Great Amatuers who were busts as Pros

zurdo · Post by **zurdo** » 16 Dec 2002, 01:44

I was thinking of Fighters who had great amatuer accomplishments but never developed as professionals
One example that comes to mind is Vince Shomo who won something like six NYGG titles back in the early 60s but was only 13-10-2(according to Boxrec)as a professional

another could be Mark Breland who had a great amatuer career but never really lived up to his promise as a pro..

Tomato-Can · Post by **Tomato-Can** » 16 Dec 2002, 06:32

Forest Ward
Roberto Vinas
Jorge Luis Gonzalez
Robert Shannon
Kelcie Banks
Davey Lee Armstrong
Ed Sanders
Kenny Gould

I disagree somewhat with your choice of Mark Breland as he did win a world title but you are right in that it was thought he would do even better.

wsbuf · Post by **wsbuf** » 16 Dec 2002, 10:11

Pete Rademacher- decent pro record but I believe rushed.
Vernon McGriff- Always second to Kelcie Banks, but bad pro.

wouter · Post by **wouter** » 16 Dec 2002, 10:53

What about Andrew Maynard and the late Robert Wangila?
By the way, whatever happened to Kenny Gould? Judging by his record he was not THAT much of a bust.

zurdo · Post by **zurdo** » 16 Dec 2002, 15:12

The 1980 class of amatuer seems to have an inordinate amount of highly touted amatuers who never made it

dmille · Post by **dmille** » 19 Dec 2002, 11:15

Clinton Jackson

6 Pack · Post by **6 Pack** » 19 Dec 2002, 18:51

You believe Pete was rushed! That was an understatement.

Justin · Post by **Justin** » 22 Dec 2002, 13:11

lol@Rademacher being rushed... Where did you get an idea like that?

zurdo · Post by **zurdo** » 27 Dec 2002, 04:11

How about Duane Bobick he represented the US at the 72 Munich Olympics.He was pretty hyped early in his career ...he really fell apart when he stepped up the competion.

punchy · Post by **punchy** » 31 Dec 2002, 20:26

The most recent fighter I can think of is Ebo Elder. The only thing standing in his way in the amateurs was Ricardo Williams. Had it not been for Williams, Elder would've been one of the olympic representatives. Ebo was doing well as a pro against limited competition, though he did handily beat the always tough Emmanuel Clottey. Then Ubaldo Hernandez KO'd Elder in the first round. That is the last fight I know of that Elder had.

UNDASPUTED · Post by **UNDASPUTED** » 01 Jan 2003, 17:25

Leon Spinks :x

overhand_right · Post by **overhand_right** » 25 Jan 2003, 13:37

have you all forgot tyrell biggs?

zurdo · Post by **zurdo** » 27 Jan 2003, 03:40

Craig Payne..who beat Mike Tyson and Teofilo Stevenson as an Amatuer...

Jorge Luis Gonzalez:

Parker · Post by **Parker** » 07 Feb 2003, 02:40

Tony Anthony fought under the name of Ernest Anthony as an amateur. I don't know what his record was (I wish there was someplace that we could find out amateur records, and accomplishments), but he was U.S. Amateur champion in the light middleweight or 156 lb. division in 1952.

Ernest Anthony was probably his real name, but he fought under the name of Tony Anthony after he turned pro. Tony Anthony fought Archie Moore for the light heavyweight title in 1957, but was knocked out in the 7th round. Anthony then rolled up a string of wins and was ranked number 1 contender in the light heavyweight division by the end of 1958 by Ring magazine.

Tony Anthony had his last fight at the age of 25 in 1960. Anthony was knocked out in his last couple of fights by a pair of tough heavyweights. I don't know why he was fighting heavyweights, but if Anthony stayed fighting light heavies, and continued in boxing, then he may have gotten a couple more shots at the light heavyweight title. Archie Moore was stripped of his light heavy title late in 1960, setting up an elimination fight. Maybe Anthony had trouble keeping his weight down around 175 lbs.

Anyway, I wouldn't call Tony Anthony a bust, but he may have gone farther than he did, with a few breaks.

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 11 Feb 2003, 03:32

Nick Wells was not a great amateur....had the same troubles then as he had as a pro....never in condition, would fade after first round. But..what a first round. southpaw...knocked guys down and often out with first punch of fight. Bobick got off floor to beat him. i think he was the hardest punching amateur I ever saw, but he had the Bob Satterfield curse. No telling how far he would have gone if he had any dedication at all.

Chicago · Post by **Chicago** » 11 Feb 2003, 19:41

Sanderline Williams

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 15 Feb 2003, 02:55

Billy Joiner was a good amateur from Cincinnati and had a lot of promise. Fought in amateurs as a light heavyweight and when he fought the then Cassius Clay I scored him the winner.

Had spotty pro career. the word around town was that his father, ex fighter Herschell Joiner mismanaged is career. He went the distance with Liston, when the bloom was off the intimidation rose of sonny , but still nobody else was doing it then. Article in him in a Ring Magazine a few months ago which was good.

Another Cincinnati amateur heavyweight way back in the 50s( I think) was Wyce Westrbook who was called the "amateur who fights like a pro" but, alas, when he turned pro the opposite was true.

(Bloom off the intimidation rose....jeez....that's really stretching it in the "trying to dazzle with style" category of writing. Qualifies me for the pro who writes like an amateur. )

Nile4000 · Post by **Nile4000** » 29 Sep 2005, 16:37

Mitch Green
Donald Curry
Johnny Bumphus
Howard Davis Jr.
Bernard Taylor
Jackie Beard
Alex Ramos

locoxelbox · Post by **locoxelbox** » 30 Sep 2005, 11:47

Curry was a two-time world champ who unified the titles knocking out Milton McCrory and established himself as one of the top pound for pound boxers at the time. I agree he didn't live up to his potential but he was hardly a bust.

D1983 · Post by **D1983** » 01 Oct 2005, 01:57

David Reid

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 01 Oct 2005, 13:27

d1983...welcome to the club.

david's a perfect example. i could tell from the first time i saw him he wasn't going to be around long.....didn't have the extra talent needed to compensate for his eye problem. speaking of which....i couldn't understand why cornermen and his opponents always went after the bad eye. hell....go after the good one...the bad one was going to close somewhere during the fight anyway!

vagabundo55 · Post by **vagabundo55** » 01 Oct 2005, 19:36

I don't know but I think Francisco Bojado so far fits into this category.

ShoeShine · Post by **ShoeShine** » 10 Oct 2005, 08:49

Ricardo Williams

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 10 Oct 2005, 12:43

overhand_right wrote:have you all forgot tyrell biggs?

Would you class Biggs as great?

Very good yes, but not great. Or am I splitting hairs?

Seamus · Post by **Seamus** » 14 Oct 2005, 16:27

Jerry Page, Steve McCrory and Michael Bennett.