Fighters That You Thought Were Gonna Be Great, But Flopped?

[1SILVA]

Quote: GJC Errol Christie, then someone hit him

Thought you might beat me to that one.. Christie always comes to mind immediately on this subject.. Do you remember George Collins?

Quote: Silva After he beat Benn, I thought he'd be a sure fire champion. McCallum kicked his ass from pillar to post and was destroyed in that fight. He fought great in both fights against Benn, even though I feel he was already damaged goods because of the ass kicking he received from the Body Snatcher

Benn and Watson only fought the once.. You may be confusing it with the 2 fights Watson had with Chris Eubank..

Here's some others that disappointed:-

Tyrell Biggs (Olympic Gold)
Audley Harrison (Olympic Gold)
Henry Tilman (Olympic Gold)
Alex Arthur (the 2nd coming of Ken Buchanan?)
Kirkland Laing (beat Duran, then did very little else)
Francisco Bojado (supposed to beat everyone)
Fernando Vargas (didn't train properly)
David Reed (should have worn Eubank's monnocle)
Michael Grant (exposed everytime he stepped up in class)
Kassim Ouma (full of empty promise)
Ike Ibeabuchi (lost the plot)
Tony Ayala Jr (prefered raping & pillaging)
Naseem Hamed (should be a p4p ATG but wasted it)
Scott Harrison (prefers fighting in the pub)
Ike Quartey (expected more from him)
Colin McMillan (supposed to clear up but became a 'sick-note' instead)
Alex Povetkin (still waiting, what's the big hold up?)
David Tua (should've had at least 1 more crack at a title, too late now)
Michael Dokes (technically, better than Holmes, should'a been 'the man')

Thanks for correcting me, I meant the 2 fights with Eubank

[1SILVA]

yes but geting beat by mccallum does not make watson a flop, he come back after that loss to only then get robbed out of a world title in the first eubank fight

You make a good point. He fought great in the 2 Eubank fights even though he was probably damaged goods due to the beating McCallum gave him. I thought Watson was going to be special

[mhager91490]

You make a good point. He fought great in the 2 Eubank fights even though he was probably damaged goods due to the beating McCallum gave him. I thought Watson was going to be special

I wasn't watching boxing at the time he was fighting but from everything I've seen of him my perception of him is really just a good, solid fighter. Nothing about him ever jumped out at me, good puncher, good skills, solid chin, big heart an exciting but nothing to suggest to me that he would ever be truly elite. Like I said I didn't follow his career an it probably doesn't help that the first fight I saw of his was the McCallum fight but I really don't understand why someone would think he was going to be great so maybe you could explain further why you would think he was going to be special.

[1SILVA]

I wasn't watching boxing at the time he was fighting but from everything I've seen of him my perception of him is really just a good, solid fighter. Nothing about him ever jumped out at me, good puncher, good skills, solid chin, big heart an exciting but nothing to suggest to me that he would ever be truly elite. Like I said I didn't follow his career an it probably doesn't help that the first fight I saw of his was the McCallum fight but I really don't understand why someone would think he was going to be great so maybe you could explain further why you would think he was going to be special.

He showed great skill in knocking out Nigel Benn, the year before McCallum totally destroyed him. When he beat Benn, it was such a surprise because Benn was destroying everyone before Watson whipped him.

[cooper5]

Rid**** Bowe! He had the tools and with Eddie Futch training him, I thought he'd go alot further.

[ballgamessuck]

What happened to Lamon Brewster? After knocking out Wlad five years ago he looked to be on top of the world, I also remember him absolutely wiping out Golota, he was an exiting fighter and looked to be in the drivers seat for a while. After losing the Wlad rematch he vanished for a long time and got whipped at the end of January. I guess for alot of fighters when the end comes it comes fast.

[JAB5239]

I thought Eddie Hopson was going to go on to greatness. He was an unbelievable prospect.

