Ringside Boxing Show: Ranked No. 8 after knocking out a future Hall of Famer, Herman Montes walked away at 26 … plus Canelo vs. GBP, Roach

“Woulda, coulda, shoulda,” shrugs Herman Montes, who was still a very young man when he left boxing to join the 8-to-5 rat race and support his children and brand-new wife with a regular paycheck.

Montes missed the gym, the ring walk, the fame, the competition, and the lifestyle of being a world-ranked welterweight in the 1980s, when fighters like Donald Curry, Milton McCrory, Maurice Blocker, Marlon Starling, Davey Moore Simon Brown, Lloyd Honeyghan, Colin Jones, and Johnny Bumphuswere 147-pound options.

At the same time, he never saw his decision as a mistake, even if it came just eight months after his stunning KO conquest of Pipino Cuevas — an upset that should have opened doors.

Montes joins us on this week’s show to tell the story of his mercurial career as a world-class fighter, and explain why he gave it up and never seriously reconsidered his decision.

Before our interview with “The Kid,” we get our weekly update from British correspondent Paul McLaughlin about the vibrant boxing scene in the United Kingdom.

And we open, as always, with expert analysts Travis Hartman, Rizwaan Zahid, and John J. Raspanti, who bring an avalanche of insight to two fascinating weekend fights — Pascal’s stunning resurrection against Marcus Browne, and the astonishing donnybrook between Chris Arreola and Adam Kownacki that set an all-time CompuBox record for most punches thrown and landed in a heavyweight fight.

They also sort through the sudden turbulence in the relationship between Canelo Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions, the increasing fog surrounding Dillian Whyte’s dodgy drug tests, and the intriguing mystery that is Buboy Fernandez: Who is he, what’s his value to Manny Pacquiao, and why is he dissing Freddie Roach?

Dennis Taylor is host of The Ringside Boxing Show, editor/publisher of www.ringsideboxingshow.com, and co-author (with John J. Raspanti) of “Intimate Warfare: The True Story of the Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward Boxing Trilogy,” an Amazon bestseller.