Fights in which the WINNER lost everything he or she had left

Bowe in the Golota fights

 

Ali wasn't the same after that no doubt but he had enough to defend the title another 6 times. Including against Jimmy and Norton. If he lost "everything" that would have been the end for him.

Miske and probably Schaaf won fights when they were literally dying so I guess those would be the best answers.

 

But he would've been a two time WBA champ if he won there, right? Wasn't the Mayweather fight for his WBA title, and the fight with Gomez for the vacant one?

 

I see, I'm misremembering things.

 

Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez literally beat the prime out of each other after their 3 fights and were never the same afterwards.

 

Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo

 

She? This is the classic boxing forum isn't it? Were there any female fighters back in the old days?

 

Was commentin' about Rigo in another thread and doesn't his win over Donaire encapsulate op tidal perfectly? He became badmouthed by Arum and was avoided like a plague shortly after.
Great W legacywise but his career has never been the same and you could argue it basically ruined it.

 

He certainly didn't "lose everything"--but despite the successes Roberto Duran had after the first bout with SRL in 1980 he never exhibited the same combination of skill and ferocity in any of his subsequent fights.(I suppose he had nowhere to go but downward after such a peak-level performance against IMHO a "pound for pound" top 10-20 all time fighter at his best!)

 

I've posted repeatedly that I disagree with this vehemently, that at 220, he was fully recovered from Manila for the admittedly outmatched Richard Dunn.

The Inoki farce at Budokan nearly ended his career by causing Ali to almost have a leg amputated before the rubber match with Norton could even be arranged. Ken, in a classy gesture of sincere concern not connected to his hope of a rubber match visited Ali in the hospital, bringing him flowers and expressing support while the struggle for saving Muhammad's leg was still taking place. Ali could not knock out the then grossly inexperienced Evangelista, because the cheap shooting Inoki immediately went to the floor and kicked away at his legs, making himself into a Japanese icon in a sleazily dishonorable way. (The Japanese are absolute hypocrites when it comes to their cultural self delusions about "honor." They actually worship dishonor. If Bruno Sammartino hadn't had his neck fracture by Stan Hansen with a botched body slam which dropped Bruno on his head [which Hansen has never felt good about-no American professional wrestler with any integrity wants to make his name by screwing up in a major way, and Bruno had to counsel and reassure Stan very strenuously, saying, "Hey, sometimes these things just happen!" But if it was Ali-Sammartino in say, Shea Stadium, Sammartino would have kept Muhammad safe and done business without Inoki's criminal deception.)

Ali was never again able to punch with power after what Inoki did to his legs before Norton III.

Norton III did no further damage to Ali, but then, Earnie Shavers became Ali's true Manila, inflicting the neurological damage and fine muscle coordination and timing no amount of training could enable Muhammad to regain and shortened his life while ruining the quality of his retirement. On camera, Larry Holmes has said Shavers, NOT Manila, is what ruined Muhammad Ali. The Easton Assassin should know. He was in the ring with both Frazier and Ali in sparring, fought Earnie twice over at total of 23 rounds, and then Ali after Shavers ruined him. Even in Ali's final win over Leon, Howard Cosell repeatedly described for the record breaking television audience how Muhammad was continually misfiring with his timing off. That wasn't due to Manila, but the neurological damage to Ali's motor coordination center Shavers inflicted. (Muhammad never developed pugilistica dementia. That wasn't the portion of his neurological functioning Earnie permanently damages. His cognition was never compromised. Decades later, he gestured to former New England HW Champion Paul Poirer, who he had encountered years earlier, and with his speech gone, Ali showed he remembered Poirer with an affectionate hug and kiss on the cheek.)


Yes, Manila was EXTREMELY punishing to Muhammad, but it was mainly from Frazier's characteristically legendary body attack. Joe never again staggered Ali in their rematches the way he did in round 11 of the FOTC. Muhammad let himself go for Coopman, where he came it at 226 with a sludgy midsection yet easily knocked out the Lion of Flanders easily. He certainly then figured he could get away with 230 for Young. I did have Muhammad the clear winner (admittedly by default as Jimmy blew a golden opportunity).

I agree with Ali after he dropped the china chinned southpaw Dunn multiple times and correctly projected that if he'd been in the same condition for Dunn that he'd been in for Young six weeks earlier that Richard would've become Champion. (Southpaw Dunn would've defeated a 230 pound poorly conditioned Ali much like china chinned southpaw Bodell had decisioned lackluster and indifferent yet vastly superior Joe Bugner several years earlier over the Championship Distance, taking the title with hustle. Dunn had decisioned Bunny Johnson over 15 less than eight months before challenging Ali, so he had the necessary stamina and endurance to pull it off. Prior to challenging Ali, Jimmy Young had never gone more than ten rounds, and that may have played a role in Young's undue caution at Landover. Dunn had also been resilient, avenging stoppage defeats against three different former conquerors. Dunn was a far more reasonable defense for Ali than Coopman or Evangelista. Dunn was the reigning BBBofC/Commonweath/EBU triple champion at the time, and Ali had defended against a few of those. Coopman and Evangelista had never held any of those credentials when they challenged for the World Title.)