[BennyST]

Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez
Joe Lipsey
Michael Watson
Frank Tate
Alex Ramos
Ronnie Harris
Jerome Coffee
Paul Gonzalez
Dennis Milton
Sugar Ray Seales

Rodolfo Gonzalez? The guy was a great world champion and considered one of the hundred best punchers ever.

I don't see how Watson flopped either?

Lipsey? Yeah, I can see that. Tate was very solid.

Coffee was also very good. The problem with a number of these guys is that they were great prospects in the amateurs and early pro's but then met truly great fighters on their way up that were never going to be beaten and were either beaten down, knocked out or just beaten. That's a harsh thing and it doesn't mean they could have been better, it just means that they met someone who was meant to be...Destiny and all that.

Coffee had the hell beaten out of him over fifteen by Jeff Fenech, when Coffee was meant to beat him as the undefeated great amateur champ (same happened to McCrory) and was never the same.

Lipsey met Hop and got blasted.

Tate did pretty good until he met Nunn.

Hey, now there is a good one. Many thought Nunn to be the true successor to Ray Leonard. He had the skills, arrogance, speed...everything. Just not the insane determination and heart that Leonard had sadly.

Seales had done very well until he met Hagler and again, Hagler was something really special that wasn't an amateur great, but a pro great.

Though I guess in some sense you're right in that these guys were thought to be on their way to the heights of boxing only to be derailed on the way by most often a true ATG (or at least a very great fighter) in their prime.

Gonzalez: Ishimatsu
Lipsey: Hopkins
Watson: McCallum
Tate: Nunn
Ramos: Well, he didn't really live up to expectations so that's a good one. He just couldn't take it as well as he could give it. I seem to remember him getting sparked in a few that he was winning easily.
Harris: Did very well for himself until meeting Corro. Had beaten some very good fighters.
Coffee: Fenech
P. Gonzalez: I just remember him getting sparked by Canizales
Milton: Met a few on his way there. Jackson, Hopkins...beat McClellan though didn't he?
Seales: Hagler

That at least shows you that most of those guys met some seriously heavy fighters that would have been a loss for most fighters ever, not just touted prospects. Great list of guys though. I look at them as more of a 'Who could have been great if not for.......?'

[1SILVA]

Rodolfo Gonzalez? The guy was a great world champion and considered one of the hundred best punchers ever.

I don't see how Watson flopped either?

Lipsey? Yeah, I can see that. Tate was very solid.

Coffee was also very good. The problem with a number of these guys is that they were great prospects in the amateurs and early pro's but then met truly great on their way up and were either beaten down and knocked out and just beaten. That's a harsh thing and it doesn't mean they could have been better, it just means that they met someone who was meant to be...Destiny and all that.

Coffee had the hell beaten out of him over fifteen by Jeff Fenech, when Coffee was meant to beat him as the undefeated great amateur champ (same happened to McCrory) and was never the same.

Lipsey met Hop and got blasted.

Tate did pretty good until he met Nunn.

Hey, now there is a good one. Many thought Nunn to be the true successor to Ray Leonard. He had the skills, arrogance, speed...everything. Just not the insane determination and heart that Leonard had sadly.

I'm talking about the Gato Gonzalez from the early 80's, not the 70's lightweight champion. He was touted as the next Duran, lost to Claude Noel, and disappeared into oblivion. The Rodolfo you are talking about missed out on the IBHOF by one vote last year. I thought Tate and Watson would be much better than their careers turned out.

[BennyST]

Tyrone Trice was a very good fighter but was considered the next Tommy Hearns when he got blasted by Pendleton, who was meant to be another first round KO.

Steve McCrory is another amazing amateur champ. Think he won gold for the US at one point along with a number of world am titles before being stopped by Fenech in his, and Fenech's, really big fight. It was Fenech's first title defense after only nine or ten fights from memory.

Jan Bergman was a great amateur (one of the few with a 100% KO ratio after a hundred fights or something like that and won am titles) and a huge undefeated prospect, and his first major fight was with a young Kostya Tszyu who knocked him out in five.

I had a couple of others but have forgotten them already.

Sliva: Yes mate, my mistake. Great list though. Fun thinking about these guys.