Undefeated Boxers Most Likely to Lose Their Next Fight
Most boxers will lose a match or several matches over the course of their careers. Fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Rocky Marciano are definitely more the exception than the rule in this case.
Many of today's elite boxers like Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Wladimir Klitschko, Miguel Cotto and Bernard Hopkins have multiple losses over their career.
Sugar Ray Leonard had three career losses, Joe Frazier had four career losses and even "The Greatest" Muhammad Ali had five losses over his legendary career.
If a boxer fights long enough and doesn't duck tough opponents, they're going to lose a match or even multiple matches. Boxers who have long careers and take on every tough opponent possible and still finish undefeated are very rare.
Here are five undefeated boxers who either have belts or are about to fight for one that have a good chance of losing the next time they step inside the ropes and into the ring.
5. Sergey Kovalev
1 of 5
Next Fight: Bernard Hopkins on November 8.
By no means am I guaranteeing that Bernard Hopkins will defeat Sergey Kovalev; don't mistake his inclusion on this list as a knock on his talent.
On paper the fight is pretty even but obviously Hopkins is the best opponent by far that Kovalev has faced. So saying that his undefeated record is in jeopardy on a list like this is a fair statement and not a slight.
For the record, Kovalev opened as a small favorite and remains so, according to OddsShark.com.
I've gone back and forth with my pick on this fight probably about a dozen times, but I'm starting to get a strong feeling that Hopkins will find a way to pull it out. Kovalev obviously has tremendous power, but Hopkins also has a tremendous chin; he's never been knocked out or stopped early in 61 career fights.
If Kovalev can't knock Hopkins out like he has 23 other opponents out of 25 career fights, then how he'll fare in the later rounds becomes a big question. Kovalev has never been past eight rounds, so his stamina and ability to remain focused and not get frustrated will be key to his success against Hopkins.
The other part of my gut feeling on picking Hopkins is that for Kovalev this is his first taste of being part of a major fight even though it's not on Pay-Per-View. This isn't exactly Hopkins' first rodeo.
Hopkins has fought legendary boxers like Roy Jones Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, Joe Calzaghe, Felix Trinidad and dozens of others in huge matches during his career, so most would expect him to be better prepared to handle the pressure and spotlight than his younger and greener opponent.
Part of that preparation or gamesmanship is Hopkins' ability to take his opponent out of a rhythm by clinching and walking the fine line between what is a foul and what is legal.
If Hopkins is able to keep the pace slow, take away the "moon shots" from Kovalev, as he called them, per Yahoo Sports, and get into the later rounds then I have more confidence in his ability to adjust and change up the game plan during the middle of the fight instead of only relying on landing one big shot.
4. Jermell Charlo
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Next Fight: Against undefeated WBO junior middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade on December 13.
Another very close fight on paper between two young and undefeated fighters; somebody's "O" has got to go as Michael Buffer might say.
Jermell Charlo of Houston is an extremely skilled boxer who I'd like to see do well—full disclosure, I'm also from Houston—but I favor the champion Demetrius Andrade in their upcoming title match.
Charlo has good defensive skills, good speed and consistent accuracy with his jab, but Andrade arguably does all of those same things just a little bit better.
Charlo stepped up his competition earlier this year with victories over Charlie Ota and Gabriel Rosado but a fight with Andrade is easily his toughest test to date. Before this year began his level of competition hadn't been that great, so there is still a bit of an unknown factor with how great Charlo is capable of becoming.
It feels like a 50/50 fight, but Andrade should be favored and I expect him to win a close match.
3. Deontay Wilder
3 of 5
Next Fight: This fight hasn't been 100 percent finalized or scheduled, but Deontay Wilder is the mandatory challenger for the heavyweight title held by Bermane Stiverne and the fight should be the next match for both fighters.
Wilder is undefeated, but he's built up that undefeated mark on the "strength" of beating up a bunch of tomato cans and overmatched opponents. Excluding Malik Scott, his last five other opponents have 45 combined career losses.
I excluded the quick knockout over Scott because Wilder only landed two punches in the "knockout" sequence with the left hook not appearing to land that hard and the final shot hitting more of Scott's gloves than his face. Something about that match just didn't look or seem right.
The Showtime announcers didn't come right out and say it bluntly, but you could tell by the tone in their voice and how they chose to describe the "knockout" that they were pretty skeptical about its authenticity.
There's obviously been no substantial evidence either way, but I wouldn't be shocked if one day it was revealed that the match wasn't on the up and up. Dan Rafael of ESPN.com shared some of the same skepticism.
Facing Stiverne will be a gigantic step up in competition for Wilder. Stiverne has just one loss over his career and has knocked out his opponent 21 times out of his 24 career victories. Stiverne's resume isn't filled with Hall of Famers either, but he did hand Chris Arreola two of his four career losses.
My gut says Wilder isn't ready for this big of a step up after fighting cupcakes his whole career, much like what happened to Gary Russell Jr. earlier this year.
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2. Kubrat Pulev
4 of 5
Next Fight: November 15 against heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko.
Pretty obvious here; anyone scheduled to fight Wladimir Klitschko is likely to lose and the 20-0 Kubrat Pulev won't likely be any different. Klitschko hasn't lost since 2004 and has scored a knockout in 52 of his 62 career victories.
Pulev did score a late knockout two years ago—against Alexander Ustinov—but other than in that fight, his list of opponents hasn't been super impressive. Since 2012 Pulev has faced boxers with 23 and 17 career losses respectively.
At the very least, fighting Klitschko is a massive step up compared to the other opposition he's faced.
Like most of Klitschko's opponents, Pulev will also be the smaller man in the fight. Pulev hasn't shown much power in his career with knockouts in only 11 of his 20 career victories, so it's hard to come up with a successful strategy for him to defeat Klitschko.
He doesn't have the power to hurt Klitschko and with the height and reach disadvantage also factored in, I find it doubtful that Pulev will be able to get inside enough or do well at distance long enough to win a boxing match.
Expect Klitschko to have his hand raised for the 63rd time of his legendary career.
1. Chris Algieri
5 of 5
Next Fight: November 22 against welterweight superstar Manny Pacquiao.
This mismatch opened up with Chris Algieri as a 13/2 underdog, according to Oddshark.com, but it has since been bet down very slightly to 6/1 on some sites.
Algieri does have a big advantage with his height—three-and-a-half inches—and reach (five inches) but despite his bigger size it's still hard to imagine him defeating Pacquiao.
With only eight knockouts in 20 career fights, Algieri is unlikely to score a knockout of Pacquiao who, before the perfect punch from Juan Manuel Marquez, hadn't been knocked out since 1999. If Algieri can't stop him early, does anyone believe he can outbox Pacquiao for 12 rounds?
Algieri was able to outbox Ruslan Provodnikov over the final 11 rounds of their fight last June, but Provodnikov—who is more brawler than boxer—isn't in the same ballpark in terms of skill level as a pure boxer compared to Pacquiao.
Algieri may have a size advantage, but Pacquiao has him beat in power, speed, experience and ring maneuverability. There's no reason to pick against the future Hall of Famer in this fight.
Follow me on Twitter for more boxing opinion and live scoring of big fights: @sackedbybmac
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