Fighters who were never the same after losing once

[Rican]

Fernando Vargas.Tito took his soul and I'm not one for 'what ifs' but i still say Fernando was turning it around untill a succession of low blows stole his legs .
That is still the best fight in living memory for me but the beating Fernando took at the end of such a gruelling fight and at such a young age , no way he could have recovered.

First of all, there was one low blow not a "succession." Second, the reason the fight went on so long was because after Vargas knockdown of Trinidad and Tito's subsequent low blow, Vargas thumbed Trinidad, severely limiting Tito's vision for the rest of the fight. That occurred in the fifth round, if I am not mistaken. Just check a video of the fight.

[scraptime]

Fernando Vargas.Tito took his soul and I'm not one for 'what ifs' but i still say Fernando was turning it around untill a succession of low blows stole his legs .
That is still the best fight in living memory for me but the beating Fernando took at the end of such a gruelling fight and at such a young age , no way he could have recovered.

First of all, there was one low blow not a "succession." Second, the reason the fight went on so long was because after Vargas knockdown of Trinidad and Tito's subsequent low blow, Vargas thumbed Trinidad, severely limiting Tito's vision for the rest of the fight. That occurred in the fifth round, if I am not mistaken. Just check a video of the fight.

Tito intentionally hit Vargas low after the knockdown to buy himself some time! Watch the fight without being biased and you will see that I am right.


Low blow!!!!!

[brocktonblockbust]

Great thread you guys! Thank you all.

Yeah to be honest, I am no liar, I must say Cotto has not shown anything yet that he has been broken psychologically by that Margarito loss, but its just something I feel strongly about.

All the conditions are right for such a thing to happen. Its just my prediction.

Yeah Mugabi-Hagler, and Cooney-Holmes are fantastic examples of this too. Great thread guys!

[ElTerribleMorales]

Fernando Vargas.Tito took his soul and I'm not one for 'what ifs' but i still say Fernando was turning it around untill a succession of low blows stole his legs .
That is still the best fight in living memory for me but the beating Fernando took at the end of such a gruelling fight and at such a young age , no way he could have recovered.

honestly i agree with you that Vargas could have been something great, but i don't think the low blows were intentional same as in the Cotto/Judah fight

Fernando Vargas.Tito took his soul and I'm not one for 'what ifs' but i still say Fernando was turning it around untill a succession of low blows stole his legs .
That is still the best fight in living memory for me but the beating Fernando took at the end of such a gruelling fight and at such a young age , no way he could have recovered.

First of all, there was one low blow not a "succession." Second, the reason the fight went on so long was because after Vargas knockdown of Trinidad and Tito's subsequent low blow, Vargas thumbed Trinidad, severely limiting Tito's vision for the rest of the fight. That occurred in the fifth round, if I am not mistaken. Just check a video of the fight.

there were 2 low blows, one he got a warning and the 2nd he got a point deducted, and the thumb was also unintentional cause first off they were using gloves with the thumbs sown attached to the golve, just a mishap

Fernando Vargas.Tito took his soul and I'm not one for 'what ifs' but i still say Fernando was turning it around untill a succession of low blows stole his legs .
That is still the best fight in living memory for me but the beating Fernando took at the end of such a gruelling fight and at such a young age , no way he could have recovered.

First of all, there was one low blow not a "succession." Second, the reason the fight went on so long was because after Vargas knockdown of Trinidad and Tito's subsequent low blow, Vargas thumbed Trinidad, severely limiting Tito's vision for the rest of the fight. That occurred in the fifth round, if I am not mistaken. Just check a video of the fight.

Tito intentionally hit Vargas low after the knockdown to buy himself some time! Watch the fight without being biased and you will see that I am right.


Low blow!!!!!

and don't start with that bullshit against, the gap from the 2nd low blow to the final round was plenty of time for Vargas to get his legs back, and they weren't intentional same as in Cotto/Judah, Trinidad always had the tendency to shoot the left hook, and more than a couple times he'd hit low, but never looked like it was on purpose, on that note Tito was never really the same after his loss to B-Hop

[Master]

Mark Breland
Jeff Lacy

[RozzySean]

Louis Veader after Micky Ward
Foreman after Ali - did anybody mention that?
Michael Nunn after James Toney.

