These guys that come from Eastern Europe usually get a late start to their pro careers. So they have less time to build up their record because they hit their prime much earlier in their pro career. But they also have the benefit of maturity. These guys are almost always true professionals who take their craft seriously. They seem to have more focus and discipline and are less prone to fall into bad lifestyle traps which could affect their in ring performance. Look at how guys like Adrien Broner and Mike Tyson spiraled out of control. They experienced success at a very young age. And they were not mentally mature enough to handle it. The same thing seems to be happening to Gervonta Davis. Compare that to guys like Marquez, Hopkins and Froch who didn't achieve the same level of success until their late 20s/early 30s. And they continued to stay focused, disciplined and on the grind.
Maybe Roy Jones wasn't marketed correctly, but he was trained properly. And he didn't achieve success at an unusually young age either. His first time on the big time was against Hopkins and it was his first title shot. He was 25.
I think Fernando Vargas deserves mention. That guy was a really good amauter boxer and he was pretty young when he won his first title. His early fights he was pretty solid defensively and used his legs more and set up his punches behind the jab. After the Trinidad fight he seemed to really regress into more of a banger and he started to get tuned up a lot in fights. He also statted to balloon up in weight in between fights which really hurt his performances. He was pretty much done for at age 30. I remember thinking when he first turned pro that he had the skill and power to develop into a really good champ at 160 eventually.
He also couldn't handle the Trinidad loss. He got absolutely destroyed and beaten down by Trinidad. But he could never admit he was beaten by the better man and move on. All he did was complain about his "balls" to Larry Merchant. He didn't the maturity to fight on the big stage.
Agreed. As he got older he bought into the machismo BS instead of his boxing ability. He took a lot of unnecessary punishment for a guy that had so much skill.
You know as for Vargas I really don’t think it was a case of to much success to young really More a case of him running into a truly great fighter as young fighter and champion. Once you are a champion then you have to be prepared for all comers and contenders as there is no where to hide.
This. Instead of progressing after an early career loss he regressed. Even the most macho of macho ATG's like Erik Morales, Marvin Hagler, etc. They all knew how to technically box. You can give the fans a great fight, but also show craft in the ring. You're going to need some skills to beat the top guys.
