Which fight was the biggest shocker in 2009?
There were a handful of major boxing upsets sprinkled throughout the year. The year started off with a big one, when Shane Mosley upset Antonio Margarito, finally stopping him in the 9th round. The year was then punctuated with another big upset, when Roy Jones got stopped in 1 round by Danny Green. But was either the biggest boxing upset of the year in 2009?
Upset of the Year: Juan Carlos Salgado TKO 1 Jorge Linares
The biggest upset of the year in boxing was actually neither of these bouts. In October, 27-0, two-time world champion Jorge Linares was defending his super featherweight strap, getting ready to come back to the states in 2010 and get some big time fights. Juan Carlos Salgado didn’t get the memo.
Linares was viewed as one of the best and most complete young boxers in the game. Strong technical skills, stoppage wins in all four of his title fights. But Salgado never gave him a chance to display any of those skills. Knocking him down twice in the first round before getting the stoppage, Salgado beat Linares via a first round TKO.
Linares still may have a future as one of the brightest young fighters in the sport. But he has a lot of rebuilding to do, and it all needs to start for him with a rematch against the guy that halted his hype.
2009 Boxing Upset of the Year Runner-Up: Danny Green TKO1 Roy Jones Jr.
Oh, we were all so excited just a month ago about the prospects of a Bernard Hopkins vs. Roy Jones Jr. rematch. All they needed to do was get past a tune-up, and then the fight would be all but a done deal. Jones already had his fight scheduled, which was a trip to Australia to battle Danny Green. Green jumped on Jones, put him down to the canvas with a right to the top of the head, and then didn’t stop throwing punches until the referee was forced to call off the bout.
2009 Boxing Upset of the Year Third Place: Shane Mosley vs. Antonio Margarito
If you’re talking about the perceptions of the boxing public en masse heading into a fight, this may be the biggest upset of the year. That’s because the Linares fight went unnoticed until he suffered the knockout loss, and while Roy Jones has been enjoying his string of comeback wins against middling opposition, he was far from his best form.
However, in the first big fight of 2009, many people were anticipating a brutal beat down… only being dished out from Margarito’s fists and not Mosley’s. It was supposed to be a last big fight for Mosley before his roundabout comeback was finished for good. But he didn’t get the memo about that one either (what is it about these guys not getting their memos?)
Maybe it was our fault for not giving Mosley enough credit, but it certainly was a big upset, and a huge revival fight for “Sugar” Shane. Perhaps Margarito was still stunned from being caught with illegal hand wraps prior to the bout, but either way Mosley put something serious on him all night long. While Miguel Cotto back-peddled and pot-shotted, trying to outlast Margarito, Mosley came out swinging, hitting Margarito before he could get set, jumping out and hitting him some more before holding him on the inside… and hitting him some more.
Make sure you check out the rest of the 2009 Boxing Awards from ProBoxing-Fans.com. It’s the best way to recap the entire up and down, crazy year in boxing. And if you agree or disagree with any of the recipients, let us know in the comments!