[ElTerribleMorales]

Louis Veader after Micky Ward
Foreman after Ali - did anybody mention that?
Michael Nunn after James Toney.

shouldn't be mentioned because 10 yrs later he came back stronger than ever, hello, he knocked out Moorer to become the oldest champion ever

[Britkid]

Foreman after Ali - did anybody mention that?
Michael Nunn after James Toney.

Foreman looked pretty much back to form in 76, the Young fight was the one that cost him 10 years....

As for Nunn, I would say it was the Barkley fight was the one that began Nunn's fall, although the Toney fight was still an upset.

[Killa From Manila]

Naz tops them all for me.

[Majesty]

Meldrick Taylor comes to mind. Hector Camacho maybe?

[Spicoli]

Acelino 'sob & sniffle' Freitas vs. Diego Corrales

How about Jeff Fenech after Azumah Nelson 'Draw' and drubbing in rematch.Granted he won the rubber match

[brocktonblockbust]

actually I agree with the 1st poster---Foreman IS a good example, even though the second poster is quite correct that he came back and won the title again 15 years later---actually 20 years later after Zaire. Wow that really is amazing, even though Moorer wasn't what we thought he was. (I saw "we" for politeness' sake)

[jon09]

Felix Trinidad comes to mind after the Hopkins fight as does Naz. Montell Griffin after Jones destroyed him in 1. Dariusz Michalczewski after the Julio Gonzalez fight.

[THE THIRD MAN]

Zab stands out for me here, never recovered from that KO by Tszyu. He has had some good wins but generally has been disappointing since his first loss.

Meldrick Taylor comes to mind and Roy Jones Jr just couldn't come to grips with Tarver and has been average at best since.

George Foreman went awol after the Ali loss, had a good second win over Frazier but the invincibility was gone within two years and he retires at age 27?

I will be interested to see how Cotto comesback after his first loss, many fighters comeback better than ever such as Whitaker, Tszyu and more recently Darchinyan. I think the jury is still out on Hatton. A lot of this fight game is pyschological and it all depends on how you prepare yourself physically and more importantly approach your next fight mentally. Zab for example just hasn't coped well at all.

[JazMerkin]

Zab stands out for me here, never recovered from that KO by Tszyu. He has had some good wins but generally has been disappointing since his first loss.

Meldrick Taylor comes to mind and Roy Jones Jr just couldn't come to grips with Tarver and has been average at best since.

George Foreman went awol after the Ali loss, had a good second win over Frazier but the invincibility was gone within two years and he retires at age 27?

I will be interested to see how Cotto comesback after his first loss, many fighters comeback better than ever such as Whitaker, Tszyu and more recently Darchinyan. I think the jury is still out on Hatton. A lot of this fight game is pyschological and it all depends on how you prepare yourself physically and more importantly approach your next fight mentally. Zab for example just hasn't coped well at all.

Agree a bit on Taylor and Roy, but can't agree at all on Zab, Hatton & Foreman. Yes, it was a shocking KO for Zab, but its not like he didn't become the real welterweight champ of the world after that, which doesn't identify a fighter who was 'never the same'. Same with Foreman, he would have the win over Moorer and he beat Frazier badly again. I think saying he folded is going way too far, it's just Ali exposed how to beat him. Also Ricky has more than enough excuses in his own mind for his loss, even if they are mostly bollocks, for him to be over it. Should Pac batter him than I think he may well be finished, because the welterweight, Joe Cortez & 'it was Floyd Mayweather' lines won't work any more.

The one fighter who really sticks out is Don Curry, and of current fighters who I think it may have got are the obvious ones like Cotto & Pavlik, and also Katsidis, I think the Casamayor fight may have screwed him up in the sense of knowing he can't simply outslug the best fighter. He's still an exciting fighter, but he's no longer as dominating as I thought he'd be