Check it out. A contender who has become lost in the ether. http://www.boxing.com/lavorante_rocket_to_the_moon.html
I disagree with the article Lavorante was and is rightly viewed as a flash in the pan. He wasnt really anything more. He caught lightening in a bottle by stopping Folley but he fought a bunch of stay busy fights until he had an eliminator with aging Archie Moore who dominated him and bludgeoned him into submission. Lavorante was carried from the ring in a stretcher that night but refused to go to the hospital. Four months later he was knocked out in 5 by Ali and then only two months after that he was knocked into a coma by Johnny Riggins who would retire less than a year later. Folley was the only meaningful win on Lavorante's record and I view that as more of a fluke.
With hindsight it's amazing how seriously he was taken. Even after the loss to Moore he was an even money bet against Cassius Clay.
My impression of the article was that Lavorante was a promising prospect who was severely mis-managed and pushed way too fast, leading to the tragic result. I don't think the writer implies that Lavorante was necessarily a coming champion, only that he should have been brought along far more deliberately to get the most out of his career.
I read the article and it was sad and a little depressing, but insightful, how this fighter with limited ability was put in the ring with Ali was a shame... The worst part was at the end this fellow just hung on and on, and finally passed, the real damage was probably done by Moore, but back in those days they lacked the pre fight regulations, and pre fight physicals, they have today..
