By John G. Thompson: If there were one word boxing fans might use to summarize the 2011 boxing year, it would be “upsets.” While boxing’s perennial warriors – the Pacquiaos, Mayweathers and Cottos – continued to shape their legacies, other would-be legends fell short, some in rapid succession. April alone showcased upsets with undefeated fighters James Kirkland, Marcus Johnson, David Lemieux, and Juan Manuel Lopez. And even as recently as December fans were still being treated to some surprise upsets with the wins of Lamont Peterson and Brian Viloria.
Here in chronological order I’ve listed some of the biggest upsets of 2011. If I’ve missed any big ones (and I’m sure there were a few over in Europe), please feel free to add to the list. I’ll be reading the comments and releasing a follow up listing of which fights the ESB fans decide as the top upsets of 2011.
January 7th – Mauricio Herrera UD12 vs. Ruslan Provodnikov To kick off the year, this fight was not necessarily a huge upset, with Herrera earning a close but unanimous decision against the then
undefeated red hot Russian prospect. Though no one had mistaken Provodnikov as a master technician, with 13 of 20 fights ending before the final bell the ultra-tough Siberian always seemed to find his way to win. Herrera, though he only had one prior loss (to Mike Anchondo), was a supposed to be the underdog. Instead, Herrera gutted out an extremely difficult back and forth fight, both fighters sustaining damage to their eyes, earning Herrera a decision which some critics felt controversial.
January 28th – Josesito Lopez TKO 7 vs. Mike Dallas, Jr. One of ESPN’s hottest prospects Mike Dallas, Jr. (then 17-0-1, 7 KO’s) might not have been known as a power puncher, but the highly decorated amateur from Bakersfield certainly had the skills to look good against everyone he had faced. He looked good early against Lopez (28-3, 16 KO’s), however Lopez put on a relentless display of aggression, turning the tide of the fight and eventually stopping Dallas in the seventh.
March 4th – Ismayl Sillakh UD 10 vs. Yordanis Despaigne This is possibly my favorite for upset of the year, though in retrospect it might not be the upset we all thought it was. Yordanis
Despaigne was a highly decorated amateur and Cuban Olympian (defeating Jean Pascal but losing to Andre Dirrell in the 2004 Athens games). So despite only eight professional bouts, most boxing pundits expected an easy victory for the up and coming light heavyweight over the virtually unknown NABF titlist Sillakh. However, upon closer inspection, the Ukrainian now living outside Los Angeles in Simi Valley was just as decorated an amateur as Despaigne, if not more so, with over 300 amateur bouts and a slew of amateur titles from all over the world. A slick, fluid boxer-puncher Sillakh made Despaigne look amateurish at times, knocking him down once in the second round and earning a near shutout on the scorecards.
March 25th – Carlos Molina Majority Draw vs. Erislandy Lara Much like Despaigne, Erislandy Lara came into this bout a huge favorite with his extensive Cuban amateur background, having won
numerous international amateur competitions (and he would have made an appearance in the 2008 Olympics had he not defected from Cuba to pursue his pro career). Carlos Molina (then 17-4-1, 5 KOs) did not look like much on paper with his four losses. However, each of those losses came at the hands of undefeated fighters, one of which being the current middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. Molina had fought Chavez to a draw in their first meeting, and Chavez barely escaped the rematch with a majority decision. Molina out-boxed the experienced Lara and earned a draw on two of the judges’ scorecards, though many felt he had done enough to win. Slowly becoming the most avoided man in his division, Molina almost made my list again with his July 9th unanimous decision over Kermit Cintron. I say “avoided” because Saul Alvarez just recently gave Cintron a title shot instead of Molina.
April 8th – Dyah Davis UD 10 vs. Marcus Johnson Marcus Johnson was a highly touted super middleweight prospect and US Amateur Champion prior to his match with Floyd Mayweather Sr. trained
Davis. Many East Side Boxing fans quickly used phrases like “exposed” or “over-hyped” to describe Johnson in the aftermath of his lopsided decision loss (Johnson was put down once in the ninth round); however, this might simply have been a case of one fighter bringing his A-Game the night the other fighter left his at home.
April 8th – Marco Antonio Rubio KO 7 vs. David Lemieux David Lemieux (then 25-0, 24 KO’s) looked a sure bet to defeat Mexico’s Marco Antonio Rubio (then 49-5-1, 42 KOs) in Lemieux’s home town of Montreal. Rubio had been on a six fight winning streak (five by KO) since being stopped by Kelly Pavlik in 2009; however, he seemed unlikely to thwart Lemieux’s future title ambitions. Well, Rubio persevered through Lemieux’s initial onslaught and then took the fight to Lemieux, stopping him in the seventh.
