Name some fighters that you thought were gonna be great and really achieve alot, but just didn't live up to potential and flopped?

Past or Present!

augie sanchez the kid had vicious power but when he got to the pros naseem proved he did not have any type of chin,edner cherrys the most recent i thought he would be a belt holder by this point.

I for one had bought into the Jeff Lacy hype, after the first round against Calzaghe I knew it was over. Acalino Freitas too, he was mopping the floor with everyone he faced, then he tried to become a more technical fighter and went down the drain. No Mas against Chico.

Zab Judah.

I expected more from him.

Errol Christie, then someone hit him :(

Zab Judah.

I expected more from him.

I always thought Judahs natural athletic talent was very close to Mayweathers, he just havent the discipline or focus that Mayweather has.

Would kind of put Toney in this category, certainly wouldn't say he flopped but he didn't fulfil his potential in my view and he should be a nailed on atg with his ability wheras he has managed to leave doubt in many peoples minds.

Tua :( .....

Would kind of put Toney in this category, certainly wouldn't say he flopped but he didn't fulfil his potential in my view and he should be a nailed on atg with his ability wheras he has managed to leave doubt in many peoples minds.

Toneys greatest failing was his mamas baking, I heard him say that in an interview one time his mother owned a bakery and he couldnt control himself. I think we may be seeing another heavyweight flop in front of our very eyes for the same reason. I believe the quote was "Im ok until about three in the morning, but then, I get ****in hungry man" Chris Arreola.

First off this thread is about fighters who flopped! fighters like james toney, zab judah and jeff lacy did not flop all three become world champions! you wanna talk about a figher who flopped how about cuban heavyweight Jorge Luis Gonzalez. This thread is not about fighters who could of been great or didnt furfil there careers! it about fighters who just flopped full stop! like that cuban heavyweight and ricardo williams

Name some fighters that you thought were gonna be great and really achieve alot, but just didn't live up to potential and flopped?

Past or Present!

Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez
Joe Lipsey
Michael Watson
Frank Tate
Alex Ramos
Ronnie Harris
Jerome Coffee
Paul Gonzalez
Dennis Milton
Sugar Ray Seales

Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez
Joe Lipsey
Michael Watson
Frank Tate
Alex Ramos
Ronnie Harris
Jerome Coffee
Paul Gonzalez
Dennis Milton
Sugar Ray Seales

dude michael watson did not flopp! he was boxing the ears of eubank in there rematch and got caught in the last round! the rest was out of his hands what happend!

I didn't think they were going to be great but at the very least very good. Ricardo Williams Jr and Panchito Bojado. At the time I would of bet anybody that they would of been better than Miguel Cotto at 140. Boy was I wrong...

Other fighter who I thought had potential... They didn't flop but there careers were cut short due to going ot jail. Harry Simon and Ike Ibeabuchi... Those 2 are the what if's in my potential list. James Kirkland could be on it... The Jury is still out on him... Tony Ayala Jr is on the same boat as them but he was before my time...

dude michael watson did not flopp! he was boxing the ears of eubank in there rematch and got caught in the last round! the rest was out of his hands what happend!

After he beat Benn, I thought he'd be a sure fire champion. McCallum kicked his ass from pillar to post and was destroyed in that fight. He fought great in both fights against Benn, even though I feel he was already damaged goods because of the ass kicking he received from the Body Snatcher

First off this thread is about fighters who flopped! fighters like james toney, zab judah and jeff lacy did not flop all three become world champions! you wanna talk about a figher who flopped how about cuban heavyweight Jorge Luis Gonzalez. This thread is not about fighters who could of been great or didnt furfil there careers! it about fighters who just flopped full stop! like that cuban heavyweight and ricardo williams

Lacy was champion because he hadnt really fought anyone, there wasnt much talent outside europe in that division at the time.

Mike Ayala, Panchito Bojado, Jorge Linares, (maybe it's not too late), Mark Breland. Gabriel Ruelas was one of my faves that never materialized. Having a Canadian citizenship, I thought Razor Ruddock and Kirk Johnson were going to be great. Oh well... There's a lot more.

Quote: GJC Errol Christie, then someone hit him

Thought you might beat me to that one.. Christie always comes to mind immediately on this subject.. Do you remember George Collins?

Quote: Silva After he beat Benn, I thought he'd be a sure fire champion. McCallum kicked his ass from pillar to post and was destroyed in that fight. He fought great in both fights against Benn, even though I feel he was already damaged goods because of the ass kicking he received from the Body Snatcher

Benn and Watson only fought the once.. You may be confusing it with the 2 fights Watson had with Chris Eubank..

