10 Boxers' Turning Points That Shaped Their Careers and Lives

Every fighter has a moment in their careers or life that shapes their legacy as a fighter and, in some situations, as a person. Boxing brings us so close to fighters, and in this day and age of media, we're pulled in even closer.

Here are 10 interesting fighters and the moments I believe are the turning points in their careers.

Arturo Gatti

Most associate Gatti's trilogy with Mickey Ward as the defining moment in his boxing career. However, it was the decision victory over Tracy Patterson in 1995 that propelled him to a multi-fight deal with HBO.

This deal brought attention and focus to Gatti's exceptionally exciting style, and it produced the type of exposure required for him to be considered for Ring Magazine Fight of the Year three times in a row.

The Gatti-Ward trilogy is among the most exciting in the sport's history, but the first Patterson fight (Gatti would defeat Patterson again two years later) and the subsequent fight deal were the ignition for his dramatic career.

Sadly, we are now forced to think of his tragic death instead of his exciting career.

Roy Jones, Jr.

Of all the great wins and the few devastating losses at the end of his career, it was an amateur "loss" in the 1988 Olympics that was the turning point in Roy Jones, Jr.'s career.

Many know the story of how Jones was robbed of the gold medal in the 1988 games and how it was awarded to South Korean Park Si-Hun, even though Jones out-landed him 86-32.

This fight seemed to shape Roy's approach to the sport and the business of boxing.

In a 2003 interview with Esquire magazine Jones said, "One thing I learned from the '88 Olympics: It's not a question of if they can screw you over; it's a question of if they will. It's not the gold medal they took away from me. The medal doesn't mean anything. It's that they said I lost. That experience is well and alive in my mind."

This event hurt him and made him defiant, which I also think drove him at the beginning of his career.

Unfortunately, like many other fighters, Jones has stayed in the ring too long. There comes a point, even for talents like Jones, where there is nothing left to do but fight until somebody beats you. Your detractors and haters will never love you, no matter what you accomplish or who you beat; staying around to convert them is a battle a great fighter can't win.

Mike Tyson

For those who are old enough to recall, when did you know Tyson was a special heavyweight?

I was drinking the Kool-Aid the first time I saw him fight live on television.

It was February of 1986 against Jesse Ferguson. Now, Ferguson was not a top contender by any stretch, but Tyson's demolition of him was so savagely impressive, I had to take notice.

This in-ring destruction was shortly preceded by an event that could have triggered Mike's out-of-ring collapse. Tyson's trainer and mentor, Cus D'Amato, passed away in November of 1985 and left an unseasoned, immature and uncultivated 18-year-old Tyson without trusted guidance.

Though Tyson's star continued to rise for three years of heavyweight domination, inside, Mike was breaking down. Money and fame doesn't change you, it just makes you more of who you are. At that time, Tyson was a young, angry, lonely, misguided man whose money was circumstantially a gift and a curse.

I am one of the biggest Mike Tyson fans in the world, flaws and all. Even with those things and events, there was never a cooler and more charismatic heavyweight this side of Muhammad Ali.

Larry Holmes

Larry Holmes is perhaps one of the top five greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport.

So why is he a bit of an afterthought for some fans?

Holmes struggled with popularity throughout his illustrious career, even though he started 48-0 and one shy of Rocky Marciano's coveted 49-0 mark.

Holmes scored victories over the likes of Ken Norton, Tim Witherspoon, Earnie Shavers and Gerry Cooney, but it was a victory in October 1980 that couldn't have done much for his popularity in the sport.

Holmes defended his WBC heavyweight title against the legendary but older Muhammad Ali. In what would be Ali's next-to-last fight, Holmes pummeled the icon until the fight was stopped at the end of the 10th round.

It was a similar situation to that of Oscar De La Hoya's dual destruction of Julio Cesar Chavez. It is believed by some that the Mexican community carried ill feelings toward De La Hoya for crushing a legend not once, but twice.

James Slater of East Side Boxing wrote this of the Ali-Holmes bout:

"No one benefited from the contest. Not Holmes, who later cried at having beaten up the man who gave him his start, not the fans, who were witness to one of the most harrowing and pitiful boxing matches in history, and certainly not Ali, whose health was made even worse thanks to the taking of what was his 60th pro fight."

Julio Cesar Chavez

Chavez's amazing boxing career and more amazing record took a turn for the best and worst on St. Patrick's Day in 1990. Being clearly outboxed by Meldrick Taylor through 11 rounds, two minutes and 32 seconds, Chavez knocked down a careless Taylor with a huge right hand.

Taylor made it to his feet, even though he looked worst for wear, and with only two seconds left in the fight, referee Richard Steele stopped the bout.

