BoxRec

Former lightweight contender Alvin "Too Sweet" Hayes, 30-3 (26), passed away, reportedly of an intentional drug overdose, on January 19. In his prime, the 44-year-old Hayes was known for his flashy ring attire and dancing ability. He recently embarked on a two-win comeback after a lengthy prison stretch for robbery.
In an eerie twist of fate, Hayes' friend and former stablemate Ricky Womack committed suicide two years earlier to the day.
Distraught former manager Stuart Kirshenbaum, who also managed Womack, says Hayes had been depressed recently and even told his mother two weeks ago that he now understood the way Womack felt in his final days.

Must say I don't recognise the name of Alvin Hayes, but it is indeed sad to hear of his passing.

Womack is a more familiar name, he was pasted by Holyfield on his way towards Cruiserweight glory, if my memory serves me...

..didn't he get out of prison in apparently excellent shape and embark on a comeback before taking his own life?

Sad news. We were talking about Hayes awhile back bennie - I still remember that scary knockout he suffered at the hands of Jimmy Paul.

TerribleTerry wrote:Must say I don't recognise the name of Alvin Hayes, but it is indeed sad to hear of his passing.

Womack is a more familiar name, he was pasted by Holyfield on his way towards Cruiserweight glory, if my memory serves me...

..didn't he get out of prison in apparently excellent shape and embark on a comeback before taking his own life?

Hayes is familiar to older boxing fans (so I ONLY just remember him), for his appearance on the Tommy Hearns-Roberto Duran undercard in Vegas in June 1983. He faced crosstown Detroit rival Jimmy Paul in the kind of world class 10-rounder you rarely see today. Hayes, who made Naz look shy, danced his way into the ring, wearing a Zorro-type mask, and continued to dance during the introductions. Then the bell rang and it was time to fight. But Hayes could fight. He was a Tommy Hearns-type, lanky and with a lethal right. But his Kronk opponent rode out the early attacks and nailed Hayes in the fifth with a big right of his own, and they could have counted to a 100.
Paul went on to win the IBF lightweight title and proved a good champion.

TerribleTerry wrote:Must say I don't recognise the name of Alvin Hayes, but it is indeed sad to hear of his passing.

Womack is a more familiar name, he was pasted by Holyfield on his way towards Cruiserweight glory, if my memory serves me...

..didn't he get out of prison in apparently excellent shape and embark on a comeback before taking his own life?

Womack beat Evander as an amateur i think....

knockout wrote:

TerribleTerry wrote:Must say I don't recognise the name of Alvin Hayes, but it is indeed sad to hear of his passing.

Womack is a more familiar name, he was pasted by Holyfield on his way towards Cruiserweight glory, if my memory serves me...

..didn't he get out of prison in apparently excellent shape and embark on a comeback before taking his own life?

Womack beat Evander as an amateur i think....

True. But Evander beat him twice when it mattered...in the Olympic trials. Womack had been a big favourite to win the Trials. Holyfield, as we know, had that mental steel befitting all great fighters.

AREA SPORTS IN BRIEF: Detroit boxer Hayes, 44, was known for flashiness

January 22, 2004

Detroit boxer Alvin (Too Sweet) Hayes, known for his Michael Jackson-like dance moves and flashy ring attire, died Monday. He was 44.
Hayes won 24 straight fights before losing to fellow Kronk Gym boxer Jimmy Paul in 1984 on the undercard of the Thomas Hearns-Roberto Duran fight in Las Vegas.
Two years later he was in jail for robbing Detroit party stores with a toy gun. After getting parole in 1993, he fought once before he returned to prison for a series of robberies.
Upon his release from prison in the past year, he decided to continue fighting. He trained daily at Kronk and fought twice, including on a summer card at Joe Louis Arena.
Famed Kronk trainer Emanuel Steward said he planned to include Hayes on a Joe Louis card Feb. 28. That card, instead, will be "a tribute to him."
"He was so excited about it," Steward said. "He had a new dance he was going to do."
Despite Hayes' problems, Steward said: "He was a great, great role model. I know it's hard to believe. But he would tell the kids not to make the mistakes he made."

Visitation is 2:30-9 p.m. Friday at Swanson Funeral Home, 806 E. Grand Blvd. in Detroit. The funeral service is 12:30 p.m. Saturdayat Williams Chapel Baptist Church, 3100 Elmwood in Detroit.

Cheers, mate. Good story. I seem to recall him joining Kronk after the Paul defeat and all the Kronk boxers giving him a hard time because he didn't box for them as an amateur. Local rivalries can be so petty.

Depression is an awful thing, more and more people seem to get it these days aswell. There are many reasons for this, but the main one, in my opinion, is unrealistic expectations of what life is all about.

People are made to feel insignificant when they see the successful and exciting lives celebrities lead. The truth is however that these celebrities still piss, shit and bleed and are often more depressed than the rest of society because they've reached the top and have found out it's not as good as they thought it'd be.

The world needs to get back to reality and learn to value what is really important...sipping champagne and smoking a cigar, whilst a super model sucks your cock onboard your 93' speedboat.

FlawedGenius wrote:Depression is an awful thing, more and more people seem to get it these days aswell. There are many reasons for this, but the main one, in my opinion, is unrealistic expectations of what life is all about.

People are made to feel insignificant when they see the successful and exciting lives celebrities lead. The truth is however that these celebrities still piss, shit and bleed and are often more depressed than the rest of society because they've reached the top and have found out it's not as good as they thought it'd be.

The world needs to get back to reality and learn to value what is really important...sipping champagne and smoking a cigar, whilst a super model sucks your cock onboard your 93' speedboat.

interesting point....(the serious bit i mean)
Chris Ballard, a succesful and popular kickboxer topped himself on news years eve...

When you have the invincibility of a succesful pro fighter i am sure it is even harder to admit to someone you need help because you are depressed... it just isn't a macho thing to do ..... sad really.

Very sad news about Alvin who I remmember reading about a lot when he was a hot prospect... I don't think he ever really recovered from the Paul defeat.... because of his confidence and flashiness many ridiculed him after he was blown out like that after all his dancing and posing during the introductions. It be hard for any boxer to accept that their career is over at say 30 plus when he is still really a young man and this must be even more difficult for someone like Hayes who must have realised that he had not made the best use of his talents and that it was too late... perhaps boxing on made it worse for him (and perhaps for Womack too) as although they were still boxing they must have realised that they were not really going far and that the talent and hopes of their past had gone forever....