Of all the fighters that ever self-destructed, which broke your heart most?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by catchwtboxing, Jul 21, 2025.


  1. Mandela2039

    Mandela2039 Philippians 2:10-11 Full Member

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    The Davey Moore and Iran Barkley bouts are fights I’ll probably never watch again. Maybe in two decades, once I’ve forgotten everything about them, only to remember why I avoided them for so long.

    Despite how technical and thrilling Durán’s beatdown of Moore was, and the masterclass he put on against Barkley, it felt like watching a medic using a defibrillator on a dying patient, the body jolts, shows signs of life, but in the end, you know it’s fading.

    Durán was pouring every ounce of his soul into those fights, trying to resurrect, if only for a moment, traces, clues, crumbs of Prime Durán just to win.
     
  2. GoldenHulk

    GoldenHulk Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Yeah, that and much more he was constantly in trouble with the law.
     
  3. The Professor

    The Professor Socialist Ring Leader Staff Member

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    Gotta be Golota. No one showed so much potential yet self-destructed so spectacularly in front of the boxing world
     
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  4. he grant

    he grant Historian/Film Maker

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    Ali by fighting too long and taking too many shots.
    Roy getting flattened so many times. Too difficult to understand
     
  5. LWW

    LWW Member Full Member

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    Indigenous fighter Damien Hooper. After victory on Horn vs Pacman card vs Umar Salamov it seemed that he was destined for world title shot. He had one more win before addiction to ice ravaged his career. And has since been in and out of jail for violent crimes.
     
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  6. Saintpat

    Saintpat Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    To modify a quote from a friend: Benny was Scottish born and Scottish bred, and when he died he was Scottish dead, haha.

    I’ll go along with @Reinhardt — Roberto Duran quitting like a ***** against Ray Leonard as an at least momentary self-destruction that hung like a cloud over him for the rest of his fighting days, and beyond.

    It’s the thing he’s most known for to this day. There are people who have no idea he was a dominant lightweight champ and the conqueror of Leonard know ‘no mas.’

    In a split second, he sealed a feat that will be prominent in his obit: “Roberto Duran, who infamously quit in a megafight against Ray Leonard when he uttered the words ‘no mas,’ died Friday blah blah blah. He was also a four-division champion.” Talk about overshadowing your own accomplishments.

    If he had been injured and incapacitated (like one arm useless or a turned ankle) and quit on his stool or even mid-round, we’d have all shrugged and moved on. But he clearly wasn’t hurt in any way … he did didn’t like how it was going so he noped out.

    SMFH.
     
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  7. Seamus

    Seamus Proud Kulak Full Member

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    Jose Luis Lopez had unteachable stuff: chin, fighting heart, instincts and power. No matter what the judges say he beat Quartey worse than Oscar did.

    But weed and surfing, brah.
     
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  8. Bulldog24

    Bulldog24 Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Wasn’t big Joe Louis begging outside his old restaurant once, that he had sold before.
     
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  9. catchwtboxing

    catchwtboxing Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Benitez very sad because I think he got some brain damage, and was probably what we would call "on the spectrum" in the first place.
     
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  10. Roughhouse

    Roughhouse Active Member Full Member

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    Jesse James Hughes from where I live in South Alabama. Blew through some low top 10 welters in dramatic fashion one right after another and was super charismatic and on a great roll of momentum that no one would have ever expected. I thought he had a legit shot on pure heart and grit against Trinidad.

    He ditched the gym one day and decided to run through "the Bottoms" in Pritchard as was his thrill seeking want to knock over a drug dealer for the adrenaline thrill and they were waiting for him and left him unconscious to die in a small drainage pond. Brutal end to his career and life.
     
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  11. FThabxinfan

    FThabxinfan Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Elly Pical.
    When Indonesians were saddened by the loss of Thomas Americo as he dropped a decision to Saoul Mamby,Pical was their second hope and actually hit good.

    With some..perhaps picky management at times,Pical managed to strike some success as a champ,even reclaiming it twice.

    But when he fought Khaosai Galaxy,he let his guard down,like..a ton,man was partying and having girls before the fight,and it cost him an embarrassing loss in his home turf.

    He did reclaim his IBF title for a third time at least,but it doesn't end there.

    At 2005,Pical got caught for drug dealing and it tarnished his name in the media,for a fighter who has refreshed the smell of his country,to end up like that...
     
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  12. Clinton

    Clinton Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Duran
    Duran
    Duran