Boxing's Unluckiest Stars?

With recent talk of robberies I was thinking who are the most unlucky boxers in the sports history?

It doesn't have to be restricted just to robberies, it could also be unfairly denied/held back the big fights to make their name and money or both. This excludes injuries i.e. Watson/Sanchez etc.

Kotelnik and Matthyesse seem recent contenders for having 2 disputed losses in relatively short space of time of each other but i'm much less knowledgeable of the past unlike many on here.

Glen Johnson always struck me as guy who got on the wrong end of more than his fair share of bad decisions. Domestically would have to give a shout out for Bobby Vanzie, fought Graham Earl and most though he had done enough only for him not to get the nod, so fought him again and in most people's eyes beat him even more convincingly only to not get the nod again.

Whittaker - the Ramirez and Chavez fights were outrageous.

Glen Johnson is a good call.

Good shout on Vanzie there, Rowley. Another domestic name which springs to mind is Glenn Catley; I can remember him losing a couple of very dubious decisions in his time, including an absolute stinker to Woodhall. Also lost his WBC belt after being stopped in a fight he was winning when there were only a few seconds left on the clock.

Going back in time, Kid Chocolate lost a fair few controversial decisions. Colin Jones, maybe? Could easily have got the nod either time against McCrory for the WBC belt (although neither were robberies, in fairness) and then stopped on a cut when he had his biggest chance of all against Curry.

And as much as I don't like him, James Toney's been on the end of a few bad'uns. Griffin I, Thadzi, and perhaps Peter, though that first one was very, very close. Mind you, he got away with murder against Tiberi back in his Middleweight days, so it's swings and roundabouts with him.

Catley is a similarly good call Chris, even Woodhall admitted after the fight Glenn deserved the nod which showed class but didn't change the result.

Jimmy Bivins and Charlei Burley. Never got the shot.

Mightn't be what you're looking for but always feel sorry for George Chuvalo. Lost a few sons to either suicide or drug overdoses and his wife also killed herself. Doesnt get more unlucky than that.

Sonny Liston must get a mention. After the harsh upbringing and jail time he still went on to make something of his life and become heavyweight champ which as we know means a lot. No one knew his age, his own mother did not know when he was born and this plagued his career some what.

Then of course were his dealings (prob against his choice) with the mob who must have fleeced him silly. The man was never respected as champ but feared. I think his criminal past that he tried to turn his back on prevented him from becoming the champ he wanted to be. His own death is a mystery and a tragic end.

The saddest thing I heard about Liston was after winning the title he had wrote a speech on how he was happy to be the peoples champ for his homecoming but when he arrived no one turned up.

thomas hearns is quite unlucky, in the 1st leonard fight had a strong argument for a premature stoppage, he was unlucky to break his hand in the 1st round vs hagler. he should've got the verdict in the second leonard fight and was unlucky that he had to wait so long for a leonard rematch and that he didn't get a hagler rematch

zx1234 wrote:thomas hearns is quite unlucky, in the 1st leonard fight had a strong argument for a premature stoppage, he was unlucky to break his hand in the 1st round vs hagler. he should've got the verdict in the second leonard fight and was unlucky that he had to wait so long for a leonard rematch and that he didn't get a hagler rematch

Interesting points, though I can't agree that he was stopped prematurely against Leonard; he was done. I remember an interview where they asked Steward if he felt Hearns would have had any chance of turning the tide before the referee jumped in, he simply replied, "well, did you see me complain at the stoppage? No." I'd have to agree.

The Hagler thing, who knows. I personally don't think a rematch was needed, and I'm not sure he could have got past Hagler at 160 lb, broken hand or not. But I guess we'll never know for sure. Agree on the second Leonard fight, mind you. Very even in terms of rounds, but with the two knockdowns I scored it 115-112 to Hearns. Very poor decision.

for the record i don't think he would ever beat hagler at middle but was more deserving of a rematch than a retired leonard i think

Meldrick Taylor.

Beating Chavez in the biggest fight at that time only for Steele to stop the fight with 5 seconds to go.

Laurent Dauthille too, if we're going down that route, ONETWO. Beat La Motta in a non-title bout, outboxed him for round after round when the title was on the line when, ahead on points, he was knocked out with something like fifteen seconds left. But what often gets overlooked is that the referee gave him a fast count, and even more ridiculously, seemed to wave it off at 'seven', by which point Dauthille was almost fully upright again.

Still a magnificent comeback by La Motta, though.

I saw an interview with La Motta discussing that fight along with Ray Robinson. La Motta said that he was holding back on purpose so that he could let loose in the final minute but when he looked at the clock after knocking Dauthille down he realised he left it later then he thought.

That ko is pretty iconic.

One of the unluckiest I can think of is one time Heavyweight champ Max Baer. Baer is generally credited with tragically killing two of his opponents frankie Campbell and Ernie Schaaf (who died later, after his fight with Carnera), something that haunted him for the rest of his life. The misfortune for me is that Baer is known by most casual fans as the sadistic sociopath of the cinderella man, a horrible and unfair tarnish on the legacy of a man who was generally held by his peers to be charismatic and likable.

david haye- he had wlad exactly where he wanted him both physically and mentally, was ready to take his place at the top of the world and god saw fit to completly ruin that for him with a broken toe- and not even the best can do anything about that....

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:Sonny Liston must get a mention. After the harsh upbringing and jail time he still went on to make something of his life and become heavyweight champ which as we know means a lot. No one knew his age, his own mother did not know when he was born and this plagued his career some what.

Then of course were his dealings (prob against his choice) with the mob who must have fleeced him silly. The man was never respected as champ but feared. I think his criminal past that he tried to turn his back on prevented him from becoming the champ he wanted to be. His own death is a mystery and a tragic end.

The saddest thing I heard about Liston was after winning the title he had wrote a speech on how he was happy to be the peoples champ for his homecoming but when he arrived no one turned up.

Amen to that. The speech thing is enough to really sadden any man I think. I finished The Ugly Bear and The Boy Who Would Be King by Bob Mee, recently and I think he takes a quite sympathetic view of Liston and from everything I've seen I'm inclined to take it as well.

licence_007 wrote:

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:Sonny Liston must get a mention. After the harsh upbringing and jail time he still went on to make something of his life and become heavyweight champ which as we know means a lot. No one knew his age, his own mother did not know when he was born and this plagued his career some what.

Then of course were his dealings (prob against his choice) with the mob who must have fleeced him silly. The man was never respected as champ but feared. I think his criminal past that he tried to turn his back on prevented him from becoming the champ he wanted to be. His own death is a mystery and a tragic end.

The saddest thing I heard about Liston was after winning the title he had wrote a speech on how he was happy to be the peoples champ for his homecoming but when he arrived no one turned up.

Amen to that. The speech thing is enough to really sadden any man I think. I finished The Ugly Bear and The Boy Who Would Be King by Bob Mee, recently and I think he takes a quite sympathetic view of Liston and from everything I've seen I'm inclined to take it as well.

If that is true then it really is sad. In fact the whole Liston story is sad, which is a terrible shame for such a fantastic fighter.

The book I finished reading mentioned that Liston was apparently pretty excited and nervous etc about writing his speech on the plane only for that to happen. Really must have been a real blow to the guy.

He moved city though and was accepted more in his new home thankfully.

Always thought Sven Ottke was unlucky not to get the nod on a few occasions. One of boxings luckiest stars (cons).

Jim Driscoll - battered the champ black and blue only to be the victim of a NO decision rule. Went back to America but got injured in a road accident and never got to fight the "champ" Attell ever again.