The Mentally Unfortunate

Boxing is an exercise in psychological warfare. Unfortunately, some fighters have a full scale riot going in their heads and can’t seem to get a grip on reality. In other words, they’re crazy as cat shit. Some are dangerous to the general public, while others are just dangerous to themselves and their opponents in the worst way. The list below leaves out those who have shown abnormal behavior as a result of neurological damage.

1. Tony Ayala Jr.: Pure sociopath. Spent 15 years in the big house for breaking, entering and rape. The Duvas (Lou and Dan) knew of his anti social illnesss from past behavior, yet got him off the hook until the very end. I guess they thought the safety of women was no where near as important as Ayala winning a title and making them a little money.

2. Mike Tyson: Do we really need to go into this again? Danger to the public. Nuff said.

3. Andrew Golota: Danger to his opponents with rule breaking tactics that border on insane. Either that or he has a strange fetish for ball busting. Could’ve beaten Riddick Bowe without the low blows and heat butts but decided to get himself disqualified anyway. My feeling about Golota has always been that he throws panic attacks in the ring that can go either way. It can lead to him throwing 20 low blows. Also, it can express itself as it did against Lennox Lewis, with Andrew getting terrified and quitting before the fight ever starts. In either case, strange character. Shows no signs of criminal behavior outside of the ring that I know of.

4. Oliver McCall: Oliver’s nervous breakdown in his 2nd fight against Lennox Lewis can probably be attributed to drug abuse. I’ve always been somewhat confused about that fight. Oliver walks around the ring in hysterics. Lennox is throwing good shots at him but Oliver doesn’t seem to feel them. What if Oliver started to fight? Would his mental condition have aided him in fighting Lewis? We’ll never know and frankly, I don’t give a damn. If you want to show an anti drug film to high school students, use this fight. I haven’t heard any horror stories about Oliver outside of the squared circle. Seems to only be dangerous to Oliver McCall.

5. Mitch “Blood” Green: I could never put my finger on what the hell this guy was talking about. He picked good enemies (Don King and Mike Tyson) but I never figured out why he didn’t like them based upon the fact that he was as crazy as they were. Maybe it was all just an act but I could never make heads or tails out of this fellow. As dangerous as he looks, I’ve never heard of any problems with him in relation to the law. Ran at Mike Tyson on the streets of NY at 3 AM in the morning. Was punished dearly for his trouble. I’ll admit that I had a some respect for him based on his constant threats to “Don King’s” life.

6. Hector “Macho” Camacho: Crazy in a harmless and funny type of a way. Lovable character. Could get away with just about anything based on people understanding that Camacho was just…… Camacho. Got up in the middle of a memorial service for an important figure in the world of boxing (Maybe Marble can recall the gentleman.). In the middle of a speech, which was being made by the deceased man’s son, Hector Camacho jumps up on a table and starts to dance while shouting the words “Don’t forget the Macho Man.” Was I offended? If I was there, I would’ve laughed, shook my head and taken Hector out for a drink. I’m surprised he didn’t end up in Hollywood. Can commit crimes like burglary & car theft but doesn’t seem to be a violent threat to the public.

Please feel free to add fighters to this list.

Valero.
Had a head injury from riding a motorcycle. According to Dougie Fisher (who spoke with a source he believes in Venezuela), Valero was diagnosed as schizophrenic. He truly believed that "enemies" were out to get him. Valero supposedly believed that his younger brother (an amateur fighter) was sleeping with his wife (talk about straight out of Raging Bull and Jake Lamotta territory).

captainanddew wrote:

Valero.
Had a head injury from riding a motorcycle. According to Dougie Fisher (who spoke with a source he believes in Venezuela), Valero was diagnosed as schizophrenic. He truly believed that "enemies" were out to get him. Valero supposedly believed that his younger brother (an amateur fighter) was sleeping with his wife (talk about straight out of Raging Bull and Jake Lamotta territory).

How the hell did I miss him?!

Here come the Ike woulda, coulda, shoulda posts........

David Tua - daddy tells him he loves him and he has a breakdown, about 15 minutes before he faces Lennox Lewis, definitely had some problems that were hidden well before that fight

Johnny Bumphus - this guy doesnt do cocaine, who knows what he could have accomplished

A different sort of mentally unfortunate:
Roy Jones Jr. Didn't push himself when he was physically the best fighter in the sport. Waited till his reflexes had betrayed him. Now he is a punching bag.

Frank your shot at the Duvas is pathetic

love how you dont mention that Cus Damato knew about Mike Tysons dozen or so transgressions against high school females when he was coming up

seen numerous documentaries on Mikes crazy ass, talk about how many girls in high school said he raped or abused them, D'Amato would go give the "this kids gonna be a champ" speech and all was swept under the rug

not saying i condone either or dislike D'Amato, jsut saying if your gonna take cheap shots dont take a shot than not mention anything in the very next post

Birdofthad wrote:

Frank your shot at the Duvas is pathetic

love how you dont mention that Cus Damato knew about Mike Tysons dozen or so transgressions against high school females when he was coming up

I missed the point and I agree with you 100 percent. Tyson should've never been let out of the Boys Home he was in. I missed it, you got it. I've said so much about Tyson that I thought that your info would've been taken for granted. However, my shot at the Duva's is 100 percent accurate. Tony Ayala attacked a girl at a "Drive Inn" in Texas, injuring her for life. I forgot the details, but the Duva's are no better than Cus. The press was just more secretive then. However, If you'd like the details of that attack, I'm sure I can get them for you.

