Fighters who could have been great with better trainers early in their careers

Maidana.

 

Couldn't agree more, Pimp. Great post

 

Didn't know that D. Thanks

 

Steward was a great coach, but Wilder is uncoachable, so even Steward wouldn’t be able to do much. Wilder doesn’t believe in footwork or infighting, so I don’t know how long Steward’s patience would last before he would quit, since he was in very high demand, so he didn’t have to tolerate a difficult fighter.

 

Good shout as is the norm with you, but I also feel he lacked the dedication and drive to have really made the most of his tremendous talent even with a great trainer.

 

I just don't see it. People take fighters with great reach and length and say they would have been great with Steward, when in fact it took a whole lot more to catch Steward's attention. I'm a Deontay fan but he lacks so much skill I highly doubt Steward woult have worked with him.

 

Grzegorz Proksa!

 

Removing him from SA for 11 months of the year would’ve been a good start.

 

And speaking of South African fighters - Thomas Oosthuizen and Jeffrey Mathebula i always thought could have had much MUCH better careers under better guidance and training.

Also who was the fighter that lost to Errol Spence from SA whose father was killed recently in a traffic incident. He could have been something for sure had he been paired with the right trainer in the right gym.

 

Kelly Pavlik came to mind.... he had the potential to be a lot better but it seemed his style or skill set never progressed with his trainer. Don’t get me wrong Kelly was a really good fighter but I think he could have been a lot more and possibly a better trainer would have been able to keep him off the bottle more with better guidance.

 

Heerdan. He's still lurking around, hoping for a big fight. He is a good fighter.

 

Yup, he is a good fighter. You're always on top of your ****.

But out of all the SA fighters, I think Jeffrey Mathebula was the best talent if he had the proper training. If someone like Rozier got their hands on him...... He would have brought some pain.

 

Shane Mosley!
He got by on his natural physical gifts his speed and natural infighting instincts, but he lacked the jab and proper footwork to set up his punches against the likes of Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright, fighters who defensively were able to do things to take his speed away.