A hindsight thread. Think of some fights where one guy was the favourite, and considering the fight itself and how their respective career paths turned out afterwards, make the pre-fight odds seem utterly ridiculous. A few to start: Herbie Hide being favourite over Vitali Klitschko Jeff Lacy being favourite over Joe Calzaghe
Toney was favored over Jones. I'm not sure if Corrales was favored over Floyd in the odds, but I do remember most the media and forums picking Corrales by KO. Barrera was HEAVILY favored over Pac.
Lacy was the favorite over Calzaghe. Didn't really get why Mosley was a solid betting favorite over Wright. Yeah, Mosley had more name value. He also didn't look all that good against DLH in the rematch, and before that, hadn't won in over 2 years. I thought it was pretty clear that Winky, at the very least, would be a tough matchup for Shane and shouldn't have been such an underdog. I think the odds were 3 to 1.
Yeah, in retrospect those odds were pretty crazy. But don't forget Wright looked awfully beatable against that Hernandez fellow, getting caught a bunch with straight right hands.
Dempsey was a big underdog against Willard, and in turn was favourite at least the first time with Tunney, and it was a shut-out. Liston twice got favouritism over Ali. Foreman was a big dog going in with Frazier in 73, and was then a similarly-priced favourite with Ali. Pacquiao overcame odds long against Barrera & De La Hoya.
The fact that Vic Darchinyan was favored over Nonito Donaire wasn't so bad, considering where he was at the time. That he was a 7-1 favorite was utterly ridiculous (and a sweet ass victory for me at the bettor's window!)
Personally, I blame Albert Einstein for that. He had bent-time and brought a collection of Vitali Klitschko DVD's with him from Germany.
Pacquiao-Ledwaba is a good one. I think Corrales was a SLIGHT underdog against Floyd, which even still seems crazy. Tyson-Holyfield I is understandable, but after seeing Evander clearly had Mikes number and won convincingly, I never understood why Tyson was the favourite in the rematch.
Ruddock was the favourite over Lewis. Obviously Ruddock went on to fade into obscurity afterwards and Lewis went on to establish himself as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
