One of the best aspects of boxing in 2013 was the sheer amount of upsets. And it wasn’t debatable decisions — most of these fights saw the favorites getting destroyed in ruthless fashion. Below represents a few of the moments that keep Sweet Science observers abuzz and on their toes when it came to predictions.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Usually, most lists focus on the men. However, the ladies posted two huge upsets in 2013.
IBETH SILVA UD10 AVA KNIGHT 10/26/13
#1 ranked light flyweight Ava Knight hadn’t lost since 2009. It sure wasn’t expected that she’d fall to Ibeth Silva while making her first challenge for the WBC light flyweight title. The entertaining scrap saw the smaller and stronger Silva working the body and taking over with the inside exchanges down the stretch.
[youtube http://youtu.be/D9-rY2qYpu4]**************************
OXANDIA CASTILLO TKO2 HANNA GABRIEL 2/28/13
If Wonder Woman was real, she’d probably have a body like Hanna Gabriel. The Black Amazon had built a devoted following courtesy of her beauty and four-year, five fight KO streak. Earlier this year, the largely unknown 19-year-old Oxandia Castillo was expected to be in over her head. Instead, she simply ran through the more experienced Gabriel in two rounds. The upset win allowed her to jump into a light middleweight unification match against Cecilia Braekhus.
[youtube http://youtu.be/nKppcCJYTL4]
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10. ROBERT STIEGLITZ TKO4 ARTHUR ABRAHAM 3/23/13
Abraham managed to take a unanimous decision over Stieglitz in 2012. This time, Stieglitz jumped on him from the opening round and never stopped throwing punches. Abraham’s eye was closed in short order and his will broken by the fourth. Stieglitz will be looking to end Abraham’s career when they complete the trilogy on March 1.
[youtube http://youtu.be/WMaLOL6D64w]
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9. JUAN ESTRADA SD12 BRIAN VILORIA 4/6/13
Viloria had been the man at flyweight the last few years. In this fight, it was Estrada who was the boxer-puncher who gave Viloria a boxing lesson. Viloria took a bit of a hiding in the later rounds, but hung tough. One of those “split decison in name only” bouts, as Estrada was the clear winner.
[youtube http://youtu.be/RUnG2oe-254]
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8. NICK BRINSON UD10 JORGE MELENDEZ 6/7/13
Melendez was the favorite but Brinson, fueled by being in front of his hometown fans, survived a wild 4th round to pull this one out. Also a “Round of the Year” contender in the three minutes below. A fun brawl.
[youtube http://youtu.be/dqDfcKpSFVc]
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7. SAM SOLIMAN UD12 FELIX STURM (LATER CHANGED TO A NO CONTEST) 2/1/13
It was shocking how the 40-year-old Sam Soliman was able to outwork and outbox former champion Felix Sturm. Then we found out Soliman tested positive for an illegal stimulant, which shouldn’t be too surprising these days. Although the bout was rightly changed to a No-Contest, this still makes the list for how surprising it was when it went down.
[youtube http://youtu.be/VEOJju597hM]
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6. TONY THOMPSON TKO2 DAVID PRICE I 2/23/13
Tony Thompson kicked off his strong 2013 with this surprise KO over previously undefeated David Price. Few saw this one coming.
[youtube http://youtu.be/uOX6w572ItQ]
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5. ALEX LEAPAI UD10 DENIS BOYTSOV 11/23/13
The Germans always “look after” their fighters on the scorecards, so that tells you how badly previously undefeated Denis Boytsov lost this fight by unanimous decision (90-98, 92-96 twice). Boytsov has been a pro since 2004 and the most notable names on his resume are past prime versions of Darnell Wilson and Dominick Guinn. Leapai’s most notable in-ring moment before this was getting KO’d by Kevin Johnson last year, so this was considered another routine easy touch for Boytsov. It was a great, feel-good moment to see the emotional Leapai getting his just due.
[youtube http://youtu.be/FnJWoQWENF4]
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4. SHAWN PORTER UD12 DEVON ALEXANDER 12/7/13
After watching Shawn Porter’s relentless inside game and fast hands in beating Julio Diaz in their rematch, I backed the welterweight upstart to defeat Devon Alexander. Using the Tim Bradley bleuprint, Porter bullied, roughed up and wore out Alexander over the course of the fight. A lot of people didn’t think Porter had the experience. He didn’t need it because he had the right mentality to get the job done.
[youtube http://youtu.be/Ug4pxzadrDc]
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3. TONY THOMPSON TKO5 DAVID PRICE 7/6/13
Thompson proved the first fight was no fluke punch in rising from a knockdown to beat down Price to a fifth round stoppage. Credit to Price for taking the rematch, but the wily vet was too smart and durable for him.
[youtube http://youtu.be/pcD48vztDWc]
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2. MARCOS MAIDANA UD12 ADRIEN BRONER 12/14/13
Don’t count your pay-per-view revenue before it hatches. While Broner was focused on becoming the next Mayweather, he forgot that one of Floyd’s major tenets is not overlooking any opponent. Maidana gave him a vicious and humbling in-ring experience. We await to see if Broner can bounce back and how far Maidana can go in 2014.
[youtube http://youtu.be/x1jOfdtUQqw]
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1. JHONNY GONZALEZ TKO1 ABNER MARES 8/24/13
Just a week before this bout, Richard Schaefer proclaimed that Mares was the #2 Pound 4 Pound fighter in the world behind Mayweather. Mares built his credentials by winning Shopwtime’s bantamweight tournament and picking up the WBC featherweight crown by KO’ing Daniel Ponce de Leon.
Gonzalez is a highly-respected vet, but his best years were considered behind him after getting dropped a losing a technical decision to Ponce de Leon. Clearly the most shocking finish of any high-profile fight of 2013, Gonzalez began Mares’ downfall with one well-placed left hook in the very first round.
[youtube http://youtu.be/O-_PRfYWs1Y]
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 