Who are some fighters that were notorious for underestimating their opponents?

Question

Details are always appreciated

Answer 1

mike tyson underestimated buster douglas...ali underestimated smokin joe frazier

Answer 2

every top fighter can get a little lazy when facing a supposedly "unworthy" opponent, but the big difference is when the champ mans up and still pulls through in a tough spot, fighters like de la hoya (with sturm), whitaker (with hurtado), and ali (with pretty much everyone, if he trained harder he would have had a much easier time with frazier, norton, evangelista, spinks, and bunch of others) all proved they could pull through when undertrained and beat there opponent, where as tyson (with douglas), and duran (2nd leonard fight), just couldnt pull through with all the distractions in there lives, fights like these should be what seperates good champions from legendary ones

Answer 3

When Muhammad Ali defended his title against Leon Spinks, he was obviously way out of shape and took Spinks very lightly and as a result, lost his title before regaining it.  He also took Jimmy Young lightly when they fought and was again out of shape for that fight, but somehow won even though I felt that he had lost that fight.  Again another instance of Ali taking an opponent a little lightly was his first fight with Ken Norton.  John L. Sullivan was woefully out of shape when he lost his title to James J. Corbett as was Jack Johnson when he lost his title to Jess Willard.  Max Baer was probably one of the greatest examples of a fighter underestimating his opponent when he lost his title to The Cinderella Man James J. Braddock.  And finally another example of a fighter either underestimating his opponent or ill prepared was Mike Tyson when he lost his title to Buster Douglas.

Answer 4

Zab Judah vs. Carlos Baldomir, which resulted in Baldomir winning a UD and the WBC Welterweight championship title that had been held by Judah.  Here's a few highlights:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTtZsCycB...

Answer 5

The guy I always think of when it comes to over looking an opponent is Antonio Cervantes.

Cervantes was a seasoned veteran and on his 3rd title defense of the light welterweight title he has to fight a 17 year old kid.....and loses.

The 17 year old was Wilfredo Benitez.  The rest is history.

Answer 6

Muhammed Ali wasn't notorious for underestimating his opponents, but he was one cocky S.O.B.  He did, however, grossly underestimate Leon Spinks...

And yes, I agree with the other poster about Mike Tyson underestimating his opponents; specifically "Buster" Douglas.

Answer 7

First fighter who came to my mind was Mike Tyson, when he fought Buster Douglas. Iron Mikey got worked big time, Buster was taking mean shot from Tyson and nothing.

Answer 8

To be a world champion it,s hard to under estimate another fighter. There are fighters you know you should beat but you still have to get in there with them and do it. I don,t have a answer