Which fighter got ruined most in their first defeat?

People forget how good Vargas really was prior to his fight with Trinidad. Its more to do with how vicious Trinidad was at 154lbs than anything to do with Vargas. Vargas was an elite fighter to be honest, he had incredible composite/compact punches with a lot of power and didn't really telegraph his shots at all. And there is a bigger myth that he had a weak chin, I don't think so - he went up against VERY hard punchers. He did decent against Hoya but was clipped at the end of that fight as his stamina got to him. He really couldn't do **** with Tito but he was still game. He was a little more game with Hoya but couldn't close the fight. You can't knock him and not call him world class for losing to legendary fighters. Anything outside of his Tito/Hoya fights is not really relevant because of what those fights did to him, he went 12 rounds with Trinidad with a damn concussion to his brain 20 seconds into the fight. That is CRAZY, that is brain damage to the max. Vargas especially after Tito/Hoya declined incredibly.

 

Resto - Collins Jr. was changed to a NC right? Still, he was never the same.

 

Hamed lost something, Trinidad lost a lot too, but I wouldn't say he was ruined.

I think Roy Jones was never the same after his "real" defeat in the 2nd Tarver fight, (that griffen fight doesn't count). Happens to up and comers like Lacey and Bojado and Paez Jr a lot: tons of promise, get beaten, never show anything like their old talent.

This is going to sound ******ed, but I think Oscar losing the decision to Trinidad made him HALF the fighter he used to be in terms of conditioning and will, I don't think he was ever quite the same except for the Mosley I fight, though he still had some great great wins in him.

 

In recent years, definetely FERNANDO VARGAS.

Mentally ruined, I think Naseem Hamed.

 

Meldrick Taylor, Vargas-both were brutal fights

 

Definately Jermaine Taylor. The only victory he has after his first (KO) loss was against Jeff Lacy, which might I add is also in the same category as JT. Of his last 5 fights, which includes his first loss, he is 1-4 with 3 KO losses.

 

:good

 

David Reid, IMO was never the same after fighting Tito.

 

My man, Vargas was 23 when he faced Trinidad, suffered some knockdowns, gave a knockdown, had a good brawl. If he is "ruined" after that fight at that age, well then what kind of fighter was he really? I would have to also disagree with your assessment of his skills, I think he did a few things well but did not possess any special abilities to separate him from other fighters sans his toughness.

And Vargas did not have a "concussion" in the first round against Tito. He got hurt, not concussed.

 

Ricky Hatton...

 

This.

 

Hamed was already on the way down before the loss to Barera. The Barera fight only confirmed what alot of people thought at the time. Namely that Hamed no longer had the heart / stomach for boxing.

 

Kelly Pavlik is another who should be on the list. Never been the same since Hopkins battered him senseless in what was meant to be a 'keep busy' fight for Pavlik.

 

Cotto

 

I'd say Roy Jones. His first REAL defeat came from that KO loss to Tarver... was never the same after that.