I have never heard of anyone ever assigning a specific term for the occurrence, but it is certain to be part of the heart of boxing. Take a fight that is in the top ten percent of cards on the year and include an unproven fighter with an undefeated record. Then throw the unproven man in with a chopping power hitter of a fighter. Watch the fireworks go off with an early knockout for the proven big man. The unproven man tumbles to the mat with a black spot on his record and a ruined career. The other continues to fight the best. Let?s call it the ?Big Hit.?
On August 11th, Daniel Ponce De Leon was able to reap the benefits of the Big Hit phenomena by obliterating the equilibrium of Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista with thirty seconds to go in the first round. Throughout the round, De Leon controlled with his unorthodox looping power shots. He landed a right jab-left cross combination (the 1-2 from the southpaw position) directly on the side of Bautista?s chin and sent him reeling into the ropes with 45 seconds left. Bautista was wobbly and had the look of a man that had just seen a ghost as he struggled to regain his balance. It was clear to the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world that while he got to his feet after the fact, he wouldn?t remain standing on them.
The only matter in question now is whether or not Bautista will rise from one of the most devastating knockouts of the past few years to regain his confidence enough to become an elite. I suppose labeling him as entirely unproven might strike some as unfair. Rey Bautista does have a win over the undefeated Sergio Manuel Medina but the problem is that the best name on the resume of Sergio Manuel Medina is Rey Bautista himself and ?Boom Boom? had trouble with in the fight.
There have been similar cases in which the fighter knocked out in such a fashion. Though not technically a Big Hit, the case of John Ruiz?s loss to David Tua presented a counter argument in that Ruiz would reel off eleven straight victories over the fight and continue on to defeat Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman, Andrew Golota and Fres Oquendo. He also dropped a close split decisions to Ruslan Chagaev and Nikolay Valuev.
Given that Tua?s knockout Ruiz was as horrific looking and dominating as they come, it has been proven possible that a fighter can rise from the mat after a seemingly crushing defeat to maintain a solid and elite career. However, there are plenty of counter examples to the equation that perfectly represent the big hit. Here are a few of the most grimacing.
David Reid 12 Round UD loss to Felix Trinidad
David Reid was undefeated when he fought Trinidad whoa was undefeated himself at the time. Reid had some solid victories over the likes of fighters such as Kevin Kelly, Robert Frazier and James Coker but his resume was nowhere near the star-filled Trinidad?s. Tito had beaten an undefeated Yory Boy Campas, an undefeated Oscar De La Hoya, Pernell Whitaker, an undefeated Oba Carr, Hector Camacho, Ray Lovato and Larry Barnes. Entering the match there was a clear edge in stronger lineage and ability.
Trinidad tasted the mat once in the third round but toppled Reid four times over the course of the fight and thrice in the eleventh. The scorecards were extremely one sided in the end. Reid was able to win three more fights against lack luster competition before getting knocked out by a lackluster competitor in Sam Hill in 2001.
Fernando Vargas TKO 12 Loss to Felix Trinidad
Chalk up another career dusted due to Tito. Entering their match, Vargas was an undefeated fighter with recent victories over Raul Marquez, Ronald ?Winky? Wright and Ike Quartey. Trinidad stepped in to fight him for the Light Welterweight Championship and dropped him twice in the first round and three times in the last before Jay Nady stopped the fight.
From that point onward, it was over for Fernando. In the third bout following the loss to Trinidad, he suffered a knock out loss to Oscar De La Hoya. Following the fight, he tested positive for steroid use and was issued a nine month suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission. After that, he won four in a row against chump change competitors before suffering two knockouts at the hands of Sugar Shane Mosley. Essentially, Vargas became flat footed and ruined. He is scheduled for one more bout in his career against Ricardo Mayorga. The match is a huge step down from the best fighters that Vargas has faced.
