Fighters You Were Wrong About

[sweetviolenturge]

I'm going to go quite a ways back to begin my reply to this thread.


Carlton "Two Gun" Sparrow - He was a sharp looking young jr. lightweight whose early 80's bouts often appeared on ESPN's Top Rank Boxing. And, he appeared to have all the tools necessary to break into the upper echelon of the division. He went to 19-0 before being upset in a shocker to a 13-26-2 club fighter by the name of Fili Ramirez in two short rounds. To prove that it was just a fluke, Sparrow's people next put him in with a fellow prospect in unbeaten Roger Mayweather who proved that Sparrow's chin was definitely not world class by belting him out in four rounds. Effectively reducing him to opponent status for what remained of his career which ended on a four-bout losing streak & finishing at 22-6.

Elijah Tillery - This cruiserweight was the subject of much hyperbole back in the early 80s. The boxing press heaped much praise upon him & his 11-0 start against very modest opposition by claiming that he was destined to become the cruiserweight division's first all-time great. Needless to say, he never reached such lofty goals. In fact, the only cruiserweight title that he ever contested for was the NABF version which he couldn't even take from the average Anthony Davis. Later on in his career, he campaigned as a heavyweight journeyman & became infamous for a pair of foul-filled losses to a pre-championship Riddick Bowe.

[oogiebe]

I'm going to go quite a ways back to begin my reply to this thread.


Carlton "Two Gun" Sparrow - He was a sharp looking young jr. lightweight whose early 80's bouts often appeared on ESPN's Top Rank Boxing. And, he appeared to have all the tools necessary to break into the upper echelon of the division. He went to 19-0 before being upset in a shocker to a 13-26-2 club fighter by the name of Fili Ramirez in two short rounds. To prove that it was just a fluke, Sparrow's people next put him in with a fellow prospect in unbeaten Roger Mayweather who proved that Sparrow's chin was definitely not world class by belting him out in four rounds. Effectively reducing him to opponent status for what remained of his career which ended on a four-bout losing streak & finishing at 22-6.

Elijah Tillery - This cruiserweight was the subject of much hyperbole back in the early 80s. The boxing press heaped much praise upon him & his 11-0 start against very modest opposition by claiming that he was destined to become the cruiserweight division's first all-time great. Needless to say, he never reached such lofty goals. In fact, the only cruiserweight title that he ever contested for was the NABF version which he couldn't even take from the average Anthony Davis. Later on in his career, he campaigned as a heavyweight journeyman & became infamous for a pair of foul-filled losses to a pre-championship Riddick Bowe.

I remember Tillery!

[Awesom-O]

Pacquiao. Didn’t think he’d beat Barrera, didnt think he’d be an elite fighter for more than a couple years with his style, didn’t think he would be successful above 135.

Judah. Thought he would be great.

[Bodyshot3]

Lot's of Brit SMW contenders.......

Thought Henry Wharton might gatecrash the SMW scene - giving Eubank or even my hero Nigel a title-losing night - because Henry was as strong as a bull, could hit like hell, top chin and also came through the right way.

Think Eubank and Benn saw what was coming their way and showed Henry respect by being properly prepared and sticking closely to gameplans that did not involve putting on a show or ever chancing their arm against him.

Really liked Henry and maybe he'd have cleared-up like Collins did if his run had been timed later?

I also thought David Starie had something extra - he was much talked about and beat a few good guys to be fair - but the Calzaghe fight was a huge let-down, not sure where he went that night and he should've gone for Ottke even harder/earlier than he did and realised that he had to gamble and put knock the fella out.

[gilgamesh]

I recall expecting big things for Vivian Harris back in the day after his big win over Diobelys Hurtado who had just beaten Randall Bailey.

I'm sure there's more that I've forgotten, but that was one of the first that came to mind. If I think of more later I'll post 'em.

[Caractacus]

thot Donovan " Razor" Ruddock would have become HW Champion.
also Jorge Luis Gonzales the HW from Cuba would have gone farther in his boxing career
and Michael Grant too.

[Boxerbeetle]

Lot's of Brit SMW contenders.......

Thought Henry Wharton might gatecrash the SMW scene - giving Eubank or even my hero Nigel a title-losing night - because Henry was as strong as a bull, could hit like hell, top chin and also came through the right way.

Think Eubank and Benn saw what was coming their way and showed Henry respect by being properly prepared and sticking closely to gameplans that did not involve putting on a show or ever chancing their arm against him.

Really liked Henry and maybe he'd have cleared-up like Collins did if his run had been timed later?

