Great Technical Boxers Limited by Mentality

[mad_takamura]

Flicking through a number of recent threads I've become concious of a number of fighters who although physically and technically gifted, never reached their apparent potential because of apparent deficiencies in their mental makeup.
Some examples....

Zab Judah
This fighter immediatly springs to mind. Blessed with a savage left uppercut, copious quantities of speed and skill, Zab has literally thrown away a HoF career.
His ability to fall apart during a fight in which he had been highly succesful is infamous. In addition his meltdowns as seen in the Maywether, Cotto and Clottey fighyts have seen Zab beaten by men who are simply more focused toward their objectives and willing to ride early storms to win.
Zab never has shown the ability to endure and overcome.

Meldrick Taylor
Taylor could have been a superstar. Unrivalled amateur pedigree, sublime skills in co-ordination with near perfect physicality and athleticism, it seemed he was born to be the best.
For me he was primary contributor to his own demise. He would not allow a fighter impose themselves physically without attempting to validate his own physicality.
This saw him drawn into wars, such as that with Chavez. Fights could have been won clearly had he stuck to the task of boxing, an art he mastered. However, Taylor's mind demanded he go to war and as we all saw he was very good, but not the best at this.

Ricky Hatton
The most frustrating fighter of the past decade for me. Squandered raw talent, physicality and a hell of a lot of work with his lifestyle between fights, despite endless advice from trainers, fighters, the media, his fanbase.....

Andrew Golota
I am one of those that was very keen on Golota. However he quickly let me down. When the goping got tough, Golota got Dirty.
He was his own worst enemy in cases.
He could have been a heavyweight Arturo had he battled it out cleanly; a hero regardless of results, but he spoiled his chances of marketability and profit through the use of foul and sometimes dangerous tactics...

Feel free to add more....


Honourable mentions; ()

Oliver McCall
Mike Tyson
Kermit Cintron

cintron should replace andrew. andrew doe'snt deserve props imo.

[donnydarkoIRL]

cintron should replace andrew. andrew doe'snt deserve props imo.

Golota doesn't deserve a mention?

Add some of your own too fella

[mad_takamura]

cintron should replace andrew. andrew doe'snt deserve props imo.

Golota doesn't deserve a mention?

Add some of your own too fella

jorge barrios,
acelino freitas, hussein hussein, jermaine taylor
there are problems with these guys on their mental make up imo. they could have been greater.

[Boxerharvey]

Was gunna say Jermain Taylor too he seems to have the skills and the speed especially his jab but seems to lack confidence in himself in the ring and also the killer instinct when he has his opponent in trouble he doesnt capitalise on it and it costs him later in the fight.

[C-Lo]

Zab Judah is easily my #1 pick for this topic. He had all the tools to be a great and everyone saw his potential. He just completely dropped the ball.

I'm a fan of Jermaine Taylor and it hurts me to see his career go down the pooper. After the two Hopkins wins his career went downhil from there IMO.

I always think that Rocky Juarez would be so much better if he didn't get so gun shy all the time.

[XaduBoxer]

Joshua Clottey?? not a finisher...

[LEGION]

Joshua Clottey?? not a finisher...

I was thinking of Clottey as well. The guy just puts on the brakes for some reason.

Hatton, Taylor and Cintron for sure on my list.

Hatton just seems to fight off emotion and disregards basic fundamentals in favor of being a bully boy. Ialways thought whn he attempted it, he showed very good footwork, fast hands and good head movement. But as soon as a fight gets nasty he throws caution t the wind and just seemed to get angry and wanted to bull his way through. We saw how well that went in his last 2; and een Lazcano had him in trouble.

Taylor just seems to have some sort of issues with conditioning; alot of which stems from his propensity to tighten up in a fight with nervous energy. Never understood that dude; though I always liked him.

Cintrn is just a cur who missed the tornado to OZ in search of a heart. Natural Born Quitter; I don't care what anyone says. Feliciano had him looking for exit signs many times in heir fight; and Jesse can't even throw a straight punch lol. If Cintron can't get you out with his power he's panicking; and watch him when he gets hit; fetal position time. He'll get blasted real soon.

[RozzySean]

Riddick Bowe, for sure. He had all the tools and skills to be an ATG.

On some level, James Toney was limited by his mentality. As great as his career was, if he didn't struggle so much with food and at times focus he could have been even better. He never should have lost to Thazdi or Griffin. For that matter, he would have never lost to Sam Peter if he was in proper shape.

