15 minutes of fame!

Carlos Maussa after beating Vivian Harris

Epifanio Mendoza after beating Olajide

Clifford Ettienne after beating Lamon Brewster, Cliff Couser and Clay-Bey in exciting Gatekeeper type fights in the same year.

 

Pete Rademacher after dropping Floyd Patterson.

 

I don't know. Raheem may still hold the title of worst TV fighter in history.

 

So far it looks like everyone but Sly has come up with good examples.

I'm surprised that Buster Douglas wasn't the very first choice. That's who immediately sprung to mind the moment I saw the title.

 

Listed in the first three names in my initial post.

:nono:

 

Leonard Dorin...won the title against Raul Balbi on the Leija-Ward undercard...rematched him in Romania...had the entertaining unification bout with Spadafora that ended in a draw...had his bout with Callist curiously cancelled...and a year later he was brought back to the states and HBO and was dismissed in two by Gatti.

 

I know it was! I'm saying, in Sly's post. Buster is a much better choice than Mayorga, who quite frankly doesn't belong at all (for reasons already stated).

 

What about Ivan Robinson? 2 classics against Gatti......and not much else.

 

How about Cezar Bazan? Beat Steve Johnston on the De La Hoya-Charpentier undercard down in El Paso, won two more fights then lost the Johnston rematch...next big fight he was on the Mayweather-Corrales card when he was KO'd by Jose Luis Castillo...later lost to Cotto.

 

I remember how Alejandro Gonzalez beat the hell out of Kevin Kelly while Kelly was still in his prime. I could not wait to see this cat again, yet, he was subsequently beaten down in other fights and never was that special fighter I thought he'd be.

 

Bernard Dunne.

Upset Cordoba in a classic, destroyed by Poonsawat in his next fight and retired.

Somsak Sithchatchawal

Beat Monshipour in the FOTY 2006, destroyed by Caballero in his next fight.
Has a draw and a knockout loss to a journeyman since.

 

How about William Guthrie?

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Argh, couldn't think of his name, but this is an excellent choice. This fight actually began a chain reaction of that title being passed around. The belt changed hands at least three times that year.

 

Peter McNeely

 

LOL. Was thinking of another heavyweight who got notoriety in losses, Jorge Luis Gonzalez, but yours beats that one by a mile.

 

Axel Shulz was another heavyweight that got recognition in title losses...had three title fights in a row...loss to Foreman, which is where most of the notoriety came from, then the Botha fight, which was changed from a loss after Botha's test results...then lost again to Moorer.

 

:nono:He went on to bravely challenge Butterbean

 

That loss to Louis Monaco was a tough one.

 

Cocoon Of BS:Thumbs:

 

How about Luis Santana? The gift title shot against Norris was supposed to be his cashout fight and - without even truly winning a fight via achievement - instead scored three straight career-high paydays against Norris in a span of nine months.

A little longer than 15 minutes granted, but was never taken seriously and his fame never lasted beyond Norris.

Grant Elvis Phillips even won Manager of the Year for pulling off that one.

 

On CBS no less. I couldn't even believe that fight was televised at the time. Now we long for the days when networks would at least showcase obscure journeyman and that Pizza Hut would lend its name to the sport more often.

 

Can Bruce Seldon even be considered to have had a "hit" ? He beat Tony Tucker for the title, had the epic title defense against Joe Hipp on the Tyson-McNeely undercard, was so well regarded that Riddick Bowe famously offered a bet with Tyson he couldn't knock him out as quickly as Bowe had...a time that Tyson just missed out on, I believe.

 

Michael Bentt

Sergei Liakhovich

 

Two excellent choices. Bentt is right there with Douglas as perhaps the very best examples, in fact.

 

Jake's inspired another thread topic...most noteable losers.

Not sure it actually warrants a new thread...but I'm reminded of Julius Francis taking out ad space on the bottoms of his shoes against Tyson.

 

Agreed.

Bentt's probably as good as it gets for this thread.

 

Mauricio Pastrana. Etienne. Sergie Lykovich. Ledwaba

 

Sam Hill...the fighter that ended David Reid's career. Reid's career was begging to be ended by that point, anyways, but he's the one who did it, becoming the only one other than Trinidad to actually beat the "American Dream".

 

Some non-heavyweight entries:

John Michael Johnson - knocked out Junior Jones to win a bantamweight belt at a time when Jones was being groomed for a unification match with Orlando Canizales. Johnson's reign lasted less than three months, and less than one round in ring time, getting KO'd in the first round of his only title defense.

Darryl Pinckney - poor Junior. Knocked out twice in a span of six months, this one coming in what marked CBS' return to boxing. Pinckney was a .500 fighter going in, and wound up winning just 6 of his 32 subsequent fights.

 

Even with the point deductions, Raheem beat Juarez clearly. Arguably the worst display of all-around officiating I've ever seen.