Fighters you thought were destined to be world champions but failed

They fall under 4 categories

1. World level Amateurs who turned pro too late (Many Cubans and Russians fit this bill)
2. World level Amateurs who didn’t take the pro game seriously and/or didn’t have the style to be great professionals. (Frankie Gavin)
3. Professionals who passed the eye test early on and looked great but had hidden weaknesses that only showed up later. (David Price)
4. Professionals who passed the eye test but had poor promotional backing and only got their step up or challenge fight when they were past prime.

You also have overrated amateurs who were never up to much but got hyped and then exposed. Audley Harrison springs to mind in this category.

 

Curtis Stevens and Darnell Boone might have easily been the worst managed boxers in the past 20 years. Darnell Boone if managed right and not taken so many 1 week or 3 day notice fights would have been a champion. And as you said Stevens should have started at 147-154 instead of 168-160.

 

David Price

 

Of recent heavyweights whose careers are winding down, I'd have to go with Povetkin; it looked like he might finally manage it in 2016 against Wilder.

 

Thought Kirk Johnson had all the tools to grab a belt, but he seemed to lack mental toughness.

 

Thats a completely different ballfield to having 3 titles.

 

The #1 fight I was annoyed about not going down. Followed Povetkin since mid amateur career and really was looking fwd to that Wilder fight ... win or lose.

 

He was a champion at 154lbs in the end. Wasn't a long reigning champ but a champ nonetheless.

 

Seems like there are so many fighters who are world champions these days, with so many governing bodies and belts and titles etc...that it is increasingly losing any cache.

 

Panchito Bojado.. i would have bet on it.

 

Another one that came to mind was Ricardo Williams Jr.

 

David Tua - its crazy how Ruiz was able to snag some belts and Tua never did
Eric Harding - before the second Tarver fight, i thought Harding would eventually win a title either vacated by Roy Jones or at another weight class
Angel Vasquez - featherweight who could crack and featured on Tuesday night fights

Some have mentioned Bojado, and thats a good one. He had a lot of backing at the time and seemed to be pushed as a future star.

 

Price before he ran into Tony Thompson. I thought he'd at least get a title shot anyway. Likewise Helenius before Chisora.

 

Probably would have except for the duck. Later court case lost by Deontay Wigeon.

 

I really thought that Amir Imam would have gone far. Looked like he had the good and I even thought that he would have given Crawford a tough fight. Still disappointed in how he turned out after the beating he took from Granados.