Mismanegmant - What Fighters Suffered...

Lionel Butler probably wasn't considered any sort of talented fighter, just a tomato can.

He wants to fight, he'll fight anyone, feed him to an up-and-coming fighter, pay him peanuts, he needs the money.
Thing is, he had a punch, and he ended up KOing a few fighters who he was set up to lose to. You've got to admire that.
Sad thing is, he probably ended up a tomato can after a brief reign as a contender anyway.
I thought he was a huge disappointment coming in so godammn fat against Lennox Lewis.

 

Its ironic when a nobody that becomes a somebody doesn't take better advantage of his one and only chance. When Bert Cooper recieved a shot at Holyfield, he made the very best of it. Butler had the same opportunity and likely came up harder than Cooper, but couldn't get motivated or so it seemed.

 

Well, he probably knew Lewis had just been stopped in 2 rounds by McCall and he figured he was just some glass-chinned ***** ****** from England.
So he hung out eating fried chicken, drinking beer and smoking crack with his friends from the 'hood.

Yeah, it sounds crazy, but that's the mentality of some guys. They think being street tough is no different to being the man in the ring - and sometimes they are right.
Lewis was, after all, a ***** ****** from England.

 

And sometimes when an unknown fighter from the streets gets a big shot, his friends from the hood all of a sudden are professional managers who know how to handle his career and give him advice better than the pros can.

.....They did a hell of a job........

 

Hard to say what is "mismanagement" and what is a fighter refusing fights in favor of others.

 

Bowe was making his pro debut. Still had the Olympic pedigree, so I see your point.

Jackson had 2 fights. 2 wins, yes, but only 2 fights.

McCall had just come off of a loss to Buster Douglas.

Still, probably poor choices.

 

Yeah, that's true.
Leon Spinks would be in the same category.
Apparently Mitch Green let a new guy be his trainer every week, any old hanger-on.
It's easier to impress bums and 'hood rats from the street than the boxing pros, that's why these guys fall into that. And if those guys says it's okay to stay up all night chasing hoes and doing drugs, that's that good too.

Even the great fighters fall victim to it when they start to believe their own hype and wanna swim in the sea of temptation with their hangers-on instead of getting down to back-breaking hard work.
Roberto Duran, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson.

 

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You make a fair argument, but I did not see anything about Stewart that made me think he could do more than he actually ended up doing.

The Tyson fight in particular seemed to me, to be a excellent oppotunity for Stewart if he was to become a genuine world class fighter. He was meeting a former brilliant ex champ who was comming off a devastating defeat, followed by a nothing fight, in which he looked as bad as anyone could winning inside a round.

 

Yeah, Stewart was psyched out against Tyson.
It's debatable whether he could have ever done better, given better preparation.

I think Stewart had decent power, and heart and resilience (demonstrated against Holyfield and later against Foreman). With better defense, and a more measured offense, I think he could have had more success among the top flight. A few more learning fights might have developed him to that point.
It's all speculation though.

 

Tyson was probably the best example that you just gave.

I remember as vividly like it was yesterday when Bill Cayton and Kevin Rooney were removed from Tyson's camp. All of a sudden out of nowhere you see clips of Tyson during training hanging out with these guys wearing shades and top hats. Low and behold, two fights after the firing of Rooney he gets his ass handed to him, and then following that, goes down a road where he's constantly in trouble with the law.

 

You have all missed one...

Tony Tucker...

His father took control and oversold shares in his fighter / Son..

more than 100% was sold in Tonys career.. Tony ebded up owing people more than he was making.. Bill Tucker was a bad blueprint into why father son relationships dont survive in the game..

 

Well then, taking out the psychological father/son damage; from a managers point of view, to sell more than 100% of your product, actually is brilliant management.

 

Don King encouraged a lot of self-destruction and bad management, just for the sake of his own greed really. He appointed idiots to look after his fighters, and indulged guys like Tyson in their worst vices.

Look at the post-bite-fight interview with Tyson's "manager" John Horne. What a jerk. And when Tyson got rid of that crowd he found new jerks to hang with .... or they found him.