The Worst "Champion" In Boxing History!

This is precisely why I nominated him.

Michael Bentt could very well be the winner... but at least he actually achieved something notable. Santana simply lied down against Norris - twice. Well, three times if you count getting steamrolled in their third fight.

 

I don't doubt that Valuev was "hideous" - it is hard to be anything less when you are 7' 2". But the guy gutted it out and racked up some wins. As Jake has pointed out, Santana basically quit, and got a man DQ'd.

 

No way in hell was Carnera worse than Valuev. Their careers bear this out.

 

Thus far, Luis Santana seems to be the frontrunner.

 

I just KNEW Terry Norris would get his foot in somewhere ::

 

Would you pick Jess Willard over Valuev aswell?..

 

Who would you pick?

 

Willard was pretty average. His win over Johnson appears to have been derived more from his conditioning and size, and Johnsons relative lack of fitness, than from anything else. Willard was also a very hard sell as a contender, which says a lot, considering that he was part of the drive for a White champion, where ANY white champion would do.

 

I just don't think there can be an argument against Lemnox being the worst ever

 

"lemnox" ::

 

Valuev with such ease, such ease, that it would have people considering him an all-time great, rather than him being nominated for the worst paper-belt holder ever,... you 'boat person' :: ,.. 'bomb da cunts' says cronulla.

 

::

Fightbeat has been OBSESSED with Terry Norris for as long as I can remember posting here.

 

I have to agree on Lemnox.

 

Luis Santana is not the pick. He was 38-15-2 (29) when he 'won' his title. However, he has very few shit losses out of the 15 and he was going rounds with everyone. He also has some wins over guys with a pulse.

I usually go with Steve Little because of how terrible he looked in beating Nunn and his record was 21-13-2 (5) when he won the title. However, he is similar to Santana in that his losses were generally to quality guys, as well. He also has a draw with Merqui Sosa so he also will not be the answer.

If we look hard enough, we will find some guy who won a vacant belt over a scrub, a guy with lots of losses to shit fighters, a guy with no quality wins other than possibly the vacant belt win.

Picking Valuev is just being ignorant on purpose.

 

Oh for sure, but i think this thread is more about a champion that was at least 'recognized' even if everybody knows he was shit either at the time or in hindsight.

If we're just going buy any dude that managed to hold a belt of some kind we could dig forever.

 

Yeah, I agree with a lot of this, although Steve Little died of Cancer so he can never be the worst ever. Did you know how he found out he had cancer? Brien Nielsen kicked him in the ass and over a few days the pain did not go away, so Little went and had it checked out. Turned out to be intestinal cancer. I always blamed Nielsen for not kicking him sooner. Early kicking has proved vital in these cases.

Picking Valuev is such a shee-shee thing. Here is the rub for me- the guy was never down, never stopped, and beat up Monte Barrett before Haye did. Yet Haye is some peoples favourite vs Wlad.

A resume that includes David Haye, Barrett, Holyfield, Ruiz, Larry Donald, Chagaev, Lyakhovic, McCline, Etienne, Vidoz, Taras Bydenko etc cannot be the resume of the worst champion of all time. He was never down or out versus any of them. His worst defeat is a close decision loss. He never low-blowed, quit, took money to throw fights, or any of that.

Fuck it, most of those guys, even in the condition they were when they fought Valuev, would have wiped out that bum Willard. If the accusation is going to be made against Valuev that he only won stuff because of a weak division or because of his size, then what argument can be made for Jess Willard?

Willard, a hard-sell at a time when any White heavyweight was an easy sell, parlayed size, freshness and decent conditioning into a win over Jack Johnson, who had been hounded around the globe and was broke and unfit by the time he got round to losing in 26 rounds to Willard in the heat of Springtime Havana.

Willard also dropped decisions to guys 50lbs lighter, like Gunboat Smith, he of the "Occipital Punch". :tick::tick:

Most of the Valuev hate is derived from his being Eastern European, a very big oafish guy, and part of a heavyweight division which is conveniently regarded as weak.

I do not see him being destroyed in 4 rounds by Jack Dempsey, or needing 26 rounds with a tired and harried Jack Johnson.

One fighter who does most certainly fit the bill is this man: Mauro Gutierrez, who, albeit that he won a minor title, won it in the most bizarre circumstances when Rafael Ruelas was "counted out" after taking a knee and supposedly not getting up in time, despite being clear-headed and arguing the decision with the referee.

Gutierrez finished his career with a 49-26-6 record and was blown away by every decent fighter he ever faced, except for when he decisioned Eusebio Pedroza. In 1992. ::

 

Leon Spinks???


REED:dunno:

 

Yeah he didn't take him seriously and was well past his best years but how the hell did Ali lose to him? :doh:

 

Ali was 18 months from being diagnosed with some bad shit.

Spinks was fucking terrible. Cotezee laid him out after the Re. with Ali.

 

Yeah, but Leon was a Gold Medalist. He at least had some talent, he just pissed it all away.

 

LArry Holmes always knew that...."leon was going to end up a jive-ass ex-champ driving a cadillac with three bucks in his pocket and cornflakes for brains" :: :laugh11:

I'm not sure how much "pissing away" Leon could have done between the Ali Re and the Cotzee fight, it could just be that Ali really was done and that Leon was not that good.