Is there a bigger waste of talent in combat sport history than badr Hari?

[The axe murderer]

His record is still decent. He's got it all save a suspect chin: massive power, speed, athleticism, killer instinct, skills etc. He destroyed guys like semmy schilt.

Unfortunately he's a headcase and has had numerous run ins with the law. He really could've been much more.

Now in his last fight with verhoeven he all but had that won until he did that spin kick

I can't think of a bigger waste

In kickboxing only other one I can think of being close is Alexei ignashev who knocked out Hari and schilt like it was nothing but hit the bottle too hard.

In boxing probably Tony ayala jr. And Edwin valero. Maybe even zab Judah even though he was undisputed

 

[The Guru]

I feel he has accomplished too much to call the biggest waste of talent but yeah he could have been a superstar for years. The biggest star in kickboxing history perhaps.
I feel the likes of Gokhan Saki and Tyrone Spong could have been world stars as well but the sport was on its ass for a big part of their carreer. Plus the fact they were too small for HW didn't help either.

 

[reservoirdogs]

His record is still decent. He's got it all save a suspect chin: massive power, speed, athleticism, killer instinct, skills etc. He destroyed guys like semmy schilt.

Unfortunately he's a headcase and has had numerous run ins with the law. He really could've been much more.

Now in his last fight with verhoeven he all but had that won until he did that spin kick

I can't think of a bigger waste

In kickboxing only other one I can think of being close is Alexei ignashev who knocked out Hari and schilt like it was nothing but hit the bottle too hard.

In boxing probably Tony ayala jr. And Edwin valero. Maybe even zab Judah even though he was undisputed

Ignashev, I remember that dude from the early 00's when I was following the HW division of K1, that dude was nasty, did head pulling knee strikes on the regular, they changed the rules so he could not do it anymore cause it was too messy and dangerous iirc
Yeah Hari was a headcase back then, I guess it didn't change for now

I'd add Ibeabuchi too.

Also a bunch of dudes from the 80s, mostly the lost generation of HWs who became coke heads and it fukked up their career, like Dokes and Tubbs. I'd also add Pryor who was similarly a coke head, even though he's a HOF and one of the if not the best 140er ever so it might be strange to put him here as "wasted talent". He wasn't "wasted" but he could have had a much longer prime and potential success at higher division had he not been a coke addict.

Gamboa counts as a wasted talent for me too, bad career decisions mostly...

Also, Broner might qualify here. Yeah I know he is a 4 division champion but let's be honest, he was predicted to go higher than he actually ended up going, many ppl and media legit thought he gonna be the next Floyd, the dominant star of his era. At the end of the day he probably won't make HOF as a 4 division champ.
I'm not sure this happened because of his out of ring shyt though, I think much of it was him simply not being as good as people thought but I guess struggling with weight and having to compete in a division where there are naturally bigger dudes than he didn't help.

 

[The axe murderer]

I feel he has accomplished too much to call the biggest waste of talent but yeah he could have been a superstar for years. The biggest star in kickboxing history perhaps.
I feel the likes of Gokhan Saki and Tyrone Spong could have been world stars as well but the sport was on its ass for a big part of their carreer. Plus the fact they were too small for HW didn't help either.

He def had a good record but he had so many arrests during his prime he could have been way better imo. Went nuts on bonjasky and that showed he needed better temperament. At his size you hardly see guys move like that.

You right about Spong. He put on a ton of weight to compete at HW. I think he was middleweight

 

[The axe murderer]

Ignashev, I remember that dude from the early 00's when I was following the HW division of K1, that dude was nasty, did head pulling knee strikes on the regular, they changed the rules so he could not do it anymore cause it was too messy and dangerous iirc
Yeah Hari was a headcase back then, I guess it didn't change for now

I'd add Ibeabuchi too.

