Most Talented Heavyweight To Never Become Champion?

Nino Valdes

Audley Harrison is honestly up there. Massive guy, good gas tank, heavy hands, Good fundamentals, chin wasn't as bad as made out to be. When you consider the ear he was around in there were several champions he had all the tools to beat but due to his psychology he never got near any of them. You also need to consider the mouth he was around, and the nose maybe! LOL, sorry, had to do it!:boxing:

Wasn't he beating Weaver handily before getting caught late on? From what I hear, Tate was highly touted but never recovered from his setback. Before my time though. The last second of the 15th round apparently. I never saw it but it sounds exciting.

Mike Weaver Wasn't he beating Weaver handily before getting caught late on? From what I hear, Tate was highly touted but never recovered from his setback. Before my time though.

I remember Big John Studd. http://www.profightdb.com/img/wrestlers/thumbs-600/66a3b95038bigjohnstudd.jpg 😄😄😄 Andre the Giant made easy work of him

Jimmy Young without doubt. Despite what the record might say, defeated Ali, Foreman, Norton, Lyle and Shavers but never had a title. The one man he could not defeat was Don King.

Teofilio Stevenson would be my pick, had he chosen to turn pro he’d be regarded as one of the greatest HW’s of all time IMO

Ron Lyle would be up there, KO'd shavers went to war with a young strong Foreman in which he almost knocked him out Lyle would probably be a champion in the current era

Anyone old enough to remember Big John Tate? I remember Big John Studd. http://www.profightdb.com/img/wrestlers/thumbs-600/66a3b95038bigjohnstudd.jpg

Audley Harrison is honestly up there. Massive guy, good gas tank, heavy hands, Good fundamentals, chin wasn't as bad as made out to be. When you consider the ear he was around in there were several champions he had all the tools to beat but due to his psychology he never got near any of them. Yep. From Olympic gold to a bad joke. I think it's a bit easy to say it was his psychology though. Nurtured correctly he could have been a champion, but he completely mismanaged himself. Steve Bunce was saying on the 5 Live boxing podcast the other day that we never saw the Audley that he could have been. I agree completely.

Ike Ibeauchi seems like a good pick, seemed to have all the tools and beat some pretty good fighters before going to prison.

Another vote for Tua and Ibeabuchi.

Pretty sure Norton and Holmes fought for the vacant WBC championship. I wasn't alive at that time so everything is I'm saying is 2nd hand knowledge. I think after Spinks beat Ali he refused to fight Norton who had just won the #1 contendership after beating Jimmy Young in an eliminator. Instead of having Norton fight in a vacant title match they just gave the title to him. And then of course he went on to lose the title to Holmes. Here's a Sport Illustrated magazine cover from right before the Holmes fight showing Norton as the WBC titleholder. http://stationhypo.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/08-09-1943-ken-norton3.png?w=900

http://https://stationhypo.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/08-09-1943-ken-norton3.png?w=900 He's a sport illustrated photo from when Norton was granted the championship.

Agreed with those who said Tua and Ike Its pretty crazy that James Toney never became champ too, amazing a fat past his prime Toney was still good enough to beat real HWs

I think Ike ibeabuchi is up there. Massive guy, great power, talent and well composed.

Ike Ibeauchi! Tall, fast, strong, heavy handed puncher, engine of a locomotive and iron chin! He had the complete package and would’ve been a nightmare for Lennox Lewis IMO but went to war with Prime David Tua and instead of fighting he wanted to go toe to toe with one of the hardest punchers in the sport! After that fight there were clearly signs of severe brain damage or CTS as he went from an upstanding citizen with a clean record to kidnapping prostitutes and family members and nearly killing one of them! Such massive talent destroyed on his biggest win of his career while breaking a heavyweight record too! Sad Id never thought about Tua having that effect on him, you may be spot on. Ike was on his way imo. He and Tua get my votes as well. Tua was a magnificent fighter, loved watching him.

David Tua. maybe he wasn't the most talented skills wise, but he was a physical monster in his prime, a devastating puncher with a granite chin, he never became champ but was feared by everyone, and brutally destroyed some of the top fighters of his era. Lennox fought like an overly cautious ***** against him for a reason

Ken Norton did eventually become the Heavyweight Champion after Spinks beat Ali. WBC awarded him the title and he ended up losing it to Larry Holmes in his first defense. Pretty sure Norton and Holmes fought for the vacant WBC championship.

I thought David Tua had what it took to become a world titlist in his era. Its sad the John Ruiz was able too but Tua never did.