Fighters that "arrived" with knockouts

Froch-Taylor
Eubank-Benn

MTF

 

Naz was pretty well established by the time he fought Kelley. It introduced him to HBO's world - but he was already a big enough star to where they pursued him, not the other way around.

I'm not quick to discount his knockout win over Steve (Steve, not Paul, Irish! ::) Robinson as being a great example - that was the first time I'd heard of him. But even well before Kelley, he knocked out Boom Boom Johnson on Showtime.

 

Sorry- Paul Robinson is a well known footballer over here also. I got them confused. :: Paul Robinson is not yet established in the American conscience, merely the Indian and European consciences, playing as he does for a British, Indian-owned club.

That said I agree with your sentiments on Hamed- he really was very well established by the time he KO'd Kelley, he must have been known to the American public, otherwise HBO would not have tried to flog him to the USA as they did.

Ironically, Hameds subsequent performances on US soil would go on to erode his significance in the public conscience, with Lou DiBella declaring that "there can be no more Augie Sanchez's" and a lot of people souring over his dour and tasteless points-wins over McCullough and Soto.

 

I went one better, I felt, with the Watson-Benn fight.

Ironically, that KO announced Benn to this much-vaunted US audience- he immediately left Britain for the States where he scored significant KO's of Doug DeWitt and Iran Barkley.

In fact, one might say that the stoppage, and the manner of the stoppage, of DeWitt announced Benn to the Yanks long before he got around to beating McClellan.

It follows naturally therefore that Eubanks KO of Benn announced Eubanks arrival, likewise.

 

Yeah, I agree with the Watson-Benn call pretty much unequivically. Benn was being lined up for mega-US fights if he could dispose of Watson, which he was expected to do pretty easily. Benn says he was offered $1m to fight Nunn after he won the Watson fight.

MTF

 

What was his first fight on Showtime? I thought it was Daniel Alicea, but I could be wrong.

The Boom Boom Johnson fight works although I don't know that his audience went up significantly from the Alicea fight...which seemed like more of his introduction...anyways, Naz became a crossover star in the US - there were non-boxing fans that I knew that not only knew of him, but wanted to know when he was fighting - and I don't think that really started until at least the Kelley fight.

 

Hamed is a strange one. He was massive in the UK on terrestrial TV but he bridged the move from terrestrial to satellite, and was one of the first fighters to do so, anywhere.

The minute he went to SKY, his US profile started to increase, whilst simulataneously feeding his pre-existing, terrestrial founded-status.

According to Wikipedia

His first defence came against Austrian based Nigerian, Said Lawal, who was instantly knocked down from Hamed's first punch, then stopped in just 35 seconds after being effortlessly dropped again. This was the fastest world title fight ever held in Scotland, much to the displeasure of the crowd.


Hamed's second defence was against against undefeated Puerto Rican Daniel Alicea. Televised in the United States by Showtime, Hamed was carried to the ring on a grand throne, something which Hamed later stated he was not comfortable with. After a fast, lively start from Alicea, Hamed suffered a surprising brief knockdown in Round 1, the first of his career. However, Hamed won the fight in his favoured Round 2 with two knockdowns, the second of which forced the referee to wave the fight off instantly.

Hamed's next defence was in Dublin against former two-time world Featherweight title holder Manuel Medina. After knocking Medina down heavily in Round 2, Hamed struggled to finish the fight until finally knocking Medina down twice in Round 11. The end came when the ring side doctor advised Medina's corner to stop the fight. Hamed revealed in his post-fight interview that he'd fought with a heavy cold. Medina would go on to have many more tough title fights, remarkably winning versions of the Featherweight world title another three times. Hamed's next opponent was the 27-0 Remigio Molina of Argentina, who was stopped in two rounds.

The next opponent was IBF Champion Tom "Boom Boom" Johnson, who was defeated in eight rounds in a unification bout at the London Arena. After being constantly stunned & staggered from Round 3 onwards, Johnson was finally dropped by a huge uppercut, then saved from further punishment by the referee.


Hamed's first defence of both the WBO & IBF titles was a first round ko of veteran British boxer Billy Hardy. Before the bout Hamed had correctly predicted he would win in Round 1. The next defence was an easy two round win against a hugely outclassed Juan Gerardo Carbrera. Due to boxing politics involving the IBF's mandatory challenger, Hamed was soon forced to relinquish the IBF title.

In Hamed's hometown of Sheffield in October 1997, he produced one of the finest performances of his career in defending his WBO title against the tough contender Jose Badillo, who's corner stopped the fight during Round 7.


**********


The question then is......if the US population witnessed the Boom-Boom fight on tape delay, and the Alicea fight live.....which of them can we say "arrived" Hamed into their consciousness?


For me, any American fight fan who saw any footage of the Medina fight would have to have regarded that as an "arrival". Hamed was sick with the flu but he eventually battered to defeat a guy most fans in the States should have been aware of.


That fight took place on the Lewis-Justin Fortune undercard and featured Wayne McCullough stopping Bredahl, who nearly beat Paulie Ayala some time later. Fight was televised on Fox.


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It was Alicea, but... well, I guess I look for fights when "the arrived" isn't an overwhelming favorite, which is why I ignored that.

The fight w/ Johnson was a unification bout and probably the first where there was a strong suggestion of Naz being for real.

The Kelley fight can go both ways, I guess. I remember NYC being insane after the fight that night. Huge presence of Arabs and Arab-Americans out on the scene, at the fight and even in nearby stores just taking in the moment.

That said, there was already considerable buzz going into the fight. I'll put it this way - it was on a Friday night, and everyone at my job knew why I wouldn't be available for OT that evening, not just that it was for a fight, but because it was Naseem Hamed fighting.

I guess that's what I based my earlier entrances on - that they kind of snuck up on the boxing public with not just the win, but how they did so.

McClellan had a rep as a huge puncher but with his thin resume there stood a great chance that Jackson could just as easily knock him out. Everyone else I mentioned was an underdog and relatively obscure even in a boxing sense prior to their arrival.

 

Nunn arrived when he knocked out Tate.

 

Foreman vs. Frazier - Foreman's pre title fight opposition wasn't the greatest and there were a lot of questions about him going into the Frazier fight. Frazier had taken Ali's "0" in their Superfight and Foreman wasn't expected to upset the applecart on Smokin' Joe's way to the big rematch. Two rounds and 6 knockdowns later...the heavyweight picture had changed dramatically.

 

word.


and Leonard wanted no part of him....

 

R. Marquez's KO of Johnson?

 

Floyd Mayweather vs. whoever you want to pick. Genaro Hernandez or Diego Corrales.

 

Oleg Maskaev vs Rahman.

In fact.....Oleg had fallen right into the category of "15 minutes of fame" until he re-arrived in.....Oleg Maskaev vs Rahman II

 

Even though Hopkins had beyond already "arrived", he arrived at another level of elite when he knocked out Tito.

 

Freddie Pendleton KO 6 Roger Mayweather.

Written in Stone, baby.

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The guy went on to win a world title and was still going hell-for-leather vs pfp legend James Page 13 years later. He actually hurt the pfp King in that fight.

 

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I'm going to assume I can use Saman Sorjaturong for this thread and mention his Fight of the Year KO of Chiquita Gonzalez. He had the previous title loss to Ricardo Lopez in Mexico, but this fight, at the old Inglewood Forum, was an absolute classic, and he went on to have a lengthy title reign...though it most of it took place outside the US in Thailand.