Izu Igonoh. 17-0 vs no live bodies then thrown in with Breazeale. Mistake? Hughie Fury. Fought 8 rounder 2 fights prior to title shot. 1 yr later fighting bogeyman Pulev in home town in eliminator. Too early? Moved too fast? Bogdan Dinu. Phenomenal talent. Fought 8 + 10 rounders then thrown in with massive pressure fighter in his first 12 rounder after 1 yr lay off. Could bounce back. Poorly managed? Adrian Granat. Bad KO loss, an 8 rounder confidence booster then thrown into a 12 rounder with undefeated Wallin. All in the space of a year. Too early?
Majidov & Cammerelle the two best amateur super heavyweights of this era -how the hell did no one manage to persuade them to ditch the vest it's unbelievable, it's highly likely/almost certain they would have become millionaires had they turned pro.
Did amateur Frazier Clarke get out of the gate yet ? He rivaled Joshua years ago and knocked out a young Sirenko , that is a likely candidate. Theres Dave Allen and the biggest one even in top positioning is Luis Ortiz , maybe the dumbest guy to? Left a mandatory spot with AJ to fight money bags Wilder ? lol Him and his management can't even fill out simple paperwork which got him removed from other rankings.
How on Earth is Allen poorly managed? He's at best a British level fighter who has had opportunity after opportunity to go somewhere, been on PPV numerous times for some reason and yet his best win is Nick Webb? He's been managed terrifically.
The question is, could he have taken an easier, slower route and gotten a big money title shot (thru 'better mangement')? Well he'd still had to have gone through the Lenroy Thomas's; and we saw how that panned out. So I'd say he's been relatively well managed and marketed as a durable domestic level 'upsetter'.
Allen was used as a journeyman with the likes of Ortiz without even getting his feet wet. He's taking far to much punches bc he was not aligned with the right opponents and he's already shortened his career . Before that he fought Whyte in only his 11th fight that gives him 2 losses going into fight 13, this is good managing correct ? They then throw him in with an Olympic stand out gold medal Tony Yolks with still no significant wins in 19 fights to prepare him for a fight like that and takes further punishment. Managed terrifically because he managed to get a win over Webb ? Yes sure he has! Lol He's been basically set up to.lose, even Hearn was making plans for retirement party for him.after the Webb fight ....I can assure you it's not good managing when you are being asked to retire in 2O fights. Lol He's had some insignificant wins since Webb , that also doesn't erase anything and they have no importance.
The Whyte and Ortiz losses got him a shot at the Commonwealth more so than any of his wins, IMO. The way he was managed - and promoted - made him a fan favourite ready to take on anyone etc etc. He's made more money than he would have otherwise as a result of that (IMO) and is now fighting at the level he ought to have been fighting at. Difference is he now demands a platform through his fanbase and has genuine name recognition within the UK. Without that, he'd pretty much be Gary Cornish
From what i've seen I don't think Clarke would convert well in the pros, everything in his ringcraft looks very ABA. I think with Joyce out the picture he's content for now to be 'professional amateur', and he's hoping to pick up a medal at the 2020 olympics and the coin that comes with it. I remember watching a matchroom fight on TV when security stepped in, and Clarke's face was in the mix. So if he's doing security for Eddie Hearn i think it's fair to say he's got something going on under the table. Besides Joyce ain't too hot in the circuit at the moment imo, so turning over as a poor man's Joyce wouldn't be a prudent thing to do when you've got Tokoyo 2020 in the horizon. After 2020 I expect him to turn over but my prediction is less James Degale and more Anthony Ogogo.
He lost the common wealth fight, he didn't need to lose to top guys to get a shot, what competent managers do that ? It only added a loss anyway and gave him the stick reputation as a stepping stone. That's not good managing when you know your fighter is not elite level rushing in to fights he shouldn't be in. We don't know how much money he loses actually bc he won't be around long with this type of career , we don't know what big fights he potentially missed out on either bc he will.not advance in skill the way he's went about things where he would get better guys then Webb who will go further then Allen you'll see that.
I would go for obvious examples in David Haye for long periods of inactivity during what could have been his physical prime, and Tyson Fury because despite some obvious highlights in recent years, he didn't maximise his potential fighting nobodies inbetween Klitschko and Wilder fights.
Right, and he got another shot soon after because he's a popular fighter. Why is he a popular fighter? Because he showed an iron chin in his losses and interviewed well when question (and of course when he spoke about mental health some time ago). I don't think he gets the chance to fight Thomas in the first place without the Whyte or Ortiz fight. There would have been no demand for him to be on TV at all but people warmed to him as a plucky underdog (despite generally not being that good). My point in a nutshell is that he has developed a much much larger fanbase and has received/will get more opportunists through the losses he has taken than if he just went through the ranks quietly. He'd end up being fodder for someone like Joyce and quickly forgotten about. Taking the Whyte and Ortiz losses early meant he can play the 'too soon for me/wasn't totally prepared' etc cards and fans lap it up. In that respect, I think he's been managed brilliantly.
Luis Ortiz - Beat Bryant Jennings and Tony Thompson in the US, should have pushed on from there, but instead was moved to the UK to fight two journeymen. Somehow bags himself a big money mandary spot for Anthony Joshua, but then is pushed into dropping that for a Wilder fight. Then someone in his team fills out his VADA paperwork incorrectly, which sees the Wilder fight postponed, and loss of ranking with 3 of 4 governing bodies. Now it seems like he is just fighting journeymen until either he loses, or he can be used again for a Wilder fight. Gerald Washington - Pushed into a World title fight with Wilder too soon. Followed it up by being thrown in against Jarrell Miller. It's only been a year and a half since that fight and already he is being thrown in against Kownacki.
Tempted to say Ruiz Jr. Thought he nicked the fight against Parker personally and has been doing absolutely nothing since.
