There was only one upset this year that truly mattered which the history of the sport and that was heavyweight Tyson Fury’s win over Wladimir Klitschko for the WBO, WBA and IBF among other minor titles in Germany. The actual action inside the ring wasn’t what it was expected or the result for that matter. It was the first time in a long time Klitschko, who had not suffered a loss in over eleven years, faced an opponent taller and heavier. It was expected, even perhaps by Klitschko himself, for Fury to stand in front of his opponent. Maybe not in the beginning of the fight but some time down the life of the bout Fury will tire out and stand in front of the Ukrainian giving Klitschko the opportunity to land that big long right hand and ending the night.
Never happened.
Fury used his footwork as well as switching from orthodox and southpaw to confuse Klitschko and completely neutralize the former champ’s offense. Klitschko was reduced to landing an average of around four punches a round. The fight might have been reduced to more of what Klitschko did not do than what Fury did but at the end of the night, the boxing world had a new heavyweight world champion.
Since then, Fury was stripped of the IBF portion of the crown due to some legalese but it was recently announced the rematch with Klitschko has been signed and now only a venue and TV home is being sought.
Other nominees on the list are the come from behind win of cruiserweight Krzysztof Glowacki over long-reigning WBO champ Marco Huck to capture the title. The fight back in August marked the first time the Serbian-born Huck fought in the United States. What was expected to be a step in a new chapter in his career turned out into a nightmare as the undefeated Glowacki, losing the fight up to the eleventh round, turned it around and with a big over hand right ended the night for “Captain” Huck.
Back in early October there was a slight upset when undefeated Viktor Postol stopped fan favorite Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse for the vacant WBC super lightweight title. Understandably many expected Matthysse to finally win the belt he had challenged Danny Garcia before but those in the know knew Postol was a tough customer. Taller, undefeated, great boxing skill set and trained by Freddie Roach, Postol was possibly unfairly set as the underdog. He proved the non-believers wrong when he sent Matthysse down in the tenth.
One of the most dramatic upsets of the year was the one Adrian Granados of Chicago, Illinois, administered over rising star Amir Ima, promoted by Don King, in late November. The hard-hitting Imam dropped Granados early in the scheduled light welterweight ten rounder but that only worked to wake up the experienced Granados who went to work, pushing back Imam with controlled pressure and aggression. In the eighth, Imam was spent and could hardly hold his arms up. Granados hurt him and once he smelled blood, finished him off.
