I don’t think this fits the term tragedy. A tragedy is something that occurs — a car accident, a tornado or hurricane or landslide. This was an atrocity. An atrocity is is perpetrated. In other words, there’s a guilty party or parties. Same was a murder or any other assault. What happened to Billy Collins was tragic but it was an overt act committed by two horrible individuals.
boxing is the most tragic sport. traditionally boxers had awful lives before boxing, and for most of them their lives didn't improve very much. it's part of why it's (imo) the most interesting sport to read about or watch a documentary about. bc it's often like a greek tragedy. before i had ever fallen in love with watching boxing itself i was entranced by the lives of fighters. they tend to have just fascinating, but tragic lives. to answer your question, some ones that always haunted me: Billy Collins (i think the doc on hbo about it was called "assault in the ring" and was very good) Arturo Gatti (not interested in various theories i just mean the fact that he was beating his wife up and ended up dead that the beatings he took for our entertainment most likely contributed) Gerald McClelland (kills me that the fight with Benn was so good. sad that such a great fighter was left permanently disabled and then to die of basically neglect, having fallen in between his bed and the wall and dying slowly) The kid that Ibeabuchi paralyzed The life of Reggie Gross is ridiculously tragic, and inspired one of the characters on The Wire. Iran Barkley ending up penniless and homeless and needing to live off charity (at least for a time, i think he's more financially secure these days) Pugilistic Dementia
Good calls buddy, mind you your namesake nee Albert Griffiths had a very tempestaraus life : Arrested several times for, amongst other activities, assault ,about 4 times, drunk driving, vagrancy, breach of the peace ( running down State St in Chicago naked ) ,serious assault on the 3 officers trying to arrest him, robbery with menace, committed to an insane asylum in 1889 , was found naked again in 1890 with frostbite in his hands, so bad he nearly lost them, and as far as I can remember, it was all downhill after this stay safe hombre.
Wilfred Benitez is so bad that many think he died years ago. Sam Kellerman and Butler was nothing nice.
Maxim Dadashev was an undefeated prospect who lost to Subriel Mathias on ESPN. He couldn’t walk on his own from the ring, went into a coma, and died. He had a wife and young kid. I read somewhere that he had a failed MRI in the past but continued fighting. I don’t have time to find the source.