What Fighter's Downfall Saddened You The Most?

There was a peice in Boxing Illustrated some years ago (probably getting on for 20 years ago actually haha!! Jeez!) which was titled "A Story Of Winners and Losers" and covered a lot of the story of former Welter champ Johnny Bratton The Honey Boy - it was (and still is) one the saddest things I've ever read to be honest

 

Tyson by far, there probably isn't a week that goes by, when I don't dwell upon it, at least for a short period. :-(

True story.

 

Livingstone Bramble & Fernando Vargas.
Bramble gets thumbed by Rosario & Vargas gets fat & unmotivated. Pretty sad if you ask me.

 

Aaron Pryor.

Its sad to see a waste of talent to that extent. Pryor just fell off a cliff when he shouldve had the world at his feet. We never saw the guy lose a fight until he was a fullblown crackhead.

 

Also Pernell Whitaker`s downfall wasnt as sudden but he was my favorite fighters and to see him slide was sad. Whitaker spent many years of his prime trying to breakthrough and get that signiture win that would make him a crossover star.

Then he gets it and Don King robs him of his rightful moment. He was still good for a few years but compared to what he had been it was kinda sad to see him getting dropped by lesser guys.

 

Erik Morales

It was great seeing him last year perform against Maidana...but sadly that was all just a last hurrah for him....After seeing him last night, i know now its time for him to call it a day.

 

Chavez would beat him at any weight.

At 130lbs, it would be the most competitive, and at 135lbs, where Chavez was at his absolute best, he would of given him a similiar beating he did in their '92 fight. Chavez was all wrong for Hector.

 

Arguello when he knew at the end of his second fight with Pryor that he could not beat him.

 

I decided to stick with guys who had been boxing since about 1990 when I started to serously fallow boxing. There are a lot of great boxers who may have had worst falls than the one's I'm listing.

Meldrick Taylor: Could have been a top 25 ATG.

Mike Tyson: If he dosen't get hurt he would have beaten Holyfield in 91. Would have won the rematch with Douglas, who was never consesent enough to be great as well. He also needed to stay away from Indianapolis.

Ridick Bowe. Like Tyson could have been the greatest heavyweight of all time, and like Tyson had bad management. Throwing the WBC belt in the trash was the begianing of the end. He was at his best and Lenox Lewis was still devloping as a pro boxer. The Golota low blows did a lot of damage, but from 1992-1995 he was a good as any heavyweight ever.

Lamar Parks. An up and coming middleweight in the 90's good enough to win a championship in my opinion. Had to retire before he had the chance due to being HIV postive.

 

Ali for me because it was all in plain view and wasn't like some of the guys mentioned due to living a bad lifestyle. Watching interviews of a guy who used to be so loud, colorful and witty who made everyone look foolish in the ring becoming all quiet with slurred speech and being a human punching bag in the ring. Then of course fast forward a few years and he became a bumbling wreck who didn't look like he could lift a glass of water without dropping it. The sight of him now makes me feel so sad.