Ranking the 5 Greatest Upset Wins by British Boxers in World-Title Fights
September sees two world champions from Britain take on the biggest challenges of their careers to date.
On Saturday, welterweight Kell Brook steps up to the plate—and moves up two divisions—to take on middleweight king Gennady Golovkin at the O2 Arena in London.
GGG puts his IBF and IBO titles on the line—the WBC have refused to sanction the bout, per Dan Rafael of ESPN.com—as two unbeaten world champions go head-to-head.
A week later on September 17, Liam Smith defends his WBO super welterweight crown against the man Golovkin really wants to fight—Saul Alvarez—in Dallas, Texas.
Both Englishmen are underdogs. Per Odds Shark, Brook is priced at 7/2 for victory, while Smith is a 36/5 shot to topple Canelo.
However, shock results are one of the things that can make sport so special. To prove upsets are possible, Bleacher Report has picked out the five biggest surprise results by British fighters. Better yet—we've ranked them, too.
To keep it topical, only world-title fights were considered.
So, while Danny Williams sensationally defied the odds to defeat Mike Tyson in 2004, there was no major belt on the line. Therefore, it cannot qualify for the list.
Honourable Mentions
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There were plenty of contenders for the list that didn't quite make the final cut.
Englishman Ricky Hatton became a world champion in his home city of Manchester when his non-stop style eventually forced Kostya Tszyu to retire in 2005.
Why doesn't The Hitman make it into the top five? Well, he wasn't a huge underdog, considering he had won 38 fights in a row before getting his big chance at a world title.
The mention of big chances links nicely into David Haye's victory over Nikolai Valuev in 2009.
Despite giving away nearly 100 pounds in weight against the 7′0″ Russian, The Hayemaker worked out a method to claim the WBA heavyweight title on points in Germany.
Fellow heavyweight Michael Bentt needed less than a round to take the WBO belt from Tommy Morrison's grasp. However, while Bentt was born in London, he was raised in New York and attempted to qualify for the United States' 1988 Olympic squad during his amateur days.
Ken Buchanan narrowly missed out for his victory over fellow lightweight Ismael Laguna in Puerto Rico.
The first meeting between the pair was settled on the scorecards. Scotsman Buchanan got the nod on a split decision, allowing him to take home the WBC's belt.
And finally, Kirkland Laing's stunning points triumph over Roberto Duran may have won The Ring magazine's award for Upset of the Year in 1982, but it fails to qualify as it was a non-title fight.
5. Nigel Benn vs. Gerald McClellan
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Such was Gerald McClellan's reputation in the mid-1990s, world super middleweight champion Nigel Benn was a 3-1 underdog for the seventh defence of his WBC title, per BoxRec.
The American was such a heavy favourite because of his reputation as a mini-Mike Tyson in the middleweight division. Of his 31 victories, 29 had come inside the distance. He had twice stopped Julian Jackson, with their second meeting ending inside 90 seconds.
However, McClellan had never previously fought at 168 pounds before facing Benn on February 25, 1995.
It didn't seem the step up would be a problem when he knocked his opponent out of the ring in the opening minute of the contest.
Benn was down again in Round 8, survived an onslaught in the next and then astonishingly won in the 10th.
After being counted out while down on one knee, McClellan collapsed in his corner. He was taken to hospital and had emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain.
Benn later told Tom Gray of The Ring: "I came out of that fight with a damaged nose, a damaged jaw and I was urinating blood. I was in bed for three days afterwards and I had a shadow on my brain. That shows you how powerful a champion that man was."
4. John H Stracey vs. Jose Napoles
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John H Stracey stopped Jose Napoles to become the WBC welterweight champion in December 1975.
The result itself was impressive, but the Londoner deserves a place in the top five for two reasons.
First, he achieved the feat in his opponent's back yard. Despite being in a bullring in Mexico City, Mexico, with a large, vociferous crowd cheering on their adopted son (Napoles was born in Cuba), he won by TKO in Round 6.
Second, Stracey had to climb off the canvas to get his hands on the title. A left hook dropped the Englishman in the opening round, suggesting the former British and European champion might not last long.
However, Stracey recovered from the early setback and recorded a knockdown of his own in Round 3. His power shots marked up his opponent before the fight was eventually stopped.
