What was the most heart breaking demise..

Cleve Williams has some tragedy.In his prime he only gets close to a title shot.Loses to Liston in Sonnys' quest for the championship.Gets his insides blown out by a cops 357 mag.Given up for dead on the table,but survives.Loses a kidney in the ordeal,now just a shell of himself.Finally gets a title shot against Ali,when Ali is at his best. Fights for seven more years as a trial horse.In later years the one kidney he has goes bad.At the age of 66,as he leaves the hospital after dialysis,he is killed by a hit and run driver.Seems like somewhere in his life, a woman takes a knife to him also.

 

What about Evander Holyfield..?

He is still fighting on, what a man...

What a man..

 

All sad stories, too common in the sport we love. Taylor, Ali, Tyson, Louis (who did everything for this country, his tax issue should have been excused) .

and on and on

 

The story of Joe Louis and how he did charity benifits for the GOV and then for the IRS to go after him.....Funny thing is Frank Sinatra and Rocky Marciano came to his aid and get him a well paying Big shot Job in Las Vegas as a greeter. Joe had ringside seats to all the Big fights and was asked for autographs by the big shots. JOE LOVED IT....also to see Ali prostitute himself vs Holmes and Arturo Gatti lose to Gomez...he was shot...Meldrick taylor become a loser and still fight

 

Dick Tiger.

Seeing him look like an empty shell, while Emile Griffith danced and showboated around him in his last fight. Then a few months later, he died of cancer. We never get to hear him look back on his career, and give his own views on his fights and the era in general.

 

Sugar Ray dieing in poverty.

 

One of the most heart-breaking demises in boxing for me was when I heard that Rocky Marciano had died in a plane crash. He was 45, would have been 46 in one more day. He was too young to go.

 

Ali losing to a guy like Leon Spinks. Sure Ali had deteriorated a ton by then, but Spinks as an opponent was a gimme. The guy had a draw against Righetti and he gets the Ali sweepstakes for big $$. I think there was 6 or 8 or perhaps even more guys around at the time that beat Spinks, but Muhammad wasn't one of them.

 

It isn't comparable to some of the sadder stories in scope, but Duran versus Joppy is extremely hard to watch for me, primarily because of the effort Duran gives. He is actually in there giving it his ****ing all 110%, and there was nobody who gave enough of a damn to protect this man from himself (or King).

 

ms

 

Sitting through RJJ's performances post Ruiz has been pretty brutal. What was once an explosive and highly charismatic performer is now a broke legged half assed kinkos copy.

 

Good call. I didn't like that matchup from when it was signed. Duran had absolutely nothing in there and the match made Joppy look like ray robinson in there. But Duran hung in there and took his licking and that was about all he did. In his prime, a guy like Joppy with that head way up in the air and low hands > punching would've been the type guy Duran takes apart. Instead, it was Roberto getting taken apart.

 

What hurt Dick Tiger even more was he never got to see a free Biafra; indeed the war was lost just 20 months or so before his death.

 

thats terrible for ayone

 

i am a sucker for Joe Louis, i always shed a tear when i see Joe in the state he was in during the latter years of his life................ Its pure sadness..

Sonny Liston too.... its a complete enigma what did happen to Sonny....

I dont want to think about such a strong capable man cut short by mob handed filth..