Who were the biggest underdogs to win title fights?

Question

Douglas was a 42-1 underdog to Tyson

Braddock was a 20-1 underdog to Baer

Answer 1

I just watch a rerun of Carlos Baldomir upset of Zab Judah. I thought that was a pretty big upset.

Answer 2

I remember a cabbie in Vegas with a 100$ bet on Holyfield to beat Tyson at 28-1 (their first fight, not the ear biting incident).  He got it as a tip, not a bad fare, he got a 2800$ for a five minute cab ride, not a bad night for him.  Holyfield had just came off a terrible performance against Bobby Czyz, a pumped up middle weight, and was expected to get blown out by Mike.

Answer 3

I think Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson - because of the invincible aura that Tyson enjoyed at that time, in addition to the long odds.

But a close second for me is Carlos Baldomir vs. Zab Judah.  Douglas may have been 42-1 underdog, but no odds were even placed on the Baldomir vs. Judah fight.  Technically, he was an even bigger underdog than Douglas.

[MARK ANDREW:  I think Douglas-Tyson is the biggest.  But my point here is a technical one -- that Baldomir was so much of an underdog that there were not even any odds placed on that fight.  The question says who was the "biggest underdog".]

[EDIT:  In the last 12 seconds of Round 4 of the Baldomir vs. Judah fight, Steve Albert - Al Bernstein's partner on the Showtime Boxing crew - commented to Bernstein, "WELL, ALOT OF PEOPLE DIDN'T THINK THIS WAS GONNA GO PAST THE 4TH.  BALDOMIR, SUCH A LONG SHOT...THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE ANY ODDS POSTED...I MEAN IT'S NO BETTING -- IN LAS VEGAS.  BUT YOU WOULDN'T KNOW IT BY THE ACTION."]

Answer 4

Stone Cold over Kane on Raw is War

Answer 5

honeyghan's win over curry.

james toney over nunn

steve cruz over mc guigan

tunney over dempsey

turpin over robinson

zivic over armstrong

stracey over napoles

barkley over hearns

randall over jc chavez

foreman over moorer

mc call over lewis

jim watt over o' grady and davis

jorge vaca over honeyghan

Answer 6

Hasim Rahman KO5 Lennox Lewis: 20-1 odds

James Braddock W15 Max Baer: 20-1 odds

Buster Douglas KO10 Mike Tyson: 42-1 odds- this has GOT to be the biggest upset in boxing (and possibly sports) history.

Cassius Clay TKO6 Sonny Liston: 8-1 odds

Here are others that I don't know the odds:

-Randy Turpin W15 Sugar Ray Robinson

-Michael Bentt KO1 Tommy Morrison

-Leon Spinks W15 Muhammad Ali

-Fritzie Zivic W15 Henry Armstrong

-Carlos Baldomir W12 Zab Judah

-Gerrie Coetzee KO 10 Michael Dokes

-Michael Spinks W15 Larry Holmes

-Lloyd Honeyghan KO6 Donald Curry

-Sugar Ray Leonard W12 Marvin Hagler

-Iran Barkley KO3 Thomas Hearns

-George Foreman KO10 Michael Moorer

-Vince Phillips KO10 Kostya Tszyu

-Corrie Sanders KO2 Wladimir Klitschko

Ed Saldana- The Baldomir fight was a big upset, but it was NO WHERE NEAR as big as an upset of Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson.

Edit: I understand now where you're coming from Ed, and I didn't notice that you said "close second" but there are odds placed on every fight- there is too much money to be won from gambling for there NOT to be odds on a fight.  I researched the odds and I found on ESPN.com that the prefight odds were 16-1 for Judah-Baldomir, which is not even close to 42-1.  If Tyson-Douglas was the biggest upset in history, then logically, Douglas has to be the biggest underdog in history.

Answer 7

Well, I can't think of one that would top Douglas over Tyson, so I'll go in a different direction.

How about heavyweight, Michael Bentt beating Tommy Morrison by 1st round TKO, in only his 12th pro bout in win the WBO title. That was back in October of 1993.

Not meaning to get off subject, but haven't anyone noticed that all of Morrison's defeats came in the month of October? Seems like he needs to avoid fights on that month.

Answer 8

Well many were already mentioned but off the top of my head right now:

Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson

Baldomir vs. Judah

Hatton vs. Kostya Tszyu(is that how you spell it?)

Rahman vs. Lewis

Oh yea, Sanders vs. Klitschko

Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones

Pacquiao vs. Barrera

Foreman vs. Moore

Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston

Braddock vs. Baer

I don't know but I think Mayorga vs. Forrest should be an upset.

Raheem vs. Morales ( I know I was surprised)

That's all  I can think of right now, but there's many more.

Answer 9

It all started with Sullivan/Corbett

Answer 10

how about Leon Spinks and Ali

Answer 11

Buster Douglas Dont know any won who comes near that

Answer 12

Cassius Clay  to Sonny Liston.

Answer 13

No story on any level can touch the tale of BUSTER DOUGLAS. . . . .We all know the story. . . I need not put my own spin on it.  But not even Leon Spinks beating an old Ali can come close to the level of underdog-ism that Douglas carried into the ring with him that night in Tokyo.  

What gets me riled up, though. . . is the notion that "Douglas could have beaten anyone that night". . . .people say this so often, that I'm sick of it.  The only part I enjoy about this statement. . . . .is that it's true.