The dictionary states an underdog as 'a competitor/competitors though to have little chance of winning a fight or contest'. An alternative online dictionary defines it is 'One that is at a disadvantage'. In 1964, Cassius Clay was just 22 when he defeated the menacing Sonny Liston and “shocked the world” in a fight that Cassius was never expected to win. In 1990, Buster Douglas, in arguably the sport's biggest ever upset, became world champion when he knocked out Mike Tyson during a fight in Tokyo where the bookies had Douglas as a massive 42-1 underdog. In 2001, apparent poor preparation, on Lennox Lewis’s behalf, enabled Hasim Rahman to secure the WBC, IBF & IBO world titles when he scored a fifth round knock out over the British champion in South Africa.
Ten years on from the aforementioned fight in South Africa, 2011 has already provided several shocks which have sent shockwaves through the boxing world –with some of the biggest ripples, ironically, coming from the ‘little men’. Just over a third of the way into the year, we have seen a Mexican icon unexpectedly turn back the clock, a highly touted middleweight prospect being severely exposed, the ‘Pride of Puerto Rico’ beaten for the first time and the surprise crowning of a new welterweight world champion. Ok so they may not go down in history like the fights mentioned at the start of this article but they sure are making some headlines at the moment...
When it was announced that one of the sport’s biggest punchers, Marcos Maidana, would be fighting Erik Morales for the ‘interim’ WBA championship on April 9th, boxing fans and pundits alike, questioned the intelligence of the matchmaking. Here was the Argentine Maidana, with 29 wins and 27 of those coming by way of knockout, against the Mexican future hall of famer who was, at 34, thought to be way past his best and fighting at well above his best weight. What unfolded, unexpectedly, was a sure fire candidate for fight of the year. Despite fighting the majority of the fight with only one eye, due to a severe swelling, Erik Morales gave Marcos Maidana the fight of his life in a fight that could’ve gone either way once it went to the scorecards. Ultimately, Marcos Maidana won the bout via a majority decision but the headlines belonged to the three weight world champion who proved there is still something left in the old tank yet and will surely be involved in another world title fight, at his new weight of 140, before he hangs up the gloves…
The stock of highly rated James Kirkland will have taken a massive hit after he was blown away, in a round, by Japan
Victor Ortiz’s fighting spirit has been questioned over the past couple of years ever since he, as seen in many people’s eyes, quit after flooring Marcos Maidana three times back in 2009 and failing to build on that. Ortiz, himself, was floored twice during the fight and the referee subsequently stopped the fight at the end of the sixth round due to a swelling of the eye. Ortiz’s claim that he ‘didn’t deserve this’ had many people questioning his heart. A similar story was seen last year after a lacklustre draw with Lamont Peterson. Despite putting Peterson down twice in the third round, ‘Vicious’ Ortiz failed to capitalise on the draw and laboured to a majority draw after a late comeback from Peterson who, arguably, won most of the rounds. This, however, was wiped out last weekend and Vicious Ortiz was reborn when he beat WBC welterweight champion in a thrilling fight. Ortiz, who was always refered to as a welter fighting at light-welterweight, was fighting like a man possessed, sometimes throwing wildly, knocking down Berto twice in round one and round six. Ortiz, himself, was knocked down in rounds two and six, but rarely look troubled and won a unanimous decision in a fight that will be replayed for years to come. Having browsed various boxing forums, it’s seems this display and will to win shown by Ortiz, which many doubted, has won over the boxing public and maybe, just maybe, America could have it’s next boxing superstar. A future fight against Amir Khan is now hotly tipped as is a possible fight against Manny Pacquiao although I am not so sure a fight against the latter will materialise.
For me, personally, the upset of the year has been Orlando Salido’s eight round tko win over Juan Manuel Lopez. ‘JuanMa’ has had his fair share of problems recently. He is divorcing his wife of just one year, has five children to support and his weight has also been a reported problem. There are rumours his weight was as his at 190lbs back in December and, as a featherweight, this can’t be doing his body any good at all. Known for his explosive style, often disregarding offence, the fight with the Mexican Salido was always going to be a potential banana skin for Lopez. Salido’s right hook proved to be a major weapon and he caught Lopez flush on numerous occasions, flooring him in the fifth round. I was surprised Lopez got up from the shot but JuanMa has always been resilient and got up to his feet. He seemed to clear his head in the sixth round and began to fight a lot better but, then with his defence seeming non existent, took a lot of straight rights and hooks from the challenger in the eighth before the referee called a bout to a half. Salido, having lost 11 fights before, caused what will undoubtedly be the upset of the year. JuanMa, visibly angry and throwing a bottle of water into the crowd, disagreed with the stoppage but the referee made the right call. Despite having a solid chin, the accumulation of punches he was taking where taking their toll, his legs had gone, and the stoppage would’ve only have happened later. A rematch is apparently to be scheduled for August, with the venue said to be Puerto Rico again. JuanMa can definitely recover from this and reclaim his title. He is still one of the most exciting fighters in the world but needs to improve on his defence a lot. A ‘superfight’ with featherweight king Yuriokis Gamboa may or may not happen following this defeat but, unless the improvements are made, I have no doubt we will be seeing a similar result and another defeat on JuanMa’s record if Bob Arum does put it together. It’s a fight the world wants to see but JuanMa needs to straighten out a few issues before he can even think about that…
With two thirds of 2011 left, I am sure we will see another upset or two in the coming few months which will further establish 2011 as the year of the underdog. Canadian middleweight prospect David Lemieux, tipped by this writer as a future world champion, has also seen defeat and I still stand by that claim but he needs to work on his boxing as he has now realised he can’t go into every fight blasting the opponent out of the there in a couple of rounds. There is much more boxing to come and many more upsets to be recorded. That being said, there would have to be something major happen to top what has happened recently in the world of the sweet science…
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