Fighters who left you with a bitter taste for having totally or partially wasted their talent

Chad Dawson.- He switched trainers too many times, got caught up with bad promoting, then made the ill fate moved down to 168.

Andre Dirrell- Wasted time with bad promoters/rapper/management like Dawson. Bad decision to claim neurological issue which further kept him out the ring. Maybe both guys would've met similar fate due to questionable chins, but there were bad decsions as well that prevented us from seeing the full potential.


Laila Ali- I may have appreciated women's boxing had she not chose her ex-husband to represent her Yayha McCain. He straight ducked the whole lot of 2 women best to face her: Rijker & Wolfe claiming the same garbage; they were hard to negotiate with. End result she fought Martin-3 divsions lighter than her. Got her nose broken by a near 40 year old Jackie Frazier who turned pro just to whoop her. This girl Lailai started out as a chubby chick who swung like a school girl in a playground fight.
Within 5-10 bouts, her jab straightened up, her booty thickened out. Just saying....

Her speed increased. Seriously outside Bernard Hopkins I never seen a non-amateur boxer make progression like her. But she kept fighting little tiny girls, some over and over like Mahfood who hadn't a won a major fight within 3 years of taking on Ali. Fans got so pissed that they bombarded her website, to which she ...check this out-Laila started charging to access her web page (it died quickly) but it was the I'm privilaged mindset that cause her to turn away the best matches.
1 million was offered for her to fight Ann Wolfe. Wolfe turned it down & admitted she did lamenting- I am a champ in 6 different weight classes and because her name is ali she offers me 10%? I got all the belts, they invented belts for her (like the diamond)...SO Wolfe turned to James Kirkland. Lucia Ryjker turned actress (million dollar baby) and Laila went dancing with the stars. She wasted her talent and felled miserably to live up to the name Ali and fight the best whenever. Not on her terms.

 

Victor Ortiz comes to mind, for when he head butted Floyd out of frustration and then got his chin destroyed by those 2 free shots. Had he just lost the honorable way he could have still went on to have a strong career after that fight.

 

"Super" Gato Gonzalez 1981 a fricking killer at lightweight. Compared to Duran. Lost in a joke to Noel who he should have crushed in 2.
Colin Jones- just never threw enough.

Barry McGuigan- body smashing great who had it all but fizzled out and lost heart.

Sugar Ray Leonard-should have been fighting 7 or times a year like Duran and all the old champs with nontitle fights. Should of given up his ***** heart and just fought. No special rules. Waiting till guys are old. Give IMMEDIATE rematches. He got one.

Pryor-PUT DOWN THE PIPE AARON!!!!! Y whined forever about making big money and fame and then just when you arrive, you light up and disappear. Fight 7 times to 10 a year and grasp your chance for greatness.

Mike Rossman after winning 4 fights in 83 and the being such an ******* no one wants to work with him again. You could have made a fortune in the decimated division in 84-
Tony Baltazar- no heart just like yr brother.

Mancini- put the weights away. You became musclebound and forced yrself out of yr all pressure style. Also, defend against a real opponent. You destroyed yr legacy by looking like you ducked everyone after winning the title. The Ray who fought Arguello and prior to Arguello was a completely different fighter. Maybe the ETM knocked it all out of you.

Sean O'Grady- tell dad to shut the **** up. Do you realize how big O''GRADY VS. MANCINI would be in 1982?

 

Jose Luis Lopez

 

Ike Ibeabuchi, Gerald McClellan, Arron Pryror, Rocky Graziano (though it wasn't his fault), Luther McCarty, Sven Ottke, Jack Dempsey, Roland LaStarza

Last but not least Terry Malloy, he could've been a contender, a somebody, but instead he took a one way ticket to palookaville.

 

Eddie Mustafa Muhammad

 

Bowe - If he hadn't had a fridge installed in the bedroom.
Tyson - If he hadn't gone to Indianapolis.
Duran - Sounds a weird one this but for me after the 1st Leonard fight he showed up for fights out of shape far too many times.
Hatton - Might have lasted longer if he hadn't binged between fights, had/has serious food & booze issues.
Ike Ibeabuchi - Could've made things really interesting in the 90's.

 

Good story, I didn't know about that. Thanks for the post

 

Tyson, McLellan, and to a much lesser extent James Toney (at least for the RJJ fight, it would have been so great hqd he been in shape...)

 

Dempsey...should have told Kearns to shove it with all the films and vaudeville bs and kept fighting!
I want to edit in Witherspoon. After the Holmes fight he never showed that conditioning or commitment again

 

Joan Guzman
Paul Spadafora
Hopefully not Errol Spence

 

John Conteh
Chan Hee Park
Young Griffo
Tae Shik Kim
Antonio Gomez

 

Mando Ramos - I know he turned pro young, but the years of dissipating his talent with booze and drugs and poor training habits left him washed up at 23. Talent squandered.

Most recently, Gary Russell - his prime earning years and he has fought once a year for the last 5 years. Talent wasted.

 

Was just talking to Roughdiamond about this one

Khaosai Galaxy had all the talent and dominance in the world and there was good competition available to him at the time, but he simply didnt fight them for some reason. All the right setup for ATG status thrown away