Here's some others that disappointed:-

Tyrell Biggs (Olympic Gold)
Audley Harrison (Olympic Gold)
Henry Tilman (Olympic Gold)
Alex Arthur (the 2nd coming of Ken Buchanan?)
Kirkland Laing (beat Duran, then did very little else)
Francisco Bojado (supposed to beat everyone)
Fernando Vargas (didn't train properly)
David Reed (should have worn Eubank's monnocle)
Michael Grant (exposed everytime he stepped up in class)
Kassim Ouma (full of empty promise)
Ike Ibeabuchi (lost the plot)
Tony Ayala Jr (prefered raping & pillaging)
Naseem Hamed (should be a p4p ATG but wasted it)
Scott Harrison (prefers fighting in the pub)
Ike Quartey (expected more from him)
Colin McMillan (supposed to clear up but became a 'sick-note' instead)
Alex Povetkin (still waiting, what's the big hold up?)
David Tua (should've had at least 1 more crack at a title, too late now)
Michael Dokes (technically, better than Holmes, should'a been 'the man')

After he beat Benn, I thought he'd be a sure fire champion. McCallum kicked his ass from pillar to post and was destroyed in that fight. He fought great in both fights against Benn, even though I feel he was already damaged goods because of the ass kicking he received from the Body Snatcher

yes but geting beat by mccallum does not make watson a flop, he come back after that loss to only then get robbed out of a world title in the first eubank fight

Lacy was champion because he hadnt really fought anyone, there wasnt much talent outside europe in that division at the time.

lacy beat one of europe's best supermiddleweights in robin reid he even become the first man to stop reid, the same reid who alot of people thought was robbed against calzaghe, if this tells you somethig calzaghe would never give reid a rematch. Lacy was not a flopp, ricardo williams was what you call a flopp

Panchito Bojado
Paul Spadafora
Fernando Vargas
David Reid
Mike Achondo
Vivian Harris
Zab Judah
Jorge Barrios
Acelino Freitas
Rocky Juarez the list goes on

Quote: GJC Errol Christie, then someone hit him

Thought you might beat me to that one.. Christie always comes to mind immediately on this subject.. Do you remember George Collins?

Quote: Silva After he beat Benn, I thought he'd be a sure fire champion. McCallum kicked his ass from pillar to post and was destroyed in that fight. He fought great in both fights against Benn, even though I feel he was already damaged goods because of the ass kicking he received from the Body Snatcher

Benn and Watson only fought the once.. You may be confusing it with the 2 fights Watson had with Chris Eubank..

Here's some others that disappointed:-

Tyrell Biggs (Olympic Gold)
Audley Harrison (Olympic Gold)
Henry Tilman (Olympic Gold)
Alex Arthur (the 2nd coming of Ken Buchanan?)
Kirkland Laing (beat Duran, then did very little else)
Francisco Bojado (supposed to beat everyone)
Fernando Vargas (didn't train properly)
David Reed (should have worn Eubank's monnocle)
Michael Grant (exposed everytime he stepped up in class)
Kassim Ouma (full of empty promise)
Ike Ibeabuchi (lost the plot)
Tony Ayala Jr (prefered raping & pillaging)
Naseem Hamed (should be a p4p ATG but wasted it)
Scott Harrison (prefers fighting in the pub)
Ike Quartey (expected more from him)
Colin McMillan (supposed to clear up but became a 'sick-note' instead)
Alex Povetkin (still waiting, what's the big hold up?)
David Tua (should've had at least 1 more crack at a title, too late now)
Michael Dokes (technically, better than Holmes, should'a been 'the man')

Thanks for correcting me, I meant the 2 fights with Eubank

yes but geting beat by mccallum does not make watson a flop, he come back after that loss to only then get robbed out of a world title in the first eubank fight

You make a good point. He fought great in the 2 Eubank fights even though he was probably damaged goods due to the beating McCallum gave him. I thought Watson was going to be special

You make a good point. He fought great in the 2 Eubank fights even though he was probably damaged goods due to the beating McCallum gave him. I thought Watson was going to be special

I wasn't watching boxing at the time he was fighting but from everything I've seen of him my perception of him is really just a good, solid fighter. Nothing about him ever jumped out at me, good puncher, good skills, solid chin, big heart an exciting but nothing to suggest to me that he would ever be truly elite. Like I said I didn't follow his career an it probably doesn't help that the first fight I saw of his was the McCallum fight but I really don't understand why someone would think he was going to be great so maybe you could explain further why you would think he was going to be special.

