Which fighter got ruined most in their first defeat?

So many. Jermaine Taylor, Meldrick Taylor, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, etc.

 

Has there ever been an instance where a fighters first lost was a close one or one that lasted the full 12 rds and it still ruined their career? I notice that every fighter named first lost was a brutal one.

 

Because he shouldn't be mentioned, at least not in front of some other fighters.

The "ruined" Taylor, pre-Norris, actually had some wins and good performances of note and would be a top 3 guy right now at WW. In a division he was small for.

While other champs and contenders fared considerably worse after their first defeats.

 

i wouldn't say ruined but, kessler clearly lost a couple of steps after losing to calzaghe by decision.

 

Davey Moore, despite the inexperience as a pro, stopped an excellent fighter in Ayub Kalule. After losing to Roberto Duran, the only thing he did of note was beat a declined Wilfred Benitez, who broke his ankle.

David Reid was another young and undefeated champ at 154. He was a lesser fighter than Moore, and more athleticism than skill, but still far better than he showed post-Trinidad. He barely got by Quirino Garcia, a guy with a 28-20 record. Not too long after that, he lost to Sam Hill and retired.

 

Why do people say Tyson? BEFORE the fight you could tell in '89 that he wasn't the same as the harder to hit version of 87-88. Vargas is a good shoutout as is Cotto. Trinidad wasn't the same force he was after Hopkins got to him but a better example would be Nunn against Toney or Moore against Duran. Cuevas counts I guess but he was inconsistent before his title reign. He wasn't consistent again after Hearns that's for sure.

 

You're not wrong. It's just that I was surprised that Meldrick didn't get a shout because he almost always does in these kinds of threads.

I don't think he was 'ruined', so to speak, I just think he wasn't the fighter he was pre-chavez, but that may have been due to the weight he was fighting at. I mean, I don't think his reflexes or punch resistance were quite the same at Welterweight. From stopping the unbeaten McGirt, to getting knocked down twice (once HARD) by Glenwood Brown is quite a transformation. It's clear he wasn't quite the fighter he was when he fought at 140 pounds, but he was not ruined by any means, although damaged nonetheless.

I think David Reid is the best shout so far, or atleast on a par with Davey Moore.

 

Ortiz was mentally ruined after Maidana and was just gun shy though he's recovered as we saw against Berto at least for now. I hope he stays that way too. Berto-Ortiz, man what a fight.

Lipsey against Hopkins hasn't been mentioned. He NEVER fought again after that brutal ko against Hopkins when he lived up to his nickname "The Executioner". Recently, Pavlik hasn't been the same after Hopkins either but that's what he gets for taking him lightly.

 

With Tyson though, it was just one particular fight in 1989 where he looked sloppy. You can attribute it to him having a new corner and being disinterested, but everyone has off-nights. He'd also never had that long of a delay between fights. It was 8 months after Spinks, Tyson previously had fought once every 3 months, at the very least. The Williams fight was too short to assess his decline in technique.

Later on though, against Ruddock, it was more clear. At times, it was almost like he didn't want to move his head because he wanted to show his sturdy his chin was.

Completely agree. The move up in weight and physical beating he took from Chavez was a bad mix, particularly for punch resistance. He was always going to have a short stay at the top IMO due to styles/size, but the Chavez fight sped up that process. After the Norris fight, he was pretty much a shot fighter, and his management should have steered him elsewhere after that struggle with Brown.

 

Why they threw him in with Norris just completely perplexes me. There was absolutely nothing about that match-up which worked in Taylor's favour, from size, to styles, it was just a terrible match-up for Taylor in the position he was in. A bizzare move by his management.

 

He never looked as sharp as he did post-Spinks in '88. Douglas fought him in '90. Tyson ruined himself, not Douglas. He had two KO 1 wins after Douglas but against Stewart he missed a punch and fell on the canvas which wouldn't happen with the Tyson of 87-88 and maybe 89 too. Post-prison his stamina was declined and he just couldn't muster te energy he could such as against Ruddock and looked to bang away such as against Bruno in the rematch.

 

I see you are a Vargas fan but take a breather.

I pointed out his age because a fighter is more likely to bounce back from that kind of defeat when he has youth on his side. I just don't accept the "ruined" cliche every single time Vargas' name is brought up, like everything after that fight with Trinidad shouldn't count against him.

 

That same question applies to many opponents from Terry's reign. One of the most frustrating aspects of Norris, he picked on so many fighters that were smaller than him. A great fighter nonetheless, his career set is one of the better ones to have, I'm always left disappointed with some of the opposition though.

 

Lacey.

 

I've been toying with getting a Norris career set. It's pretty shocking that the only one I own is a Meldrick Taylor one (no offense to Meldrick).