While watching young Olympians and amateur stars continue to pad their records against hopeless opposition, I am reminded of how silly this is. Much has already been said about Deontay Wilder and Shawn Estrada, but let's take Frankie Gomez for a new example. He has now won two straight fights against soft opposition, in ridiculously early stoppages. This protection/marketing strategy from Golden Boy is only going to delay the inevitable tests he has to face in order to become truly great.
Perhaps they are still reeling from Victor Ortiz's high-profile loss, but Ortiz is still young, and the loss to Maidana may prove to be the best thing that has ever happened to him. While a promoter certainly wants to make his prospect seem like a killer, as well as build his confidence, most of the ones destined for success will stumble, and come back. These promoters may actually be delaying their own finanical success with this protection strategy.
In fact, some fighters have stumbled right out of the gate, and still done tremendously well. This is a first list of fighters with lousy starts, who came on to win world titles. I am excluding fighters who had one loss early, and then went on a tear. These are fighters who were destined for clubfighter 'opponents-ville', and had multiple losses early, but still found themselves with a title belt strapped around their waist years later.
Johnny Nelson.
A 3-7 amateur, no one was surprised when Nelson went 0-3 in his early career. Even when he ended up going 15-5, and winning the British title, it would have been enough of an impressive comeback... but holding Carlos de Leon to a draw for the WBC Cruiserweight title, then moving up to hold his own heavyweights was quite a feat. Nelson was not done yet, however, and in a career than saw 12 defeats, he was only stopped once. He also very often found himself fighting in his opponents backyards, and/or against oversized heavyweights. When he finally went back down to cruiserweight, he went undefeated in his later career. While he never unified, rarely thrilled in an action sense, and his activity waned, he retired as unbeaten WBO champion, having held the title from 1999-2005. Quite impressive for such a bad start.
Mike Weaver.
Probably the most famous entry into this category, due to having started 1-3 with two knockout losses, and ending up carrying a portion of the biggest prize in sports. He also captured the title with a record of 21-9 going into his second attempt. He also captured it in his opponent's (John Tate) back yard, with a dramatic come-from-behind knockout in the last round. He had the size, strength, and heart to make himself a tough foe for anyone he took into the later rounds. However, the opposite was true, and he was a terribly slow starter. As a result, he often lost to lesser opponents who were able to catch him cold. This also led to his shortened reign as champion, but to get there at all, by beating tough oppostion in a tough era, was testament to the "if at first you don't succeed..." mantra.
Pipino Cuevas.
His sloppiness never went away, and his brutal power was evident early. So what changed to make this fighter who was KO'd in his debut, and lost 2 out of his first 3, into a legit world champion and hall-of-famer? How was a 15-5 fighter who was first viewed to have won the title on lucky power shots, able to defend that title 12 times, only losing to a another future hall-of-famer (Thomas Hearns)? The answer to both of these questions, in my opinion, is the power of confidence. Of course, having training and practice in your corner certainly helps, but the old saying, "winning the title makes you better" was apparently based on the career of Pipino Cuevas. Adding to this belief is also the fact that Cuevas was largely ineffective in his post-title career as well. However, for that magical title reign, he destroyed all comers, and rarely had to leave the early rounds to do so.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com
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