Fighters who became better after prolonged beating ended by brutal KO

Louis is the best example.

Cotto vs Margarito 1

 

Iran Barkley improved heavily after the beatdown he took in his classic brawl against Robbie Sims.

 

Duran came back from his fumble and tumble vs Tommy,atleast 4 times imo.
He battled a good fight with Sims,and despite lost he did left a good mark in the eye of the audiences.

He did one of the most legendary comebacks ever at 37,defeating the technically decent great-powered bull in Iran Barkley via split decision.

After losing embarrassingly to Pat Lawlor, Duran still managed to fight Vinny Paz at the age of 43,I thought he won but it goes either way.

Then after a few more years, Duran managed to battle an also past it Camacho at 45,same to the first Paz fight i thought he deserved the decision,countering Camacho good with that cross.



While he wasn't as better as he was pre-hearns or pre-no mas,he def learnt from his experiences and fought good.

 

I dunno about that. Sure he won the rematch but I don’t think he was a better fighter than he was before the beating he got in the first fight still a good fighter with some good wins but I don’t think he was ever the same again

 

Michael Watson was outclassed and always a step behind Mike Mccallum and got kayoed in a gruelling fight yet somehow came back as a stronger fitter pressure fighter in the 2 wars with Eubank.

 

Ezzard Charles took a bad beating from Lloyd Marshall. Decked 8 times before the fight was stopped in the 8th. A prolonged layoff of about 3 years followed due to military service and he came back hard - as we all know. Including revenge on Marshall.

 

Danny Lopez after Bobby Chacon.

Dont know if he was better cause he was always pretty much the same but he gained some valuable experience from that fight and went on to have a good reign as featherweight champion.

 

Chacon for that matter after the Olivares thumping. He always said he learned to body punch after that fight.

 

I think Ray Mancini was better after the Alexis Arguello beatdown, although he fought well in that fight.

Wilfred Benitez was probably his best at junior middle in the aftermath of being chopped down by SRL.

Mike Weaver had his most consistent time as a top heavyweight after a surprisingly good effort vs Holmes as an unknown where he eventually got stopped in a terrific fight. (Not sure it was a sustained beating but it was punishing to both men.)

 

Diego Corrales - in my opinon - got better after taking a beating from Floyd Mayweather Jr. There was no "brutal knock-out" at the end, but He did take a lot of punishment.
He recovered well and had the most succesfull period of his career couple years down the line, after changing trainers and working on his technical and defensive flaws a bit.

 

Arguello defeated no less than nine future champions. This is crazy, and possibly a record. He demonstrated one punch knockout power with each hand, and needed to come from behind in a few bouts, but most of his wins were via beatdowns, and he was noted for winning a number of those on cuts.

When it comes to devouring southpaws from an orthodox stance, Alexis wrote the book.

 

While it wasn't a 1-sided fight, Azumah Nelson soaked up a lot of punishment in his late sub title challenge of Sal Sanchez.