Im not saying crazy ass Tony didnt attack people, just figured if your gonna take shots at the Duvas for trying to manage him and supply him with an honest work, reguardless if he was bat shit crazy, you should point out the same for the number 2 man on the lsit

Birdofthad wrote:

seen numerous documentaries on Mikes crazy ass, talk about how many girls in high school said he raped or abused them, D'Amato would go give the "this kids gonna be a champ" speech and all was swept under the rug

not saying i condone either or dislike D'Amato, jsut saying if your gonna take cheap shots dont take a shot than not mention anything in the very next post

Bird, I'm just curious. I've seen docs on Tyson too. The only attack I've ever heard of him committing in high school was something (and it was never specfically explained) against "Teddy Atlas's niece. Teddy pointed a gun at his head. Later, Teddy was released from Cus D's camp and Sick Mike was invited back. What other episodes have you heard of? (Of course he attacked Bill Cosby's daughter as well as serving 3 yrs for a rape charge.)

boxing has had many unstable mental fighters since day one..good topic of course but we should take into account that cus duva etc etc are not social workers and most fighters or many fighters are far from altar boys indeed...there basic training came from the mean streets and there mental attitude for many is developed from that envirement..

dmar5143 wrote:

boxing has had many unstable mental fighters since day one..good topic of course but we should take into account that cus duva etc etc are not social workers and most fighters or many fighters are far from altar boys indeed...there basic training came from the mean streets and there mental attitude for many is developed from that envirement..

dmar, most fighters are not rapists. Most of any profession wouldn't consist of sexual predators. Tyson has stuck out like a sore thumb ever since he was on the scene. A class A, sociopathic and violent criminal. I have no complaints about Sonny Liston. He just liked to beat up on big, hardened men. These guys are not choirboys, but there are extreme cases that needed to be dealt with and were not. Cus knew Tyson attacked the niece of Teddy Atlas. Instead of dismissing Mike from his stable, he dismissed Teddy after Atlas held a gun to Mike's head. No need for me to comment on what I think about that move.

dmar5143 wrote:

...there basic training came from the mean streets and there mental attitude for many is developed from that environment..

I'll add Riddick Bowe. He never outgrew where he grew up, and I'm convinced he had a mental disorder. Completely unpredictable in the ring and he had some legal issues after he retired. I've never blamed him for not reaching his potential because I never thought he was always in control of his thoughts/actions. Completely unstable.

Gumby wrote:

dmar5143 wrote:

...there basic training came from the mean streets and there mental attitude for many is developed from that environment..

I'll add Riddick Bowe. He never outgrew where he grew up, and I'm convinced he had a mental disorder. Completely unpredictable in the ring and he had some legal issues after he retired. I've never blamed him for not reaching his potential because I never thought he was always in control of his thoughts/actions. Completely unstable.

Gumby, Riddick was unstable but I thought that was mostly due to the unfortunate brain damage he suffered after his fights with Andrew Golota. I personally never heard anything but positive stories about Bowe before those bouts. Then there was the change in personality which is common with neuro damage. I'm sure you recall that he joined the Marines and called a Press Conference to announce this act. He stayed in the Core all but 3 days. Most brain surgeons will tell you that's a sure sign of personality changes associated with head trauma. Then there was the kidnapping of his family. I really don't think he knew what he was doing. Nevertheless, I don't know anymore stories about Bowe. If you know something I don't, I'd love to hear it.

frank ill agree on rapists or sexual prediotors..i remember teddy telling of the incident but i dont remember the call of rape..tysons conviction came after cus died..trever berbick also was convicted of rape after his career was over..i agree totaly that rape is one of the things sports should not tolerate one bit..sports all of them unfortunetly no matter what the so called punishment is has a tolerence issue with these athlets..big ben is a perfect example..of course the girl is accused of being money hungry etc etc..kobe placed himself in jepordy also..many football players have also..there is a pattern here of a much higher percentage of this profession inflicted with this type of behavior.well above the norm of most non sports professions..
no doubt tolernce should be extrtemly low to none in sports..the yogi berras tony gwyns lou gehrigs chrisy matthewsons of sports indeed are fading from the picture..double triple standards are set unofficaly for these creeps..

argueably sports sickest mind may be ty cobb..a known racsist murderer of at least one person perhaps two a dirty player who sought to injure others who once beat up his roomate for taking a bath first with the excuse that the roomate didnt understand that he always has to be first in anything...a man who went into the stands and attacked a cripple and was the most hated person in baseball history including his teammates..
litterly a certified phycopath with a history of several violent things.

dmar5143 wrote:

argueably sports sickest mind may be ty cobb..a known racsist murderer of at least one person perhaps two a dirty player who sought to injure others who once beat up his roomate for taking a bath first with the excuse that the roomate didnt understand that he always has to be first in anything...a man who went into the stands and attacked a cripple and was the most hated person in baseball history including his teammates..
litterly a certified phycopath with a history of several violent things.

Thanks for pointing those out. There was a movie done on Cobb which stunk to high hell. It could've been revealing, especially if they went into the issues you describe. How do you make a lousy movie about a guy like this while starring Tommy Lee Jones in the title role? I guess you have to ask the writer and the filmmaker.