BoxRec

What fighters were RIGHTFULLY (by which I don't mean alphabet trinket-wearing phonies) on at/near the top of the league one year, and then barely scraped top 10 in their division the next?

For me, the most sudden decline was Erik Morales after his victory of Pac in Jan '05. Everything abruptly went to shit after that, stamina, chin etc in just two fights and 12 months.

Roy Jones collapsed relatively fast from his spot as PFP #1 to barely top 10 in his division. Freddie Steele also collapsed rather quickly.

Jones' was probably the most dramatic. One minute he's made history and is the best P4P fighter in the world, the next he gets brutally KO'd twice in a row. Physically though he's still pretty formidable in his present state. I'd say Morales is too incidentally, because I would still favor him over a lot of guys at LW aside from the very top tier.

Meldrick Taylor is an obvious one. Chavez beat him to such an extent that the guy simply wasn't the same anymore. In his prime he could've given any fighter in history around that weight class hell with that handspeed and aggression, that fight was like watching a Formula 1 car slamming into the wall at full speed.

The one that came immediately to mind - probably because he's discussed on the Ortiz-Gomez thread - is Joe Brown, who, after dropping the lightweight crown to Ortiz, lost something like seven out of his next 12 or 13 fights, and quickly became a trialhorse for rising contenders.

From the Old Timers, Arthur Pelkey won the "White Heavyweight Championship" in tragic fashion against Luther McCarty and then lost something like 20 of his next 25 (with most of those by KO).

Don Curry is the one that immediately springs to mind in my lifetime.

Looked an exceptional fighter and was P4P one of the best at the time but after he lost to Honeyghan had never the same kudos.

"The one that came immediately to mind - probably because he's discussed on the Ortiz-Gomez thread - is Joe Brown, who, after dropping the lightweight crown to Ortiz, lost something like seven out of his next 12 or 13 fights, and quickly became a trialhorse for rising contenders..." - Ray

Nice call. Davey Moore sprang to mind for me.

kostya tszyu he looked invincable against sharba mitchell and then hatton came along(he was still good, maybe he doesnt fit into this catagory)

Lloyd Honeyghan & Pinklon Thomas

What about Leon Spinks or Iran Barkley. From their primes till the end was a pretty steep slope.

Goodnight, Irene wrote:"The one that came immediately to mind - probably because he's discussed on the Ortiz-Gomez thread - is Joe Brown, who, after dropping the lightweight crown to Ortiz, lost something like seven out of his next 12 or 13 fights, and quickly became a trialhorse for rising contenders..." - Ray

Nice call. Davey Moore sprang to mind for me.

Thank you, Good Night Irene.

There are lots of guys whose careers basically did a free-fall after their first loss: Mac Foster, Meldrick Taylor, John Mugabi, Domini Guinn, to a lesser extent Hector Camacho.

Don Curry.

From being seriously talked about as a modern great to a complete also ran after Honeyghan bashed him up.

Collins2000 wrote:Don Curry.

From being seriously talked about as a modern great to a complete also ran after Honeyghan bashed him up.

Good call Collins.
Curry was regarded as one of the pound for pound best at the time of the Honeyghan loss.

Wilfred Benitez...After losing to Thomas Hearns, went deeply downhill.

Pipino Cuevas did so after the Hearns KO.

Gil Turner after losing to Kid Gavilan was through.. The referee should have stopped that fight much sooner. He was getting murdered on that ring.

Alfonso Zamora after the fight with Carlos Zarate in the battle of the Z boys was also through after that.

Bob Montgomery was through after losing to Ike Williams.

elmersalsa wrote:Wilfred Benitez...After losing to Thomas Hearns, went deeply downhill.

Pipino Cuevas did so after the Hearns KO.

Gil Turner after losing to Kid Gavilan was through.. The referee should have stopped that fight much sooner. He was getting murdered on that ring.

Alfonso Zamora after the fight with Carlos Zarate in the battle of the Z boys was also through after that.

Bob Montgomery was through after losing to Ike Williams.

Cuevas was observably downhill in the Randy Shields fight before he fought Hearns.

Gil Turner had a long career after his title fight with Gavilan.

Gene Fullmer told me he considered Gil Turner a top level fighter.

Turner beat Fullmer and knocked him through the ropes LONG after Turner fought Gavilan.

Ezzard Charles. Though he was past his prime by 1954 he was still the # 1 rated contender in the world and still a great fighter, and after the marciano beatings.....he went within a year to losing to journeyman level fighters and within a couple years he could not even beat tomato can clubfighters anymore he declinded so badly.

guys like Donald Curry, Ray Leonard get alot of build up but as soon as they get in the ring with a real firecraker they go to pieces. They really aren't that tough. Curry was doing great with all the lesser fighters, most of them useless or impotent and then along comes Honeyghan and McCallum, a juge jump in class. He just lost to better fighters that's all.

Same with Leonard who was outclassed and outsped by Norris. He was too busy making a name for himself with all the old men until Norris exposed him.

Worst dropoff I've seen was Jeff Chandler who was destroyed by a prospect in a title fight and never fought again.

Freddie Steele's decline was entirely due to an injury. A record of 122-2-11 at age 25. This guy could have ended up Top 20 All Time.

Roy Jones is the most obvious and somebody beat me to Donald Curry who was my first thought. That being said, I have to say that Pernell Whitaker's decline sorta shocked me. I still can't believe he lost to Bojorquez.

Both Curry and his conquerer, Lloyd Honeyghan fit the bill.
Also, Leon Spinks. 7-0-1 after beating Ali. 19-17-3 after that, including being ko'd 9 times

giacomino wrote:Both Curry and his conquerer, Lloyd Honeyghan fit the bill.
Also, Leon Spinks. 7-0-1 after beating Ali. 19-17-3 after that, including being ko'd 9 times

Good call on Honeyghan.

He too went into a steep decline rather quickly.

Goodnight, Irene wrote:"The one that came immediately to mind - probably because he's discussed on the Ortiz-Gomez thread - is Joe Brown, who, after dropping the lightweight crown to Ortiz, lost something like seven out of his next 12 or 13 fights, and quickly became a trialhorse for rising contenders..." - Ray

Nice call. Davey Moore sprang to mind for me.

Definitely Moore for me. Duran spanked him to within an inch of his life.

No mention yet of Riddick Bowe!!!

Roy Jones - sad and sharp and shocking.

Robin Blake

CORRECTION:

Duran thumbed Davey Moore within an inch of his life.

(with the "referee's" full approval.)