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Every now and then you think you see a special fighter coming along. Then all of a sudden reality bites and they get themselves booted from the spotlight with their own ******ity. I wonder how good these fighters "might have been"" if they didn't wind up in prison. Were they that good, or have the years given them a veneer of greatness that they really wouldn't have achieved if they actually had the opportunity. The three that come to mind are: Tony Ayala Jr., Ike Ibeabuchi and Paul Spadafora. Just how good were these guys and what could have they achieved if they didn't screw up?
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Ayala Jr was good, but, he was not as good as some people make out he would have been. I remember seeing, from memory it was his last Golden Gloves before he turned pro, and he really struggled with the his opponent who never became anything.
You know, it's really hard to say. I think most people were surprised how good he was at such a young age, ut I don't think he would have become one of the greatest ever. It's too hard to really say though.
Ike was something else though. he had everything and could still be dominating the heavies today. Stamina in bundles, power, speed...everything man. That was really sad because we saw what he could do as a full fledged pro. Cracking Byrd was amazing. No one had gotten close up to that stage. That was stunning and shocking.
Spadafora? Meh.... -
A lot of times the best stories you hear about these guys come from their sparring sessions. I remember reading accounts of how a 14 year old Tony Ayala Jr. manhandled welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas. He came from a boxing family so the skills combined with his natural talents. Does anyone remember the sparring session where Spadafora alledgely dominated PBF? There's supposed to be a tape out there somewhere with it. I wonder if its on YouTube yet? Just makes you wonder how good they could have been.
Ikeabuchi? Pretty obvious how good he already was. Beating both the elusive Chris Byrd and the tough David Tua. It's just a question of how long he could have stayed on top.Comment
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