Ike obviously being one guy. Can remember Georgie Smith getting done for beating a elderly man who died 9 months later. I thought it was grunting. That's even worse..
A case in point being Featherstone Rovers v HullFC in 1983....Featherstone fielded 12 coal miners from the local area and a sheet metal worker from York and beat the might of the multi-nationed, fully professional Hull. If you catch lads young enough and keep them interested then anything can happen.
Anybody that mentions Mike Tyson or Prince Naseem Hamed need to understand the thread. Mike Tyson no matter what anybody says was the youngest ever heavyweight champion, the first heavyweight to Unified all the tiles, and his first title reign was one of the most destructive and inspiring titles reigns or series of heavyweight fights since..? Sonny Liston's destructive rise and George Foreman;s destructive rise and defences. Both Mike Tyson and Prince Naseem Hamed where world champions that inspired and influenced a generation, and are arguable the two biggest fighters of the past 30 years. This thread should be about those fighters that did not even reach the top, the fighters that some of us may not know! Talented amateurs, young professional fighters that just disappeared into the dark streets! Thats what this thread should be about.
3 bouts means nothing, the most important talent in boxing is the talent at working hard. If you haven't been in a gym much you may not have an idea what real talent is. In boxing being talented can leave you punch drunk and penniless you have to be really talented.
Lee Siner- Beat Macklin and Tony Jeffries, National ABA champion J.P Carney- Beat Kell Brook twice (stopped him), National ABA champion Happens to alot of lads from Liverpool
Tony Ayala is a guy who fits this thread big time. Could have been a potentially atg talent, but ****ed it all up with drugs, and serious crime. Waste of talent, but what a ****.
Reminds me of that guy who was in that St Saviours documentary a few years ago, Dean Murphy i think his name was. Supposed to have been a really talented boxer but threw it all away from what ive heard.
Plenty of these stories. My trainer is from Scotland and one of the lads from his gym while on a tour abroad got in a fight in Germany or somewhere knocked the guy out and got a year ban by the ABA due to the embarassment. During the year ban he gave up and that was the end of his potential career.
Paul Spadafora Ricardo Williams jr Obviously I don't know them but both were great talents who found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Who knows what might have been.
I'm pretty sure Valero 'coming out' performance in the amateurs was when he beat Bojado; massive surprise at the time.
Frankie Gomez will be another Panchito, I think. A very good prospect at one point but he seems to have been distracted by a few things and it's hurt his progress.