Amateur greats that disappointed as pros

I guess Shiming is kind of an obvious answer. Dude had medals on medals on medals but loses to a bum this fight. He was old, to be fair, but he never seemed to adjust to the pro style at all. I've heard he was really lazy too and just refused to learn.
 
ya, wow that's pretty bad. who knows the backstory to some of these guys though, i think breland was spoiled by the time he was a pro, was a millionaire before his first fight possibly, that kind of stuff doesn't help a fighter. Howard Davis had some sort of issues with his management which is known to suck the enthusiasm out of fighters. Paul gonzalez, for one thing, just did stupid shit outside the ring, he busted his hand in a streetfight which sidelined him. but from what i've seen, he just could not handle the muscle of the pro game. when ammies flop, that's usually the reason, that and stamina.
another big reason is a lot of the guys never learn to really sit down on their punches and just throw a lot of low power, high speed punches, many also never really learn to infight properly.
 
Korobov was a disappointment

Solis was pretty bad

What about that chinese guy recently. A flyweight, signed with top rank. Blanking on the name?
Zou?
 
another big reason is a lot of the guys never learn to really sit down on their punches and just throw a lot of low power, high speed punches, many also never really learn to infight properly.
i'd say that's been truer since the advent of the pure scoring for any glancing blow in the ammies, kids stopped being taught how to really correctly punch, used to be you'd see a guy like Pernell whitaker who couldn't really punch and you could see him in his pro debut putting everything he could into his punches, so aat least he maximized what little ability to punch he had.
 
There are several. Recent examples include: Korobov , Dirrell, Chakhkiev, Solis.

It's interesting because each of them had different types of downfalls. Solis basically ate his way out of boxing. He had immense talent but couldn't stop eating. Chakhkiev did not have great fight IQ, and couldn't pace himself in fights. Dirrell lacked heart and determination to become great. Korobov was very talented, but his career wasn't handled well. With his amateur experience, he should've fought for a belt by 2011. But TR went too slow with him and he never quite improved.
 
Floyd Mayweather Olympic medallist, 49-0 until he met the Irish man.
 
Ronnie Shields and Sugar Ray Seales were the first names that came to mind for me. Both guys were standouts in a DEEP amateur program that just couldn't put it together as pros.
 
I vote Mark Breland.
And that Chinese dude, Shiming.
Pretty lame fighter for 2 Olympic golds.

But Mark Breland ? No.1
 
I thought Breland (even though he won some titles), Paul Gonzales, Andrew Maynard, Jorge Luis Gonzalez.
Ricardo Williams Jr. Also comes to mind.
Not a great fighter, but Courage Tshabalala had some good hype behind him after something like an 82-1 record with 82 KO's.
 
I expected more from Kostya if im being honest, he did very well, but considering his pedigree, should have had a much better resume( he was touted as having over 250 fights with single digit losses)

I remember him when he first turned pro and there was a LOT of hype about him, but i always thought he didnt really reach what was expected from him
 
Ronnie Shields and Sugar Ray Seales were the first names that came to mind for me. Both guys were standouts in a DEEP amateur program that just couldn't put it together as pros.
sugar ray seales never looked professional when i watched him, he just didn't look very coordinated or good with his balance. He was tall, so again, that's a big culprit in the ammies who can't make it. He also had Hagler to contend with who was a handful for anyone. The middles in those days, I know by rep, more than by what i've seen, you had bennie briscoe, willie the worm monroe, Monzon as champ, Hagler, you know, middleweight might be one of the most competitive divisions sheerly because of it might be closest to the average size of men. Ray also said he was mismanaged, that he didn't know the first hagler fight was a real fight (I can't believe he'd be tricked into an exhibition), he also diddn't know when to retire, he almost ended up totally blind by fighting with detached retinas. I just don't think he had what it took. He comes from my area, i saw him at a golden gloves in the mid 80's, i also know a guy who was under seales' supervision as a juvenile who got in trouble, he said he was a nice guy.
 
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