Boxing provided an upset on Saturday when Andy Ruiz Jr. clocked Anthony Joshua in a heavyweight title fight. The history of upsets in sports are long and storied.
Giants shock Patriots
The New York Giants came into Super Bowl XLII as 12-point underdogs against the undefeated Patriots. The Giants were a wild-card team. The Giants got the ball down 14-10 with 2:39 left. On third-and-5 from the Giants’ 44 Eli Manning escaped the grasp of three different Patriots players before launching a pass to David Tyree—who leaped up and caught the ball with one hand, securing it against his helmet. The play kept the drive alive, and it culminated in Plaxico Burress catching the winning touchdown to give the Giants a 17-14 victory.
Jets stun Colts
Joe Namath predicted it would happen and it did. The 18-point underdog New York Jets shocked the vaunted Baltimore Colts and the sports world with a 16-7 victory in Super Bowl III.
Chiefs upend Vikings
A year later, Hank Stram and the Kansas City Chiefs added another upset by an AFL team against the old-guard NFL by downing the Minnesota Vikings.
Pirates win 1960 World Series
The Pirates won the 1960 World Series against the legendary Yankees in Game 7, on a ninth inning, homer by Bill Mazeroski off Ralph Terry at Forbes Field.
Soderling upends Nadal
Rafael Nadal was looking to become the first player to win five consecutive French Open titles. In May, 2009, Robin Soderling, a 23rd- seeded Swede, who had never won a third-round match at any major tournament, handed Nadal a 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) defeat.
Billy Mills wins Olympic gold
In 1964, Billy Mills, a virtual unknown, he outran the competition in the last 100 meters of the 10,000-meter race and took home a gold. He became the first American to win that event.
Ruiz KOs Joshua
Andy Ruiz Jr. was a 30-1 underdog when he stepped into the ring for his heavyweight title fight with Anthony Joshua. The odds did not matter to Ruiz, who dropped Joshua multiple times before exiting with three heavyweight championships at Madison Square Garden.
Buster Douglas KOs Mike Tyson
Buster Douglas was a 42-1 underdog against Mike Tyson in Tokyo. It mattered not as he flatted the Iron One
UMBC rocks Virginia
A 16 seed had not defeated a one-seed in the NCAA tournament in 135 tries. UMBC made it 1-135 as it shocked Virginia in the 2018 NCAA tournament.
Villanova upsets Georgetown
Rollie Massimino and Villanova played close to the perfect game in the 1985 NCAA tournament final, shocking John Thompson, Patrick Ewing and Georgetown, 66-64.
Chaminade jars Virginia
On December 23, 1983, Chaminade, a small school in Hawaii, topped top-ranked Virginia 77-72 in the Maui Invitational. Chaminade’s victory over two-time NCAA Player of the Year Ralph Sampson and the Cavaliers remains astonishing.
North Carolina State upends Houston
Lorenzo Charles gathered Dereck Whittenburg’s prayer near the final buzzer and dropped it in the basket to give North Carolina State an improbable victory over Houston and the NCAA championship in 1983.
1969 New York Mets
Hard to believe it is 50 years since the Amazin’ Mets stunned the Baltimore Orioles in five games in the 1969 World Series. One of the most charming, Cinderella stories in all over sports.
Roberta Vinci stuns Serena Williams
Roberta Vinci’s defeat of Serena Williams prevented Williams from having a chance to become the first player since Steffi Graf to successfully complete a calendar Grand Slam. That dream evaporated when she lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the 2015 semifinals.
Red Sox overcome 3-0 deficit in ALCS
The Boston Red Sox were all but done. They trailed the New York Yankees, 3-0, in the 2004 ALCS. No baseball team had overcome such a deficit. The Red Sox rallied and conquered the Bombers and history with four consecutive victories.
Harvard shocks Stanford
On March 14, 1998, during the first round of the 1998 NCAA Division I Women’s tournament 16th seeded Harvard jarred top-seeded Stanford, 71-67, making it the first time in the history of college basketball, both men and women, that a 16-seed defeated a one-seed.
Russia wins 1972 Olympic gold medal
The United States thought it had won the gold medal in men’s basketball in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. However, officials continually found ways to put time back on the clock and Russia eventually got a basket at the buzzer to claim gold. The United States players refused the silver medals because of the controversial nature of the loss.
Country House ‘wins’ Kentucky Derby
When your number is put up at 65-1 it is an upset even if you didn’t cross the finish line first. Country House finished second to Maximum Security in the 2019 Kentucky Derby. A couple of objections later and Country House was getting his picture taken as the winner of the Run for the Roses.
Mine That Bird actually wins Kentucky Derby
Mine That Bird was overlooked at 50-1 in the 2009 Kentucky Derby. Calvin Borel rode the long shot along the rail to a stunningly easy victory.
Texas Western captures NCAA championship
A college basketball stunner than stands the test of time saw Don Haskins guide Texas Western to an NCAA championship victory over Kentucky in the 1966 NCAA tournament.
Leon Spinks stuns Muhammad Ali
It was a meeting of former Olympians in 1978 when Leon Spinks, in his eighth pro bout, stunned Muhammad Ali via split-decision.
Stanford shocks USC
Jim Harbaugh and Stanford were 41-point underdogs in 2007 against Pete Carroll and USC. The game was tight but in the end, the Cardinal got a late-game winning drive for a 24-23 stunner.
Rulon Gardner gains gold
Alexander Kerelin came into the 2000 Summer Olympics without dropping a match in the last 13 years. Rulon Gardner was not impressed and he came away with gold for the USA in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Upset upsets Man O’War
The great Man O’War lost one race in his incredible career. The horse that defeated the legendary Thoroughbred had a perfect name: Upset. The only loss in the 21-race career for Man O’War came in the Sanford Memorial, at Saratoga, which is known as the Graveyard of Favorites.
Onion stuns Secretariat
Secretariat was a Triple Crown winner. Nobody told Onion, who went off at 9-2 in the 1973 Whitney Handicap and stunned Big Red in another race that saw another legend lose at Saratoga.
Appalachian State rules the Big House
Appalachian State came to the Big House in 2007 and pretty much everyone expected a blowout. The Mountaineers didn’t listen to the so-called experts and stunned the Wolverines, 34-32, in one of the biggest upsets in college football.
Nuggets rock Sonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were the top seed in the West coming into the opening round of the playoffs against the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets. The Sonics won the first two games of the series only to see the lead disappear and then have them fall to Denver in the fifth and deciding game of the 1994 series.
Leicester City wins 2015-16 Premier League title
Leicester’s run during the 2015-16 Premier League season may go down as the biggest longshot championship in sports history. The club defied the 5,000-1 odds of winning the title to clinch its first trophy.
Holly Holm flattens Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey was believed to be invincible in the Octagon. Then she ran into Holly Holm in 2015 in Australia and everything changed. By the end of the first round, Rousey was bloodied. In round two, Holm connected with a kick to the side of Rousey’s neck, knocking her out.
USA Hockey Miracle on Ice
The upset by which all are defined. The United States hockey team stunned Russia, 4-3, on a Friday in Lake Placid in an Olympic semifinal. The Russian were beyond elite and considered a sure thing for the gold. They didn’t advance to the title match as the United States put on an amazing performance. The USA went on to defeat Finland and capture the gold medal.