[Taeth]

Joshua Clottey?? not a finisher...

To a larger degree Quartey, he was similar to Clottey, but he had that great jab and power.
Here are guys for me

Potentially Gamboa: IMO a better athletic version of Meldrick Taylor, but his cockiness could be the death of him. He does things so effortlessly sometimes, and other times he gets caught.
Andre Berto: another top tier athlete who is tough, can box, and he wants to be exciting, but I think he has a hard time trying to integrate excitement and boxing and he leaves himself wide open for counter punches.
Roy Jones Jr: not because of anything he did in the ring, but because of what fights didn't end up getting made, I know they weren't 100% his fault, but as PAcquiao is showing the big fights can be made if you are really eager to fight guys. I think his fear of a serious injury led him away from the biggest fights in his prime.
Ali and Lennox Lewis: didn't train as hard as they could have for many of their fights.
Wilfredo Benitez: he trained like 2 weeks in total for both the HEarns and Leonard fight, I am not sure if he wanted an excuse or honestly didn't care, but I think he never gave his best effort leading up to the fight.
Mike Tysonbvious reasons
Zab Judah: obvious reasons
Juan Guzman: poor manager? Lost his opportunity by not making weight for a very important fight because he stayed at 130 way too long.
Michael Nunn and Whiatker: could have had longer careers had they kept clean.

[piye]

Joshua Clottey?? not a finisher...

To a larger degree Quartey, he was similar to Clottey, but he had that great jab and power.
Here are guys for me

Potentially Gamboa: IMO a better athletic version of Meldrick Taylor, but his cockiness could be the death of him. He does things so effortlessly sometimes, and other times he gets caught.
Andre Berto: another top tier athlete who is tough, can box, and he wants to be exciting, but I think he has a hard time trying to integrate excitement and boxing and he leaves himself wide open for counter punches.
Roy Jones Jr: not because of anything he did in the ring, but because of what fights didn't end up getting made, I know they weren't 100% his fault, but as PAcquiao is showing the big fights can be made if you are really eager to fight guys. I think his fear of a serious injury led him away from the biggest fights in his prime.
Ali and Lennox Lewis: didn't train as hard as they could have for many of their fights.
Wilfredo Benitez: he trained like 2 weeks in total for both the HEarns and Leonard fight, I am not sure if he wanted an excuse or honestly didn't care, but I think he never gave his best effort leading up to the fight.
Mike Tysonbvious reasons
Zab Judah: obvious reasons
Juan Guzman: poor manager? Lost his opportunity by not making weight for a very important fight because he stayed at 130 way too long.
Michael Nunn and Whiatker: could have had longer careers had they kept clean.

A few ATG fighters have been mentioned Roy, Tyson, Holyfield and I cannot agree with this out of thousands of fighters that exist in the world to become undisputed or P4P no way did you underachieve.

[mad_takamura]

Joshua Clottey?? not a finisher...

To a larger degree Quartey, he was similar to Clottey, but he had that great jab and power.
Here are guys for me

Potentially Gamboa: IMO a better athletic version of Meldrick Taylor, but his cockiness could be the death of him. He does things so effortlessly sometimes, and other times he gets caught.
Andre Berto: another top tier athlete who is tough, can box, and he wants to be exciting, but I think he has a hard time trying to integrate excitement and boxing and he leaves himself wide open for counter punches.
Roy Jones Jr: not because of anything he did in the ring, but because of what fights didn't end up getting made, I know they weren't 100% his fault, but as PAcquiao is showing the big fights can be made if you are really eager to fight guys. I think his fear of a serious injury led him away from the biggest fights in his prime.
Ali and Lennox Lewis: didn't train as hard as they could have for many of their fights.
Wilfredo Benitez: he trained like 2 weeks in total for both the HEarns and Leonard fight, I am not sure if he wanted an excuse or honestly didn't care, but I think he never gave his best effort leading up to the fight.
Mike Tysonbvious reasons
Zab Judah: obvious reasons
Juan Guzman: poor manager? Lost his opportunity by not making weight for a very important fight because he stayed at 130 way too long.
Michael Nunn and Whiatker: could have had longer careers had they kept clean.

andre berto still has all the potential to redeem himself. i think why he leaves himself open is to bait the other guy, he is an amateur standout and Olympian: he knows what he's doing.
and as for guzman, can't blame the manager on his weight problems. managers ain't suppose to babysit fighters. fighters have responsibilty to commit themselves in making the weight.