How many fighters can you name that have been completely, utterly used up while still holding a world title? To read some things in here, one would assume a lot. "Oh, that win doesn't really count, so and so was fried when that guy won the title from him," etc...…..I've read some try to discredit Monzon's win against Benvenuti because of this as an example. That one holds very little merit, but one I can think of is Ali after he regained the title from Spinks in '78. He was fighting strictly from memory then, and had it been basically anyone else in the top ten, it wouldn't have worked. Any other examples of shot fighters holding a title? I don't mean "fading" or "past their best" fighters...…...I mean guys that were completely done and finished when they held a belt.
Jermain Taylor won the IBF belt from Sam Soliman in 2014, and by 2014 Taylor was not only shot, but badly brain damaged.
Dingaan Thobela, a blown up lightweight who had turned pro in 1986, won a belt at 168 in 2000 and went 0-7 after.
Joey Giardello was running on fumes when he rematched Dick Tiger in Nov. 1965 and lost a one sided decision to the Tiger-man...and Willie Pastrano was legitimately shot when he stopped Terry Downes in 10 to retain his lighteavyweight title in 1964....scoring a rare (for him) couple of kds before the ref waved it off...then was totally shot when he lost his title to Jose Torres in March 1965 in a massacre 9th round tko loss...and suffered his only career kd in the process..promptly retiring for good afterwards.
Tommy still had the power and cunning, but I would argue he was physically shot from Roldan onward...
Eh......see, the problem there is that he went out later and outboxed a much younger, undefeated Virgil Hill to claim the 175-pound title and also had the fight with Leonard. I don't think that can qualify as "shot." Not a prime Hearns at all, that's a given, but he had something in the tank.
Guess I'm the first one to mention John L Sullivan, who was the definition of shot when he 'fought' Corbett.
I agree, but I would suggest as silly as it is, as this is a physical sport, but Hearns did Hill mentally, using his experience and cuteness, and it was Virgil's first big fight, which did not help his performance. A flaky argument though, I concede!
