Fighters who were considered shot at a young age..

[jamesmcdonnell]

Fernando Vargas

He's only 37 today, but was shot by 2005 aged about 27.

I reading about him rattling off 17 or 18 stoppages when he began, then got took the distance by Winky, then halted by Felix, Oscar, Mosely, Mayorga etc.

To be fair, Vargas had hypothyroidism, which means he had absolute murders making weight, which at the least contributed to his being finished so young.

[mickey1975]

Brodie, Pithie, Evatt, Oliver, Starie, Witter, Michael Jones, Kelly Oliver, Hamed, Gray and more.

[palooka]

Brodie, Pithie, Evatt, Oliver, Starie, Witter, Michael Jones, Kelly Oliver, Hamed, Gray and more.

Some brilliant fighters in that year, Hamed was some talent but its a real shame Gray didn't give it a go as a pro - he hit harder p4p than Evatt, Shaun would have knocked some good pros silly.

[palooka]

Peter Culshaw?

[mickey1975]

Brodie, Pithie, Evatt, Oliver, Starie, Witter, Michael Jones, Kelly Oliver, Hamed, Gray and more.

Some brilliant fighters in that year, Hamed was some talent but its a real shame Gray didn't give it a go as a pro - he hit harder p4p than Evatt, Shaun would have knocked some good pros silly.

Two off the list are dead, a few have been in prison(Gary Mayor has done life and is back in the Am's!) and some have hit dizzy heights. Who knew back then how things were going to turn out?

[palooka]

It's frightening that it's 25 years ago :( I was in my prime then.

[pyenest77]

George Collins

Good call. Also his brother, Tony.

There was a third brother, Ben, but I don't know whether he was touted as a prospect like George and Tony Collins.

I was originally thinking of the Collins lad that was on WoS years ago but couldn't recall his name someone. That's him Tony!

[palooka]

Tony Collins had a right scrap with Wally Swift Jnr, one of my favourite bouts

[Stevieb8006]

Out of interest, could anyone tell me who trained Bobby vanzie? He was slick

I think he was with Bradford Boys in the amateurs, maybe that Yorkshire angle helped develop an Ingle style of boxing! In the pro's I am pretty sure Jack Trickett looked after him.

I checked and it was Karmand. What a remarkable group the 1990 boys club winners were...

[reggaereggae]

Anyone got any links to Gray fights? I couldn't find any vids and his record sound amazing.

[palooka]

Anyone got any links to Gray fights? I couldn't find any vids and his record sound amazing.

I've been trying for years, he was my idol. I contacted his brother, Glen, but got no reply. It's a real shame there's nothing on YouTube; his older brother, Patsy is on there beating Wayne Alexander. Patsy was a good fighter but Shaun was brilliant. I've asked Steve Bunce, Eric Guy, Darcy Delaney and anyone else I could think of.

[reggaereggae]

Anyone got any links to Gray fights? I couldn't find any vids and his record sound amazing.

I've been trying for years, he was my idol. I contacted his brother, Glen, but got no reply. It's a real shame there's nothing on YouTube; his older brother, Patsy is on there beating Wayne Alexander. Patsy was a good fighter but Shaun was brilliant. I've asked Steve Bunce, Eric Guy, Darcy Delaney and anyone else I could think of.

Thanks - I was shocked when I saw his amateur record. And I hadn't heard of him. What happened? Wonder why he drifted away?

[palooka]

Anyone got any links to Gray fights? I couldn't find any vids and his record sound amazing.

I've been trying for years, he was my idol. I contacted his brother, Glen, but got no reply. It's a real shame there's nothing on YouTube; his older brother, Patsy is on there beating Wayne Alexander. Patsy was a good fighter but Shaun was brilliant. I've asked Steve Bunce, Eric Guy, Darcy Delaney and anyone else I could think of.

Thanks - I was shocked when I saw his amateur record. And I hadn't heard of him. What happened? Wonder why he drifted away?

His older brother, Patsy didn't box as a senior either. I remember reading an interview with Jason Rowland in Boxing News in the early 90's (Jason was from around the same area, Canning Town) and he said that out of all the great amateurs only he and Bradley Stone really wanted to get out of the area, the others enjoyed the night life etc - like most of us do. Shaun was brilliant from around 13 years old and even with great talent you've got to work hard and sacrifice, he maybe got fed up with it, it'd be understandable.

[gilgamesh]

I don't believe anyone has mentioned Riddick Bowe yet, which is surprising. He always comes to mind for me when I think of Young fighters who were finished early.

[Mimmy]

George Collins

Good call. Also his brother, Tony.

There was a third brother, Ben, but I don't know whether he was touted as a prospect like George and Tony Collins.

George was racking up wins one after the other. I remember him being touted as the next big thing, but he suddenly met Gary Jacobs and got beat on points and the comeback against Laing it was all over after that. 9 fights in 85, 9 in 86, 10 in 87 then slowed down in 88 with 6 and the last 3 in 89. I would think the 28 fights in his first 3 years burned him out really. Cant go on at that speed for long.

[reggaereggae]

George Collins

Good call. Also his brother, Tony.