He told Gareth A Davies of the Telegraph in 2005: "I had sparred with Napoles three years earlier in a gym in Hampstead. [Trainer] Terry Lawless had told me to jab Napoles if I ever fought him. So that night in Mexico City, we had our plan, in front of 27,000 Mexicans and 23 fans from London."
While perhaps past his prime on that night, it should not be forgotten that Napoles—who never fought again—only lost seven of his 88 pro fights.
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3. Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko
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Tyson Fury found ways to get under Wladimir Klitschko's skin. When they eventually went toe-to-toe in the ring, he also found a way to take the Ukrainian's world titles.
Klitschko had not lost in over 11 years before he ran into Fury in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The outspoken British heavyweight said prior to the bout on November 28, 2015, per Sean Ingle of the Guardian: "This is going to be one of my easiest fights. That might sound crazy as he is a super champion, but I see so many chinks in the armour and I am going to expose them very quickly."
To a degree, Fury's prediction was correct.
It wasn't a particularly tough night for him—with clever feints and a solid jab, the Englishman was on top for the majority of a largely forgettable fight.
He had also bothered the heavy favourite before the first bell. First, he threatened to pull out if a layer of foam wasn't removed from the ring, and then he demanded his rival have his hands retaped with a witness from his camp present.
When it came to the action, Dr. Steelhammer did very little. Per CompuBox stats (h/t BoxRec), he landed just 52 shots.
Fury—who had arrived to one pre-fight press conference dressed as Batman—walked out of the ring with the IBO, IBF, WBA and WBO belts, though not before serenading his wife from the ring.
2. Randolph Turpin vs. Sugar Ray Robinson
5 of 6When Sugar Ray Robinson arrived in England in the summer of 1951, he was on the last leg of a long European tour.
His seventh and final fight of the trip saw the world middleweight champion go up against Randolph Turpin at the Earls Court Arena in London.
Robinson arrived in the capital having lost just once in 131 bouts. Turpin was a British and European champion but, at 23, it was believed the opportunity had come too soon.
However, The Leamington Licker was unfazed by the size of the task at hand.
Boxing News' original report read: "Our man went into the exhibition hall ring the underdog at odds of not less than 5-to-1 one against. Many critics feared the consequences of what they regarded as a prematurely made match; in fact, about the only man who wasn’t worried was Randy himself."
Turpin used his physical strength to rough up Robinson, who suffered a cut in Round 6 after a clash of heads.
After 15 rounds, referee Eugene Henderson raised Turpin's hand. The underdog had dethroned the great Sugar Ray, making him a national hero in a hurry.
His reign was short and sweet, however. A fully focused Robinson won their rematch on American soil in September of the same year, stopping his rival in Round 10.
1. Lloyd Honeyghan vs. Donald Curry
6 of 6Lloyd Honeyghan never lacked for confidence, but few expected the welterweight to back up his words with a win over Donald Curry on September 27, 1986.
Born in Jamaica but raised in Bermondsey, England, The Ragamuffin Man travelled to the United States to take on the reigning IBF, WBA and WBC champion.
Honeyghan went on to record a stunning upset at the Caesars Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Curry, viewed as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet who was on course for a lucrative showdown with middleweight Marvin Hagler, had an unblemished 25-fight record.
However, his winning streak came to a rather painful end at the hands of Honeyghan, who even wagered $5,000 on himself at 5-1 odds, per BoxRec.
In recalling the action, Steve Bunce of the Independent wrote: "The fight was a bloody mismatch from the first bell and the great Curry was smashed from corner to corner. Honeyghan broke Curry’s nose, left him with a torn bottom lip and a cut above his left eye that needed 20 stitches."
Battered and bruised, the American retired after Round 6.
Honeyghan was awarded Upset of the Year by The Ring magazine, while Las Vegas oddsmaker Lem Banker said of the result, according to Earl Gustkey of the LA Times: "Odds-wise, it's probably the biggest upset since Ali-Liston, in '64."
If it can be considered bigger than anything Muhammad Ali achieved in his career, Honeyghan's win deserves to top the list.
Do you agree with the top five? Have your say via the comments section.
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