2022 Boxing Upset Of The Year: Hector Luis Garcia UD12 Chris Colbert

2021 winner: George Kambosos Jnr. SD12 Teofimo Lopez

Before this year, most would not have an opinion or could not put a name to the face of Hector Luis Garcia, now as we enter into 2023, he might just be the best 130 lber, and is in a pay-per-view fight against Gervonta “Tank” Davis. 

While the man Davis beat Chris Colbert, someone Showtime seemingly took a liking to, put in main event spots, and was building towards some type of big fight, hasn’t fought since his February 2022 loss to Garcia. 

To set the stage, Roger Gutierrez, the WBA champion, had to withdraw from the scheduled fight, with Colbert on rather late notice. Garcia took the fight and then whispers started. Sean Zittel of FightHype.com commented about how “big” Garcia was, and others commented about Garcia’s demeanor in camp and during fight week events. Garcia might have been the b-side to Colbert in this fight, but he didn’t behave like it.

Colbert, who had called out a slew of fighters prior to the bout, and had his chicken restaurant on his trunks, just had no answer for the pressure Garcia brought. What made the outcome so shocking was, not just did Garcia beat Colbert, but it didn’t look Colbert would ever beat Garcia, which was just as jarring, because most saw Colbert as a world-class fighter. If not, the world and television networks were telling us that. 

Garcia essentially took everything Colbert worked for in one fight, and put himself in the conversation for fighter of the year. 

Honorable Mentions

Dmitry Bivol UD12 Canelo Alvarez – Should this be the upset of the year? I say no! Why? Too many people thought Bivol could win for it to be an upset. Bivol was only doubted, because of the machine behind Canelo, and the politics of the sport of boxing, less so because of his talent. Still a huge underdog moment. 

Dakota Linger KO Josue Vargas – A lesser-known fighter gave Josue Vargas a lot to think about, as he stopped the Top Rank fighter when an overhand right hand landed. This came mere fights removed from Jose “Chon” Zepeda knocking out Josue Vargas in one round. A shocking result, as Vargas was expected to box well and stay busy. 

Jurmain McDonald KO2 Evan Holyfield – An unknown fighter, Jurmain McDonald knocked out Evander Holyfield’s son, Evan Holyfield. The fight occurred on a prelim on FITE.TV that wasn’t watched by a ton of people. 

Jimmy Kelly UD10 Kanat Islam – Jimmy Kelly outboxed Kanat Islam. Islam was undefeated and was once rumored to face Canelo Alvarez. This led to Kelly fighting Jaime Munguia in a marquee fight.

Lucas Browne KO1 Junior Fa – Browne, who was seen as over the hill, and past his prime, knocked out Junior Fa, an emerging young fighter, on the Kambosos Jnr. vs. Haney I fight card.