Livingstone Bramble too, another Edwin Rosario victim. He looked brilliant in both Mancini fights not to mention his defense against Tyrone Crowley, who was no joke. Everyone was all over Bramble's nuts and he looked like the real deal. But then Rosario hammered him into submission and from then on he was a marginal fringe contender who lost most of his fights, often in bizarre, disgraceful fashion. Also, Jamie Garza after he lost to Meza.
Hamed vs Barrera. It shattered his confidence and effectively finished him. Katsidis vs Marquez. He gave everything he had. Hatton vs mayweather. First loss rendered him 'shot'
I disagree with #1. The FOTC is the fight that forever changed Joe Frazier. He was never the same fighter, physically or mentally, after he climbed his mountain. Foreman-Frazier I was the proof.
Layne, Cockell, and LaStarza (rematch) after Marciano got done with them. Pavlik after Hopkins. Mugabi after Hagler. Taylor after Chavez.
I agree that Camacho was never the same after the Rosario fight, and oddly that was a fight that he won. Still, he had some fine victories afterward. Going back to 1913, Arthur Pelkey was never the same after his fight with Luther McCarty, in which the latter died. Pelkey had a number of bouts after that and lost by knockout in nearly every one of them. Some seven years later, he himself was dead.
Sometimes it has nothin to do with confidence, it is cerebral after a bad one-punch KO or knockdown (followed by more knockdowns) rather than a sustained beating. To cite a few examples of a good jaw suddenly not the same anymore: Berg-Canzoneri Cuevas-Hearns O'Grady-Ganigan Tate-Weaver Anaya-Taylor I Fenech-Nelson II Bramble-Rosario Curry-McCallum As for confidence destroying fights, I could think of Buster mathis against Joe Frazier, George Foreman aainst Ali and Naseem Hamed against Barrera. The time these fighters took off after these fights suggests the confidence was gone.
Exactly what I was coming in to say. Camacho was never the same after that shot. I would say Wilfredo Gomez tended to ditch most of what made him great after the Sanchez fight, but probably leasing up to that as well. Far less elusive and rounded and fell in love with his power. True of many punchers but more noticeable with Bazooka, who was a sublime operator at his very best. Floyd Mayweather underwent a shift in application after the first Castillo fight. Became less of a force and only stepped it up against dire opposition (at 140) and only really seemed to return to his very best from the 3rd round onwards against Mosley. Obviously he was pretty much shutting out everyone at 147, bar some tricky rounds against Judah, but IMO, and not everyone will agree with this view, but for me the Oscar fight was the very worst of Mayweather, with Baldomir not far off.
Brilliant calls here, Fenech-Nelson II in particular. Absolutely ruined Fenech and shown in his fight with Grove.
Not to mention his fight with Holliday, who was never known for any kind of wallop. It was hard to believe that this was the same dude who went into the trenches with bangers like Villasana, Callejos and the first Nelson fight.
True. I'd say the first signs of him relying more on his punching power than on his excellent movement and skills can be traced back to 1979. I think his dominant victory over Zarate changed Gomez a bit. He looked much more patient and composed and less straightforward in his early title fight against Juan Antonio Lopez (one of Gomez' best and underrated performances) than against Derrick Holmes in 1980 for example.
Yeah I was gonna' say after Zarate but couldnt really remember what took place between that and Sanchez. He never would've made the Pintor bout as competitive as it was at his very best IMO.