Fragile fighters who won titles after they looked like they were done?

John Ruiz nearly got decapitated by tua then went on to be a two time heavyweight champ. Funny that tua never managed to get a belt.

Sergio Martinez liked the occasional trip to the canvas but was successful

Hassan ndam was one who always looked a bit fragile and ready to bounced off the canvas but was a champ

Groves always seemed fragile, even back against the like of kenny Anderson.


Jermain Taylor is clearly damaged from boxing so it’s quite amazing he came back after the Abraham KO and won The IBF title 5 years later

 

The Ali that beat Leon Spinks in the rematch looked fragile and done during the first fight. To be honest, Ali was shot to bits by that time but Leon Spinks was not championship level and, if the stories are to be believed, he did not live the life between the two fights.

 

Zab Judah beating Spinks, then mabuza in 2011.

 

Compared to most people most boxers aren't fragile

 

This was a very good shout.

 

In fairness he didn't have the greatest mandible but he was able to avoid enough punishment using his length and cracking power to win of course.

 

Linares beat Kevin Mitchell, Anthony Crolla twice, Luke Campbell and Mercito Gesta. Not the best but certainly not a bad run of fights having won the WBC, WBA and The Ring belt in that period.

 

Mike weaver vs John Tate

 

Decent, yes, but not real top contender caliber, with the arguable exception of Campbell. And I say that as a huge fan of both Mitchell and Crolla. Gesta is horrible. Campbell I'm very familiar with from having shared a gym and cheered his Olympic run; that's the best of Linares' wins all things considered, even if, unlike Crolla, Campbell is yet to put hands on a world title of sorts.

Certainly, Linares' bounceback can't compete with Khan's or Wlad's. Those were genuine world level reversals of fortune.

 

He didn’t win a title but Patterson actually had a fine career after the Liston KO’s

 

Vince Phillip's against Koysta. I didn't see that one coming.

 

I admit I had written him off a couple of times even before that big win. His fight v Izzy Vasquez is one of my faves!

 

I'll begale ye of a man that hailed of the land of the maple leaf, snow, buxom strippers and poutine. Eric Lucas was the name, a 168lber with a record of 39-8-3 with 15 KOs, they say you can't trust a man with two first names and they were right for that. He was a competent boxer, capable at the top level, but his downfall in some of big fights was getting clocked and stopped, having been so 5 times in 8 losses. After being soundly outboxed by contender Bryant Brannon, a man with a comparatively awesome name because of double alliteration, he had a further dip. Losing two of his next four, being dropped by the bigger and better Tiozzo en route to a decision and being stopped by the mighty then-unbeaten Roy Hones Jr. Three years passed of obscurity, Segundo Mercado being the only half notable names, he was placed in a WBC eliminator with Glenn Catley. The chin didn't hold up to the precious end yet again and he got stopped in the 12th. Now this is where it gets weird. Two years pass, he only has one fight in the interim. Then he gets called up for a vacant title shot at the WBC against the very same man he lost to in the eliminator for a shot. He actually KO'd Catley in the 6th, then defended his title three times against Dingaan Thabela, Vinny Paz and Omar Sheika respectively. He then lost a split decision to the fellow 168 great Markus Beyer, being stopped in the 6th in the fight after in a bid for an interim version of his lost WBC title against then 16-1 super middlweight Danny Green. Then he lost all his next notable fights, being stopped by Kessler in the 10th, Librado Andrade retired him in the 8th and then he promptly and appropriately retired.
He was a champion with multiple defences of his WBC title, he wasn't the sturdiest or hardest hitting but he made a good career out of this boxing thing and there's not much more he could have achieved without putting in a superhuman effort.

 

No, it isn't the same level of comeback from a loss earlier in their careers as the other two but it's worthy of note at the least. Sure the title of the thread asks for fragile fighters who came back from early losses where they didn't look up to scratch to only win a title.