Yey everyone i know from that era says if he was clean he was a cant miss to be an All time great.:-( At least he cleaned up after and became a strong advocate against substance abuse. Even started a few organizations.
I heard all of the Ayala bros were addicts or chipped on Heroin everyone of them Mike,Sammy,Tony,Paulie(not that Paulie).
Don't think I'd peg him as someone that accomplished much of anything post addiction. The opposite, drugs flat out ruined his career. :huh
He was a teenaged heroin addict, heavily addicted and injecting at 14 years old. Really messed up. Got into boxing after being a junkie. I think it's a common misconception that he became washed-up as a fighter because he was back on the drugs when he was champion. According to him, and others around him such as Angelo Dundee, his lapse back into drugs came AFTER he'd lost the championship. In fact it was soon after he lost to Holyfield in 1988, according to Thomas himself.
Where's your source ? I read Pinklon Thomas interviews where he says it was after the Holyfield fight that he lapsed back into drug abuse, for example his chapter in the book "Facing Tyson". of course, he may have made up different versions as to when he got back into drugs, I've just only read that it was after Holyfield.