I wasn't watching boxing at the time he was fighting but from everything I've seen of him my perception of him is really just a good, solid fighter. Nothing about him ever jumped out at me, good puncher, good skills, solid chin, big heart an exciting but nothing to suggest to me that he would ever be truly elite. Like I said I didn't follow his career an it probably doesn't help that the first fight I saw of his was the McCallum fight but I really don't understand why someone would think he was going to be great so maybe you could explain further why you would think he was going to be special.

He showed great skill in knocking out Nigel Benn, the year before McCallum totally destroyed him. When he beat Benn, it was such a surprise because Benn was destroying everyone before Watson whipped him.

Riddick Bowe! He had the tools and with Eddie Futch training him, I thought he'd go alot further.

What happened to Lamon Brewster? After knocking out Wlad five years ago he looked to be on top of the world, I also remember him absolutely wiping out Golota, he was an exiting fighter and looked to be in the drivers seat for a while. After losing the Wlad rematch he vanished for a long time and got whipped at the end of January. I guess for alot of fighters when the end comes it comes fast.

I thought Eddie Hopson was going to go on to greatness. He was an unbelievable prospect.

Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez
Joe Lipsey
Michael Watson
Frank Tate
Alex Ramos
Ronnie Harris
Jerome Coffee
Paul Gonzalez
Dennis Milton
Sugar Ray Seales

Rodolfo Gonzalez? The guy was a great world champion and considered one of the hundred best punchers ever.

I don't see how Watson flopped either?

Lipsey? Yeah, I can see that. Tate was very solid.

Coffee was also very good. The problem with a number of these guys is that they were great prospects in the amateurs and early pro's but then met truly great fighters on their way up that were never going to be beaten and were either beaten down, knocked out or just beaten. That's a harsh thing and it doesn't mean they could have been better, it just means that they met someone who was meant to be...Destiny and all that.

Coffee had the hell beaten out of him over fifteen by Jeff Fenech, when Coffee was meant to beat him as the undefeated great amateur champ (same happened to McCrory) and was never the same.

Lipsey met Hop and got blasted.

Tate did pretty good until he met Nunn.

Hey, now there is a good one. Many thought Nunn to be the true successor to Ray Leonard. He had the skills, arrogance, speed...everything. Just not the insane determination and heart that Leonard had sadly.

Seales had done very well until he met Hagler and again, Hagler was something really special that wasn't an amateur great, but a pro great.

Though I guess in some sense you're right in that these guys were thought to be on their way to the heights of boxing only to be derailed on the way by most often a true ATG (or at least a very great fighter) in their prime.

Gonzalez: Ishimatsu
Lipsey: Hopkins
Watson: McCallum
Tate: Nunn
Ramos: Well, he didn't really live up to expectations so that's a good one. He just couldn't take it as well as he could give it. I seem to remember him getting sparked in a few that he was winning easily.
Harris: Did very well for himself until meeting Corro. Had beaten some very good fighters.
Coffee: Fenech
P. Gonzalez: I just remember him getting sparked by Canizales
Milton: Met a few on his way there. Jackson, Hopkins...beat McClellan though didn't he?
Seales: Hagler

That at least shows you that most of those guys met some seriously heavy fighters that would have been a loss for most fighters ever, not just touted prospects. Great list of guys though. I look at them as more of a 'Who could have been great if not for.......?'

Rodolfo Gonzalez? The guy was a great world champion and considered one of the hundred best punchers ever.

I don't see how Watson flopped either?

Lipsey? Yeah, I can see that. Tate was very solid.

Coffee was also very good. The problem with a number of these guys is that they were great prospects in the amateurs and early pro's but then met truly great on their way up and were either beaten down and knocked out and just beaten. That's a harsh thing and it doesn't mean they could have been better, it just means that they met someone who was meant to be...Destiny and all that.

Coffee had the hell beaten out of him over fifteen by Jeff Fenech, when Coffee was meant to beat him as the undefeated great amateur champ (same happened to McCrory) and was never the same.

Lipsey met Hop and got blasted.

Tate did pretty good until he met Nunn.

Hey, now there is a good one. Many thought Nunn to be the true successor to Ray Leonard. He had the skills, arrogance, speed...everything. Just not the insane determination and heart that Leonard had sadly.