Pipino Cuevas KO 2 Loss to Thomas Hearns
Cuevas was the welterweight titlist of the world in 1980. While he carried five losses on his ledger, they all came early in his career and he had recovered to hold the belt for eleven straight defenses. Cuevas was highly feared and had dealt out some vicious beatings, breaking several jaws and damaging eyes. Hearns was able to dismantle Cuevas in two rounds and the his career began a downward spiral that is almost unmatched. He lost eight of his last sixteen fights with most of the wins coming against the most average of chump competitors while the losses mostly came against the fighters with actual pulse. In fact, one of his last victories came over a man making his pro debut in Daniel Valenzuela.
Donald Curry TKO 6 Loss to Lloyd Honeyghan
Donald Curry was 25-0, 20 KO?s when he decided to move down from 147 to contend for the Unified Welterweight Championship. He had three victories over fellow undefeated fighters as serving as notches on his arm. Curry was called the Pound for Pound Champion by many of the experts when he made the decision and would be one that he would later regret.
Some of our younger readers may be wondering who Lloyd Honeyghan might be. Honeyghan was a 6-1 underdog entering the fight with Curry, the biggest underdog on this particular list. Honeyghan ravaged Curry from the opening bell and pulled off the upset by forcing him to quit on his stool after the sixth round with a split lip and a twenty stitch cut near his left eye. The fight was the 1986 Ring Magazine Upset of the Year.
Curry blamed the move down in weight for the loss. He finished his career 9-5, never against to be considered a Pound for Pound contender nor defeat a truly elite pugilist for the rest of his career.
Meldrick Taylor TKO 12 Loss to Julio Cesar Chavez
Taylor fought Chavez in 1990 for the light welterweight championship of the world. The fight has been labeled the Ring Magazine Fight of the Decade for its ups and downs and blood and guts. Taylor was 24-0 at the time of the bout and owned a win over Junior Welterweight Champion James ?Buddy? McGirt. His physical abilities were considered second to almost no one in the sport.
The outcome was as controversial as any that has ever been made. Taylor led by huge margins on two of the three scorecards while he suspiciously trailed by one point on a third that would have been non-factor if the fight had gone the distance. In the end, the cards were never counted. In the final thirty seconds of the fight, Chavez landed five crushing power shots on Taylor and sent him to the mat. Taylor rose at the count of five and referee Richard Steele waved off the fight with two seconds to go, handing the victory to Chavez.
Taylor took plenty of punishment in the match, including a broken eye socket, a shredded lip and a fractured orbital bone. After that night, his career was all but finished. He would go on to face B level competitors and become one himself, finishing his career with a 14-7 run that included plenty of space between fights and steps down in skill. It was a sad end that even Chavez would admit was the stronger of the two.
Naseem Hamed 12 round UD loss to Marco Antonio Barrera
Hamed was an undefeated fighter with great moves. The way he coordinated his body could only be described as glorious southpaw arrogance. He was also known for entering the ring with a flair- from an elevator, with a mask, carried in on giant platforms and the like- much like a pro-wrestler of the current era. Hamed knocked off four experienced undefeated fighters and four experienced fighters with only one defeat with all but one falling by way of knock out. Hamed was on top of the world. In 1999, he was awarded and MBE at the British New Year Honors. Not only was he an undefeated prizefighter but now he was a knight. With his fanciful ring entrances, short nights of work and the Queen?s Empire by his side, Hamed a Prince and still much more. Then along came Marco Antonio Barrera.
Barrera apparently never go the memo that Hamed was untouchable. Barrera exposed the technical flaws in Hamed?s game, making him look like a telegraphed robot for twelve rounds. Barrera did not knock Hamed out but he boxed circles around him and consistently landed shots on Hamed?s unguarded face. The bout ended with a lopsided decision in the favor of Barrera in spite of a one point deduction that took place in the final round because Barrera put Hamed in a grapple and rammed him into a turnbuckle like he was Randy Savage. If that?s not embarrassing, what is?
Hamed has boxed once since then, scoring a lopsided unanimous decision over Calvo in 2002. There have been whispers about him coming back in the past. At this point, they seem to carry little water. Last year, he crashed his car into others at 90 MPH and seriously injured the people around him. The offense was not the first time he was caught speeding at outrageous speeds. However, this time was the most serious and struck him with consequences that make it more difficult to box, including home detention and monitoring.
