COMMENTARY : Douglas’ Win Is Not Biggest Upset, but It Does Rank in Top 10

Immediately following James (Buster) Douglas’ stunning knockout of Mike Tyson, an announcer on HBO proclaimed, “This just may be the biggest upset in the history of boxing.”

Later, sportscasters around the nation amended Jim Lampley’s remark, stating, “It may be the greatest upset in the history of sports.”

It sounded good at the time. But was it really?

Certainly, the victory by Douglas was shocking. The mere fact the fight lasted two rounds defied logic. But back to the question: Was it the greatest upset of all time?

I have pondered that over the last few days. In a furious search through a variety of record books, I have concluded it was not. But it was close.

Here are the 10 greatest upsets in sports history:

1. U.S. hockey team beat the Soviets in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. The stirring victory ignited a nation. It’s one thing for an unknown fighter to beat the champion, but here were the world’s most powerful nations battling in the Olympics. Given no chance going in, the U.S. team pulled the shocker, which will forever be remembered as one of the greatest moments in sports history.

2. New York Jets over Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. The Jets, led by Joe Namath, were given no chance in the 1969 game. The odds makers rated them 18-point underdogs. But Namath led a stirring 16-7 victory, shocking the sports world and changing the face of professional football forever.

3. Cassius Clay over Sonny Liston. Liston entered the heavyweight fight in 1964 a 7-1 favorite against the Louisville lip. When Liston failed to answer the bell in the seventh round in Miami Beach, Clay (later to become Muhammad Ali) leaped into the air, proclaiming, “I am the greatest.” For nearly 14 years, he kept his word.

4. New York Mets winning the 1969 World Series. The year before, the Mets finished in ninth place in the National League, 24 games out of first. But not only did they shock all of baseball by winning the pennant, they bested the Baltimore Orioles, four games to one, in the World Series.

5. Carnegie Tech over Notre Dame in football in 1926. The Irish entered the game 8-0 and regarded as the best team in America. Carnegie Tech had lost to New York University and Washington and Jefferson. Knute Rockne thought so little of the opponent, he allowed an assistant, Hunk Anderson, to coach the game. Rockne went to Chicago to scout the Army-Navy game. Carnegie shocked Notre Dame, 19-0. Rockne showed up the following week.

6. Leon Spinks over Muhammad Ali in 1978. Spinks was a 6-1 underdog, fighting in only his eighth professional bout. But he battered the champ and was awarded the decision in Las Vegas.

7. Villanova over Georgetown in 1985 NCAA basketball. Villanova barely made the NCAA field, so it was shocking when Rollie Massimino’s Wildcats slew Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas, 66-64.

8. Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson. Douglas was given no chance in this fight in Toyko. Las Vegas bookies refused to put a price on the bout, although some books listed it as 40-1. But the fighter from Ohio knocked out Tyson in the 10th round.

9. Texas-Western over Kentucky for the 1966 NCAA basketball championship. The school now known as UTEP pulled one of the greatest upsets of all time, when it defeated Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky team, 72-65.

10. Paul Hornung winning the Heisman Trophy in 1956. The occasion marked the first time since 1935--the first year the trophy was awarded--that the winner was not a consensus All-American. Notre Dame finished 2-8 that season, including a 40-0 loss to Oklahoma, 47-14 to Michigan State, 33-7 to Navy and 48-8 to Iowa. Not only that, the competition for the Heisman was fierce. The other contenders were John Majors of Tennessee, Jim Brown of Syracuse and John David Crow of Texas A&M.;