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Boxing is a sport prone to hyperbole. It’s easy for writers to get carried away and deem a fighter the "greatest" when he was only the "latest." When a luminous talent performs extraordinary deeds, we who observe them can’t help but wonder how high they will set the bar and how they eventually will compare to those who have already completed their course. Only a precious few blue chippers over the past 30 years have fulfilled the destinies predicted for them. Two of them – Roberto Duran and Pernell Whitaker – will write the ultimate chapter of their athletic stories this June when they are inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

More often than not, though, the flavor of the month ends up being just that after they run into an opponent who forgets to read the advance press clippings. Others are able to succeed inside the ring for a time only to find that their most formidable opponent is either life beyond the ropes or the personal demons that constantly eat away at their souls. But the cruelest impediment of all happens when a fighter on the road to lasting greatness is tragically struck down before he has a chance to completely perform his personal symphony.

The American poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier put it best when he wrote, "For all sad words of tongue and pen/The saddest are these, 'It might have been.'" This three-part story will profile 12 star-crossed individuals who had the talent to put together extraordinary achievements only to fall short. All of them had achieved a measure of renown, and some of them are either Hall of Famers or soon will be. But for all of them, there will always be that pang of sadness that always comes when the mission is not quite accomplished. Without further adieu, here is one man’s list (in alphabetical order) of some of the fighters who could be deemed boxing’s "might-have-been" men:

Tony Ayala Jr. – 1980-2003 (31-2, 27 KOs): Along with Bobby Czyz, Johnny Bumphus and Alex Ramos, Ayala was part of the "Tomorrow’s Champions" group that was prominently featured on NBC in the early 1980s. Of the four, "El Torito" was the most explosive as he splattered opponent after opponent with his deadly left hook. In just his ninth pro fight, Ayala proved against Mario Maldonado that he had grit as he overcame a resounding first-round knockdown to polish off the fringe contender in the third.

"I wasn’t as high on him as other people were as I was about 8 or 9 years old when he was coming up. I was comparing him to guys like Hagler and Leonard," said HBO "Boxing After Dark" analyst Max Kellerman, who covered several of Ayala’s comeback fights when he was on ESPN2’s "Friday Night Fights." "He demonstrated during his comeback that his level of talent was top, top shelf. He was beating up lesser caliber guys even though he took a 17-year hiatus that was spent mostly in prison. You could see that he had the physical tools all along but he didn’t have the stuff psychologically to make himself a truly great fighter. But people responded to his ferocity and naked aggression."

Though he experienced nothing but success inside the ropes, Ayala had problems containing the fury that drove him forward in the ring. Robbie Epps had once been a stablemate but he left Ayala’s trainer/father Tony Ayala Sr. The younger Ayala took out his anger on Epps as he scored a one-round demolition, after which he got in a few extra punches after the stoppage. Still, Ayala continued to rack up knockouts and his world rating zoomed up as quickly as his profile.

Following a third-round TKO over former title challenger Carlos Herrera, Ayala, still just 19, was in line to fight WBA junior middleweight champion Davey Moore and a potential showdown with Roberto Duran had fans and media alike salivating. But all that fell away on New Year’s Day 1983 when Ayala broke into the home of a New Jersey woman, then tied her up and raped her. Ayala was sentenced to 15-35 years in prison, and it appeared his meteoric career was at an end.

"As was the case with Tyson, nobody wanted to hear a Teddy Atlas kind of guy talking about the warning signals," Kellerman said. "The natural reaction after something like this is to be disappointed because fans are not following them as human beings but as athletes. If you find out your star number-three hitter, your star point guard, your star wideout or your favorite fighter has off-the-field problems, the primary concern is how it could be affecting them on the field or how it affects your team. At the time, there was disappointment in his behavior because he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his potential as a fighter and as a human being."

But it ended up that all was not lost for Ayala the boxer. He was released in 1999 after serving a little less than half the maximum sentence. The 36-year-old resumed his boxing career with a third round KO of Manuel Esparza and followed it up with four more knockouts. There was even talk of Ayala securing a world title shot, but all of that stopped after Yory Boy Campas scored a ninth round TKO.

"Ayala was beating the hell out of Campas early on, and I was thinking ‘wow!’" Kellerman said. "Campas was a world-class fighter for a number of years and a guy who was in jail for 17 years shouldn’t have been able to do this for any amount of time, yet he was doing it. He showed he had this physical potential but when Campas wouldn’t go away, Ayala showed he had some give in him psychologically."

Ayala continued to have his issues with the law as he was convicted of burglary with the intent to commit aggravated assault after he broke into a young woman’s home in San Antonio, Texas. During the incident, Ayala was shot in the left shoulder. He wore an ankle bracelet during his 10-round decision win over Santos Cardona and went on to score three more knockouts before losing his final fight by 11th round TKO to future "Contender" star Anthony Bonsante on April 25, 2003. A little more than a year later, Ayala was stopped for speeding and charged with possessing drug paraphernalia. Ayala refused to take a drug test and he was summarily sentenced to 10 years in prison for violating his probation from the burglary conviction in San Antonio.

