” I’m not the only one who feels the sting of continually losing,” said Eddie Bernice Johnson. Losing for a boxer is tough psychologically and financially. It is devastating for elite boxers to suffer defeat because they usually only fight two times a year. Therefore, it is hard for them to bounce back from a big loss. Likewise, who were boxing’s biggest losers of 2011?
Antonio Margarito, here with his trainer. Wikimedia Commons
5. Kermit Cintron
Kermit Cintron was given the opportunity to rejuvenate his career in 2011. He fought some of the best junior middleweight boxers in the world such as Carlos Molina and Saul Alvarez.
The underrated Molina defeated Cintron by outworking him. Then, Cintron who loss two out of his last three fights fought Alvarez for his WBC junior middleweight title. Alvarez defeated him by TKO in the 5th round and he was to good for Cintron.
Cintron is no longer a contender for a championship title in the junior middleweight division. He is now strictly a gatekeeper.
4. Shane MosleyAdChoices
Shane Mosley was one of the greatest lightweight boxers of all-time. Yet, he is past his prime at 42 years old.
Equally important, it seemed like he quit in his fight against Manny Pacquiao.The crowd booed Mosley because of his weak performance.
Mosley had to break ties with Golden Boy Promotions to get the fight with Pacquiao. So he is no longer a partner with Golden Boy. In addition, he should consider retirement because his best days are way, way behind him.
3. Kelly Pavlik
Kelly Pavlik has let good opportunities go down the drain this year. He withdrew with just four days notice from a fight against Darryl Cunningham that was scheduled to be the main event of a Showtime televised ShoBox: The New Generation card.
It was a bad decision for Pavlik to turn down the fight. It could have led to a title shot against Lucian Bute. Moreover, Bute’s promoter offered Pavlik a minimum purse of 1.35 million to fight Bute.
Pavlik has struggled this year in his professional and personal life. He was arrested on December 26th at his home for a misdemeanor count charging him with driving an all-terrain vehicle while drunk.
Kelly “the Ghost” Pavlik will disappear from boxing and never become champion again if he does not learn from his mistakes.
2. David Haye
David Haye’s true calling is as a promoter because Haye is good at building hype. He trashed talked his way to a fight against Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko that included a 50-50 purse split.
Haye failed to give a good performance in the biggest fight of his career. He only had excuses for his defeat to Klitschko. Haye blamed a broken toe and he even took off his shoe to show it off.
Haye had to eat his words. Klitschko also rubbed in the defeat with a silent YouTube video mocking Haye.
1. Antonio Margarito
Antonio Margarito’s attempted use of plaster of paris in his fight against Shane Mosley was despicable. He could have killed him. No one knows how long he used illegal handwraps in his boxing career.
Margarito’s fight against Miguel Cotto was a chance for him to prove that he is more than just a cheater. But, Cotto outboxed him and punished him by targeting his right eye throughout the fight.
Margarito was exposed as a fighter that cheated his way to the top. Then, he was beaten back down to the bottom by Mosley, Pacquiao, and Cotto.
Loren Robinson has watched and studied boxing for the past 12 years. He has written for boxing websites such as boxingnews24.com, eastsideboxing.com and pinoygreats.com. You can find more of his writing at the site www.lorenrobinson.com or you can follow him on Twitter, @BestWriter_InPA.
Sources
26 Dec. 2011 http://www.brainyquote.com
26 Dec. 2011 http://espn.go.com/
26 Dec. 2011 http://www.boxingscene.com/
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