What fighter wasted the most promise and talent

was watching Friday Night Fights tonight and saw a little clip of Tommy Morrison knocking muhfuckas out and it just made me realize how much he squandered his career.

he CLAIMS he's HIV negative, and if he was really kicked out of boxing over a false test, that just makes it even worse because he was set to fight Tyson, which I think could have been a good fight, as long as it lasted.

Morrison, I thought, could have had so much more success than he did. He had a damn near perfect fight in beating George Foreman and getting a belt (the WBO I believe).

Damn shame how his career ended up.

 

Zab Judah...

It's FASHIONABLE to HATE on this Guy Now, but 1nce Upon a Time, he was Arguably THE Most Naturally TALENTED Fighter in the Game, this Side of Roy Jones Jr.....

But a Lack of GUIDANCE, RING SMARTS, MATURITY & a QUALITY TRAINER All Combined to Compromise that Talent...



REED:hammert:

 

who can forget the brutal knockout he suffered at the hands of this guy....

 

Ike Ibeabuchi. He had the size, strength, skills, heart, and durability to one day be the HW champion of the world. That is the highest honor one can reach in boxing and he blew it because he was fucking nuts. What a waste.

 

Among guys who were champs and top fighters at one point, Michael Nunn & Hector Camacho come to mind.

 

as a Chris Byrd fan I hate to say it, but you're right. Dude was a beast.

 

Kirkland Laing

 

yeh that's a good one

how the hell can you rape a prostitute :doh:

 

I always liked these passages which show what a loon Ibeabuchi was/is.

 

Ricky Williams and that little bantamweight whose name I forget. It might be Clarence.

 

Tony "Torito" Ayala
Edwin Valero

Hector "Macho" Camacho (yeah he accomplished a lot, but could had accomplished waaayyy more had he taken his career more seriously during his prime and stay away from drugs).

 

Which is why he probably would have had an Oliver Mcall moment after a few Lewis right hands.

 

That's how I have that mythical matchup going, Lewis by DQ or TKO.

 

I'd say Nunn. He had the talent to be an all time great, yet never fully lived up to it.

 

Harry Simon is another one. I think he would have beaten Vargas back in the day

 

Agreed on Nunn.

 

Mark Breland is always popular for these threads, but I'm not sure "waste" is applicable in his case. He was just built, more for the amateur game then the pro game.

Tokumbo Olajide had me fooled, perhaps more then any other fighter in memory. I thought that guy was the goods.

 

Good 1...

The "Renaissance Man" of Boxing!!!...Was Gonna CLEAN UP Boxing's Image & B the Next BIG Thing...Til he Fell Victim to Perhaps THE WORST Case of Matchmaking EVER...

Facing a BIGGER Man w/a 1.000 KO Ratio, on SHORT Notice...If REED Remembers Correctly, Olajide was JUST ABOUT TO Make his HBO Debut, had he Gotten Past that 1 Fight...



REED:kidcool:

 

At least El Radar had a HOF career. There have been bigger wastes then him.

 

Benitez is a funny case. Sure he burnt out early and didn't train, but he would have never been the prodigal phenom he was if his dad didn't start training him like an animal and having him fight street toughs in backyard brawls, 3 seconds after he popped out of his mothers womb.

Got him ready for the pro game at an early age, but also predestined him to early brain damage and all the problems that come with it.

 

Yeah, he was never able to come back from that. Those obscure Columbian bangers sure make good spoilers when they first come up and haven't been figured out yet.

 

Breland was borderline shot before his pro career even began.

 

roberto duran

 

I read that his dad stole a lot of his money too.

 

Is this the Olajide who retired to follow his dream of being a jazz player?

Anyway I'd add Panchito Bojado. Given too much praise too soon and didn't have the dedication to back it up. You know your dedication is lacking anytime Fernando Vargas kicks you out of his camp for being too lazy.

 

I hate to say it but Aaron Pryor.

 

No, he was set to fight Lennox Lewis and receive $8 million, but he overlooked Michael Bentt and got blasted apart in less than a round. He had also been scheduled to fight Herbie Hide at one point and I remember the PPV advertisements running for it, but that card fell apart. Too bad because that would have been a fun one to watch.

 

Clarence 'Bones' Adams? He didn't squander his prime, but he did smoke some of it away. His jaw was screwed after Orlando Canizales broke it though.

 

No, the Bentt/Lewis situation was two or three years before the HIV forced him out of the sport.