Fighters that fooled us

I watched Courage Tshabalala and sent away for all those early bouts of his. Whether or not that amatuer record of his was true I'm not sure of, but his name was out there before turning pro.

His first 10 fights he pretty much got the results and devastating ko's, but I sure didn't think the next 10 fights would include that many losses, if he wasn't facing the top 10 elite competition. He didn't & just lost. And the ballgame was over.

I remember when the Duva's bought his contract around that 10th fight or so. I really thought the guy was taking the next step and would start fighting internationally and get some fine tuning and polishing I wasn't sure Durandt could provide. Didn't matter.

It's a real tightrope act with these heavyweights and all that time and $$$ invested.

 

Mike Tyson after prison.

 

Alex Ramos
Bobby Joe Young before Kevin Howard
James Broad
Lonnie Smith
Willie Edwards
Bernard Taylor
Jackie Beard
Johnny Bumphus
Johnny Verderosa.

 

Cristian Mijares for me. He was outboxing the division with ease, and had now lost three on the bounce. Sad times.

 

Plenty:

Gato Gonzales (the 80s one)

Kelcie Banks

Michael Olajide

Shannon Briggs

Matthew Hilton

 

Francisco Bojado. Looked something special early on. Thought he'd turn out at least as good as a Fernando Vargas. I guess he did ... minus the heart.

 

Crazy i now, i remember thinking of a snippet of one of his fights that he looked like a little Archie Moore or something. Can't remember the opponent but he had him against the ropes and was just sending straight shots down the pipe and the guy was handcuffed basically.

 

I liked Bojado too. He had fast hands and went for the kill. I dont know what happened. He was supposed to be better than Cotto and Abdullaev, coming out the olympics, and turned out to be the stinker of the group. He just lost interest in boxing I guess. Even ODLH tried to bring him back, but it didnt work.

 

Ingemar Johansen managed to make every fighter in North America think that his right hand was just hype, even after he had brutaly stopped Eddie Machen.

Bobby Dobbs used to send a sparring partner who impersonated him out drinking and partying prior to many of his big fights.

 

Great post.

 

Most of you are getting fooled that the prehistoric types would stand against their superior successors

 

Or the modern fighters are fooling us that they are not good enough to hang with their prehistoric predecessors?

 

Yeah, classic example of talent only taking you so far.

 

Great thread. Thanks.

 

1. Jermaine Taylor.

I thought the kid was special. He was groomed to be the next middleweight champion, and I took it hook, line and sinker. To be fair he does have talent, athletic ability, and courage and he will take on anybody they put in front of him and he doesnt duck anyone. But he clearly has a problem and I'm afraid that he may never get better than he already is.


2. Ricardo Mayorga.

Yes at first he seemed like some brute but Vernon Forrest was no slouch. And his two victories over Vernon I felt compensated for his perceived lack of techinical ability. For a brief period I thought at some point he would become peers with Trinidad (at the time retired), Mosley, De la Hoya and Vargas. But he clearly fell short as 3 of the 4 names mentioned stopped him in their respective bouts with the exception of Vargas whom he beat. But the beer and cigarettes after each victory, the seemingly top flight power, the brash arrogance and bravado- I should have known better.