Which boxers ever wasted a great talent because of a terrible trainer?

James "Buster" Douglas comes to mind, though he did put it all together one night in Tokyo.

Buster was Six foot-four with an 83 inch reach at 231 lbs. Athletic, good balance and fluid. Most of his career was under his Father who had also boxed and trained him through his loss to Tucker.

With the right trainer "Tokyo" Douglas might not have been an anomaly.

 

Kelly Pavlik comes to mind, rose to the top of 160 but never reached his full potential (in large part due to issues out of the ring, but having Jack Loew as his trainer certainly didn't help)

 

I don't know about great talent, but I thought Atlas was a horrible match for Michael Grant.

 

Rocky Balboa - Donny Creed
Ivan Drago - Victor Drago
Apollo Creed - Rocky Balboa
Micky GoldMill - Rocky Balboa

Although Balboa did get the most out of Gunn. As did whoever trained Damian. Winning a World Title in your first fight in 10+ years straight out of the can. Exceptional.

 

Guys who was that great Mexican talent training with Roach but drugs took over him? I saw him doing some great pad work and bag work. Brilliant angle changes etc.

 

Frankie Gomez.

 

Gvodzyk - Atlas

 

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He's definitely a case of wasted talent, I thought he could have won a world title if he would have stayed disciplined outside the ring.

 

Thanks Dren. See that's how I believe a guy should hit the pads. That's perfect to me. I only saw that clip once until now, but I never forgot it. Or him.

Brilliant.

 

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Frankie Gomez on the pads is the best I've ever seen. Honestly. And that evasiveness and defence is immaculate. His movement.

Gomez you're a prodigy son. To me you look like a World Champion.

edited - wtf he's 21-0 but hasn't fought since 2016. Man I wish him well. I heard about his struggles and what a shame.

 

Nothing that really sticks out to me.

Most “wasted” talents were their own doing.

I think a few father sons teams that went on to long perhaps. Stunting the growth of that fighter.
Definitely some instances of proven, established trainers being wrong for a certain fighter. Whether they didn’t mesh or they didn’t have the attributes to suit their training style.

 

Was it drugs he got into?