I also thought David Starie had something extra - he was much talked about and beat a few good guys to be fair - but the Calzaghe fight was a huge let-down, not sure where he went that night and he should've gone for Ottke even harder/earlier than he did and realised that he had to gamble and put knock the fella out.

Talking of British SMWs, I was sure Dean Francis was going to be world level; obviously he had a very bad injury which nearly ended his career and was never the same again.

I was also convinced that Howard Eastman was world class, I told everyone that he was going to beat Hopkins

[Bodyshot3]

Talking of British SMWs, I was sure Dean Francis was going to be world level; obviously he had a very bad injury which nearly ended his career and was never the same again.

I was also convinced that Howard Eastman was world class, I told everyone that he was going to beat Hopkins

Was never sold on Francis in terms of having world title hopes - although the guy was decent - but Eastman got plenty of folk talking (mainly at middle) and I am not entirely sure why he did not kick-on. Although Hopkins did ruin careers

Starie may well have been the one that go away.......I decided to look him up on-line and the guy is so mobile, fast hands, lots of punch variety too and clearly was in shape. So maybe it was a mental thing and his fights came at the wrong time?

Definitely an interesting fighter and worth the the high hopes.

[HomicideHenry]

I'll throw in another name, BJ Flores.

After Haye left the cruiserweight division I honestly thought he'd of been "the guy" to have taken it over.

[Old bones Ian]

I was sure Oba Carr would win a world title, but then he did face Trinidad, Quartey and De La Hoya in title attempts , so didn't have it easy

[Awesom-O]

I thought Golota would put up better efforts against Lewis and Tyson.

I didn’t think much of Lewis back in 91-92 before he beat Ruddock. I thought Ruddock would beat him.

[Dart340]

For awhile in the late 80's, I was a true believer in whomever Al Bernstein hyped on ESPN's fight shows. I was sold that John Wesley Meekins and Charles Murray were going to be longterm champs. Funnily enough, they both got derailed by Terrance Ali, which i thought was absolutely mind blowing at the time.

[tennessee]

Thought Lonny Bradley would rule at middle. Camacho jr. was another. Felix Cora jr at cruiser. Just few I cn think of

[Bodyshot3]

Probably worth mentioning Audley Harrison at some juncture.........he's made for this kinda thread

I never remotely thought Audley would join the absolute HW elite-royalty or even carve-out a 'Harrison Era' but I was hopeful he'd win a legitimate world title belt and make a handful of decent defences .

On paper he had the credentials to get there - a genuinely big, very mobile man who could box off the back foot and with a helluva reach and also a stack of amateur titles including the big Olympic G.

Even considering his late turn-over to the pros; Audley appeared to have the movement, experience and size to get hold-off the IBF or WBO and hold it for a year or so.

The hype when he turned pro was immense and sometimes absurd - and Audley unwisely threw plenty of petrol on that fire -and it was a helluva shame that he did not alow himself to be trained/guided in the right way.

[oogiebe]

Probably worth mentioning Audley Harrison at some juncture.........he's made for this kinda thread

I never remotely thought Audley would join the absolute HW elite-royalty or even carve-out a 'Harrison Era' but I was hopeful he'd win a legitimate world title belt and make a handful of decent defences .

On paper he had the credentials to get there - a genuinely big, very mobile man who could box off the back foot and with a helluva reach and also a stack of amateur titles including the big Olympic G.

Even considering his late turn-over to the pros; Audley appeared to have the movement, experience and size to get hold-off the IBF or WBO and hold it for a year or so.

The hype when he turned pro was immense and sometimes absurd - and Audley unwisely threw plenty of petrol on that fire -and it was a helluva shame that he did not alow himself to be trained/guided in the right way.

I'm shocked that it took this long for someone to mention Audley. Good for you!

[SenorPipino]

Broner.

I still believe he has gobs of talent, but he doesn't have the mental fortitude to be a great fighter.

Moving up in weight far too quickly just so he could snag a title off the small Malignaggi was also an error.

[Nile4000]

Edwin Rosario, Bernard Taylor, Dwight Davidson, and Davey Moore.

[Onetimeonly]

Edwin Rosario, Bernard Taylor, Dwight Davidson, and Davey Moore.

Did you think they'd be great?

[Nile4000]

Did you think they'd be great?

All of them had a shot especially Rosario, truthfully, he should have won the 130 pound belt as well. Taylor didn't fight the right comp and he paid for it. Moore got crapped on. Davidson was lazy.