There was a third brother, Ben, but I don't know whether he was touted as a prospect like George and Tony Collins.

George was racking up wins one after the other. I remember him being touted as the next big thing, but he suddenly met Gary Jacobs and got beat on points and the comeback against Laing it was all over after that. 9 fights in 85, 9 in 86, 10 in 87 then slowed down in 88 with 6 and the last 3 in 89. I would think the 28 fights in his first 3 years burned him out really. Cant go on at that speed for long.

I think the reality is slightly different.... George Collins was a fantastic junior and winning everything in sight. However either he was exceptionally mature as a youngster, or more likely lying about his age (hardly unknown in the gypsy amatuer boxing community) so was effectively a man boxing against boys which he dominated. But in his last and I think only senior amateur fight he boxed Gary Stretch who kod him in a.round.

Nonetheless, with all the hype allegedly signed him and he got the big hype and push.... featured on a lot of TV bills but despite the build up, never looked that special and was found out at the top level

[palooka]

Tony Collins had a right scrap with Wally Swift Jnr, one of my favourite bouts

Yeah, good fight - a proper row that one, but I always thought Collins v Swift looked slightly bizarre inasmuch as Collins was young and trendy in a slightly 'new age' way whereas Swift looked about 45 to me. He just had a very straight-laced, middle-aged look to him. Plus, you just never hear of anybody called Wally nowadays, do you.

We called my son, Walter - partly after Swift. I just really liked it as a no nonsense working cllass name; we got a bit of disapproval at first but now people say he suits it. He gets called, Walter, Wally and Walt

[Sklar]

I don't believe anyone has mentioned Riddick Bowe yet, which is surprising. He always comes to mind for me when I think of Young fighters who were finished early.

Re-read the posts. I've started to get the impression over the past few months that barely anyone reads posts other than their own. The amount of times you see the same thing written by different people is astonishing.

[Old bones Ian]

Brodie, Pithie, Evatt, Oliver, Starie, Witter, Michael Jones, Kelly Oliver, Hamed, Gray and more.

Some brilliant fighters in that year, Hamed was some talent but its a real shame Gray didn't give it a go as a pro - he hit harder p4p than Evatt, Shaun would have knocked some good pros silly.

Didn't both Gray brothers pass away at an early age? Not much into their 30's. Great shame.

[Andrew]

Seen a fair few in here label Groves as shot.

[Flump]

Good call. Also his brother, Tony.

There was a third brother, Ben, but I don't know whether he was touted as a prospect like George and Tony Collins.[/quote]

George was racking up wins one after the other. I remember him being touted as the next big thing, but he suddenly met Gary Jacobs and got beat on points and the comeback against Laing it was all over after that. 9 fights in 85, 9 in 86, 10 in 87 then slowed down in 88 with 6 and the last 3 in 89. I would think the 28 fights in his first 3 years burned him out really. Cant go on at that speed for long.[/quote]

I think the reality is slightly different.... George Collins was a fantastic junior and winning everything in sight. However either he was exceptionally mature as a youngster, or more likely lying about his age (hardly unknown in the gypsy amatuer boxing community) so was effectively a man boxing against boys which he dominated. But in his last and I think only senior amateur fight he boxed Gary Stretch who kod him in a.round.

Nonetheless, with all the hype allegedly signed him and he got the big hype and push.... featured on a lot of TV bills but despite the build up, never looked that special and was found out at the top level[/quote]

This. You know when somebody racks up 35 odd straight wins exclusively against journeymen and tomato cans that the manager/promoter knows something ain't right.

[palooka]

Brodie, Pithie, Evatt, Oliver, Starie, Witter, Michael Jones, Kelly Oliver, Hamed, Gray and more.

Some brilliant fighters in that year, Hamed was some talent but its a real shame Gray didn't give it a go as a pro - he hit harder p4p than Evatt, Shaun would have knocked some good pros silly.

Didn't both Gray brothers pass away at an early age? Not much into their 30's. Great shame.

Two of the brothers, Patsy and Shaun both passed away with heart attacks, a third brother, Glen is alive and kicking. He got to a junior aba final or semi final a few years ago.

[reggaereggae]

@ reggaereggae - Yes, I've also heard that George Collins was older than he was supposed to be. He certainly appeared very mature for a teenager - mustache, whiskers and so on when everybody else just looked like a kid. Apparently, he was also driving himself up and down the country when he was (supposedly) 15 and 16. Mind you, I know such things aren't exactly unknown amongst travelers though.

ps. that Stretch match was on the kids' TV programme 'Record Breakers' as Collins was supposed to be breaking some kind of world record for winning amateur fights. Must have been quite a shock when Stretch knocked him out.

I didn't know that! I tried to find a vid of that fight but couldn't. I would love to see that

[Lenny Cravats]

David Reid.

Mixture of that eyelid damage and going mental after losing to Trinidad.

Done by his mid-twenties after a standout am career and professional world title.

[Darcy Delaney]

[quote="TheLeprechaun"]Gomez was only 26 when he faced Arthur but was considered over the hill.

I watched this fight again last night and the hairs on my neck stood on end what a brutal fight a classic