What fighters come to mind who were lacking in talent, or even skills, but who achieved a lot simply due to tenacity and determination?
Rocky Marciano: 5'10 heavyweight with 67' wingspan, late start in the sport. Dwight Qawi: He was built like R2D2. Also had a late start in the sport. Gatti might've actually done a little better if he hadn't spent too much time training on booze and cocaine.
I wouldn't say Qawi was lacking in talent or skills. He was short, but he was able to turn his lack of height into an advantage...making him difficult to hit cleanly. Qawi was a good, if unconventional, boxer.
Vito Antuofermo - Vito was like a middleweight Marciano but without the fight-changing one punch power. Despite his lack of natural skills, punching power and a tendency to cut easily...he was Middleweight Champion of the World and was a contender for years.
I definitely think he had skills. I think his lack of physical gifts and late start is what makes him an overachiever. He turned it into an advantage, but being a 5'6 light-heavyweight is not ideal, it's generally a disadvantage. Him being able to turn that disadvantage into an advantage is part of the overachieving process.
I don't disagree with what you are saying....but Qawi wouldn't be on my list based on the criteria from the initial post.
He worked himself into a couple of million dollar paydays at the end of his career, which is all he ever wanted if you watched post-fight interviews from his earlier fights.
Yeah, I'd actually call him an under-achiever. A lot of those wars he was in was of his own doing. He was talented enough to avoid some of them, he just didn't want to.
Not so much in career accomplishments...but he made a lot of money and had some high profile fights. Not bad for a fighter of his limited skill set. Plus...I cracked up every time REED called him "RUDY"::
Ray Mancini was naturally little more than a strong, gutsy kid with no special talents whatsoever but he became a champion Carmen Basilio as well... it took him years to become a great fighter... naturally, all he had was a tungsten chin, and a complete lack of fear... but he learned through trial and error and became a great fighter Danny Lopez had earth-shattering power but little talent... he became a champion almost entirely because of persistence