Also a bunch of dudes from the 80s, mostly the lost generation of HWs who became coke heads and it fukked up their career, like Dokes and Tubbs. I'd also add Pryor who was similarly a coke head, even though he's a HOF and one of the if not the best 140er ever so it might be strange to put him here as "wasted talent". He wasn't "wasted" but he could have had a much longer prime and potential success at higher division had he not been a coke addict.

Gamboa counts as a wasted talent for me too, bad career decisions mostly...

Also, Broner might qualify here. Yeah I know he is a 4 division champion but let's be honest, he was predicted to go higher than he actually ended up going, many ppl and media legit thought he gonna be the next Floyd, the dominant star of his era. At the end of the day he probably won't make HOF as a 4 division champ.
I'm not sure this happened because of his out of ring shyt though, I think much of it was him simply not being as good as people thought but I guess struggling with weight and having to compete in a division where there are naturally bigger dudes than he didn't help.

shyt ignashev was a bad man. If there was an MMA fighter I'd say he can be compared to in unfulfilled potential it's Alexander emelianeko. The crazy part is that he fought several bouts drunk but still never got knocked out

Pryor is a damn tragedy. He was the Energizer Bunny so he had to be cooked out or something

 

[Skooby]

I don't have the answer to your question... But this will never not be funny:

 

[Amare's Right Hook]

Hari had some great KOs

 

[ℒℴѵℯJay ELECTUA]

Ronaldo's ex!

 

[Cole Cash]

Ignashev, I remember that dude from the early 00's when I was following the HW division of K1, that dude was nasty, did head pulling knee strikes on the regular, they changed the rules so he could not do it anymore cause it was too messy and dangerous iirc
Yeah Hari was a headcase back then, I guess it didn't change for now

I'd add Ibeabuchi too.

Also a bunch of dudes from the 80s, mostly the lost generation of HWs who became coke heads and it fukked up their career, like Dokes and Tubbs. I'd also add Pryor who was similarly a coke head, even though he's a HOF and one of the if not the best 140er ever so it might be strange to put him here as "wasted talent". He wasn't "wasted" but he could have had a much longer prime and potential success at higher division had he not been a coke addict.

Gamboa counts as a wasted talent for me too, bad career decisions mostly...

Also, Broner might qualify here. Yeah I know he is a 4 division champion but let's be honest, he was predicted to go higher than he actually ended up going, many ppl and media legit thought he gonna be the next Floyd, the dominant star of his era. At the end of the day he probably won't make HOF as a 4 division champ.
I'm not sure this happened because of his out of ring shyt though, I think much of it was him simply not being as good as people thought but I guess struggling with weight and having to compete in a division where there are naturally bigger dudes than he didn't help.

this is a great post, however i dont think Gamboa ever had the head movement or the chin to go further than he did. dudes head was always there to be hit unfortunately.

Broner, moreso than wasted talent, is a product of watching mayweather post 147. basically not understading that floyd adjusted his style to those weights to make up for potential weaknesses in power. Broner took all of mayweather for show shyt, and only a partial amount of what made him great. the biggest thing tho, mayweather if he knows hes down, hes gonna go out on his shield. Castillo 1, he squares up and goes toe to toe because he clearly felt he might be losing, even if you thought he lost, he didint just hand over that title. broner has no such heart and hes also incredibly dumb

 

[Neuromancer]

That Verhooven fight pissed me off. nikka had to be flashy huh?

 

[The axe murderer]

That Verhooven fight pissed me off. nikka had to be flashy huh?

He had him on the ropes and more than enough power to tee off on him but he kept that spinning shyt

 

[Neuromancer]

He had him on the ropes and more than enough power to tee off on him but he kept that spinning shyt

Twisted his own fukking foot. His corner should have told him to stop going to the well.

 

[The axe murderer]

Twisted his own fukking foot. His corner should have told him to stop going to the well.

I was like he should know better. I remember that remy bonjasky fight I thought man he is elite but hot headed in the ring