Talented boxers who became bums

[Chups]

Juan Manuel Marquez.......his career is worse than a bum.

[!! AI-Holmes!!]

Who do you think is the worst example of this? Several boxers who had talent and achieved great things in the ring went on to become total bums, either because they did not retire at the proper time or any other reason. Who are those whose fall from grace was the worst? Off the top of my head, I mention these two:

1. Leon Spinks - he holds a win over Ali and was an Olympic gold medalist but then became a total journeyman.

2. Meldrick Taylor - he had all the talent in the world, the second coming of a prime Ray Leonard. He was not the same after the brutal bout with JCC and kept fighting obscure fights and getting brain damaged.

Any other examples?

Happy B-day dude, I must spread some K before getting to you again. Cong****.

[LoftyDog]

Bowe
Golota
Judah's career is still salvageable so he may be able to bounce back

I really don't see how Taylor is a bum. He had a lot of talent and never became big but that was through no fault of his own, and even after JCC he still fought. He's just a shot fighter. And if you heard him talk now, he is so punch drunk it really is sad.

[VanesBoxing]

You need to check the boxing dictionary of what a bum is. I understand you want to hype your boy up but give respect to warrior like Vargas. Your guy has a long road ahead of him to get to Vargas status, if he'll even get there.

I take my hat off to Vargas for being a warrior.

But i put it back on because he was a ****** warrior that spiraled his career straight into the ground.

I have spoken alot with his manager, and believe me, Vargas made some BAD boxing and business decisions.

you wanna call someone a HERO for always stepping up to the plate, yet NEVER hitting a home run, go ahead and do so. I cant do the same.

[Exciterx30]

Taylor was not a bum, he just continued fighting as a damaged fighter when he should've retired. I'm not sure of his motivations for continuing to fight but I'm sure he didn't have the millions in the bank that make retiring more appealing.

A true bum is someone who continues to have the talent but through weakness of character and spirit fight horribly i.e. Comacho. Taylor is no bum and shame on you for saying he was.

Dude, I gave credit to him. I compared him to Ray Leonard, but for whatever reason he hurt his legacy by fighting way too long after his prime. That's all.

[macman]

I'd agree about James "Buster" Douglas.
Maybe the most talented heavyweight I've seen outside of Ali, if speaking about raw talent, but completely blew it, over & over again.

First against Tony Tucker, probably the best all-round Heavyweight boxer of his era (whom I had comfortably winning in his bout against Tyson).
Douglas was ahead after 9 rounds, giving an excellent performance, then seemed to say to himself "Oh, No! I'm Winning - & immediately falls to pieces, & Tucker stops him.

He then pulls himself together for the bout against Tyson, & gives one of the great performances in Heavyweight history, taking the undisputed title.

Everyone is raving about him, he's on top of the world, so what does he do?

He comes in against probably the most well-conditioned athlete in Heavyweight history (Holyfield) in the WORST shape I have ever seen a boxer enter the ring in.
I mean the man was so out of shape he looked physically ill - dark circles under the eyes, a bra size that would of made a Playboy centerfold jealous, & just a huge amount of blubber.

In spite of this he still manages to look ok for a couple of rounds, but Holyfield lands a big uppercut in the third, & Douglas just lies there.


On from this, he manages to get himself back into some kind of decent shape, puts together some decent wins, & looks just about ready to hit the big time again.

He comes up against Lou Savarese, an undefeated 30-0 prospect but who really isn't in Douglas's class.
Douglas is in good shape, & it looks like this will be a warm up for a title shot, but instead of actually focusing on the bout, Douglas has a bunch of new mates in his corner, a new hair style, & that seems to be what interests him in the moments before the bout starts.

Savarese races across the ring & knocks down a completely unprepared Douglas with a big overhand right.
Douglas gets up & thinks about actually focusing on the bout, but it proves too much of an effort & Savarese knocks him out.

Bloody pitiful.

[eazy_mas]

Anybody who gets punched in the head for money is a bum, imo.

i agree with you in addition he comes in the ring as a sand bag and get beaten.

[nelsoncm]

Two immediately come to mind:
1. David Reid
2. Juan Lazcano-hopefully he can resurrect his career. He's slowly becoming a bum.

[-Antonio-]

Vargas can still beat plenty of contenders if he moves up in weight imo.

[Katz]

Bojado!!!!!