Currently ranked #5 in the world by BoxRec, heavyweight boxer Anthony ‘AJ’ Joshua is a former unified world heavyweight champion, but lost his titles, for the second time, by unanimous decision, to Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 25, 2021. He also lost a rematch with the unbeaten Ukrainian, by split decision, at the Jeddah Superdome, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on August 20, 2022, thereby taking his professional record to 24-3-0, including 21 knockouts. It currently stands at 28-4-0 as result of 4 further wins (including one against former UFC fighter Francis Ngannou and a recent September 2024 loss against Daniel Dubois in a fight for the IBF World Heavyweight title).
The first time Joshua lost his titles, and his hitherto unbeaten 22-0-0 record, at Madison Square Garden, New York on June 1, 2019, he was on the receiving end of one of the major upsets in boxing history. Making his debut in the United States, in a fight in which he had, frankly, little to gain, Joshua was knocked down four times by his unfancied opponent, Andy Ruiz Jr., before losing by technical knockout in the seventh round.
Ruiz Jr. took what was described as the ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ when the highly-regarded Jarrell Miller was denied a boxing license by the New York State Athletic Commission after testing positive for a variety of prohibited substances. He was identified as a ‘potential banana skin’ for Joshua by one pundit, but generally regarded as having minimal chance of beating the Briton, who was priced up at a prohibitive 1/25 to retain his titles.
Nevertheless, the fact that Joshua was defending a pre-fight record of 22-0-0 bears testament to his early success and meteoric rise to the top of his profession. The Watford-based fighter made his professional debut at the O2 Arena, London on October 5, 2013, when he needed just 2 minutes and 47 seconds to register a first-round technical knockout of his opponent, Emmanuel Leo.
After a succession of early stoppages, Joshua was taken beyond three rounds for the first time by compatriot Dillon Whyte, again at the O2 Arena, London, on December 12, 2015; Joshua won that bout by technical knockout in round seven. It was not until the eight fights later, at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, that defending WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker took him the distance but, even then, Joshua won by unanimous decision.
There are a few contenders for what was arguably the worst leg in the history of professional darts and, weirdly, all of them involve an Australian. New South Walean Simon ‘The Wizard’ Whitlock has twice staked his claim at the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship at Alexandra Palace, London. In December, 2018, he and opponent Martin Schindler missed 22 darts at a double between them in the third leg of their first round match, although Whitlock did average 87.42 and eventually won the match 3-1. In December, 2022, Whitlock and Christian Perez again missed nine darts apiece at a double in the third leg of the deciding set in their first round match, which Whitlock won on double 1 after 30 darts.
However, the player generally considered to be responsible for worst leg in the history of professional darts was Australian former professional Anthony ‘Fleety’ Fleet, who did so on his one and only appearance at the British Darts Organisation (BDO) World Championship at Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. Drawn against former BDO World Champion Martin ‘Wolfie’ Adams in the first round, Fleet was clearly overcome by nerves, to the extent that he not only had problems throwing his darts accurately, but also passing them from hand to hand and, at one point, even standing steadily at the oche.
His first twelve darts yielded 26, 41, 60 and 60, followed by an excrutiating passage of play in which he hit single 1, single 1, dropped his third dart on the floor and, having taken a moment to compose himself, hit treble 1 for a total of 5. At that point, commentator David Croft remarked, ‘A long way to go yet, but one of the worst starts I’ve ever seen a player make to a match here’. He wasn’t kidding; Fleet threw his next dart into double one.
Further haphazard throws of 22, 80 and 11 followed, before Adams finally put him out of his misery, although he needed 26 darts to do so, having missed three darts at double 12 and another at double 6. Fleet never recovered, losing the match 3-0 without winning a leg and recording a paltry three-dart average of 65.34.
At the time of writing, the British golfer who has won the most major championships is Sir Nicholas Alexander ‘Nick’ Faldo, who recorded his sixth and final victory in the Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia in April, 1996. Indeed, in the history of golf, just two players from outside the US – South African Gary Player, who won nine majors in total, and Jerseyman Harry Vardon, who won seven – have won more major championships than Faldo.
Faldo had already finished in the top ten in the Open Championship five times before winning the Claret Jug for the first time at Muirfield, in East Lothian, Scotland in July, 1987. On that occasion, he shot 68, 69, 71, 71, including 18 consecutive pars in his final round, to win by a single stroke from American Paul Azinger.
Nearly two years later, in April, 1989, Faldo won the Masters Tournament for the first time, in a sudden-death playoff with American Scott Hoch, after shooting a final-round 65. The following year, he won his second Green Jacket, defeating another American, Raymond Floyd, again in a sudden-death playoff. Three months later, in July, 1990, Faldo won his second Open Championship at the so-called ‘home of golf’, The Old Course at St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The late Payne Stewart, who finished tied for second, five strokes behind Faldo, said later, ‘Nick wasn’t going to make any mistakes. I played a good game, but not good enough. He simply played too well.’
In July, 1992, Faldo scored an emotional third victory in the Open Championship, back at Muirfield, where he surrendered the lead – which he had held, by four shots, after 54 holes – to American John Cook on the back nine on Sunday, but rallied to win by a single stroke. Perhaps his most famous, or infamous, major championship victory came back at Augusta in April, 1996. Australian Greg Norman led by six strokes heading into the final round but, following a calamitous 78, during which he found water at the twelfth and sixteenth, was emphaically beaten by Faldo, who birdied the final hole for a closing 67.
One of the epic battles / fights mentioned in the previous memorable boxing trilogies post. The phrase they don’t make em like this anymore comes to mind, as Muhammad Ali takes on Joe Frazier for a third time, in a boxing trilogy for the ages!