Fighters With Mental Breakdowns

[elmersalsa]

I just saw the Heavyweight bout between 2 guys that are considered a "nut case". I am talking about the great Mike Tyson fight with Andrew Golota.

It was entertaining while it last. But the ending had a bad taste in my mouth. How in the world, that this man, Golota, who was fighting very good, despite being dropped by Tyson in the closing seconds of round one, abruptly quit after round two? He didn't look hurt. He seemed able to continue. He was using his jab very well and scoring combinations. What's the deal with this guy? It was one of the most bizarre finishes that I have seen in boxing. Has there been a worse case than this fight?

[Controversial]

McCall is the obvious one in the Lewis rematch.

[SteveO]

If I remember correctly Golota suffered a broken eye socket in that fight.
That probably accounted for his decision to quit.

[oogiebe]

McCall is the obvious one in the Lewis rematch.

100%. Saw the thread and came to post the same. No doubt. No debate. Yes.

[Caractacus]

i also remember Mike Tyson saying he cracked one of Golata's ribs
when Golota turned away from him.

[Caractacus]

If I remember correctly Golota suffered a broken eye socket in that fight.
That probably accounted for his decision to quit.

I think Golota's eye socket had been fractured earlier when in a sparring session to get ready for the fight.
he didn't want to go thru with the fight as scheduled,but his trainers said to go ahead as scheduled and they would stand by to bail him out if the fight got too rough after a certain amount of rounds.

[Caractacus]

Jack Johnson reportedly ( by some ) had some type of a nervous breakdown after the fight with Jim J. Jeffries.
in large part due to bad publicity.
and he began drinking heavily.

[DrDuke]

If I remember correctly Golota suffered a broken eye socket in that fight.
That probably accounted for his decision to quit.

He suffered a concussion, a fractured cheekbone and a herniated spinal disc in that fight.

[Bodyshot3]

Not a breakdown in the ring...….

…..but I've read a fair amount of the articles/essays regarding the Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that Foreman was climbing the proverbial walls and really not in a great state of mind.

Ali embraced the experience of being in Africa and the very weird-surreal place that was Mobutu's Zaire and seemingly felt no pressure whatsoever and won over the regime and the fans big time.

Foreman apparently loathed the experience even though he'd fought on the road before...….his camp was more of a paranoid bunker/compound and it did not help Foreman that Mobutu wanted them in the country whole weeks before the fight to promote his regime.

Ali was superb on the night as we all know.....but I think Foreman was already badly mentally stressed before the first bell and that was a factor that played into Ali's hands.

[oogiebe]

Not a breakdown in the ring...….

…..but I've read a fair amount of the articles/essays regarding the Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that Foreman was climbing the proverbial walls and really not in a great state of mind.

Ali embraced the experience of being in Africa and the very weird-surreal place that was Mobutu's Zaire and seemingly felt no pressure whatsoever and won over the regime and the fans big time.

Foreman apparently loathed the experience even though he'd fought on the road before...….his camp was more of a paranoid bunker/compound and it did not help Foreman that Mobutu wanted them in the country whole weeks before the fight to promote his regime.

Ali was superb on the night as we all know.....but I think Foreman was already badly mentally stressed before the first bell and that was a factor that played into Ali's hands.

it is said that Ali won that fight before the opening bell. Good shout this. Speaking of non-in-ring breakdowns, Old George had one helluva breakdown in the dressing room after the Young fight.

[Caractacus]

Not a breakdown in the ring...….

…..but I've read a fair amount of the articles/essays regarding the Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that Foreman was climbing the proverbial walls and really not in a great state of mind.

Ali embraced the experience of being in Africa and the very weird-surreal place that was Mobutu's Zaire and seemingly felt no pressure whatsoever and won over the regime and the fans big time.

Foreman apparently loathed the experience even though he'd fought on the road before...….his camp was more of a paranoid bunker/compound and it did not help Foreman that Mobutu wanted them in the country whole weeks before the fight to promote his regime.

Ali was superb on the night as we all know.....but I think Foreman was already badly mentally stressed before the first bell and that was a factor that played into Ali's hands.

yeah, there was a concern that Foreman was going to leave the country after he was cut by an elbow in sparring
so they told the president to watch the airports and even elephant trails so he couldn't leave.
they managed to convince the public and everyone else that George Foremanwas "The Bad guy"

[oogiebe]

Not a breakdown in the ring...….

…..but I've read a fair amount of the articles/essays regarding the Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that Foreman was climbing the proverbial walls and really not in a great state of mind.

Ali embraced the experience of being in Africa and the very weird-surreal place that was Mobutu's Zaire and seemingly felt no pressure whatsoever and won over the regime and the fans big time.

Foreman apparently loathed the experience even though he'd fought on the road before...….his camp was more of a paranoid bunker/compound and it did not help Foreman that Mobutu wanted them in the country whole weeks before the fight to promote his regime.