[Onetimeonly]

All of them had a shot especially Rosario, truthfully, he should have won the 130 pound belt as well.

He had an excellent career.

[Nile4000]

He had an excellent career.

Yeah, but it could have been much better than it was. He seemed to deviate from his earlier potential. Never should've taken the beating from Chavez that he did.

[cfang]

Golota was a bad one for me. I thought he'd be great after those bowe fights, Colin macmillan is another,

I was wrong about lennox. thought he was overrated for ages but ofc I was wrong, he was a great figher.

[elmersalsa]

Rodolfo "Gato" Gonzalez. A lightweight contender of the early 80s decade.

Jerome Coffee. Early 80s decade Bantamweight contender with Smooth boxing skills. All of the sudden, I didn't know what happened to him. He had excellent footwork.

Chris Byrd. I thought that he was going to be one of the true heavyweight greats.

Angel "El Diablo" Manfredy. I thought that he at least was going to be world champion.

Fernando Vargas. He dissapointed me against Oscar De La Hoya.

[Scypion]

Tony Anthony and Archie Moore. Anthony was a young light heavyweight who had moved up the rankings. His record was about 30 and 4 when he challenged Archie Moore for the Light Heavyweight Championship in 1957.

Moore had lost by KO to Rocky Marciano and 21 year old Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight title, so, when I heard that he was defending against the 23 year old Tony Anthony about 10 months later, I thought it was going to be Patterson - Moore all over again. I thought that Anthony would knock out the 40 plus year old Moore.

How wrong I was. The old mongoose was not through. Moore won by KO in about the 7th round. Anthony did go as far as being the number 1 contender in the light heavyweight division, but never won the title.

About a year or two later, Yvon Durelle, who Anthony had beaten, almost beat Archie Moore for the title, knocking him down 4 times, including 3 times in the first round. Moore came back and KO'd Durelle in the 11th round.

[Scypion]

Tony Anthony and Archie Moore. Anthony was a young light heavyweight who had moved up the rankings. His record was about 30 and 4 when he challenged Archie Moore for the Light Heavyweight Championship in 1957.

Moore had lost by KO to Rocky Marciano and 21 year old Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight title, so, when I heard that he was defending against the 23 year old Tony Anthony about 10 months later, I thought it was going to be Patterson - Moore all over again. I thought that Anthony would knock out the 40 plus year old Moore.

How wrong I was. The old mongoose was not through. Moore won by KO in about the 7th round. Anthony did go as far as being the number 1 contender in the light heavyweight division, but never won the title.

About a year or two later, Yvon Durelle, who Anthony had beaten, almost beat Archie Moore for the title, knocking him down 4 times, including 3 times in the first round. Moore came back and KO'd Durelle in the 11th round.

My mistake was thinking that Tony Anthony was a light heavyweight version of Patterson and almost as good. Patterson and Anthony were both about along in their pro careers the same. Anthony, at 22 (not 23) had a record of 31-4-1 going into the Moore fight. Floyd Patterson's record was 30-1 going into his Moore fight at the age of 21.

So, Anthony had more fights than Patterson and was about a year older than Floyd going into his Moore fight. However, if you look closely at Tony's record, you can see some things that might have indicated trouble for him. Patterson had only one loss going into his title fight with Archie Moore, and his loss was a disputed decision to Joey Maxim when he was 19 years old and had only 12 pro fights prior to that fight.

Tony Anthony's record was 31-4-1 going into his light heavyweight title fight with Archie Moore. Trouble is, his four losses were all stoppages. He was KO'd in the 3rd round by 157 lb. Bobby Boyd, and KO'd in the 4th round by 161 lb. Willie Troy. He lost to 159 lb. Jacques Royer Crecy on a TKO in the 8th round and he lost to 147 lb. Miguel Mendivil on a TKO in the 7th round. Those guys were all middleweights except Mendivil, who was actually a welterweight. Anthony weighed 152 lbs. for the Mendivil fight.

So, apparently, Tony Anthony was vulnerable as far as his chin was. Also, he weighed in at 172 lbs. for the Moore fight and looked kind of thin to me (I saw the fight on TV at the time). Maybe it would have been better to wait a year or two longer before challenging Archie and I think he would have had a better chance (he might have been a little stronger and Moore would have been older and maybe not quite as good).

After the Moore fight, Anthony knocked out Yvon Durelle in his next fight. Despite that, it was Durelle who got a shot at Moore and his title a little more than a year after the Moore/Anthony title fight. Durelle gave Moore all he could handle and knocked Archie down four times, but Moore won anyway with a KO in the 11th round.