What boxers had the "wasted potential" or "If only..." careers?

It was not a lack of enthusiasm or daddy parasite. It was a crareer trajectory changing body battering he took from an opponent on Friday January 30, 1982 that he never really recovered from, either physically or psychologically.

 

Shame, he`s in a hell of a state now because of the punches he took.

 

James Scott if he didn't get sent to prison

 

Tony Ayala Jnr.
****, aggravated burglary , grievous bodily harm, grievous bodily harm with intent, robbery with a fire arm, assault with a deadly a weapon, and I am sure their is more.... keep well.

 

I always saw Morrison as an overachiever. He was good but he was inconsistent mentally.

 

Donald Curry - if only he was more durable, less fragile, and didn't have trouble with his weight.
Marlon Starling - like a lot of overly defensive fighters, seemed to lack focus and dedication in the ring despite his great talent and skills.
Michael Nunn - for all his gifts, became more lackluster and got caught up with drugs when he rose to the top, which became his downfall.
Joan Guzman - if he wasn't such a fat slob, could have done so much more with his athletic talents and skills.

 

I honestly think if Alberto Davila was given much better punching power and bigger size frame he would have been a much more formidable fighter at Bantamweight. He was very unlucky to come across guys like Zarate, Gomez, Lora.

 

Ibeabuchi after his win over Tua & Byrd he was destined to face either one of the Klitschko brothers or a fight with probably Maskeav before getting a big money fight with Holyfield, Tyson or Lennox Lewis in 2000. The extent of his capabilities were never truly seen but from what we saw he was durable, he had incredible endurance, good power and pretty skilled.

 

Tarver turned pro really late. He never had a big fight in his twenties.

 

Tony Ayala was probably the best example I saw. He was on top of the world, ready for anyone, when he went to prison. I felt that Howard Davis was much better than history remembers him. Got pushed way too fast into a title fight with Jim Watt. Fought very close fight with Rosario, who just edged him. I thought Davis could have beaten a number of guys who won titles during his time.

Gerry Cooney was a waste of potential. I don't think he would have been an all-time great or anything like that. But he could definitely have been a champion if he had stayed active against good opposition. He did quite well against Holmes considering that he got there almost exclusively through early KOs against guys who were no match for him. Then he went into a funk and pretty much stopped fighting until Spinks stopped him.

It's somewhat hard I guess to say Don Curry was a "waste" considering he made the HOF. He was not on top of the world for more than a handful of years, but he was wonderful when he was. Doesn't go down in history like Hearns or Leonard but had that kind of ability. But, yes, I think of Curry whenever I think of "what might have been."

 

And also if Howard Davis Sr. wasn't his trainer. Sky is the limit.

 

Scott was great to watch.

 

His feet were too slow, he was tall and awkward at his weight like Hearns and Breland were except he didn`t have Tommy`s jab.

 

Agree with many that have been listed. The one of the top of my head is Andrew Golota although not through injury (although did have later on) but more mental instability had two great fights with Bowe which he was winning but just couldn't help himself with the nut shot's.

 

am I right when I read he's currently in ICE lockup awaiting his US citizenship swear-in ceremony? i know immigration law is a little kooky, but that sounds nuts. if he's legal and waiting citizenship, why's he in lockup? if he's not legal, why's he have a citizenship ceremony coming up/

what a bizarre waste, and it mostly started because he called the wrong hooker.