List: The three most talented boxers who never made it

I can only speak about UK based fighters here due to my knowledge, but:

- John Conteh

- Herol Graham

- Spencer Oliver

 

Spencer Oliver? ::

What exactly made him so talented?

My choice is Gerald Tucker :bears:

 

Howard Davis Jr

seeing Kelcie Banks in the ammys you would think he had all the tools to be great

Bojado maybe

 

Now thats a good example.

BTW - I'm sick and tired of ppl mentioning Oba Carr in these type threads. His talent is so overrated its not even funny. Honestly, Carr got about as far as he could with his talent. He gave DLH, Tito, and Ike good fights, but was beaten badly in all of em, because those guys were elite. Thats all the hell Oba Carr was. A good fighter, who wasnt good enough to be, or beat the elite. He was nothing more.

 

While I wasn't a fan of his, Eric Griffin has a pretty impressive am pedigree along with enjoying the same style and same hype that too slap johnson had.

1989 world am champ
1990 goodwill champ
1991 world am champ
1992 olympian

16-4 (13) as a pro with zero good wins.

 

Good Choice:clap: ...

Speaking of Successful Ammy's,Eric Griffin was Considered THE BEST of the 1992 U.S. Olympians....Never Panned Out...

Even though they Both Won World Titles,REED Thinks Hilmer Kenty & Michael "Dynamite" Dokes Belong on this List...Particularly Dokes...There's Probably Not 5 More NATURALLY GIFTED Heavyweights N History



REED

 

U BEAT REED to the Punch...


REED

 

what about:

JL Lopez (he won a WBO title, but he could've done a lot more if he'd been more dedicated and had a better manager)

Harry Simon (I heard he's coming back once he gets out of prison, but his days as a serious threat are almost certainly over; and yet as a 154 pounder he showed tremendous strength and endurance and due to his work-rate would've been a handful for anyone)

 

simon fucked his leg up pretty bad from that car accident. i doubt he fights again.

 

I honestly think many fans(many included on this board) don't realize how GOOD you have to be to win a world title. There is a kid at my gym. He's good. His name is Santos Pakau. He dominates up here in the Pacific NW. He got his shot in Vegas and lost by TKO to Paul Williams. I believe it was Paul William's last fight. Santos would box circles around every single damn guy on this board ko'ing the whole lot as well. He will most likely never win a world title. That's what the difference is. Karl is right. Winning a world title is "making it". Hell to fight and get paid more than 10 grand for a fight is making it to most guys in the gym.

 

Harold Brazier

 

?? Had reach power and beat Hearns counter as an amateur - Regarded as a great agressive puncher when on front foot and clicinical counter puncher on back?! I would have laughed if I said was better than Hitman but to mock for merely suggesting that some have said could have been better no. Im not happy with that.

 

Well said Sir, and thanks.
What most folks that have never boxed before cannot ever fathom is how good you have to be to be a contender in the pro ranks even, let alone a world champion.
That is an honor bestowed upon several hundred in ring history from the hundreds of thousands that do not make it from the first time they lace boxing gloves on in the gymnasium.

 

dsimon writes:

You guys have creative liscense to interpret the criteria as you see fit. Tyler and your point about a title is valid. I just didn't think of a title as a criteria when I started the thread... but it makes sense.

I would say, as a caveate, that a guy like Witherspoon, title or not, was a victim of circumstance though, he never had half the career he was capable of.

 

dsimon writes:

Tuckers a good one:clap:.

I almost want to say Bowe but I didn't personally feel he was all that good.:dunno:

 

When a golfer or a tennis player wins a tournament, have they 'made it'?

Some pretty ordinary fighters have won world titles. Sure, they are good compared to joe couch boxer, but not really when compared to their peers. If you draw the line at winning a world title, you include many fighters who got lucky and you preclude many who still underachieved.

 

Thats was what I was thinking, what is making it?
You'd think a fighters dream would be to win the world title and making good coin while doing so, and unifying all the titles in that weight if you made it that far

After the first 2 rounds of Carrs first title fight with Tito. I thought he would have won or at least hold one of the big 4 belts at Welter. Then in his second title fight with Ike... a dirty fight but he was so close yet so far in both attempts.....he was at Welter when it was stacked with name fighters

 

I am confused. T/S.......You dont consider winning the HW title as 'making it'???


That was a good answer in Oba Carr

 

I always liked Burt Cooper. I don't know how great he could have been, but he gave a prime Holyfield hell in front of Holy's hometown audience not long after he (Cooper) got out of drug rehab.

 

Mike (the Body Snatcher) Mccallum

I know he had a pretty good career but IMO he was one of the most DUCKED guys in history!! in his Hey-Day NONE of the top guys wanted any!! This guy was a brilliant technician!!! I know late in his career Roy carried him but at his best, the body snatcher was awesome


Riddick (BIG DADDY) Bowe!!!

Ok.. maybe it's not right to list him as the dude was the champ.. but come on.. we all know he never lived up to his talent.. Big Daddy could have been the best ever


Shannon Briggs

I think Shannon had the speed and the power but it's like he can not focus...


ok.. one more..

I agree with Dsimon..

Tim Witherspoon

(spoon) is an impressive fighter that just never reached that upper level while he was young enough

 

Maybe his career could have been even greater if he got some bigger fights. Still the guy was not only a world champ but, is a member of the HOF. If that's not "making it" i don't know what is. :dunno:

 

he "made it" no doubt..

but coulda/shoulda been better and better known

 

dsimon writes:

This is true about McCallum. You don't hear the average fan talk about the guy yet he was without a doubt one of the best. Yet McCallum is almost obscure.

I thought Bowe in some ways could fit this category and what about Michael Nunn? A case could be made for him as well if we look at things a certain way.

What occurs to me is that a hitter in baseball at his best can't get a hit half the time up. And if he has a slump he has plenty of time to rectify the situation. Yet a great fighter can have a couple of off nights and he may never get another chance.

Jeff Lacy is a perfect example. He basically lost a fight horribly and that may have been his career.

 

"making it" is pretty subjective and we can have different criteria, but in a general sense I agree with Karl that winning a world title is already making it, sustaining the career and getting the most out of it is a different thing and is probably what most people here meant by "making it".
saying that ordinarily talented boxers win world title makes winning a world title a less than stellar achievement just isn't fair, there maybe those "very lucky" but ultimately they are weeded out in the competition, but still they made it. but they don't diminish the achievements of those fighters who put blood and sweat to earn the championships with their not so ordinary talent, even though they weren't able to sustain it for whatever reason.

 

Tukumbo Olajide


I thought he was going to be the goods...

He took a fight he shouldn't have, got knocked out, then never put out much effort from that point on.

Too bad. He could have been really fun to watch at 154...

 

Damn GOOD Choice:clap: ...

REED was Very High on Tokunbo Olajide as Well...It was Pretty Much All Down Hill after Epifanio Mendoza Knocked him Out...



REED

 

What the hell ever happened to Olajide anyway's??

I think I saw him in one more fight after his knockout loss against (Esperoza or whatever the hell his name was?) then I never saw or heard from him ever again.