Biggest waste of talent: Joan Guzman, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Adrien Broner, Gary Russell Jr, Tank Davis

5 incredibly talented fighters with a frustratingly disappointing overall career, some of them representing the worst side of boxing (coming overweight, using banned substance, holding belts hostage, inactivity, cherry-picking). Who would you say squandered their gifts and boxing career the worst?

 

Gamboa imo. Despite the vulnerable chin, he definitely had the most raw, athletic talent IMO.

 

He may have been the most talented of the group mentioned but he was already pretty up there in age before he turned pro.

 

Gamboa for sure. He was a dumb fighter who relied more on athleticism than skill and ring IQ but he was a talent.

 

I think Gamboa got the most out of his talent. He just didn't have skill. That's separate from talent. Gamboa had a brief peak where he was pretty dominant at 126.

I'd say Gary Russell. All the rest of the guys listed accomplished more than Russell. Little motherfucker spent more time during his prime running his mouth outside the ring than actually fighting inside the ring.

Built his entire career off a story of sucker punching Bud in the gym.

 

yep, thats the one

 

Disagree. I think Gamboa actually got a lot of opportunities and exposure he didn't even deserve. Guzman on the other hand, was a threat to everyone in and around his division and yet managed to accomplish almost nothing.

 

I think Russell accomplished more than Guzman. And was less dominant.

Guzman, imo, is the answer.

 

Russell Jr fights once annually but at least shows up in shape and gets paid well

Guzman was a lazy fuck who missed weight repeatedly and fucked off several paydays

 

Exactly.

 

I was going to say Guzman as well. He had skills but was a lazy fuck.

 

I'm allowed to change my mind. Yeah on second thought I would say Guzman. He did have more ability than Russell.

The answer can't be Broner. I think AB accomplished more than enough for his talent level. There's no Broner loss that could have been reversed, regardless of Broner's training or mindset. He simply started getting outclassed by better fighters.

 

Edwin Rosario

 

In what sense? The guy was a bonafide superstar.

 

We're talking about a bunch of nobodies (relatively speaking) in this thread, and you go ahead and list a HOFmer, who's one of the top 10 greatest Puerto Rican fighters of all time and arguably the biggest puncher in lightweight history.

Rosario got the most out of his talent. Early in his career he was compared to Gomez, but he was never gonna live up to that. Gomez was simply a much better talent.

 

Roberto duran

 

Robinson could have done more.

 

Rosario was just beaten by better guys imo. Drugs played a bit into it, but I don’t see how he beats Chavez. And Ramirez was just too tough.

 

Disagreed. Rosario was clearly an underachiever

 

Maybe. But that speaks more to how talented he was that anyone would suggest a guy who accomplished more than 99% of boxers didn't reach his potential. But it hardly qualifies him as "waste of talent."

 

What more could Rosario have done? Mind you, I'm a HUGE Rosario fan. Always have been.

Chapo was very talented, but if compared to his countrymen, he wasn't quite as talented as a Gomez, Trinidad, or Benitez. He wasn't far behind them in talent, but he lacked the "it" factor they had. He had certain flaws as a fighter, and those flaws were independent of however he was living outside the ring.

Rosario reached his potential. Some guys are just destined to have brief peaks.

 

he was a coke head, that killed his peak imo

 

No JOM, Chavez killed Rosario's peak.

 

Ì wont argue too much, cause it's onlt a perception. But when I see Rosario, I feel he could have been more than he was.

 

its true that it was a pretty bad beating

 

Tank continues to impress just how utterly wasted his career has gone.

 

Guzman was a self sabotage kind of guy. I think he would have found problems no matter what. He had a lot of talent and should have done way more than he did.

 

I say Tank he could’ve clean up 135…Ry, Haney, Teo…..n finally in 2021-22 face his boogeyman Lomachenko…win or lose a Shakur mega fight would still be available today. 3-4 years from now that Abdullah Mason mega fight will be there….

Instead he fought a few old smaller legends & RY & decided to sit in a corner acting like a prima donna watching the world go pass….

I hope he looks stupid in the Jake “exhibition”….

 

It's this modern day bullshit mostly built upon Floyd and a mindset of being undefeated is like some kind of grail. How many people consider Rocky Marciano the greatest of all time heavyweight?

If he would have fought Lomachenko he would have lost, and got a lesson. The thing is sometimes lessons are good. You don't improve or learn much beating opponents that you're supposed to.

 

Panchito Bojado