Catastrophic Career Decisions

Mike Tyson fighting Holyfield after not having a full fight in ages. Bowe was a punching bag at the time and would’ve been a far better option. Moorer and Morrison would’ve been first round Ko’s.

Winky Wright screwed up some paydays for far smaller purses.

 

It should be pointed out that Marty Servo joined the U.S. Coast Guard and had been inactive as a result for a few years after his second bout with Sugar Ray Robinson. While Servo did win the world welterweight title from Freddie Cochrane after getting out of the service, it is unlikely that he regained his form after being inactive for quite awhile.

- Chuck Johnston

 

It may be that simply being a professional boxer was catastrophic for Ad Wolgast.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Economic wise its hard to beat Tommy Morrison decision to make a title defense against Michael Bentt after Morrison management had agreed to fight a unification with Lennox Lewis where they would split 16 m. Morrison was destroyed by Bentt in 93 sec. The fight did go ahead a yr later but this time the split was 4 .5 m.

 

Not as good as Joe Frazier, but not much worse than Lionel Ritchie.

 

Jerry Quarry might have missed his calling:

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Jeff Lampkin was a 31 year old campaigner who had been plugging away for 10 years, making peanuts, when he won the IBF cruiserweight title. He had just made a title defense and was finally in a position of making money when he made the monumental decision for some reason to sign with Don King. King told him that he would sign him but DKP does not work with the IBF and he would have to give the title up. And he did so. And that was the last time poor old delusioned Jeff ever saw a title or title shot.

 

Speaking of Jerry Quarry ^... Quarry getting himself fired from a good commentating gig with CBS by fighting Lorenzo Zanon on ABC. Quarry didn't need to fight any more after the Norton fight and could have worked for many more years calling fights had he not burned bridges.

 

That is a good point.

But it only makes the decision to fight Graziano even Worse!

 

"Marty Servo was the World Welterweight Champion whose only losses were to a prime version of probably the greatest welterweight and possibly fighter of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson. Both were razor close decisions. One was a split decision and (from memory) they other was one where the referee (third judge if judges were split) actually ruled in his favour and the decision was actually booed by fans. Either way, both very close fights, maybe prime Robinson's toughest fights. He should have been an undisputed all time great. Instead, he decided to fight a hard hitting middleweight in Rocky Graziano and was Knocked out and had his career virtually finished due to the injuries he suffered. And his legacy completely shattered.[/QUOTE]

 

Nino B taking on Carlos Monzon when nobody knew who the Argentine was.


Nino Benvenuti vs. Carlos Monzon (1st meeting)
1970-11-07 : Carlos Monzon 159¾ lbs beat Nino Benvenuti 159¾ lbs by TKO at 1:57 in round 12 of 15

• Location: Palazzetto dello Sport, Roma, Lazio, Italy
• Referee: Rudolf Drust
• Judge: Georges Gondre
• Judge: Aime Leschot

• World Boxing Association Middleweight Title (5th defending of Benvenuti)
  
• World Boxing Council Middleweight Title (5th defending of Benvenuti)
  
• Time: -:--
  
• Weights: 159.75 lbs (each)

 

Terry Norris choosing to defend against journeyman Luis Santana, leading to possibly the weirdest trilogy in boxing history. By the time Norris got the title back, he had wasted a year of his prime when he could have been chasing defining fights against Trinidad or Whitaker. It took him a while to rebuild his credibility, and he was a shot fighter within a couple of years.

Brook-Golovkin is a fairly recent example of a ill-judged rise in weight that led to a career-threatening injury.

 

Yes, very good example!

 

While being so exciting in the ring and a tremendous gate attraction, Rocky Graziano was not that good as a fighter. During the middle 1940s, there were welterweights and middleweights who were much better.

Keep in mind that Marty Servo had done quite well in two bouts with Sugar Ray Robinson, who was a vastly superior fighter compared to Graziano. As a result, Al Weill, Servo's manager, undoubtedly thought that his charge had a realistic chance of beating Graziano. In addition, Servo would be getting a big payday fighting such a huge gate attraction like Graziano without Servo's world welterweight title being at stake.

As it turned out, it became apparent in his bout with Graziano that Servo didn't regain the form that he had when fighting Robinson twice before serving the U.S. Coast Guard for several years during World War II. Yes, Servo beat Freddie Cochrane to win the world welterweight title, but Cochrane, not that good of a fighter to begin with, had also been subpar after getting out of the service.

- Chuck Johnston