Completely Shot Fighters With A Title

Bingo .. after defeating Stewart ... done.

 

The post Rossman version of Galindez was ripe .. Post Baer Braddock on a two year layoff with arthritis was ready.

 

Lavander Johnson was pretty shot when he beat Zoff for the vacant IBF 135 lb title.

He died after his next bout from a blood clot on the brain.

 

Nope.

The 13 round war with Jean Marie Emebe in his first defense in late '86 left him shot. He still had something in the tank after winning the title in the first Stewart fight

But yes, he was shot when he fought Stewart the second time.

 

Excellent call .. you are correct.

 

This was pretty close to being shot;

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First one I thought of. Curry's prime was when he was duking it out with Benitez and Monroe Brooks. He was well-chewed by the time he got his title shot and Leroy Haley was made for him. Even Jesse Reid, his trainer, said by the time he defended against Billy Costello he was throwing punches like a girl.

 

45 year old George Foreman.
2000 Evander Holyfield

 

Edwin Rosario, by the time he beat Loreto Garza was running on fumes and had been for some time.

I've seen it claimed his alcohol and substance abuse may have started as early as his first world title win in 83 when he was forced into time off due to a broken wrist. Apparently he also became a bit hot and cold with his training and conditioning as time went by. He durability was also declining noticeably in his later bouts.

2 years after losing badly to Chavez he faced Anthony Jones (who 3-4 years later challenged for Whitakers titles) a half promising young boxer type from Kronk. After a bad 1st round Jones Manny made Jones go at Rosario and he was actually outfighting him which would not have happened years prior. Rosario's punches even seemed to lack sting until a right hand bomb completely changed the fight.

After the fight summations were

He’s gone, he’s shot,” said Emanuel Steward. But the trainer was talking about the new champion, not Andrew Jones.

And it was true. Just 26, Edwin Rosario’s ability to compete at the highest level was a shaky proposition at best. A few years before, he was a complete fighter, one of the best in the game, but the reflexes had eroded and the skills had faded.

“He knows he’s over the hill,” confided his translator to Steve Farhood before the Jones fight. “He has four kids. When he wakes up in the morning, he’s a father. Chavez, Whitaker, they love boxing. Edwin is sick of it.”

Rosario immediately lost to the title to Juan Nazario, a guy he'd defended against and stopped 3 long years before.

Two fights later he battered Loreto Garza, quite a decent fighter into defeat in 3. Rosario came out hard and caught Garza with a right hand just 10-12 seconds into the bout and dropped him. Garza never truly recovered from the blow despite lasting into the 3rd round.

Rosario still had that punch, if not much else. He was immediately dethroned by Akinobu Hiranaka in 1 round and he also lost the title immediately.

Two fights later he was stopped by Frankie Randall who he had beat in an excellent fight years earlier. Not much later Randall rolled Chavez.

He then retired for 4 years and after kicking the drug and alcohol habit won 5 bouts against light opposition in a very short period before being found dead in bed very likely from his previous abuses. One mob had actually popped him into the #10 slot for Oscars crown.

It's a helluva sad story actually. Rosario was one of my absolute faves.

 

A retired Willard who still had the strap at 37 because of the Great War facing Dempsey. He had no business in the ring.

 

Thanks and a very Happy New Year to you Sal, and everyone else.

 

Whenever a challenger wins the crown in dubious circumstances, you have a big chance of this happening.

Luis Santana - Terry Norris
Jorge Vaca - Lloyd Honeyghan

Donald Curry was pretty shot when he won the WBC Super Welterweight title over Gianfranco Rosi in 1988.

I also thought Simon Brown was near the end when he shocked Terry Norris in 1993.

Aaron Pryor was abusing drugs for at least three years (1982-85) before either vacating or being stripped of his title. His performances got progressively worse during this period but he still somehow retained the title.

As mentioned earlier, a pretty much shot Muhummad Ali took advantage of an undertrained and disogranized Leon Spinks' corner and used his experience and ring savvy to lift the title one more time. During this time he would be 50/50 against anyone in the top 20 as his physical skills were mostly gone by this point. The Shavers fight took much of whatever was left of him.

Great topic!