Upsets are part of the beauty of sports. People watch sports and sometimes associate its characters to their own sentimentality, making them root for the underdog to win while feeling for them at the same time. If their guy wins or loses, their emotional moods swing with it.
Of course, on the other end, a favorite team and a favorite player stands, and for good reason. People look on and watch the expected to happen. When something different unravels, though, it becomes news. A cinderella story on one corner. The bigger they are, the harder they fall on the other.
Perhaps no other sport provide more human drama than boxing.
One guy perceived to be overwhelmingly better than his opponent constitutes the set-up of an upset (no pun intended). But what differentiates it is the condition of the other fighter. The underdog could be a no-name who is pegged to have innumerable-odds-to-one chances, he could be a fighter thought to be "shot", or that he might be good but simply not as good as the favorite.
So look back at ten years of a rather reborn sport of boxing, and look at the best of what is called "upsets," even though it happens every now and then and it's a natural process in boxing (and in sports).
10. Joe Calzaghe UD12 Jeff Lacy (March 2006)
Oftentimes, public perception creates the atmosphere for an upset. Public perception dictates who the underdog or the favourite is. In the case of Calzaghe-Lacy, the former has always been thought of as a paper champion with a padded record, and he comes across to the other side of the pond with people eager to behold his exposure at the hands of the heavily-hyped latter. This is why Calzaghe should appear on this list; in many of his fights, he always carries the burden of having to repel the clouds of doubt cast above him. Time and again he has proven to be great. He destroyed Lacy over 12 rounds and Lacy was never the same again.
9. Bernard Hopkins KO12 Felix Trinidad (September 2001)
Back story: Roy Jones Jr.’s seat as the pound-for-pound no. 1 fighter was being challenged by Trinidad, who has been riding high in boxing success since his controversial decision nod over Oscar De la Hoya. Jones talked to promoter Don King to set up an event for Trinidad to face him, so that he would be in the position to take away Tito’s “0.” But the flamboyant King was confident that the Puerto Rican would win his “World Middleweight Championship Series.” In the finals of that tourney stood an overlooked Hopkins, who proceeded to dominate Trinidad in a career-defining performance, adding two more titles to the one he has defended for quite some time already. Upsets have a tendency to spoil plans.
8. Manny Pacquiao TKO11 Marco Antonio Barrera (November 2003)
Pacquiao has already worn two world titles in two weight divisions at the time he faced Barrera, but he was still a severe underdog who at best could just serve as a potent challenge. At 29, Barrera has survived several wars to build his hall of fame resumé. Pacquiao made him old overnight. He was shockingly outboxed and outfought by Pacquiao into submission, announcing his arrival into boxing (he already arrived in another upset win versus Lehlohonolo Ledwaba in 2001, but this win turned him into a boxing star).
7. Corrie Sanders KO2 Wladimir Klitschko (March 2003)
This upset by the South African Sanders wasn't as emphatic as anothe heavyweight upset on this list, but it is considerable. Klitschko has had a stronghold on the WBO heavyweight title that he won three years ago at this point, when the power punching South African came along. Sanders inscribed the thoughts on boxing observer's minds that any decent puncher would have a chance at the younger Klitschko. Klitschko lost another time via knockout shortly after this, and he has been more careful and cautious since. Sanders was vacant for a year, and came back to face Wladimir's older brother, Vitali, only to get knocked out himself. Klitschko remains to be succesful while Sanders was never as relevant as his win over him to the division.
Continue reading: "Best Boxing Upsets of the 2000s: The Decade's Most Memorable Upsets"
"Best of the Decade" series: Performances of the Decade, Fights of the Decade, Fighters of the Decade.
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