All of these fighters did achieve various belts and big wins, but it is commonly believed they all fell well below their targeted and projected potential. 1- Riddick Bowe. 6'5 super heavy weight. The first SHW that had ATG talent and abilities. (To this day, he is still one of only four truly elite SHWS, Lewis-Wlad-Vitali-Bowe) Massive win over Holyfield to become world champion. Should have lost to Golota twice. Never regained his Holyfield form. Arguably could have become a top 5-10 HW of all times. Laziness and lack of motivation killed his full potential. 2- Fernando Vargas. Too much too soon. Around Canelo's age the 5'11 SWW had already fought and beaten :Marquez,Wright, and Quartely fought and lost to: De La Hoya and Trinidad (both prime versions) What could he have done with better match making and a good life habit? 3-Jermain Taylor Actually had very good abilities, great jab, good power. Only person in boxing to knock down Pavlik and Froch. If he had better finishing instincts, so much would have been different. Should have achieved more. 4-Which leads into Kelly Pavlik. People are still very familiar with Pavlik. So I'll leave it at that. 5- Andrew Golota Massive waste of talent. Had amazing abilities, zero mental fitness. 6-Ike Ibeabuchi Too bad he went crazy, he would have been a top 1-3 HW during his projected reign. 2001-2008ish. 7-Zab Judah Enough said. 8- James Toney I know he is probably the most accomplished guy on this list (other then Bowe), but Toney was truly amazing and could have done so much more if he just got in shape. Forget his great MW-SMW days, even at CW. The version of Toney that fought Jirov at CW would have beaten every single one of the top 10 CW'S today, easily. Toney could have dominated all the divisions other then HW if he just kept in shape. Guys like Khan,Ortiz etc are not really under achievers in that 1-their careers is far from over and 2-they didn't have anywhere near the raw talent and abilities the people on this list had.
Zab has won 5 titles in two weight divisions, including a brief stint as the lineal WW champ. I know the common perception is that he underachieved but he has put together a HOF career IMO. Same theory applies to Toney, even moreso. I'd say Bowe from your list because he had all of the tools and opportunity but a lack of discipline was his downfall.
I'd go for Bowe because he had the most to gain and just chose not to. The rest tried and failed(I use the term loosely,they achieved more than most dream of)
James Toney. Zab Judah and Jermain Taylor achived exactly what they should of, given the talent they had.
El feroz in my opinion. If better disciplined with a strength and conditioning coach and less greedy matchmakers who were acting in his best interests he could have been truly great.
Riddick Bowe. He had a great trilogy against Holyfield but never stepped up to Lewis. Of the other guys on that list I consider underachievers, he clearly has the most talent. Judah is a multiple time champion who fought in a deep era, Taylor was unified MW champion of the world. They both had great success. Toney's early career was great. It is the last decade that puts him on the list.
Golota because he was a bit mental. If he had a better mind-state I reckon he could have done much better.
You could make an argument for Toney overachieving,given he's a first ballot HOF'r and went years without giving his all.People who know boxing know he's an ATG talent. Feroz did plenty in a very short time.Much as I sympathise with his hard-matching,I have a feeling he might have imploded anyway.He wasn't made for a long career. Jermain Taylor did a lot,all the while never convincing anyone that he was great so again,he did plenty. Ike will be far more fondly remembered for his monarchy complex than for his boxing.Nuff said. I've seen a lot of talk about Zab achieving all he could,and surprisingly I'm finding myself agreeing after years of seeing it a bit differently. All comes back to Big Daddy.He bowed out in his prime and underachieved because he wanted to.
Ibeabuchi, just because he was an incredible talent who would have started to peak in a very weak HW era. He could have been very dominant for a long time.
