Most disappointing hometown performances

For many fighters, fighting in front of your hometown fans can be more of a curse than a blessing. It seems to happen most often in cases where a fighter isn't used to fighting at home and then returns there for a grand "homecoming" after winning the title. What are some notable examples where things went awry in a hometown fight?

I think one of the most memorable ones is Toney-Nunn, in which Nunn made the fateful decision to stand flatfooted with Toney from the opening bell and try to put on a show for his fans.

Cory Spinks laid a surprisingly big egg when rematching Judah in front of his hometown fans.

Jr. Jones blew a potential fight with Prince Hamed (who was fighting on the same card) when he lost his cool against McKinney, got drawn into a wild-swinging brawl, and ended up flattened.

Then there are a number of instances in which a great champion was lured into a sloppy or chaotic fight with an unheralded opponent when fighting at home with a much bigger fight waiting in the wings, i.e.: Holmes-Snipes, Holyfield-Cooper, Pryor-Kameda.

 

In their second fight, John John Molina beat the absolute tar outta Tony Lopez in front of his scumbag Sacramento fans.

 

Jarrett Hurd Would've Been the A-Side of a Unification Bout w/Jermell Charlo, But Insisted On a Hometown Fight 1st...Ended Up Facing J-Rock Williams, Who Whupped Hurd Soooooooo CONVINCINGLY He Lost a UD @ Home...

Going from Worse to WORSER, J-Rock Insisted on a Hometown Fight for his 1st Defense, When he Should've Gone STRAIGHT to a Unification w/Charlo, & Got KO'ed by Jeison Rosario...


REED

 

nelson fenech 2 gotta be the ultimate?

 

Dokes-Coetzee
Coetzee-Tate in front of 80,000 people

 

FW champ Poison Kotey received a pretty bad beating from challenger Danny Lopez in a fight that was allegedly attended by over 100,000 people in Africa. I believe Kotey was the betting favorite beforehand too.

 

Alcine vs Santos


Alcine fought scared the whole fight but still managed to get ktfo by Santos

 

Coetzee-Page as well.

 

Julio Pablo Chacon destroyed Istvan Kovacs in front of thousands of Hungarians, and it was hilarious to watch how quiet the crowd got when Chacon dropped him hard.

 

Hadn't Charlo lost his title to Tony Harrison during that time frame?

 

Roy Jones got knocked out in front of his fellow countrymen against Macaroni.

 

Jarret Hurd has seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth.

You get the feeling that he's gonna be one of the these guys who is never a big factor again.

J-Rock really exposed his limitations, and probably impacted his confidence. He had no interest in a rematch.

 

Yep. Sad since I really liked him and think he had a lot of potential. But yeah, Harrison really exposed his limitations

 

Charlo Signed to Fight Harrison AFTER Hurd Made it Crystal Clear He Wanted a Hometown Defense Before Unifying.





REED

 

I just saw that Hurd is fighting Luis Arias on June 6.

What would be a great matchup at this stage is Fundora vs Hurd.

 

The BLACK Antonio Margarita...






REED

 

It's a shame, cause Hurd matches up well against Jermell.

Jermall would kill Hurd, but Hurd had a shot against Jermell.

 

Hurd is a good dude. Legitimately comes across as one of the sport's good guys. I always wish him well, but it seems doubtful he'll ever be elite again.

Same with J-Rock. Really good guy, easy to root for, but probably finished at world level.

 

Fighters who rely on their chin like he did don't usually have lengthy peaks. Kownacki is in the same boat.

 

J-Rock hasn't fought since the Rosario loss, and I haven't heard of any comeback talks.

Wouldn't be surprised if he's done.

He would make for an excellent trainer for up-and-coming Philly fighters. He has high boxing IQ, just no chin.

 

I'd love to see J Rock as a trainer.

 

Inside fighters is what the sport needs to head back on the right path.

 

Philly is one of the precious few US cities where boxing is still ingrained in the culture, and where trainers still teach the sport the right way.

The George Benton/Hopkins moves are still taught to young Philly fighters from an early age.

 

I suppose if there was every one US city where boxing would last, it would be Philly.

I think fighters like Duran (who's probably too old now), Toney, Qawi, etc; who were all excellent infighters should pass on their knowledge. The old game of inches that Duran used to be a master of is gone now. People just aren't taught it, and it's sad.

 

Hopefully PBF popularity makes a new generation of fighters opt for old school skills. RJ was a catastrophe in that regard.

 

Clearly there's lots that people should be mentioning but aren't

Wlad vs Purritty, in Kiev- in fact the "performance" was largely decent, the result was the disappointment.

DM vs Julio Gonzalez.

Brian London vs Ali. Shocking non-effort from London. Just stood there to be beat.

Stinks vs Judah Rematch.

Julius Francis vs Tyson. Francis showed up looking for somewhere to fall over.

Anthony "Arnie" {SMFH} Farnell vs Takaloopaper in Manchester. Chap was tooken out in 1 round in front of his home fans.

Froch vs Dirrell. Froch had a very off night and got plastered in my opinion. He was LUCKY to have got the decision. He looked slow and dumb all night.

 

DM was well past it when Gonzalez beat him.

I'm more thinking guys who lost at home in their primes.

 

I've got a good one for most disappointing hometown performances - the Philadelphian judge, Lou Tress, in the Alfredo Escalera-Tyrone Everett fight.

 

Oliver McCall-Lennox Lewis 1

 

Maybe it's a Sacramento rematch curse. Willie Jorrin got stopped in 1 in the rematch with Oscar Larios in Sactown.