Most disappointing Olympic Gold Medalist

Maybe they’re popular in Italy

 

Mark Breland was an excellent fighter. But he was expected to be the next Sugar Ray Leonard. He wasnt.

Tyrrell Biggs was disappointing too.

Luis Francisco Ortiz won "only" a silver but it was Puerto Rico's first ever silver in any sport. While not a gold, we expected him to become a world pro champion and went 2-1 as a pro.

 

I came across this video that briefly discusses Sanders' career & his tragic death. It seems he privately complained of head & neck pain shortly before his final (fatal) fight:

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Looking at his record & descriptions of his fights, it appears he never really learned (or was given an opportunity to learn) proper defense & soaked up a lot of punishment in a relatively short time frame. His team certainly did him no favors by not only pushing him along a rigorous schedule, but also throwing him in w/ much more experience opponents (i.e., 19-1 Willie Wilson in only his 4th pro fight, 37-fight veteran Jack Flood in his 5th). He reportedly endured a lot of punishment vs. much smaller, but more experienced Bert Whitehurst, which should've been a major red flag for his team that he needed to slow his progress, but instead they threw him in w/ big punching prospect Willie James shortly afterward. It seems his team expected instant results from a gold medal winner & also took for granted that his large frame (for his era) enabled him to withstand a lot of punishment.

All in all, Sanders' story seems like a very tragic & cautionary one that should get a lot more attention.

 

Way too many to mention.
Víctor Avendaño won the LHW gold medal, had a record of 100-5 in the amateurs, even though his boxrec record is probably incomplete (it is 2-2) he was not a great pro and he soon became a referee and was actually more known as a ref than as a pro fighter even though he came up as a gold medalist.

 

Odlanier Solis. Best am heavyweight to ever turn pro. Totally half assed his way to a title shot while still showing flashes of brilliance despite never being in shape. Finally trained when Vitali selected him for fight. Looked skilled and smart for 2:50 seconds before blowing his knee out. Said he'd get it together for his comeback, but showed up with the cardio of Peter McNeely.

 

Not only that, but he beat Canizales in his 5th pro fight before his career started spiralling in the wrong direction

 

Mark Breland is high on the list and i totally agree with Howard Davis Jr mentions.

 

Became a boxing trainer. Molested some of the kids he trained. Was jailed but for only 3 years:

https://abc7.com/paul-gonzales-boxing-molestation-charges-olympics/11144839/

 

Tony (cough) Yoka (cough).

It would've been cool to have a top heavyweight from France. Pretty glamorous place to have the top big man in the sport.

France has never really produced one in the last century or more.

Yoka won the gold (somewhat controversially) ... but, hey, that didn't stop Anthony Joshua.

And he was only in his mid 20s when he turned pro. Seemed like a bright future ahead.

But Yoka's career has been a train wreck with the PED charges and the bad losses.

Is he retired?

 

His title challenge was a joke. Truly embarrassing. That progressed to him quitting in his corner against Tony Thompson because Solis was just too fat and out of shape to continue after eight rounds.

He may be the worst.

But Yoka never even got to a title fight where he could lose in embarrassing fashion.

 

As a French myself, I completely agree.
The medias here overhyped him, but there was always skepticism about his level of opposition among the fanbase.
His three defeats were embarrassing (as were the scorecards) and he showed no improvements in either fights. No jab, no movements, weak power and he doesn't put combinations together anymore. His defense only consisted about tensing himself and blocking punches with his arms on his body.

Apparently, he talked about a light comeback fight in this late July (see the link below), another tune-up bout before a big one until the end of the year (which remain to be seen given his customary lack of activity).
He also said that he sparred with Dubois before the Hrgovic fight.

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Truly tragic. I had no idea, always wondered what happend to Paul.

 

The title challenge wasn’t embarrassing imo. He just tore every single ligament in his knee. It’s less excusable given the rest of his career though.