Utter ruination of young prodigies

Even though it wasn't ruination and could have possibly learned from the experience, Salido-Lomachenko is a good shout. Too soon for an amateur just turned pro to go up against a style rarely seen in the amateurs.

 

can't help but think that zab Judah could've fulfilled his enormous natural ability if he had a better role model than his father. for all his natural ability, zab was hamstrung with immaturity, and he was a hot-head who also lacked discipline
his first round against tszyu showed zab the future ATG, but in the second round he was MIA

 

Although this guy wasnt a young prodigy by HW standards he was in his prime (31), and afterwards he was never the same again. He had just beaten Mike Tyson and was definitely right up there at the top of the division.

I am referring to Danny Williams.

Vitali Klitschko and his beatdown on Danny Williams. That was a career ending beating. Following that fight Danny was never the same again, looked visibly slower and his punch resistance was gone.

 

Although a lot of these guys aren't young, they were still highly rated and absolutely ruined after these fights.
Lacy-Calzaghe
Campbell-Diaz Yeah, Diaz found some success after the Campbell fight and made it interesting vs Marquez, but he clearly wasn't the same Baby Bull who unified the Lightweight division.
Andy Lee-Korobov Korobov's amateur record speaks for itself. A quick right hook from Lee in a fight he was winning, the man was never heard of again.
Martinez-Chavez Jr. Goes without saying, the fight ruined Chavez mentally and he was never the same again.
Duran-Moore Goes without saying.
Miranda-Pavlik Pavlik absolutely ruined Miranda. Before the Pavlik fight, Miranda was in line to face Taylor for the MW belts and a staple on HBO boxing. Miranda was even mad that he had to face Pavlik instead of Taylor, threw a ***** fit and claimed he'd make quick work of Pavlik. What we saw was one of the most vicious punches I've ever seen live on TV. Pavliks hook literally made Miranda's whole face vibrate uncontrollably, was a scary sight.
I would say JuanMa-Salido but Salido had glaring flaws even before fighting Salido. I was in the JuanMa bandwagon until I saw him struggle and almost get knocked out by Rogers Mtagwa who had a 26-12-2 record at the time.
Could also put Garcia-Khan, but Khan ruined his own career if anything.

 

Calzaghe Lacy
Golovkin Brook

not young, but both ruined

Marquez Diaz - that one better fits your criteria

 

Bute?
Up and comer?...what??

He was 32 and had been a champion for years at that point!

 

Good call on Korobov. He's really struggling to get fights these days and I can see why. Technically he is very very good but has no name value; way too much risk for little reward. Shame really

 

David Price vs Tony Thompson

Price had massacred his way through domestic level, then they jumped up about 3 levels to a contender in tony thompson.

That was it for price.

 

Dammit, I was going to say Davey Moore.

Yes, he was the champion. Yes he was favoured.

But fighting Roberto Duran ON YOUR 13th FIGHT? Moore was very promising and up to that point he'd knocked almost all his opponents out. A blistering, fluid combo puncher with a big chin and big heart ... he was never the same again after Duran minced him up. And it's not as though their fight was all one sided either. He landed quite a bit on Roberto himself, but Duran's defence was just next level stuff and his offence too.

I think Moore would have been somebody if he hadn't run into Duran so early.

 

He was unknown outside of Canada and he had beaten no one of any importance.
The biggest name he had on his record was Glen Johnson and a shot William Joppy, Bute was also on his way and Froch was his ticket until it got punch ,literally. After that he got beat every time he stepped up.

 

Cloud was never that great.

Tito was a WW who would have been caved in by guys like RJJ, GGG, Hagler, etc. or any MW at that level.

Pavlik was going drinking his prime away anyways. I don't think the Hopkins loss had anything to do with Pavlik's decline. Although the loss may have turned him to drink more if that counts.

Hopkins' career is the biggest lie in modern boxing history.

 

@IntentionalButt

Don't you think that Vargas would have been eventually destroyed by Trinidad? If the fight had happened a few years later isn't the end result with him getting smashed? Vargas was a good fighter, but just didn't have the technical skills or athleticism to handle a guy like Trinidad. That guy at the lower weights was packing bazookas in both hands. You almost never see that in boxing.

 

You'll get no argument from me there. On paper, Tito-Vargas absolutely was the logical fight to make in the division at that time, and Vargas had called for it immediately after beating Quartey.

It's possible for that to be true and for Vargas to not truly be ready, though. He had already shown that he could live with high-level fighters at a tender age (I have him drawing with Wink and clearly beating Ike), but Trinidad was an exceptional case. "Tito" wasn't just high-level, he was high-level destructive. The threat of ruin is much more acute with a guy like that. As it was, Vargas wasn't too far off beating him. He had some brilliant rounds, and it was close heading down the stretch of the fight. What he lacked was just enough wisdom to limit the hurt Trinidad was able to accumulate on him over the course of the fight (from the very first round on), the kind that probably would've come with 3-4 years more of experience. A hypothetical, fully mature, prime version of Vargas never runs from Tito, but he would have probably been a little more judicious at certain points. And that's all it would've taken for him to win.

Trinidad is the kind of opponent best faced in your physical prime, no matter how precocious you are. But he ran into the monster at age 22-23. How he could have been held back, I don't know. He wanted the fight, the TV network wanted the fight, the fans wanted the fight. As they say, it is what it is.

Vargas was wonderful. I love the way he respectfully disrespected his elders, staring them down with utter defiance and pure self-belief. He wasn't trying to put them down, but he wanted them to know he wasn't just some kid who could be pushed around. Tremendous competitive spirit.

 

Watch round 5. He absolutely had the skills to make Trinidad look foolish.

Imagine that Vargas wasn't so overeager in the 1st round and didn't get off to such a dreadful start, for one thing.

If he was just a little more judicious in his decision-making in that fight, he very much could have won it. That's the kind of wisdom that comes with the three to four years between age 23 and a man's physical prime (where he is also constitutionally optimum).

 

From the thread, [url]Hagler-Hearns And Castillo-Corrales Aside, What Is Your Favorite Round Ever?![/url];