Most "promising" fighter who never really blossomed?

[El Kabong]

Abdullaev beat Cotto in the amateurs and medaled ahead of him in the Olympics. Like many fighters he just couldn't get used to the pro style. Cotto gave Abdullaev a boxing lesson, one of the best Miguel has ever put on. I remember many were very worried about that fight for Cotto, but he was never in danger.

Joe Mesi never got a chance at the big time due to health issues. He may not have done much more if given a chance, but he was an exciting heavyweight.

Domonick Guinn, supposed to be the next Holyfield, decent power, solid chin, but just wouldn't let his hands go. I knew when it took him so long to KO Michael Grant that he wouldn't make it.

[Violent Demise]

DAVID THE AMERICAN DREAM REID, DEFINITELY DISAPPOINTING.
MARK BRELAND
CHRIS ARREOLA
how about Larry Donald? He was supposed tyo be the cheese, havent heard or seen much of him at all.
Can we count Michael Spinks? Even Leon Spinks was a disappointment after losing to ali. He just kept getting ktfo....

It's common for him to be called a disappointment or under-achiever. But those that possess true knowledge of the sport know those are inaccurate labels. In reality Reid was an over-achiever. How far is a one-eye fighter suppose to go? He won a title and made a couple of millions. Good enough for me

[Pavlik]

Sanabria outpoints Juarez | RingTV

Juarez, a timid monster. A waste of talent

[antimoron]

how about overweight Guzman.. the one who breaks scale limit... more on talking but can't walk the walk..

[X]

I really dont agree with people who talk about people like Mark Breland and (bloody hell!) Don Curry. World class performares who won 'world' titles.

How about:

Duane Bobick
Howard Davis Jr
Gerry Cooney
Michael Grant
Jorge Gonzales

[Andre]

Francisco Bojado

Solid as, but maybe he was lazy in training? Needed more explosiveness in him.
Also some people like to give a beating but fold as soon as they start taking some themselves.

Look at Koko from Hungary loved handing out a beating had an unbroken record , got sparked at something around 30.0 and he just never came back.
I thought him and Jmm would have had a great fight in the day at featherweight,on styles but i would of been proved wrong as the Mex heart would of won out over the even skills.

[Spicoli]

I've learned the hard way to keep my promising separate from hyped up types who crash and burn...like a Jimmy thunder . Ones who make a splash, have connections or feast on record padding to run up a glossy count only to get badly exposed. Then again some guys have solid skills but on the big stage vs. repeat quality they just were really not that good. Important as some guys come up and you can just tell they have something working, big potential and for one reason or another they are cut short...be it through injury or tragedy. One that stands out and had no definitive 'reason' for packing it in was this kid out of Kronk named Jemal Hinton in the 90's. Ran up a nice undefeated streak, captured some stepping stone straps and had nice network exposure and was all but guaranteed a title fight........one day he just ..gone...retired. Disputes with father were mentioned, religion etc but not many walk away like that.

Mick mentioned Zack Padilla. Dead on! This guy could box his ass off and was on the cusp after nationally televised "tko" of Juan Laporte. Damn shame he had to retire.

Kid 'Akeem' Anifowashe recieved his title fight at 18-0 vs Robert Quiroga. What unfolded was a sensational brutal fight that saw all the skill and promise of Akeem on dislpay in the champions backyard. Quiroga was full of pressure but the numbers did not do the closeness of the fight justice. Texas, go figure. After 12 rounds in a classic type match Anifowashe collapsed and his career ended that night as he underwent emergency surgery with swelling on the brain.

So many. Then ya have boxers who are groomed, almost a bit rushed or pre packaged before they hone true skillset they find themselves on the big stage and its either sink or swim, no going back to smaller venues. Personally I think Berto is here...followed closely by a Gamboa. Have massive skills no doubt but equally have glaring flaws that could come back to bite them badly. Bajado was so sold on power they lost track of plan b,c and d. Too much too soon. Its good to be skeptical whenever you here a network guy or promoter going overboard trying to convince you so and so is the 'next coming of Sugar Ray or Jones jr etc etc.

[Mark TKO]

two names spring to mind that are already mentioned

Bojado (what the hell is he doing now )
Valero

also Cassius Clay - that guy had it all but went off the radar around 1964 , he was the fighter Ali could have been


and yes Naz never achieved what he should have. Ok he 'blossomed' and became a superstar but the regularly used term on here that the fans were 'short changed by a career' has never been more appropriate.

He wasn't as good as a lot of people thought - but lets not forget he hasn't officially retired yet so there's still time for him to prove us all wrong

[bzkfn]

Not sure if he has been mentioned but I remember quite a few boxing experts predicting Joel Julio would be the next big thing. He is no more than a gatekeeper at best these days.

[:::PSL:::]

the peterson brothers

[X]

also Cassius Clay - that guy had it all but went off the radar around 1964

ha - funny

[Master]

also Cassius Clay - that guy had it all but went off the radar around 1964

ha - funny

So did that Walker Smith Jnr.

[brocktonblockbust]

francisco bojado for sure......
what about frankie swindell??

[ElTerribleMorales]

most of the guys mentioned had a combination of problems, mainly either lazy or weren't able to cope with the pressure of living up to what they were being billed to be

[MDiscontent]

For me its Michael Nunn, though perhaps "never blossomed" is not the right phrase. He blossomed then suddenly disappeared, it seems.

But for a very brief shining moment he appeared to have arrived. It was around 1988 and I recall the NYTimes Magazine doing a piece on him entitled "The fighter the great ones don't want to fight"...in reference to SRL, Hearns, Duran, and Hagler.

I don't think its an exaggeration to say he occupied a space similar to RJJ: a big, fast, unorthodox, hard-to-hit and hard-hitting MW with 1-punch KO power. Would've loved to havr seen him develop and fight those greats and RJJ too. But I guess J.Toney should get his due here. Nunn was really something to behold.

Right on with Nunn
I remember being a kid and hearing about him being the next big thing