Name the times heavyweight title has changed hands..

Name occasions where heavyweight title has changed hands without any kind of excuse for the losing side. Meaning the loser has not been past prime, not underrated his opponent, not badly prepared and not fought the wrong fight.
There can't be many.

Holyfield - Bowe I could be one?

 

Jack Dempsey-Jess Willard

 

Foreman-Frazier
Louis-Braddock
Tyson-Spinks

 

Sam Peter- Vitali Klitschko.

"WHO NESH....STOP IT...STOP....NESH"

No excuses there from our Sam.

 

Willard was inactive for over 3 years before he fought Dempsey, was nearly 39 years old and on top of that, just wasn't very good.

So...............sorry! :nono:

 

"Holyfield came into that fight too light even by his own standards" :kidcool:

In any event...

Lewis-Rahman 2

 

Foreman -Frazier is a good pick. I think a case could be made that Spinks was mentally beaten beforehand (not that it would have mattered)

 

Foremans gloves were loaded.

 

Roy Jones Jr. UD John Ruiz

 

What? ::

 

U "HEARD" him...


REED:warning:

 

Ruiz thought he could out-box Roy. Besides, that fight wasn't for the title, just some WBA junk.

Horrible example.

 

The WBA is THE OLDEST of the Sanctioning Bodies...


REED:nono:

 

but at the time...just a trinket...NEXT...

 

What is the point of this thread?

 

It was A Heavyweight Title, which Makes it APPROPRIATE for the Thread...If U're Gonna Diminish Roy's Accomplishment for Not Beating the LINEAL Champion (Lennox Lewis), then there's a SHITLOAD of Other "Champions" Out there that Deserve the SAME Treatment...

NEXT...



REED:boohoo:

 

Whether it was the proper change of the guard or not is open to question but there is no doubt the Mauler REIGNED for years after that Willard fight with a FEROCITY never seen before him.

 

not takin anything away from Roy at all, it was a great performance and I wish he retired right after so we can sit here and say with no big discussion that he was one of the best ever...now we get to see him still fighting and bein a shell of his former self...
but All I am sayin is maybe its not the best answer for this question.

 

I forgot the rules: If RJJ accomplishes something, it's not remarkable in any way.

 

ridiculous, as Ruiz was going through an ungly divorce. Who knows if it did hamper his training camp and performance but he has a far better excuse than pretty much 95% of boxer coming off a loss

 

exactly, and it's not as if he took his title from a can, Ruiz won it afterward and defeated a couple of top contenders before and afterward and is stil revelant to this day in the division.

 

To answer the question I asked. Surely it can't be that difficult to figure out :dunno:

 

Better question is:

Why are you such a miserable grump.

 

Oh, no. The old "Ruiz lost because of the divorce" excuse has reared it's ugly head again. ::

 

agREED. I have always considered Ruiz a joke as a "world champion", but since he held the WBA title he is as deserving of consideration as any other fighter who held an alphabet title.

 

If we are including alphabet champs (and I guess we are if Jones-Ruiz qualifies), then I think most of these would also qualify.

Frazier - Ellis: No excuses here. Frazier was just the better fighter.
Weaver - Tate: Big John couldn't have fought any better b4 Weaver lowered the boom on him.

Norton - Holmes: Norton was at the very edge of still being good and his decline was swift after this fight, but in this fight he didn't look very far, if at all removed, from the fighter who gave Ali all he wanted and then some.

Foreman - Moorer: Some might say Moorer underestimated Big George, but I disagree...Moorer fought carefully in that fight because he knew Big George was still a dangerous fighter whose only chance was landing a big shot and despite that, Foreman still pulled it off.

Liston - Patterson: They could have fought 100 times and not only would Floyd lose 100 times, but he might also get KOed in the first round 100 times.

Baer - Carnera: No excuses necessary for Carnera. Baer was just a much better fighter.

Bruno - McCall: To be honest, I don't recall a whole lot about this fight, and McCall was a wreck later, but i don't remember McCall having any issues going into it. And it's not like McCall was the cailber of fighter who could have overlooked Bruno.

Walcott-Charles: I don't see any excuses for Ezzard, he just got hit and couldn't recover.

Thomas - Witherspoon: Witherspoon had no answer for Thomas' jab. No underestimating, no injuries (except maybe Witherspoon's neck after getting his head snapped back so hard and often by Thomas' jab. Just a pretty good scrap between two good young heavies.

 

:bears:very good. I think Moorer - Foreman (underestimating) and Mccall - Bruno (bad preparation) are debatable, but apart from those I agree with all

 

Thanks. Regarding Foreman-Moorer, I can see how people would assume Moorer would underestimate Foreman due to Foreman's age and Moorer coming off an a win over Holyfield. And I do believe the the fans and the media definitely believed Big George had a slim to none chance of winning.
But the way Moorer fought Foreman that night, he convinced me that he wasn't underestimating Big George at all. He knew Foreman had a legitimate shot of knocking his block off and spent the fight fighting carefully and it appeared he was content to win by decision. That doesn't strike me as a fighter who was underestimating his opponent's chances.

As for McCall, Like I said....I didn't really follow that fight. I watched it, but I watched every fight back then. Was McCall underprepared? If he was, I figure I would have heard about it at some point over the last 15 years or so.

 

For what I recall there were talks that McCall didn't take his training seriously during his whole championship reign, which lead him to nearly blowing it against Holmes and then losing to Bruno. Though it could be that in this sense McCall would have an excuse for every fight he ever had and that's why it was more of a his normal approach and could be compared to somebody having a bad chin.

 

Topic has been played out now but..

You may as well add the Patter-Johannsson series as well