Fighters who were managed poorly

Some Don King associated heavies come to mind, like Bonecrusher Smith and David Bey. Here we have two guys who worked their way into a title shot in about 15 bouts. They lose the shot, then they become opponents for other up-and-coming fighters. Bey was never able to break that cycle. Smith, after losses Tubbs, Witherspoon, and Frazier, was able to get back to his winning ways, more or less.

Jimmy Young fits into this too, after 1977. Loses his shot (against Norton) and turns into an opponent. Greg Page after Witherspoon in 1984 also, though he did pull off a surprise against Coetzee, went 4-6 between 1984 and 1987. James Tillis, after the shot to Weaver, too.

It's like their management (Don and Carl King) says, "Sorry, kid, I know you had potential. but we're not going to do any rebuilding. You've already worked your way up and you didn't pan out. You'll fight who we tell you to fight. We've got other up and coming guys who need looking after. Maybe, if you get lucky, you'll pull off an upset."

Contrast that to someone like Frank Bruno, who amassed a pretty good record despite his flaws. After a loss, he'd regroup, build back up, and earn himself another title shot. Or King favorite son Mike Tyson, who after Douglas, was carefully matched and maneuvered. Even the first Holyfield fight was supposed to be a gimme defense.

 

I wouldn’t say Marvis was managed poorly, he had some decent wins before they put him with the elites, his main problem was that he should’ve been a cruiserweight

 

Incredible post.savoured every word...every letter.

 

Yes. Marvis only had ten fights though, best win being a points win over Bugner, before he was put in with Larry Holmes. He was way in over his head and in retrospect, it's clear he was rushed. Whether his management thought he was better than he was, who knows?

Maybe if Team Frazier had waited a couple of years, he might got a crack at Spinks. He likely gets hit with the Spinks Jinx then.

Marvis scored a few decent wins after the Holmes blowout before being demolished by Tyson.

Marvis was a bit small for heavyweight yes, so cruiserweight would have suited him better. The best HW's were just too strong and powerful for him.
Heavyweight was where the attention and money was though, and being the son of Joe Frazier brought it's own pressure. The kid looked a lot like Joe, he was just nowhere near as good as him.