Worst managed fighters

It seemed pretty obvious that Cooney once he got the shot at Holmes locked up Rappaport and Jones made it pretty clear they were looking to cash in as fast as possible. Cooney under Valle was a dangerous talented fighter when in the mood but once he was steered to the title they were content. He was not ready for Holmes and that is a shame because he did well but was not even close to being ready for a 15 rd fight early knockouts and a 13 month sit down is no way to prepare.

I don't care who you are Jones and Rappaport had no idea how to build a legitimate fighter they were good at marketing and Cooney was good enough to at least put on a show. If anything they showed how to use a fighter and profit quickly without concern for what happens after.

 

Mike Weaver.
The team he started with developed him like a club fighter/journeyman early on and he picked up 8 losses by the time he challenged Holmes for the title.

He could've been a much bigger name than he eventually became.

 

Errol Christie.Was a red hot prospect couldn't get fights so took on a LW from Belgium when Errol was a middle .Got KOED and was never the same .

 

I’m s still going for Tony Janiro. 97 fights washed up and retired by age 24.

 

Herol Graham (took 11 years to get a title shot!), Errol Christie and Rod Douglas come to mind. They were as good or better than Benn, Eubank, Watson and Calzaghe.

 

This. I can't blame the management for Biggs having a substance abuse problem.

 

Yes, a lot goes into these things and people only judge the results without knowing the story.

In Biggs, you’ve got a guy who had a good bit of money invested in him (signing bonus, who do you think paid for all his sparring and travel and all of that to develop him?) ... and they realize he’s pissing it all away on drugs. Has a serious problem. They probably rightly project that at the pace he’s going within a year he won’t even be able to step into the ring.

So a title shot opportunity for good money comes along and, yes, they cash him in. And they probably hope that with this in front of him he’ll get serious about training and stop drugging and maybe live up to the potential they saw in him. (And if you’ve ever dealt with a co-worker or family member who’s a drug addict, I can assure you there’s also a f—- him point that gets reached where you’ve tried and the addict keeps letting you down so it’s hard to say ‘I’m going to forget all the times I’ve done this and that for him and he’s completley shat all over me by showing up high or not showing at all,’ etc.)

So that’s your choice as a manager — turn down a title fight realizing he may never get that close again the way he’s going, or take it and hope it works out and he turns things around. Which is in the fighter’s best interest? Hard to say — at least if you take the fight he’s got some money that you can advise him to save (which he probably will blow on drugs, but you don’t control his choices) or maybe he ends up stabbed in an alley or strung out and overdosing in a drug den. Not a lot of good options there.

There are all sorts of other things that can come into play. A fighter is being carefully/properly managed up the ranks and he fathers a child and says ‘I need the biggest paydays you can get me, now. I have a family and a baby to feed.’ (Or whatever.) Now realistically, the manager may look at him and say ‘could be a contender if we continue on this path, but probably not a champ and certainly not a superstar.’ And if the guy insists on it, the manager works for him — so he probably explains he might make more if he is patient but the fighter says ‘No I need money now’ and the manager does what he says. Is that bad management? I don’t think so, if the guy is informed and the manager represents his wishes.

There are also those odd ducks who aren’t big draws, don’t have an exciting style, but they’re difficult to fight and impossible to look good against. Marvin Hagler was managed well but he had to wait forever to finally get to the championship because he was completely avoided. Winky Wright was one of those guys who was higher-risk-than-reward and P.T. Barnum couldn’t have sold a ticket to watch him ... so the manager just keeps getting him work and keeps him busy and hopes there’s a pot of gold, or at least a chance at a title, at the end of the rainbow.

 

Davey Moore was managed well up until Duran....had they taken him a little slower he may have been an great fighter with a good solid career....but they let Duran Savage him way to long

Fernando Vargas was thrown into hard fight after hard fight one after the other...good way to shorten a career

 

Elisha Obed.

Moe and Chris screwed up a fighting machine by getting rid of his childhood mentor who transformed him from Everette Ferguson to "Elisha Obed" and was the root of his self-confidence and booking him out like idiots. By the time these two were done, Obed was physically and emotionally depleted and de-evolved into a journeyman punching bag.

 

Great post. Because it should be mutually beneficial for both boxer and manager for a career to go well Lots of times it’s easier to make assumptions of managerial exploitation over innocent boxers when they don’t go well. Managers can be shady but Boxers are not always so innocent. We favour the boxer because he is taking the personal physical risk rather than financial risk.

 

Nice well thought out post.

The manager has to know the outside the ring problems or pitfalls. It can be alcohol/drug/or almost anything as a source. Remember Gil Clancy talking about all the problems he had w/ Jerry Quarry's wife?

It's such a tough sport that distractions alone can cause defeats. Serious issues are a much larger problem to solve, if possible.

I know this sounds harsh, but like cases of Biggs and the Duva's, they did the right thing. Cash him out & at least get an opportunity. He was likely to lose within his next 2 bouts if fighting other ranked heavies. You do have to treat the boxer as a commodity and sever ties & dedicate the time to another boxer.

Like the stock market and being 100% vested in a single stock is the position the manager is in. It's great when shooting up and paying dividends. How about when it drops 20% overnight? And continues to sink? Just like a fighter's stock after a loss in many ways. Manage things poorly--and especially at the early stages--and you're out of the sport. But a manager simply has to know how to manage very well to succeed in the sport of boxing. A so-so job just does not cut it.

 

To me, it’s hindsight to say Moore shouldn’t have been put in with Duran.

Duran had name value and put Moore in the spotlight. But Roberto is literally like 4 months removed from listlessly getting upset by Kirkland Laing. He was completely dressed down by Benitez. And had beaten a few journeymen.

The book on Duran at this point was he was on his way out, had moved way too far up in weight and was disinterested. No one at the time thought we’d ever see the old fire again.

To turn down that fight for Moore would have been rather ridiculous based on the situation at the time. It was a chance for a star-making performance that would have lined Moore up for huge things, marked him as a prodigy and ‘next big thing’ by getting him noticed. Who knew that Duran still had that performance, the one against Iran Barkley and the effort he made against MMH ahead of him?

 

Good post.
But for the umpteenth time Biggs had and did kick the coke habit after rehab early in his pro career. He had other issues ( people with an addiction are prone to addictive behaviour in all areas).
They cashed him in as they were frustrated he wasn't developing as well as they'd hoped.
Alot of what you have generally said is true.
Sometimes it's about managing a guys career sometimes it's about money, with the better fighters it can be both.