Reggie Johnson. If you're in quite a few close-ish ones you'd expect to lose some of them - Reggie's problem was that they never seemed to go his way (and I think at least one of the following was an outright highway job). He should never have been 0-4 against all of Toney, Jackson and Castro. Even just having a 2-2 scoreline against them, which was the least he deserved, would have given his career a much better and fairer look. Instead, on paper he looks like a kind of average two-time titlist who couldn't really win at the highest level, which is a shame. Ike Quartey. Badly mismanaged (some would say neglected) by Main Events during his time as WBA Welter champ. Their indifference towards him cost him that belt, then dropped a decision in his defining fight against Oscar which could easily have gone his way under different circumstances. Then loses a shockingly bad verdict to Forrest a few years down the line. Classic example of how never really being the A-side, be it on fight night or within your own promotional team, can hinder a fighter so much.
Yeah, I remember that! Ken finished by jokingly calling George an Old F*rt. That was in about ‘89 and 5 years later that Old F*rt won the HW title for the second time. LOL.
Good shout. Personally - I think only fights He really lost are to Roy and Tarver... well, and maybe to that Adam George fella, I never saw that one, early career loss for Reggie. He should be in HOF consideration tbh, just doesn't quite have the wins on paper to warrant it.
I always rated Tony Tucker highly and with his size, good movement and quick hands, this guy in his prime should have been the standout fighter in the mid to latter part of the 1980s. And he would have got away with being the 1985-1990 Heavyweight King if it wasn’t for that pesky short kid with the big neck, Mike something…
But still bad luck he got copped by Jackson, but ye he should have watched his chin and Jackson s glove more!
Alberto Davila's career seemed to have been marred with some bad luck. For all his great skills he was undersized, lacked a big punch, and was in an era with guys like Wilfredo Gomez and Carlos Zarate who were monsters in the ring and got destroyed when he fought them. Got unlucky when he fought for a title against Jorge Lujan and Lupe Pintor (rematch) and came up short. When he finally did win a world title belt it resulted in the death of Kiko Bejines. He was stripped of his title when he got injured in sparring and had to take a year off as a result of his injuries. When he fought for a title again it was against a highly talented boxer Miguel Lora who pretty much schooled him badly. He fought in a rematch against Frankie Duarte but suffered a bad cut that was from a headbutt in a fight he was winning but was declare a TKO loss. His last fight was also a sad ending where he fought Lora again and despite doing better he still got beat and badly cut, and to top it all off Lora was able to get away with a suspicious "sugar" water in his corner with no penalty. Davila could never catch a break throughout his career.
Badou Jack got unlucky at times as well with decisions not going his way. Draws with DeGale and Stevenson, and losing a MD to Pascal. Also got badly cut up against Browne.
I actually think that Vitally Klitschko was very unlucky. He got retired due to injury in 2004, at the worst possible point of his career, when we must now conclude that the division was at his mercy. If he had been active over this period, then he might have rounded up the belts before Wlad, and we might remember Wlad as a belt holder.