"I always thought he would knock out Davey Moore," Kellerman said. "Moore was a good natural talent and a good skilled fighter but he wasn’t greatly talented or greatly skilled. Ayala had more physically than Moore. Everyone was talking about Ayala fighting Duran but I thought Ayala would end up fighting Hagler. In retrospect, Duran would probably beat Ayala in an awesome action fight. Physical attribute for physical attribute, Ayala could have gone one on one with Duran but not psychologically. As for Hagler, I think he dismantles Ayala."

Jose Becerra – 1953-1960 (71-5-2, 42 KOs)

Like Ayala, Becerra showed incredible talent even though he was barely out of his teens. At 20, he twice outpointed perennial contender Joe Medel in a span of three weeks and turned the trick a third time the following year. In 1959, Becerra knocked out former bantamweight champion Mario D’Agata and two fights later he captured the 118-pound crown by eighth round knockout over Alphonse Halimi.

"I’ll never forget his first fight with Halimi," said Hall of Fame boxing historian Hank Kaplan. "I even remember who I watched the fight with; his name was Sal Vunetta and he was the brother of the director of ‘The Honeymooners’ with Jackie Gleason. He used to train a lot of good fighters like Mike McCallum and he used to train my stable of fighters. Becerra really surprised me that night. Even though I didn’t know much about either of them, I thought Halimi was going to beat him."

When sizing up Becerra, Kaplan saw the complete package.

"Becerra was a pretty good all-around fighter," he said. "He used to throw this cute little double hook to wherever he found an opening and he was a good puncher with both hands. He was a great competitor at close range. He was a guy who never clinched and was always busy on the inside. He was a good defensive fighter who used to block punches well and he didn’t leave himself wide open and flail aimlessly. He also loved to fight off the ropes and he was good at rallying to get out of a tight spot. He was one of the great early Mexican stylists that became visible to us because of television."

After capturing the title from Halimi, Becerra continued to add to his budding legend. He knocked out Halimi in nine rounds nine months later, then decisioned Kenji Yonekura in Tokyo. Becerra seemed primed for a long reign but was shockingly stopped in eight rounds by Eloy Sanchez. Then, at just age 24, Becerra stunned the boxing world a second time by announcing his retirement. His decision to stop fighting was probably prompted by a non-title bout that took place three months after capturing the title from Halimi. Becerra knocked out Walter Ingram in nine rounds, and Ingram died from his injuries just two days later.

"No doubt it had a great influence on his decision," Kaplan said. "He must have been a very sensitive guy and he must have considered his own mortality as a fighter. He decided that it was time to retire. Perhaps he was admonished by his own family about being a fighter and was advised by his parents to quit. That’s what made the decision for him."

Unlike most other boxers who retire – especially those who do so that young – Becerra was never tempted to launch a full-scale comeback. He did make one more ring appearance at a benefit show on October 13, 1962, winning a six-round decision over Guadalajara’s Alberto Martinez, and he remains one of the most popular boxers Mexico has ever known.

At the time Becerra retired, the career of another great fighter – Brazil’s Eder Jofre –was beginning to blossom. Had Becerra chosen to fight on, a match-up between the two stars would have been inevitable. But Kaplan believes the peerless "Golden Bantam" would have taken the measure of Becerra.

"Jofre was a superior boxer and would have out-boxed Becerra in a 15-round fight," he said. "Jofre knew all of the tricks and was a beautiful fighter to watch. He was a real treat if you’re looking for boxing skills. Becerra’s and Jofre’s style would have had some electricity and it would have been a great fight. But Jofre would have been too clever for him."

Still, Kaplan would have rated Becerra highly among the bantamweights, which has historically been a very deep division.

"Throughout the years there have been a lot of great, great 118-pound fighters," he said. "If you’d put the names down on paper, you’d be amazed about all the great bantamweights who covered the landscape in the 1920s and 1930s. There were a lot of great bantamweights who had never won a title. But Becerra belongs up there with the best."

Hector Camacho – 1980-2005 (78-5-2, 37 KOs): Born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Camacho and his family moved to New York’s Spanish Harlem when he was a boy. The young Camacho loved to fight and when he wasn’t competing in karate or amateur boxing, he was doing so on the streets. As an amateur, Camacho won three New York Golden Gloves titles, defeating Paul DeVorce and Tyrone Jackson to earn the final two.

After turning pro in September 1980 with a four-round decision over David Brown, Camacho quickly made a name for himself with his blazing hand and foot speed as well as his flamboyant personality. Camacho won the NABF super featherweight title by decisioning Blaine Dickson and stopped the usually durable Refugio Rojas in a single round to earn a spot in his first nationally-televised fight. On July 11, 1982 at Madison Square Garden’s Felt Forum – and before CBS’ cameras –Camacho was in prime form as he halted the previously undefeated Louis Loy in seven rounds and from then on he was a TV staple.

