Talented Boxers who went the wrong way

No boxers, but I know loads of lads who were superb Rugby League players. The transition from super-talented amateur to fully-fledged professional is a difficult one in any sport.

 

That blackistani lad from Ingle's gym

 

I know a bloke like that. A fella from my estate i used to box with in ST. Marys abc in Tallaght called Declan Murphy. He was the best fighter to ever come out of that Gym hands down, won Irish youth LWW titles at 15/16 and fought for Ireland in international tournaments like the four nations and Euro's.

****ed it all away to get pissed and stoned with his mates, by the time he was 20 had given up boxing and was working some kind of trade job. I spoke to him about a year ago and he told me it was the worst decision he ever made and something he'll regret for the rest of his life.

Just to show how good he was, he beat both Dean Byrne & Darren Sutherland in the youths and his mate Ciaran Bates who wasn't half as good regularly makes it to the Semi/finals of the nationals and boxes for Ireland. If Deco had of dedicated himself there's no doubt in my mind he would've went far.

 

I could have had a decent career in boxing but thankfully drink and drugs saved me.

I would add Kell brook to any list of wasted talents - he was a fine world level operator until he got a strength and conditioning coach to reduce him to an injury plagued has been.

 

Rugby league is one of the hardest.

Especially in West Yorkshire, where there's so much competition.

 

How about talented boxers ruined by greedy promoters and managers as well,let alone
Boxers who can't box cos they can't get dates

As was mentioned earlier there are maybe thousands like the lad you mention but far far less who have success,he is best of looking at the rewards ahead of him

 

I agree, but it's not just that. It's similar to Boxing in that it's mainly a working class lad's sport. Good friend of mine was chief scout for a superleague club, I always told him that there's 13 lads in any city in Yorkshire who could beat an Aussie side if you got them early enough, coached them properly and kept them out of the ****. He disagreed, but it's an opinion I'll always stand by.

When I played there were kids I knew who even at 13 would be turning up on a Sunday morning with an outrageous hangover from the night before and still taking the **** out of every other player on the pitch. And that's before I even start on the lads who would have made outrageously good players but never picked up a ball.

 

Michael Maguire is one name that always pops up over recent years.

He's making another comeback next month.

 

I think Scott Harrison is the best British example. Scotland's first ever 2x world champion. Won some great fights against great opponents and was all set for huge things like unification fights.

Couldn't leave the booze alone though and kept getting into scraps abroad. Having fights in the street when you're pissed means just a night in the cells and a fine over here, in places like Spain it equals long jail sentences.

Completely threw away his career. Feel for the bloke if he had depression but he didn't do enough to try and get himself back on track, at least not until it was too late. Him fighting now aged 35 with a ****ed liver and still loads of legal problems is beyond sad.

 

Another thing... (whilst I'm on a particular hobby horse of mine) one of the other things that RL and boxing have in common is that the money is dire at the beginning, in fact with RL it's still not great at the end. Being a pro isn't enough, you've got to REALLY make it.

Friend I mentioned previously signed one of the top talents in world RL a few years back (he was on the list of top 25 young players in the world I read in some article or other)

He was signed on a grand total of £130 a week

 

Used to play football at a high level at youth level, was at Hibs but couldn't stand the culture. Full of wannabe alkies (just my experience, not generalising, I left and stayed at school instead. Most of them ended up doing feck all in football anyway.

 

What's his name? I recall hearing about him and he was featured on transworld sport (prospects) on channel 4.

What happened to him?

 

Could we say James Kirkland? I've heard of his story but not in depth to definitely add him to this list.

PS. I know his career is far from over, so maybe I am jumping the gun a bit here.

 

Francisco Bojado is the classic example here. Man, did he look the goods at one stage.