Hey I was talking about Sergio Martinez's physical decline after his knee injury against JCC Jr. He looked terrible in his next fight against Martin Murray and then looked half-crippled against Miguel Cotto. It still seems crazy to see such a steep decline. He was once known for his crazy mobility and athleticism and in the span of two fights he fell and became this stiff, fragile guy who had lost all of his elusiveness. What were some other examples of guys who dealt with this?
Michael Spinks’ knee was supposedly shot going into the Tyson fight and he’d had issues with it previously I believe. Pretty sure bad knee or not that the fight would’ve played out identically any way. Roy Jones decline was in large part due to his knees being bad and the loss of mobility that led to along with his diminished reflexes. I saw footage of him doing roadwork prior to the Tyson exhibition and he was badly hobbled. He looks like a double knee replacement candidate for sure in the near future.
Kell Brook, he suffered fractures to his eye sockets at the hands of GGG and Errol Spence. He was never quite the same again.
Frazier from TFOTC. He was in the hospital for months iirc, and their were rumors he'd died from the beating he took. He was never the same again.
Buddy McGirt damaged his left shoulder - I think during the Genero Leon fight - and he really never had 100% use again. He had operations but one could see him babying the arm through many of his fights that he did win but was scraping by. I still remember hearing his trainer Al Certo between rounds of one of those fights saying, "Buddy, they all think you're damaged goods, and you're not damaged goods!"
Jose Benavidez Jr—He was a good fighter at minimum who got shot in the leg and pulled it together one last time for Crawford, but seems to not even be able to complete a training camp any more.
Can we mention Riddick Bowe? That was a guy that went from possible super star to take over from Tyson, to the one that could be barely understood after Golota. Definitely brain injuries along the way that led to his decline.
Never knew that about Barry Michael. He had a couple of fights here in the UK, where he was born, for Frank Warren. I think Frank was trying to turn him into an attraction with a view to big fight in the States.
John Conteh broke his right hand twice in the space of a year, around 1975 / 76. Although he remained a World class Fighter, he was loathe to throw his right, especially at full power. It probably stopped him regaining his World Light Heavyweight Title.
I believe that it started before that, when he ruptured his left bicep against Bermudez, then things deteriorated from there.
