This isn't a phenomenon limited to pro boxing. This from the Wikipedia
cording to a 2009 Sports Illustrated article, 78% of National Football League (NFL) players are either bankrupt or are under financial stress within two years of retirement and an estimated 60% of National Basketball Association (NBA) players go bankrupt within five years after leaving their sport.[1] Originally the statement "60% of NBA players go bankrupt within five years after leaving their sport" was released by a representative of the NBA Players' Association in 2008 [2][3] A Fortune ****zine article states, however, that a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the percentage of NFL players who go bankrupt after two years is a much smaller 1.9%, climbing to 15.7% after 12 years.[4]
However it's perhaps even more sad when it comes to boxers who you've watched taking blows.
He's been broke for years. About a decade ago, he had an auction where he sold all of his stuff. This is including his boxing memorabilia.
It's very unfortunate. However, every time I hear of Tommy Hearns money troubles I'm reminded of that one Boxingscene poster who used to mow the lawn in the rich neighborhood Tommy Hearns used to live in. When it was time to mow Tommy's lawn, Hearns walked out and told the Boxingscene poster to get on before he whipped his ass...Hmm. Wonder if that guy still posts here.
He has no one to blame but himself. Look at Floyd and manny for example both had tax issues. Look at Floyd burning through money with ****** purchases. They get used to the lifestyle they had when they were active. It sucks to see any athlete who made tens of millions end up like this but the vast majority of boxers do. He has a name so hopefully he gets some help with how to turn that $50k into $500 k
Athletes are usually the worst culprits of this. Usually growing up poor, they never really had guidance for spending their money wisely. But once they do make it to the top, they get to enjoy the things they never got to BUT then don't realize that eventually all that spending builds up and eventually lose money after repeating the spending of having a luxurious lifestyle. Also tax issues definitely don't help them either.
Thankfully there are athletes who pre-plan ahead who are still wealthy(Sugar Ray Leonard, Prince Naseem Hamed, Marvin Hagler) or Ex-Boxers who lived modestly and are doing well(Despite Paul Williams premature retirement, he was smart in investing his money into long term investing from what i recall)
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