 2

Ike Ibeabuchi immediatley comes to mind.

Answer 3

Funny you mention Cooney and Frazier.  Joe Bugner said that Cooney's hook hurt more than Joe's.

But I honestly don't think there's an example of that.  A legend is a legend for a reason: when the upset seems apparent, a legend finds a way to win.

Closest example would be Earnie Shavers KOing Joe Louis.

Answer 4

Gerald McClellan vs Roy Jones Jr...I thought Gerald had what it might have taken to beat a prime Jones Jr...apparently so did Manny Steward. I don't think he would have beaten him more than 2 or 3 times out of 10 but I always thought he might have been the guy.

Answer 5

Sam Langford.......Jack Johnson fought & beat Sam early in Sam's career and thereafter Johnson avoided Langford like the plague.

Answer 6

Well....do you remember Mike "The Bounty" Hunter? I actually think he could have beaten a lot of guys like Foreman and Frazier during the 1970's. Just because of his really really weird style. And it would have to be in between his cocaine spurts. He would have a great shot against some of the slower big punchers.

Answer 7

The first person that comes to mind is Ike Ibeabuchi , he had the style ,the power and the chin to be the best heavyweight of his day, unfortunately he was also crazy and that ultimately ended his career, i can see him beating marciano easily, the rock had the chin to withstand ike's power but not the skill, Ike was good in two ways, he was a terrific puncher but an even better boxing technician he knew how to use his power and his size to the best of his advantage and that would have given him the edge against the rock, aother person that comes to mind is earnie shavers, the "acorn" is considered the hardest hitter of all time by many boxing historians and his record and level of competition speak for themselves, he was a smart fighter who boxed his opponents until he could position them for his deadly straight right, i can see him beating someone like gene tunney who despite his technical prowess would  not have had the tools necessary to beat shavers (if a past prime dempsey nearly ko'ed him imagine what a prime shavers would have done), I also see cooney beating gene tunney, cooney was a big boxer who actually knew how to fight, he might not have been a ring master like holmes but he definetely knew how to se his tools and i think he could have beaten tunney if they both fought iat their primes.

Answer 8

the likes of sam mc vea, sam langford and harry wills would do well in any era at light heavy or cruiser.

colin jones, who gave milton mc crory 2 very close fights (before both became unstuck at the hands of don curry), may have beaten honeyghan (not a legend, i know) if their primes were just a tad closer.

charley burley would have given any legend at welter or middle  a run for his money (whisper is s r robinson avoided him)!