Fighters edging other fighters which changed the trajectory of their career

Can't take the word 'edging' seriously anymore, the brainrot has gotten to me

 

I think Meldrick Taylor would have always had a short stay at the top due to his style and the talent level around at 147 (Taylor apparently moved up there after having weight issues at 140), but the first Chavez fight sped that process up.

 

SRR won a debatable SD in a "must win" fight w/ Castellani. As a result of that W, Robby went on to get a title shot vs. Bob Olson, which opened the door for him to regain the MW title from him & then do it twice more after that to set a still-standing record. Meanwhile, Castellani faded away & retired after just a few more fights.

Laurent Dauthuille missed out on winning the MW title b/c he got suckered in by LaMotta's "possum" tactics in the final round of a fight that he was winning by a mile. Dauthuille never got another shot at the title & ended up dying young & penniless.

Benny Paret regained his WW title w/ a disputed decision over Griffith in their rematch, then went on to be brutally stopped in a big "champ vs. champ" megafight w/ Fullmer before dying as a result of injuries sustained in his rubber match w/ Griffith, a fight that wouldn't have been necessary if he hadn't been given the decision in their 2nd fight.

 

Well, I felt Andrew Golota clearly won the heavyweight title twice. I thought he outboxed Chris Byrd and should've won the IBF belt. And, after scoring two knockdowns and outboxing Ruiz, I thought he beat Ruiz, too, for the WBA belt.

Had he unified two of those belts in those fights, Golota becomes one of the great comeback stories in boxing history.

I felt the same way about Axel Shulz. Had Axel received the nod over George Foreman, he becomes Germany's first world heavyweight champion since Schmeling. Most thought Axel beat Botha, too, next time out. But he'd have kept his belt against Botha regardless (given Botha blew his drug test). Then it's on to Moorer. That can got either way, also.

When you get shafted out of a title win, that hurts. When it happens back to back, it certainly seems to take something out of a fighter.

I felt both of those guys did everything to win a title, the judges just took it from them.

Instead, both Shulz and Golota left the sport never had officially been champ. Though they certainly appeared to win titles in the ring.

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Tim Witherspoon fought Renaldo Snipes in a 10-round heavyweight bout in 1982 in Las Vegas the weekend before Holmes-Cooney, with Holmes in attendance.

Witherspoon was undefeated but hadn’t yet made a mark. Snipes had knocked down Holmes and been stopped, then fought an ugly draw with Scott Frank in his next outing. Both were ranked in the top 10 by the WBC, and while it wasn’t an eliminator, TV commentary played up that the winner might soon be facing the Holmes-Cooney winner.

At the conclusion of 10 close, competitive (although not necessarily eye-pleasing, as their styles didn’t really mesh) rounds, both knew it was close. Both held their arms high over their heads anxiously as the decision was read: first card, even; next card, one point; third card, two points for … Witherspoon by majority decision.He jumped in the air in jubilance and Snipes showed his disappointment as both knew it could have gone either way.

Next fight, Witherspoon lost a split decision in challenging Holmes and his career was on its way. Snipes, now 0-2-1 in his last three, beat Trevor Berbick next time out but then lost three in a row and never really got into contention again.

Had the cards gone the other way, Tim probably would have gotten into contention but it would have likely taken him a couple more years and Snipes likely would have challenged Holmes in a rematch … probably doesn’t win, but he does probably stay in the mix for a while instead of soon dropping off the map.

 

Hi Buddy.
Excellent choices, shows you have a profound knowledge of our sport, furthermore in the short time you have been a member , I have thoroughly enjoyed your input, being both polite, and informative, members like you put the big heads and loudmouths to shame ( or should do ) long may you stay.
stay safe bolo,chat soon.

 

Dave Tiberi losing a very controversial decision to Toney. Tiberi himself was so disgusted that he ended up retiring from boxing.

Sergey Kovalev getting ripped off against Andre Ward really changed his career entirely for the worst to the point that he was never the same fighter afterwards.

Jeff Fenech getting a draw against Azumah Nelson in the first fight. That would be his last great performance before getting knocked out by Nelson in the rematch and then getting stopped by Calvin Grove and Phillip Holiday.

 

I wonder if Hagler had the nod against SRL he would have kept fightin' trying to accomplish his desire of beatin' Monzon record of defenses or not...

LMAOOOOO

 

Great post, mate.