Ali was superb on the night as we all know.....but I think Foreman was already badly mentally stressed before the first bell and that was a factor that played into Ali's hands.

yeah, there was a concern that Foreman was going to leave the country after he was cut by an elbow in sparring
so they told the president to watch the airports and even elephant trails so he couldn't leave.
they managed to convince the public and everyone else that George Foremanwas "The Bad guy"

Foreman got off on the wrong foot in Zaire. He brought his german shepard unaware that the previous regimes used these animals to go after the civilians. Oops! Someone didn't get the memo.

[Tony1244]

Not a breakdown in the ring...….

…..but I've read a fair amount of the articles/essays regarding the Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that Foreman was climbing the proverbial walls and really not in a great state of mind.

Ali embraced the experience of being in Africa and the very weird-surreal place that was Mobutu's Zaire and seemingly felt no pressure whatsoever and won over the regime and the fans big time.

Foreman apparently loathed the experience even though he'd fought on the road before...….his camp was more of a paranoid bunker/compound and it did not help Foreman that Mobutu wanted them in the country whole weeks before the fight to promote his regime.

Ali was superb on the night as we all know.....but I think Foreman was already badly mentally stressed before the first bell and that was a factor that played into Ali's hands.

GF was in a total funk in Africa. But he was quite good at being surly in those days. I agree with every word above, but I think the Young fight showed GF had a lot of problems with that caliber of boxer who could take a good shot.

[Contendeh]

Buster Douglas had a breakdown against Tony Tucker.
Jack Sharkey had very unreliable mental stability and I tend to believe him that he saw the ghost of Ernie Schaaf in the ring in the second Sharkey Carnera fight.

[Bodyshot3]

The whole Ali-Foreman fight build-up and location still fascinates me because of the backstory.

You can always make a case for Ali being a truly exceptional fighter who had already worked out a credible strategy for neutralising Foreman's brute strength and punching power.....and it was assuredly a huge factor.

But fighting in Zaire was also about keeping it mentally together in the weeks building up to the fight.

It was a weird, chaotic and brutal place - an African dictatorship only a few years away from Europe's worst and most violent colonialism - and Mobutu politicised the fight by showing that Zaire and Africa had arrived on the world scene.

Ali was politically conscious and I think knew that the fight was a statement and a spectacle (the first HW Championship fight in Africa) and took all of this in his stride .....Foreman went into a bunker and did not see what Ali was doing.

[Nile4000]

Maybe Marvin did before he fought Sugar Ray Leonard.

[AntonioMartin]

The one guy who got in the ring before the bout then walked out after the first bell!

[Caractacus]

reportedly Max Baer had some type of Mental Breakdown in the dressing room prior to his fight with Joe Louis.
putting his socks over his shoes.
Jack Dempsey had told him,either you go out to the ring to fight Joe Louis or I will fight you right here.

[Matt W]

reportedly Max Baer had some type of Mental Breakdown in the dressing room prior to his fight with Joe Louis.
putting his socks over his shoes.
Jack Dempsey had told him,either you go out to the ring to fight Joe Louis or I will fight you right here.

Bloody hell, talk about a rock and a hard place!

[elmersalsa]

The one guy who got in the ring before the bout then walked out after the first bell!

I saw that on Facebook, but I don't remember the fighters' names. It was a bizarre incident. Both were ready before the opening bell and one of the guys just simply said, "Hell, no! I am not fighting this big ol' guy!"

I wonder to what happened to his paycheck that night. Did he got paid anyway? Somehow?

[AntonioMartin]

The one guy who got in the ring before the bout then walked out after the first bell!

I saw that on Facebook, but I don't remember the fighters' names. It was a bizarre incident. Both were ready before the opening bell and one of the guys just simply said, "Hell, no! I am not fighting this big ol' guy!"

I wonder to what happened to his paycheck that night. Did he got paid anyway? Somehow?

Me too (on everything you said)

Also I just remembered Art Sykes was so scared to fight Bob Pastor that he had to be convinced to leave his hotel room, and later got out of the ring during round six and left!!

[Old bones Ian]

Richie Wenton , when he fought Neil Swain. It was Wenton's return after the death of Bradley Stone in his previous fight.

Wenton just couldn't bring himself to punch back that much , then towards the end of the fifth round Wenton spat out his gumshield and went back to his corner, the ref had to stop it.

[AntonioMartin]

Richie Wenton , when he fought Neil Swain. It was Wenton's return after the death of Bradley Stone in his previous fight.

Wenton just couldn't bring himself to punch back that much , then towards the end of the fifth round Wenton spat out his gumshield and went back to his corner, the ref had to stop it.

Heart breaking...

Oh and Michael Gomez!