The best fighter that never realized his own potential....

I agree with the Zab Judah choices. To add someone different, I would say. Joan Guzman. He has all the tools to become a great fighter but just doesn't give a damn. He is pushin 30 and still doesn't have anything that stands out in his career. Then you add that he doesn't make weight and began turning down fights when he isn't in a position to do so. Its sad to see that talent, that defensive talent go to waste.

tony ayala jr

i think vivian harris is a talented fighter but a stupid fighter, at 1 point they were talkin about harris fighting cotto,floyd and hatton but then he got knocked out by maussa and his career turned to shit after that

Floyd Mayweather jr If only he had fought the best junior welterweights and welterweights out there. He could have been greater than he is now.

Zab Judah definitely.

ike ibeabuchi by far in my opinion..first to beat and knock out chris bird and first to beat david tua..then he went to prison..it makes me sick

I don't know why he thought he had to retire after Barrera....he lost to a "complete" fighter...at that time was P4P top 10...no shame. Get up, dust yourself off...get back in the ring....what's he up to nowadays? he still talks about a return lol but after his stay in prison i doubt hes up for it,so fat-still has a mouth on him though

Zab Judah... all the way, amazing skillset... just couldnt get disciplined enough to train hard enough.... he was good, but he could have been great! I think Judah trained hard for his big fights. The Baldomir fight was a perceived tune-up so he may have slacked off during that training camp (there were stories about him taking camp lightly), but in other fights like Tszyu, Mayweather, Cotto, I think he was in top shape. He just had mental lapses and the ability to re-adjust in the ring when his opponent adjusted to him. He also has that tendency to go into a shell when getting hit and just looking for one bomb to bail him out.

he was a champ at 17, but he said he never trained, he was best defence fighter of the era, imagine if he had trained riddick bowe

Zab Judah, one of the most physically gifted fighters who just doesn't have the mental toughness. Zab Judah - Mental toughness lack of training Mike Tyson - Mental issues and lack of training Fernando Vargas - fought in wars too early in his carrer car accident descipline James Toney - Too god damn heavy shoul dhave never fought above LHW James Quick Tillis - had alot of gifts just never put it all together.....Lefty

Aaron Pryor is one example. It was actually probably a good thing that he turned down (or was low-balled depending on your viewpoint) Leonard's offer as I don't like Pryor's chances at welterweight (or against Duran @ 150), but 140 and below, things could've been better. He probably would've beaten Mamby in a unification bout, but managerial and personal problems screwed that one up. The lightweight thing is a little weird as he was the top ranked 135 lb. contender (by The Ring) while the 140 lb. champ, despite not having fought at 135 in awhile. Assuming he could make 135 comfortable, he should've been able to do some serious damage there as well. And then his drug problems kicked in and obviously that hurt his career.

Zab, Jermain, James Toney (most of all, cuz he just so damn awesome to watch), but what u guys think about Meldrick Taylor? I actually don't think Meldrick would've had that much of a reign at the top of the sport. People act like he was some sure ATG in the making who left everything in the ring against JCC, but that's really just a tired Legendary Nights myth. That was the last fight Taylor had at 140 until their rematch 4 and a half years later, when his options were limited and had no other big money fights available. Taylor had weight problems at 140. Taylor won a world title at 147 a year after losing to Chavez, despite never fully recovering his form after that fight, but even if he never fought Chavez, look at the talent level at 147 in the 1991-1994 period. S. Brown, stablemate Whitaker, Quartey, Trinidad. Is he going to be protected from the other top WWs? Espana was a mandatory whom Taylor had to fight. And style-wise, he always would've been problems for the short, stocky Taylor.

Naseem Hamed. I don't know why he thought he had to retire after Barrera....he lost to a "complete" fighter...at that time was P4P top 10...no shame. Get up, dust yourself off...get back in the ring....what's he up to nowadays?

1.Judah 2.Santos 3.Sturm

Thread's been done to death. Tyson. As good as he was BITD, it was scary that he was so young and conceivably coulda improved even more. If he hadn't fallen off so bad wit jail/Givens/King/new trainer, he woulda been the fukkin man. Tyson and Hamed both had incredibly short primes. Tyson's ended at the age of 22 when he split with Rooney. Hamed's ended at the age of 21 when he beat Steve Robinson. In both cases, they stopped training properly after that and fell in love with their power at the expense of their skills.

He was never the same after the Jackson loss though. Punches like that scar you. No matter how well you're doing in a fight you'll always be wary of that big punch. He only has himself to blame. He is a southpaw, the match was going to be stopped after that round, the guy is a notoriously hard hitter. The last thing you do is rush into them especially when they've been throwing big punches trying to connect. He wanted to finish in a memorable way, well I guess he got his wish. I would put Tyson in ATG status for his "overall" career.....but its a shame that the last 4-5yrs of his career will overshadow his previous 15+ yrs. I think he should be a HOF but not an all time great. I personally don't think he did enough, and I think he fell short in what could have been career defining fights ( Hoyfield comes to mind).

Thread's been done to death. Tyson. As good as he was BITD, it was scary that he was so young and conceivably coulda improved even more. If he hadn't fallen off so bad wit jail/Givens/King/new trainer, he woulda been the fukkin man.

Terry Norris is what I thought too, he had some great offensive boxing skills and was outclassing Jackson until... well you know. Herol Graham also outclassed Julian Jackson until he got careless and got starched. And he gave a prime Mike McCallum possibly his toughest ever fight, and only lost the fight due to points deducted for low blows. Before that fight he'd been a contender for ages but couldn't get a title shot, probably because the US TV networks didn't like his style. He was Hagler's mandatory for a long time. He was never the same after the Jackson loss though.

I'm going to come out and say Mike Tyson, even though he reached a really good level, I still think he fell short of ATG status. He lacked the mental capacity to deal with the fame, this wasn't helped by the people surrounding him. Also Zab Judah. Blessed with natural ability and the physique for the game, but he is just not there. His head is not in the game. He lacks the warrior edge as far as I'm concerned. I would put Tyson in ATG status for his "overall" career.....but its a shame that the last 4-5yrs of his career will overshadow his previous 15+ yrs.

Joe Calzaghe, one of my favourite fighters he had a great run unified SMW and was champ 10 years against some good almost great fighters, double weight world champ and beat an old but still great Hopkins and a faded Jones. BUT he didn't come over to America in his physical prime when he had atleast some degree of power, he could have come over earlier faced guys like a Prime RJJ, Hopkins, Toney, Barkley, McCallum, Micahewski (can't spell it), Sturm, Johnson, Woods, Tarver, Hill. The Weight class in and around him were STACKED with the top two P4P fighters their too. Imagine if he had faced and beat them (not saying he would have) his resume would have been 100x greater. Personally, I blame it to a large degree on Warren. CO-SIGN....had Clazaghe came over to America and fought fighters in their prime....even if he would've lost...he would've gotten MUCH MORE RESPECT....I've said it before....."Losses" don't count as much if you come back and avenge them against the fighter, or if you at least stepped up and loss to the "better fighter". ALOT of fighters today need to be reminded of that.