BAD STARTS FOR WORLD CHAMPIONS

July 2010

boxing_image Buster Drayton - A late start, a bunch of losses, but still he managed to win the IBF Junior Middleweight title over a fading Davey Moore. He was the then-ancient age of 32, and had learend on the job. Drayton also went about defending his title on the road, facing Said Skouma and Matthew Hilton in their respective hometowns. While this might have helped his french, it didn't do well in keeping his title. When he was unable to KO his opponent, the decisions would not go to him, much like in his earlier career. He managed to get off to a winning start, unlike most fighters on this list, but he was at "Opponents-Ville' with multiple losses only a few years in. He also had the bad luck of running into prime Julian Jackson and Terry Norris after his title reign... but had quite an impressive career, for such an ordinary start.

Eric Ortiz - Sure he may be back to losing more than he's winning, but he is still holding his own against top fighters, and if not for a chin-deficiency, might be winning more. He started with losses in 2 of his first 3 fights, and 3 was 3-3-1 at one point as well. However, with increased, skill, and power, he went on a winning streak, and captured the WBC Light Flyweight Title. His reign was brief, but only because he kept his level of competition high.... something he is still doing.

Kelvin Seabrooks - Yes, he won his first two fights, but then lost 4 out of his next 5, and ended up with a very unimpressive 21-13 record when he fought for his first world title. However, he had beaten enough of the right people, and being a puncher kept him in every fight. He won and defended the IBF Bantamweight title with knockout wins, and only running into the great Orlando Canizales would end his title reign. He had an equally unimpressive post-title career, that saw his record drop to nearly .500, but he belongs to the proud Pipino Cuevas school of 'being champ makes you better'.

Honroable mention: Bash Ali, and Kirino Garcia. They never won legit world titles, but Ali started as a 5-5 fighter with no knockouts, who was thrown in 10 rounders very early. He then went on to win multiple regional titles, and receive two shots at the Cruiserweight championship. He fought well into his 40's, and ran up a winning streak in his native Nigeria until he was 48. Garcia started as an unthinkable 0-18, then managed to be a top-10 Middleweight contender for many years.