What Boxers had their careers sidetracked or ended because of alcohal or drugs?

Hawk Time! I always think of Pryor because of how absolutely dominating he could've been if he hadn't messed up his life/career.

Diego Corrales

frank bruno was a cokehead and got sent to a mental institution because he wanted to kill himself. :cop:

Aaron Pryor springs to mind but there have been so so many

Kirkland Lang...i havent heardabout him for a couple of years but the guy is a chronic alcholic the last i heard,its a sad thing to say but i know cos he used to go round my uncles flat who is also a chronic alkie. my uncle has moved now doesnt see him no more.my uncles place was an alkies den and the stories he told me about Kirkland were sad. its a shame cos he was such a gifted boxer with a unique style. he was known to smoke weed aswell.

Antonio Tarver.......... :boxing: Antonio Tarver struggled with crack cocaine in the early 90's.

Arturo Gatti had much more than a drinking problem, as evidenced by his 1998 arrest for cocaine possession. Some other notable fighters who struggled with the snow were Aaron Pryor, Pernell Whitaker, and Paul Spadafora. Alexis Arguello, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Hector Camacho also liked to shovel. If I recall correctly, Whitaker had a decision overturned for testing positive for perrico. Paul Spadafora may have been the biggest drug addict in boxing history. An alcoholic since he was 12 years old, he struggled mightily with the bottle through out his career. In a 2004 sentencing hearing for attempted murder, he broke down on the stand and admitted he was a coke addict. After a brief rehab stint, he was sentenced to boot camp. And to think, hes still undefeated.

Antonio Tarver.......... :boxing:

I come to think of Paul Spadafora, who was a drunk and drug attic now has the problem of jail time for shooting his girlfriend. he is 38-0.

Aaron Pryor is the first guy I think of who never reached his full potential because of drugs.

Rydell Booker!Although,who really cares?

Kirkland Lang...i havent heardabout him for a couple of years but the guy is a chronic alcholic the last i heard,its a sad thing to say but i know cos he used to go round my uncles flat who is also a chronic alkie. my uncle has moved now doesnt see him no more.my uncles place was an alkies den and the stories he told me about Kirkland were sad. its a shame cos he was such a gifted boxer with a unique style.

Barney Ross: given daily doses of morphine for wounds and ailments suffered as a Marine on Guadalcanal (where he won a Silver Star--acclaimed as the second highest military honor in the US Armed Forces), he subsequently became addicted. His life story was captured in the book, No Man Stands Alone. The book gave birth to the movie, Monkey On My Back. A 30-second scene in the movie where Cameron Mitchel (portraying Ross) injected himself with morphine was ordered removed under the film industry's then applied production code. But Ross insisted that it be retained, arguing that the scene was, "...a moment of despair and this is one that a potential addict needs to see to discourage him." Barney's drug problem did not affect his career as a fighter as it came after he had hung em up (his last fight was vs. Hank Armstrong where he pleaded with the ref not to stop the bout because he wanted to end his career like a true champion: on his feet). Barney died at age 57 of throat cancer; he had taken to chain smoking after having been weaned from morphine. Rolando Navarrete: partied long and hard after winning the WBC Jr. Light belt, which he lost to "Bazooka" Limon after only a single successful title defense (Choi Chung Il). Even after losing his title, Navarrete carried on with his ways and found himself behind bars in Honolulu on a rape conviction in 1984. He went back to boxing after his release in 1988, and at first seemed to have learned his lessons as he avenged his defeat to Limon and racked up a number of wins. But then, the habit soon came back. He is reportedly now back in his hometown of General Santos City on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines where he survives on gifts from people, particularly, his homie, Manny Pacquiao. About 50 years old now, he still deludes himself that he can stage a successful comeback although he can barely see. On the other hand, there was Carlos Monzon whose idea of times off between fights was to spend them all in bars and motel rooms, but nonetheless ended his career as champ.

Wasn't that after he retired the first time? I remember watchingsomething where he missed boxing too much and hung around the bad crowd because he was bored and got inot cocaine. Aaron Pryor def. His only lost was to a shity fighter he should have easily destroyed but had bad cocain problems. speakin of aaron pryor.Alexis Arguello had a huge problem with cocaine also

SRL had a cocaine problem. Wasn't that after he retired the first time? I remember watchingsomething where he missed boxing too much and hung around the bad crowd because he was bored and got inot cocaine. Aaron Pryor def. His only lost was to a shity fighter he should have easily destroyed but had bad cocain problems.

Johnny Tapia and Pernell Whitaker come to mind.

Michael Nunn & Kirkland Laing Michael Nunn is in jail right now for selling cocaine, but he had a problem with using it too years earlier. When the judge read the sentence to Nunn in the courtroom he was reported to have said to the judge "you ain't showed me nuthin'". Unfortunately he's been shown the inside of a small room with metal bars at the entrance. A little while ago I read about Kirkland Laing and also saw a segment on TV about him. He was a gifted boxer whose claim to fame is winning a close fight with Roberto Duran when Duran was 31 years old and regarded as a great fighter. Laing had intermittent drug problems during his career and they continued after he retired.

i'd say tony tucker im wanting to say terrel biggs had a problem as well but i may be wrong ..mccall had a problem as did bert cooper

Was Gatti's a "problem" or just a bad idea for a boxer? I thought it was the latter and that he wasn't really an alkie Around the time when he was fighting Joey Gamache and Eric Jakubowski he had problems apparently he was "enjoying the night life to much" and he started to get more focused and back on track when he met up with buddy mcgirt

Was Gatti's a "problem" or just a bad idea for a boxer? I thought it was the latter and that he wasn't really an alkie