This caused an outrage by many in the arena and in the boxing community. It would have taken two seconds for Chavez to walk over to Taylor. With this win, Chavez scored his most memorable win, but it was the first time the credibility of his record was questioned.

Naseem Hamed

It seemed the Prince would have a long storied career as champion and personality, but after suffering his first defeat at the hands of Marco Antonio Barrera, Hamed would fight only one more time.

Hamed hung up the gloves at the age of 27 and has never returned. His dislike for training camps and separation from his family has been documented. According to legendary English boxing promoter Frank Warren, Hamed "cut corners in training."

The effect of this was first evident in his battle with Kevin Kelley in his U.S. debut in 1997; Kelley dropped Hamed three times before the Prince knocked him out in the fourth round. This was the first true, in-ring adversity Hamed had to endure. Though he would fight for five years after this, the Kelley fight seemed to be the beginning of events that led to an early retirement.

The funniest thing is watching Kelley talk crap about how careless Hamed is in the ring. That may be true, but he just knocked you out—you aren't allowed to say that.

Ricky Hatton

Hatton enjoyed one of the most spirited followings by his countrymen of any fighter I've ever seen. His biggest victory was undoubtedly his win over Kostya Tszyu when the light welterweight champion did not answer the bell for the 12th round.

This upset victory launched Hatton into a higher level of boxing notoriety.

He eventually attempted a move to welterweight. His first welterweight bout was against Luis Collazo, and Hatton won a controversial decision. He knocked down Collazo in the first round, but many—myself included—believe Collazo won the rest of the fight, and it should have been ruled a draw, at best, for Hatton.

This fight somewhat exposed Hatton as a C-class fighter who caught a great fighter at the right time of his career. Hatton would never have another substantial win over a quality opponent.

Zab Judah

Speaking of Kostya Tszyu, this one is obvious.

The Tszyu KO of Zab Judah was one of the most destructive career KOs in recent memory. Not only was this a light welterweight unification bout, but the humiliation of the way the KO happened seemed to bruise Judah emotionally as well.

KOs can be devastating to a fighter, physically and mentally. Even though Judah has had some measure of success since that fight, Super-Judah hasn't been super since.

Matthew Saad Muhammad

One of my favorite fighters, Matthew Saad Muhammad's turning point did not come in a ring or during his career.

Sadly, it came as an infant.

Muhammad's mother died when he was only months old, so he and his brother were sent to live with an aunt. The aunt didn't believe she could afford both children, so she instructed Muhammad's brother to "lose him somewhere in the street," according to an excellent piece by Tim Whitaker done in cooperation with Muhammad.

Muhammad, who was then known by his birth name Maxwell Loath, was left on the steps of a Catholic church, where he was taken in and cared for by nuns who gave him the name Matthew Franklin.

Muhammad would be raised in and out of foster homes, reform schools and the like. He would eventually find boxing, of course, the religion of Islam and riches.

Still, this is not a feel-good story; as of 2011, Muhammad is homeless.

By most accounts, including his own, "When you ask Saad himself what went so wrong, he says three things: People robbed him, he wanted people to like him, and he gave all his money away. When you ask him whom he gave his money to, he says just about everybody. And most everybody who knows him says that's probably true."

Just another rich athlete who blew his money, right? Well, not in my opinion.

Boxing is such a fascinating sport because of how close the sport gets us to the athletes. Abandonment issues run deep and can manifest themselves in self-destructive ways.

While Muhammad's in-ring performances satisfied the boxing world, it seemed Muhammad was in search of acceptance himself.

Wilfred Benitez

El Radar was one of the most technically-sound boxers in history. He did just about everything well. He came from a family where boxing was a way of life; his two brothers and father boxed.

Wilfred, the most talented of the family, turned pro at age 15.

He was such a prodigy, he was ranked by the WBA and WBC at the age of 16. In 1982, at the still young age of 24, Benitez had been professional for nine years. He lost a majority-decision to fellow Hall of Famer, Thomas Hearns.

The result seemed to devastate him, and things were never right for him after this loss. Benitez's record after the Hearns fight was 9-6, he was KO'd three times and suffered a broken ankle during one knockdown against Davey Moore.

Benitez's fortunes continued to plummet as his career hit rock bottom in 1986. After a loss to Carlos Herrera in Argentina, Benitez was robbed of his fight purse and identification. He was subsequently stranded in Argentina for a year.

He made an ill-fated comeback in 1990, but his health declined, and he now suffers from a brain condition caused by the blows he took in the ring. It is a sad situation for a fighter who was so good, so soon—maybe too soon.