"Until Floyd Mayweather came along, Camacho was the greatest junior lightweight I’d ever seen with my own eyes," said Kellerman. "People have a tendency to put all quick fighters in a group but Camacho was even quicker than the quickest fighters. At 130 he was untouchable; he was not only beating fighters he was destroying them. His fight with Bazooka Limon was no contest, though Limon was past his prime, and he was moving up and down between 130 and 135 and beating everybody. He was a phenom."

The quicksilver southpaw blended his speed with a finely honed mean streak to produce fireworks. Against John Montes, the 21-year-old Camacho demonstrated veteran skill (and borderline dirty fighting) by missing with a jab, holding Montes’ head in position and letting go just before driving a pulverizing left uppercut to the jaw. The fight was stopped a little more than a minute after the opening bell, and Camacho was really on his way.

Two fights later, Camacho won the WBC super featherweight title that was stripped from Bobby Chacon by knocking out Rafael "Bazooka" Limon in five rounds and defended it for the only time against Rafael Solis. Camacho moved up to lightweight and was at his brilliant best when he decisioned Jose Luis Ramirez to win the WBC 135-pound title.

"I agree that this was Camacho at his best," Kellerman said. "I think that Camacho-Ramirez – more than Hagler-Hearns, Duran’s performance against Hagler or the rise of Donald Curry – made Leonard come out of retirement. Camacho-Ramirez showed Leonard that ‘here is this lightning-fast, scintillating performer who is about to occupy the same space I did in this sport.’ It made him jealous – and there was some bickering between those guys at the time – and it was as responsible as anything for his eventual comeback. That’s the kind of performance it was; it said that it was ‘Macho Time,’ and that boxing is his sport."

His first defense against former WBA champion Edwin Rosario would prove to be a huge turning point in Camacho’s career. Camacho and Rosario fought evenly over the first four rounds, but 45 seconds into the fifth, Rosario landed a torrid hook to the jaw that badly wobbled Camacho. The champion survived Rosario’s follow-up assault but was hurt again with a hook-cross combo in the final minute of the 11th. Camacho again showed his resourcefulness by weathering Rosario’s storm before receiving a split decision win. Camacho may have preserved his perfect record but he lost the aggressiveness that had made him so special. For nearly the rest of his career Camacho was a safety-first stylist and his "Macho" nickname became the butt of jokes instead of a point of pride.

"Usually the story isn’t so simple; we tend to construct a narrative that follows a story but in this case it was that simple," Kellerman said. "I think Camacho thought he was invincible, he got shook up by an incredible puncher and it ruined his career. Looking back, the Rosario fight was probably Camacho’s greatest win. He fought an absolute prime and motivated Rosario, who was the greatest lightweight puncher of my lifetime and one of the great pound-for-pound punchers ever. Rosario was an awesome puncher and a good counterpuncher and he was completely motivated to fight him. Though Rosario can be called an underachiever, on his best night he was a formidable guy. The Rosario that fought Chavez gave Chavez his best fight at lightweight, and that Rosario wasn’t as good as the one who fought Camacho. When you consider that Camacho survived some shaky moments and still won a close decision against that (version of) Rosario, it was his best win."

Though Camacho kept winning, he showed only flashes of brilliance in the ring from that point on. Greg Haugen controversially snapped Camacho’s win streak at 38 and his life outside the ring was dotted by various run-ins with the law. At 43, Camacho fights on but chaos continues to follow him. A riot broke out both in the ring and outside the ropes following his most recent fight, a 10-round decision win over Raul Munoz in Tucson, Ariz.

"When people talk of all-time disappointments – not just in boxing, but in all sports – Mike Tyson’s name comes up immediately but Camacho is right there with Tyson, though not in terms of character," Kellerman said. "Camacho had all-time great talent and every time he took a hiatus it was unimaginable to me that he wasn’t going to come out of this cycle and get back to dominating. Camacho was a wild hoodlum from Spanish Harlem who used to steal cars and use drugs. He was a crazy dude, not a bad guy in personal interactions, but a guy who had a negative impact. He was an awesome physical talent and for a while he was a truly great fighter. I think that the closest parallel to Camacho – though the styles are totally different – was Tyson."

Could Camacho have made it into boxing’s all-time top 20? Kellerman said that while the top 20 is a very exclusive neighborhood, Camacho proceeded down the road farther than most of his peers could have.

"When you look at a prospect over his first 20 or so fights, you get an idea of what he might become," Kellerman said. "Camacho was such a phenom that what he did early in his career didn’t disqualify him from consideration as the greatest lightweight of all time someday, though he ended up falling way short. It’s instructive to look at what a fighter’s contemporary audience thought of him, and I remember a quote from Michael Katz at the time of Camacho’s prime that said ‘this is the greatest fighter I’ve ever seen.’ Based on what I had seen, he kept the hope alive until after the Rosario fight. That alone is very impressive and speaks to his level of athleticism and talent."

Tyrone Everett - 1971-1977 (36-1, 20 KOs): Mention the name Tyrone Everett to any hardcore boxing fan and one fight will immediately spring to mind: His split decision defeat to WBC super featherweight champion Alfredo Escalera.