Inspired by some comments I've seen on Hughie Fury telling that since he's still young, he can still be a force in the division. Seems to be that it's far fetched, since it is a rather rare occurence in boxing. still, it sometimes happens. what are the best example of fighters looking like they were heading to palooka/fringe contender status, yet managed to become elite
cuevas would be a good example I guess, since it seems he was going nowhere, but he managed to become a very good and solid champion. Not sure I would call him elite though
Pcaquiao would be a better example, since he was looking like an average asian fighter, but then, turned into a beast
Joe Brown is the classic example For years a crafty, tricky but totally inconsistent guy, drifting in and out of contender status at a few different weights... respected but seemed certain to spend his career that way... he gets a title shot against Bud Smith (who was himself a journeyman that somehow got a shot at and beat the maddeningly inconsistent three time champion Jimmy Carter - doomed to historical irrelevance by the 1976 presidential election) and whups him. At the time the thought was that Brown would have a brief reign because of Smith being a weak champion and Brown's checkered resume... instead he went on to a historic, dominant reign... 11 defenses, over 6 years... one of the greatest lightweight champions... he was so good that when he finally lost the championship to Carlos Ortiz, he was so flat that a lot of boxing reporters thought he must've thrown the fight. The reality was that "Old Bones" was finally old. He toiled for a few more years with a losing record. But when he had that belt, he was a great fighter
good shout. Glen johnson fit the bill to a much lesser extent. Nobody would call him great, but it's incredible how he managed to become one of the top players at 175, while a few years ago, he was a pure journeyman
That guy just wouldn't go away ... part of it was that his losses tended to be competitive so there wasn't the sense that he'd been completely derailed
James Toney. Former world champion right near or on the top of the P4P list and fell off the map. Listless performances and relative obscurity followed. Goes on to win the Cruiser weight title in a FOTY match and follows it up with a complete domination of an aged heavyweight superstar in Evander Holyfield.
In the Uk Steve Robinson comes to mind. Nine losses at British level. Stepped in with two days notice to fight John Davison for the vacant WBO featherweight title when Ruben Palacios was stripped for testing positive for HIV. He had a 13-9-1 record, but beat Davison on points and went on to have seven successful defences. Including against three former world champions in Paul Hodkinson, Colin Mcmillan and Duke Mckenzie, all of whom he was a big undergdog against. He was stopped by Naseem Hamed in his eighth defense and never really hit any great heights after that although he fought for another seven years.
Pacquiao is a fair shout, it was obvious he had talent (and I was one of the few who picked him to beat Barrera first time out) but there is absolutely no fucking chance I would have thought he could go on the run he ended up going on.
David Haye's career was in tatters after getting stopped by Carl Thompson and ended up becoming the undisputed CW champion and a HW titlist
Nah the Haye loss was along the lines of the Klitschko loss to Purrity, blew his load too early against a crafty vet who did little more than hang in there. More a salutary loss than a career damaging one.
some thought it might be all over for 3 time champ randall bailey after his narrow loss to ener julio but he came back to win TWO MORE world titles.
