Been on this site for awhile and was thinking about subjects we haven't done yet and thought about this one... If you could manage one fighter in the Classic Era that was mismanaged in terms of opponents or just needed someone to give them some discipline and direction, who would it be and why?
It is hard to say. Not many guys have the discipline of a Hagler or Hopkins. Many of them are like Broner or Camacho. You can try, but will they listen. I would say Tim Witherspoon if he listened. But that Bonecrusher disaster in late 1986 did not say much about his focus.
If I could have made the fights I'd want Roy Jones to have been in at SMW I would've. But I think I'd pick between Bowe and Curry, I'd like to have matched them against higher level opposition and try to extend there primes. Another thing I'd like to have changed would've been Lopez moving up from Minimum weight to fight the better competition above
Charley Burley. Making him a heel to the boxing public could get him some big bouts, although he might have to box a bit less conservatively at time.
Johnny Bratton. His later career and aftermath were just terrible physically and mentally. I'd try look out for him, as much as I could.
Mayweather is the (retrospective) blueprint for this. Unexciting style and very economical but made millions. You'd have your work cut out due to Burley's innate decency. Mayweather's lack of a moral compass meant he could take on that role. Burley probably couldn't pull it off.
A bit obscure and fairly recent, but I'd want the challenge of managing Nana Konadu after his second loss to Moon. In the real world, he dicked about for years in Spain fighting nonentities, and wasted what should have been his prime years. Nearly 5 years elapsed between title fights, where he eventually showed what he was capable of by beating Veeraphol Sahaphrom (his only loss in a near 10 year stretch). If he moves to the US, has a couple of rebuilding fights, and then gets thrown into the early 90s bantam mix, he could have earned a lot more money and been a real player. He had the skills to be at least the 2nd best bantam of that period, and I'd fancy his chances against Jones, McCullough and anyone else making waves around that time outside of Canizales. Just a few lbs north there's the chance for a big fight with McKinney, and maybe even a young Barrera or Hamed if he keeps his form long enough, and just south there was Romero and of course Tapia (Konadu would stand a better chance in the mid 90s than when they actually fought). Unification matches were difficult to come by in that era, but by historical standards there were a lot of money fighters between 115-122 at that time. With the right direction he could have been right in that mix.
LLOYD MARSHALL one of the all-time great ring stars, a threat to ANYBODY, from MW - L-HW. I too like the JJW pick and of course a few others too.
Great post. Nana was a beast. Real skilled and powerful too. I guess that's what that monster Moon does to you for a while, though.
This. None. Back around 2005 I was crazy enough to let my friend, who promoted mma/ kickboxers talk me into managing some of his fighters. It was one big headache, since I was basically a babysitter. I couldn’t imagine having to deal with the egos of top flight boxers on a regular basis like Roy Jones, Mayweather, GGG, etc... on a regular basis. I think a good manager that makes things happen and answers the phone is worth every bit of their percentage.
I wish I could go back in time and work with Howard Davis Jr. He should have been a champion and was better than some of the titleholders in his day. In his first lightweight title fight, he was too green when matched against the veteran Jim Watt. In his second, he came close against Edwin Rosario, who was a really difficult matchup for Davis. I still think of Davis as one of the best fighters I ever saw who never won a world title.
