Have been a better fighter if he actually trained instead of taking all kinds of fights on short notice ?
He was tall and had tons of guts. But he needed money and no one was gonna bankroll him. So he did what he had to do. Dude obviously was not afraid. He faced Morrison, Foreman, Mason, Cooper, McCall, Stewart, Du Plooy, Buster Douglas, Weaver, Ruddock... and some guy named Tyson... all of whom could whack like demons.
Most likely is trainer had no business doing what he was trying to do, if he had a regular trainer He obviously had no manager that had any interest as building him as a fighter. Something about boxing...there is the role of 'boxing agents' and what matchmakers do. A lot of fighters that you see on the records of other, more successful fighters, are functioning without a manager. A boxing agent will get you fights, and generally you will get a good purse because he is going to take 20%. That is one of the more lucrative boxing jobs but it comes with headaches because fighters aren't always prepared with visas, passports, physicals, who they have written contracts with, and so on. And matchmakers...if I have relationships with promoters, I will always know about guys looking to fill spots on shows. And if I have relationships with gyms and fighters, I will always know people looking for fights. I have a friend that built a sound matchmaking service and now is managing fighters internationally- no big names yet- and he built it on Facebook. If I am a match maker for a lot of different people, and you are looking for a fight, I will get you work. And the promoter will pay me and the fighter will pay me