This past weekend we got to witness one of the biggest upsets not just in boxing but in sports in general. We got to witness Andy Ruiz Jr. stopping Anthony Joshua in the 7th round. Ruiz Jr. was an 11-1 underdog. When you look at him at first glance you would understand. No 6 pack abs or chiseled like Brock Lesnar. Just looks like the ordinary joe down the street. But the Ruiz upset got me thinking, like many of us. We’re do we rank this one on the biggest upsets in sports history?

Matt Serra upsets the great GSP is one of the biggest upsets in UFC history

Way back in UFC history, at UFC 69, Matt Serra was just coming off winning The ultimate fighter 4 reality series that helped set up a title fight against the unstoppable George St. Pierre. Serra was a huge underdog being that GSP was just winning left and right. No one gave Serra a chance except for his team and himself. He continued to tell everyone “ I’m going to shock the world.” Sure enough he did. In the first round he set up a over hand punch and connected with GSP’s head. Then followed up with a few punches on the ground until the ref stepped in and called the fight. Might not be the BIGGEST upset in sports history but definitely the biggest in UFC history.

Down goes Tyson in one of the biggest upsets in sports history

Still one of the biggest upset in sports history, possibly in any sport. When Buster Douglas went into Japan on February 11,1990 to defeat Iron Mike Tyson. As we all know, Mike Tyson was the biggest heavyweight name at that time. Going into the fight Tyson was a 42-1 favorite. Very easily Tyson could of over looked Douglas, and that’s what happened. Douglas had a good game plan by keeping him on the outside and not letting Tyson in on the inside. Eventually this plan worked when in the 10th round Douglas landed a couple jabs followed by an uppercut that stumbled Tyson. Douglas smelt blood and went in and threw some more punches, which put Tyson on the mat, and giving Douglas the win. I still consider this the 2nd biggest upset in sports history.

One game brought a nation together

This upset in sports history will be very hard to beat. The 1980’s u.s.a. hockey team. The 1980 Olympics pitted a college filled U.S. team versus the Soviet team which was filled with professional hockey players. This was the same Soviet team that defeated the NHL all-stars 2 games to one. The Soviet’s were favored going into the Olympics and U.S. wasn’t expected to do much. If they got to the medal rounds it would of been a miracle. When the dust settled between the Soviet’s and U.S., the Americans won 4-3. Stunning not only the Soviet’s but the whole world and becoming the biggest upset in sports history.

Joe Namath guarantee’s an upset win

Another big upset in sports history happened in Super Bowl III. The Jets were coming in as an 18 point underdog and rightfully so. A lot of people felt all the AFL teams were less talented then the NFL teams. The Baltimore Colts should run through them. That did not happen. Actually Joe Namath even predicted a win, and he was right. The Jets controlled most of the game and pulled off the upset 16-7.

So were does the Andy Ruiz Jr. win fall in the “Biggest upsets in sports history”? I would say it definitely fell in the top 5 if not top three. The 1980 U.S. hockey team definitely would be number 1 and Mike Tyson/Buster Douglas falls number 2. Does Ruiz fall in the three spot? I’d say so.

Until next time its your good friend Jimbo signing out.

Follow me @jimbostsports as well as my show @STSportsPodcast

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James Casterline

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