Boxers who had rough upbringing

<<< Barney Ross "The Rasofsky family later moved from New York to the Maxwell Street ghetto of Chicago, which at the time was a Jewish ghetto. The young Beryl Rasofsky grew up on Chicago's mean streets, ignoring his beloved father's admonition that Jews do not fight back. "'Let the atheists be the fighters,'" Ross later recalled being told by his father. "'The trumbeniks, the murderers - we are the scholars.'" Ross' ambition in life was to become a Jewish teacher and a Talmudic scholar, but his life was changed forever when, at the age of 13, his father was shot dead resisting a robbery at his small grocery. Prostrate from grief, his mother Sarah suffered a nervous breakdown and his younger siblings -- Ida, Sam and George -- were placed in an orphanage. Barney and his brothers Maurice and Benjamin were left to their own devices. In the wake of the tragedy, Beryl became vindictive towards everything and turned his back on the orthodox religion of his father. He began running around with local toughs (including another wayward Jewish ghetto kid, the future Jack Ruby), developing into a street brawler, thief and money runner; for a time he was even employed by Al Capone."

Jermain Taylor, father left when he was five and he had to take care of all his sisters while his mom worked two jobs. You do know that we could go ALL DAY about bad upbringings and boxing. Don't forget the fact that his uncle gatted his grandmother. Taylor had a shitty life.

Oscar Delahoya was from gangland, East Los Angels and he was poor. How he stayed away from gangs can only be attributed to boxing and his dad pushing him to the gym. Other boxers that i know had rough upbringing were.... Jesus Chavez Johhny Tapia Fernando Vargas Julion Letterlough r.i.p Ricardo Mayorga Michael Carbajal Dwiaght Mcquie mispelled name cruiserweight champion back in the day

Roberto Duran Samaniego The fighter whose image is my avatar, was born in Guararé, a small town in the Los Santos province of Panama, but spent much of his childhood and youth in the El Chorrillo district, a slum in the city whose image appears at the bottom of my signature. "Cholo" as nicknamed by his homies in El Chorrillo, was abandoned by his father at an early age and had to fend for himself as a shoeshine boy, newspaper vendor and two-bit hustler to help support his mother and siblings. He often had to fight bigger boys to keep them from strong-arming his keep away from him. It is on the mean streets of Panama City were he learned to fight for survival, thereby cultivating that animal rage and killer instinct he brought to the ring. You need only watch the maulings of Ken Buchanan, Sugar Ray Leonard and Davey Moore to see the very essence of Roberto Durán...

Marvin Hagler

How can you even compare B-hop and Tyson to Miranda or Ouma....Comparing a dude who was forced to kill over someone who made a choice to commit armed robbery... The worst ghetto in the United States is a paradise to someone living in third world conditions. Am I missing something here? Seems like you are pulling teeth to start an argument or just because you are already mad at something. I didn't compare anything budd, I was listing off some bad upbringings in boxing, which all 4 were pretty bad, wish some much worse than others of course, but none good nonetheless.

Christopher Livingstone Eubank had a crazy upbringing, in his early years he was a malnourished baby/toddler in Jamaica who apparently looked like an ephiopian, then inner South East London, his mom left for New York when he was seven and he was left to fend for himself against his older brothers beating the shit out of him, his father worked long hours (when he wasn't drinking, gambling or sleeping around) and he had to walk three miles to and from school every day, lived off bread and eggs, had no central heating or furniture and shared a mattress on the floor with three older brothers who hated him. Then, when he was 14, he lived on the streets for a year and a half. Then, when he was 16, a rat-infested Bronx ghetto for four years where he had to keep himself to himself or get killed. He speaks like a Wodehousian white man English gent (wannabe) and has no end of mental disorders. jesus christ ^

Christopher Livingstone Eubank had a crazy upbringing, in his early years he was a malnourished baby/toddler in Jamaica who apparently looked like an ephiopian, then inner South East London, his mom left for New York when he was seven and he was left to fend for himself against his older brothers beating the shit out of him, his father worked long hours (when he wasn't drinking, gambling or sleeping around) and he had to walk three miles to and from school every day, lived off bread and eggs, had no central heating or furniture and shared a mattress on the floor with three older brothers who hated him. Then, when he was 14, he lived on the streets for a year and a half. Then, when he was 16, a rat-infested Bronx ghetto for four years where he had to keep himself to himself or get killed. He speaks like a Wodehousian white man English gent (wannabe) and has no end of mental disorders.

Needless to say, that Ouma (sp.?) kid is one of the most horrific stories I've ever heard.

A perpetuated MYTH in boxing is that it takes living in strife growing up to be a good fighter and to have killer instinct etc. There have been a lot of good and great boxers who came up NOT on welfare, not from broken homes, not in ghettos etc. Name one? How about MUHAMMAD ALI. Two? How about ROY JONES. Darrin Van Horn was a college student when he won the IBF 154 pound title from inner city born and bred Robert Bam-Bam Hines.Barrera comes from a good background. Mosley, too. Many good boxers do.

Edison Miranda "Edison Miranda has been a fighter his entire life. He was abandoned by his family at one month old and spent the rest of his childhood working hard in the plantain and yucca fields of Tumaco on the southern coast of Colombia. By the age of nine, he was living completely on his own, with no parents, sweeping up for a street vendor in the neighboring town of Buenaventura and by the time Edison was 12, he was already working a grown-man's job in construction. Just two years later, he worked as a cattle butcher in Barranquilla" I dont think you'll find any pro boxer who had it harder than Ouma though. i made a thread on his entire upbringing once. ill find it now. Agreed. Miranda had the worst situation growing up

I think we need to start a thread about boxers who had a comfortable living growing up and were still able to become champions, the only one i can name is Barrera, which i think might actually be harder since if you have money their is no reason to box except for the love and enjoyment of it.The fighters growing up poor have the motivation, and drive because that is the only way out of the situation that some of the richer fighters might not have due to their comfortable living.

nah i saw the documantary on tyson n they said he would help ppl with there grocieries ask 4 a tip n wen they showed him the money he punched them in teh face n took all there money and yes he was 10 yeah alota boxers had it rough not all not gay floyd gay weather lol id say miranda tyson lammota ouma b-hop are a few i would be on there is i was a boxer mann im made 2 be a boxer my life should be a movie

a better question might be who has had the most comfortable/healthy upbringings in boxing? You don't ever really hear about a boxer coming from a rich family (unless it's the son of a famous boxer/pro athlete of course). Marco Antonio Barrera

ponce de leon he had 5 siblings and they died cuz their family was poor wow, that is terribly sad.

MAB.....j/k!!!

As for Mike(according to Atlas) he was punching old ladies and knocking their teeth out. And Tyson was in a gang from what I heard. Bernard did more jail time though. You really shouldn't believe Teddy Atlas. He seems to lie about a lot of stupid shit doing with boxers.

Many of them had bad upbringings but I think I'd be scared of Tyson. Bernard said he was mainly beating up and robbing guys on his level to gain street cred. As for Mike(according to Atlas) he was punching old ladies and knocking their teeth out. And Tyson was in a gang from what I heard. Bernard did more jail time though.

Jermain Taylor, father left when he was five and he had to take care of all his sisters while his mom worked two jobs. You do know that we could go ALL DAY about bad upbringings and boxing. Taylor also had to walk in on a loved one who was murdered by someone he knows. Anyway.. I heard recently, after watching the Soto/Juarez fight again.. that Soto grew up in a cardboard shaq. That sounds horrible.

jake la motta