One of the Best Underdog Stories in Boxing

4 Submitted by on Wed, 28 October 2020, 04:20

Boxing matches can be very unpredictable. Great athletes can have their vulnerable moments just as mediocre can have their big days. But sometimes the quality difference between two boxers seems so big, so pronounced that predicting the result feels easy and almost certain in one’s favor.

Often, the stronger, experienced and technically gifted fighter wins but the results don’t always follow probability and once in a while an underdog comes to defy expectations completely and stun the world with an amazing feat. Therefore, backing an underdog through virgin bet promo code is not always a bad idea. Because; if you win then you will land a big amount of money.

Nobuhiro Ishida vs. James Kirkland

Ishida started boxing early and enjoyed mixed results in his career. Winning the Super Welterweight and Interim WBA World title was his career highlights but in that period he lost just as many matches as he won. Notably, he lost against a C-level fighter Rigoberto Alvarez in 2010.

Soon he landed his biggest career fight with James Kirkland, a famous undefeated boxer who was returning to the ring after almost two years layoff. The contest was heavily in favor of Kirkland and Ishida looked to serve a great way for easing Kirkland back into the ring. The expectation was Ishida would give some rounds to Kirkland before he prevails with his formidable punching power.

However, what happened at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in 2011 shocked everyone and forced all to look with more respect at Ishida. He not only won the bout but won it in a dramatic manner when a chopping left hand 22 seconds in put Kirkland down and at 1:13 and a right hand sent him reeling into the ropes. Following the third knockdown, referee Joe Cortez stopped the slaughter at 1:52. In his American debut, the Osaka, Japan native pulled off a stunner. Ishida was a +1,500 underdog.

The fight was a major setback for Kirkland who being talked-about for super fights against fighters like Gennady Golovkin, but with the KO loss saw himself having questions about his chin and his training for the bout, as it was his first big match without trainer Anne Wolfe. He ended up getting a high profile match against Saul Alvarez in 2015, a fight that ended with Kirkland getting knocked out in spectacular fashion in the third round.

Nobuhiro Ishida went on to fights with Paul Williams and Dmitry Pirog, but never again had the kind of impactful win like he had with Kirkland. Ishida ended his career fighting all the way up at heavyweight, losing a split decision for the Japanese world title. Kirkland, now 35, still is fighting and is again on the comeback trail. Boxing is full of upsets and while most long-shot odds don’t come through, sometimes, big upsets do happen.

 

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4 Responses to "One of the Best Underdog Stories in Boxing"
  1. Anonymous says:

    I remember before this fight that Max Kellerman was talking about Kirkland beating GGG lol. This guy was a light hitter and he stopped him easy.

  2. classicboxing says:

    They were talking about how light hitting this guy was lol. But the story would be better if Kirkland ever became something, but maybe this upset stopped it. Who knows.

  3. I hope Kirkland can be even better!

  4. skribbl io says:

    Information was useful to me, I searched a lot about it