April 9th – Nobuhiro Ishida TKO 1 vs. James Kirkland This may win out among ESB readers as the top upset of the year, if for no other reason than the perception of Ishida being a light hitter
– just 7 KO’s in 30 bouts leading up to the Kirkland fight. Kirkland had already fought twice since his incarceration (with an impressive record of 27-0, 24 KO’s), though he split with his longtime trainer Ann Wolfe before the Ishida fight. Again, cries of “exposed” echoed the ESB comment boards after the knockout, but as Andre Ward recently said in his “Face-off” with Carl Froch, any fighter can be knocked out. Ishida caught Kirkland with a great shot from which he could not recover and that’s all there is to it. Kirkland hit the canvas three times in the first round before the referee waved off the fight. Perhaps Kirkland had suffered from the loss of Wolfe, but fans now have to acknowledge that Kirkland does indeed have a descent chin after his recent war with Alfredo Angulo.
April 16th – Orlando Salido TKO 8 vs. Juan Manuel Lopez Easily one of, if not the biggest upset of 2011, Lopez’s bout with Salido was supposed to help build up one of the most highly
anticipated bouts in all of boxing between Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa (who had earned a unanimous decision against Salido in 2010). Salido (then 34-11-2, 22 KO’s) had other ideas however, catching the reckless WBO Featherweight Champion Lopez (who sported an impressive record of 30-0, 27 KO’s at the time) with counters and finally stopped him in the eighth round to take his title and make Bob Arum cry.
May 7th – Jorge Arce TKO 12 vs. Miguel Vasquez, Jr. It’s hard to imagine any surprise at Arce having won this bout, given his power, his excellent record (then 56-6-2, 42 KO’s) and numerous
titles at various weight classes, however, most boxing experts did not give him much of a chance against then undefeated Miguel Vasquez, Jr. (20-0, 17 KO’s at the time). Never-the-less, two judges had the match a draw going into the final round. Arce’s warrior spirit came seemingly out of nowhere, with both fighters looking exhausted, but Arce summoned the energy to let loose an unrelenting barrage of punches forcing Vasquez’s corner to throw in the towel.
June 17th – Grady Brewer TKO 4 vs. Fernando Guerrero In one of the biggest upsets of the year, forty year old Grady Brewer (then 27-12, 15 KO’s) seemingly had little chance against then undefeated twenty-four year old Fernando Guerrero (then 21-0, 16 KO’s) for the vacant NABF light middleweight title. However, Brewer, who has faced no less than thirteen undefeated prospects (with names like Kelly Pavlik and Jermaine Taylor) in his career, and besting about half of them, put his experience to work and outclassed Guerrero, pinning him to the ropes in the fourth and hammering him into a stoppage.
July 9th – John Molina TKO 11 vs. Henry Lundy Though he had only one loss (against Martin Honorio), John Molina was a big underdog going into his bout with then undefeated “Hammerin’ Hank” Lundy and for good reason. Lundy was coming off his biggest win, a unanimous decision against undefeated Tyrese Hendrix for the vacant WBO NABO lightweight title. The fight looked to be going as planned with Lundy easily out-boxing Molina, when he got overconfident and careless, leaving his guard down by his waist, and Molina (with his 16 KO’s in 20 wins) caught Dallas with a shot in the seventh and put him down. Lundy got up and tried to clear the cobwebs, but Molina would not let him catch his breath and finished the fight in the eleventh round.
December 10th – Lamont Peterson SD 12 vs. Amir Khan Though Peterson was a top rated light welterweight, most pundits felt that Amir Khan was too close to that imaginary pound for pound greatness and on his way through Peterson towards a mega fight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Perhaps Khan thought so as well and took his opponent too lightly. While the point deductions from the referee as well as the judges’ scorecards may be in dispute, there is no dispute that Peterson fought a tough, passionate fight.
Honorable Mentions:
February 4th – Brian Vera SD 10 vs. Sergio Mora Very good win for Vera, though Mora disputes it.
June 24th – Mauricio Herrera Majority Decision vs. Mike Dallas, Jr. This was a big year for Herrera and a bad one for Dallas. And while this was not a huge upset, this bout was supposed to be Mike Dallas, Jr.’s comeback fight after his shocking loss to Josesito Lopez. Odds makers should have known better following Herrera’s win over Provodnikov, but regardless Herrera earned a win over Dallas on two judges’ score cards, the third calling it a draw.
October 29th – Ossie Duran UD 8 vs. Brandon Gonzales Okay, the fight was actually awarded to Brandon Gonzales by UD, but it was a horrible decision and Duran should have gotten the nod and made this list.
November 5th – James Kirkland TKO 6 vs. Alfredo Angulo Maybe it should make the list with Kirkland’s loss to Ishida, but there were plenty of fans giving Kirkland the benefit of the doubt, and they were right.
December 10th – Brian Viloria TKO 8 vs. Giovani Segura With Segura’s two KO wins over Ivan Calderon for the WBO Light Flyweight Title, Segura looked like a sure thing against the thrice beaten Filipino American; however Viloria came to fight, causing a nasty lump to form on Segura’s head. After taking more shots to the lump in the eighth, the referee was forced to call a stop to the
action.
What would you pick as the biggest upset of 2011? Either leave a comment or email me at: Boxingwriterjohn@gmail.com