Fights where we didn't know a fighter was "shot" going in...

Mayweather vs McGregor (if you consider that a legit boxing match)

 

Nah that was more like a Reality TV show

 

Pipino Cuevas . Was considered one of the more dominant champions
( 4yrs 12 defenses ) before being blasted out by Hearns in 2.
However he had being fighting pro since 14 and was burnt out.
He lost 7 of his last 12 fights after this defeat.
Great performance by Hearns but that wasn't the real bone crushing
Cuevas.

 

No way Cuevas was shot before the Hearns fight.

Yes, he had been a pro since 14. But, he was 22 years old!!!

Hearns simply had too much height, reach, and one shot power for a prime Cuevas.

The brutal ko by Hearns did seem to derail hiim, but he was not shot when that fight occured.

 

This is very difficult to assess because the particular loss in question could have been the cause of the damage that derailed the given fighter.

I would say Bowe was declining, but not shot, before the first Golota fight. Getting dropped by Holyfield was an indicator. He had accepted Holyfields shots pretty well for 2 plus fights without getting that badly hurt, Suddenly, he is hurt by Holyfield badly in the third fight. Then, the damage he accumulated in the first Golota fight put him on the fast tract to being shot, and the second fight finished him off. I would liken in to the Saad Muhammad situation. He was declining before the first Braxton fight, the punishment he received in the first fight greatly diminished him more, and the second fight finished him off.

Arguello?

No, he was not shot before the first Pryor fight.

He fought well, it was just a matter of Pryor being able to (legally or illegaly) accept Alexis's best bombs without crumbling, then somehow (legally or illegally) haveing enough left to overwhelm Arguello in the championship rounds of a tough, gruelling, competitive fight.

Ali?

Yes, he was shot before the Holmes fight. He had nothing from the first round to the last.

Benitez?

No. He was not shot.

Hamsho was just a massively strong natural Middleweight who overpowered the naturally smaller Benitez. 160 lbs. was a bridge to far for Benitez - 154 lbs. was his natural weight once he fully matured.

The Hamsho loss took a lot out of him and did diminish him. But, even one year later he showed ATG great defense against Davey Moore after breaking his ankle.

 

Happened to a lot of boxing prodigy's . Morris East and Wilfred Benitez also. They
just seemed to burn out overnight. Despite their youthful age.

 

Morris East! There's a blast from the past.

I read that he fought ten men in a street fight - I think they were trying to attack him. It came down to one of two choices, fight or flight - in such circumstances, I would personally add a third, very realistic option; sh1te - and Morris chose to stand his ground.

Place looked like a bowling alley by the time Morris was done.

 

Or they started fast ad were beat up before they were really seasoned, like Fernando.

 

Lloyd Honeyghan against Mark Breland.

 

Wlad vs Fury. I attended Wlad against Jennings and he clearly had slipped but I fully expected a bounce back against Fury but he could not pull the trigger just shy of 40.
The fact he looked good against Joshua was stylistically the match was more favorable for Wlad and yet he still telegraphed every left hook. Glad he walked away after that match.

 

Jeff Fenech vs Nelson II
Chris Byrd vs Shaun George
Chad Dawson post Ward

 

De La Hoya against Pacquiao.

 

Tszyu against Hatton and Hatton against Pac.

 

I dunno about Hatton against Pacquiao. It just looked that Pac-Man was just too fast for him and then landed the perfect punch right on the button. Up to then, Hatton hadn’t really taken any real beatings in the ring that suggest that he was shot though he was ultimately outclassed by Mayweather in their bout.

Maybe it was his lifestyle outside the ring that finally caught up with him?