I'm talking about the Gato Gonzalez from the early 80's, not the 70's lightweight champion. He was touted as the next Duran, lost to Claude Noel, and disappeared into oblivion. The Rodolfo you are talking about missed out on the IBHOF by one vote last year. I thought Tate and Watson would be much better than their careers turned out.

Tyrone Trice was a very good fighter but was considered the next Tommy Hearns when he got blasted by Pendleton, who was meant to be another first round KO.

Steve McCrory is another amazing amateur champ. Think he won gold for the US at one point along with a number of world am titles before being stopped by Fenech in his, and Fenech's, really big fight. It was Fenech's first title defense after only nine or ten fights from memory.

Jan Bergman was a great amateur (one of the few with a 100% KO ratio after a hundred fights or something like that and won am titles) and a huge undefeated prospect, and his first major fight was with a young Kostya Tszyu who knocked him out in five.

I had a couple of others but have forgotten them already.

Sliva: Yes mate, my mistake. Great list though. Fun thinking about these guys.

:fing02:

Funny, but I want to say Meldrick Taylor. He wasn't a flop though, his time as a world-class fighter was just very short courtesy of all the unnecessary wars he allowed himself to be dragged into.

Poet

Funny, but I want to say Meldrick Taylor. He wasn't a flop though, his time as a world-class fighter was just very short courtesy of all the unnecessary wars he allowed himself to be dragged into.

Poet
He's reminded me of Howard Davis Jnr who I thought fell a bit short too

He showed great skill in knocking out Nigel Benn, the year before McCallum totally destroyed him. When he beat Benn, it was such a surprise because Benn was destroying everyone before Watson whipped him.
Will say too with Watson that McCallum took him to school but he was the type of fighter that would have learnt a lot from that and improved.

Will say too with Watson that McCallum took him to school but he was the type of fighter that would have learnt a lot from that and improved.

I agree, but he took such a ferocious beating in that fight, similar to the beating Trinidad took against Hopkins that I don't believe he was ever the same.

I agree, but he took such a ferocious beating in that fight, similar to the beating Trinidad took against Hopkins that I don't believe he was ever the same.
You might be right most fighters are never the same from a whupping.
Will say he didn't look shot against Eubank but maybe pre McCallum he would have handled Eubank better?
Difficult to say really as his career was cut short so tragically.
Would say I don't neccessarily agree with him being in this thread as I never though he would be great as such just a very good fighter which he was. As for him flopping, apart from a loss early in his career, losing to a top form McCallum "losing" a close fight to Eubank and getting caught by an out the blue punch he had a pretty good career I reckon

I agree, but he took such a ferocious beating in that fight, similar to the beating Trinidad took against Hopkins that I don't believe he was ever the same.

Trinidad was still the same he just out challenge himself!!!

You might be right most fighters are never the same from a whupping.
Will say he didn't look shot against Eubank but maybe pre McCallum he would have handled Eubank better?
Difficult to say really as his career was cut short so tragically.
Would say I don't neccessarily agree with him being in this thread as I never though he would be great as such just a very good fighter which he was. As for him flopping, apart from a loss early in his career, losing to a top form McCallum "losing" a close fight to Eubank and getting caught by an out the blue punch he had a pretty good career I reckon

I think I was taken by Watson's great win over Benn. Benn had come into that fight with a Foreman, Tyson like killer puncher who was going to destroy Benn. The way Watson weathered Benn's early onslaught and then ko him really impressed me. Then McCallum destroyed him and I was very disappointed, as I really thought Watson was going to be a great fighter. McCallum was just too good for him.

Trinidad was still the same he just out challenge himself!!!

Look at Trinidad's fights post Hopkins- he was almost ko'd by Cherifi and Winky and Jones totally outclassed him. His win over Mayorga he took an awful lot of punishment as well.

I think I was taken by Watson's great win over Benn. Benn had come into that fight with a Foreman, Tyson like killer puncher who was going to destroy Benn. The way Watson weathered Benn's early onslaught and then ko him really impressed me. Then McCallum destroyed him and I was very disappointed, as I really thought Watson was going to be a great fighter. McCallum was just too good for him.
Watson fought a great fight that night, Benn did look awesome in his early fights though the Logan(?) fight did put some doubts in my mind.
Earn't a few bob on that fight BTW, usually I'm the kiss of death for any fighter I back lol
Benn learnt a lot that night and I think it paved the way for his later successes. Goes to show that keeping that elusive 0 often hinders improvement.