In Retrospect: After what fight should they have retired?

Ali
Louis
Jones
Holyfield
Tyson
Robinson
Leonard
Hearns
Duran
Chavez
Hopkins
Whitaker

 

they should've all retired when they did - presumably when they couldn't make money anymore.

 

Louis - No choice, fighting for the tax man.
Jones - Tarver 1
Holyfield - Toney
Tyson - Lewis, but another guy who really had no choice.
Robinson - Not sure.
Leonard - Norris
Hearns - Barkley II? Hard to say. I don't know.
Duran - Another guy who fought so long that it's hard to say.
Chavez - Oscar II, if not, Willy Wise I.
Hopkins - Still winning big fights, I think he should keep going.
Whitaker - Tito, he pretty much did anyway.

 

Whitaker shouldve called it quits after that vintage performance in his no contest vs pestraiv

 

Lots of names, won't go through all of them. I'll pick two that to common knowledge didn't need any more money. (for the forseeable future)

Hopkins - Now

Ali - Harder to say.

Probably after the Frazier rubber match.

Absolutely no later than the Spinks rematch. The fact he struggled with Leon, let alone lost to him should have rang serious alarm bells. He rematched the guy and got the victory. Hang em up.

The damage was probably already too much but i doubt the Holmes and Berbick fights helped.

 

I missed Ali. I'd say Spinks II

 

Ali should have retired after the Thriller in manilla. I can accept the Spinks rematch as a subsitute I guess.

 

Roy shoulda retired after the Johnson loss. But realistically, Roy woulda been remembered as much much greater had he stayed at heavy. He shoulda just challenged one of the Klits, or Lewis. He woulda gotten smashed sure, but none woulda cared, and it wouldnt have effected his legacy at all. And if by some miracle he woulda won, he'd be considered a top 5-10 atg.

 

Louis - After the RE w/Walcott
Jones - After Ruiz OR the 1st Tarver Fight
Holyfield - After the Fights w/Lennox
Tyson - After the Etienne Fight
Robinson - Probably the RE w/Turpin
Leonard - After the LaLonde Fight
Hearns - After the Virgil Hill Fight
Duran - After Barkley
Chavez - After the RE w/Dela
Hopkins - After Pavlik
Whittaker - After the Dela Fight



REED:hammert:

 

Or the Foreman Fight...Or even the Lyle Fight...



REED:hammert:

 

Had he beat Lewis, I think he would have been a shoe in for the #1 of all time

 

Purely looking at it from a career's perspective, & ousting issues such as finances & the like, I would say...

Louis (After the return with Walcott --- which he actually did, though it didn't stick.)

Jones (Following his defeat of Ruiz. Alarm bells should've been ringing upon his struggle in overcoming Tarver.)

Holyfield (The return with Moorer. Such a high at that time. The rematch with Lewis is also a viable point, as it was his big drop-off stage, IMO.)

Tyson (The fight with Lewis, hands down.)

Robinson (The KO of Fullmer.)

Leonard (The decision over Hagler.)

Hearns (The second defeat to Barkley, or the return with Leonard.)

Duran (The loss to Hearns.)

Chavez (The return with Taylor or, at most, the first meet with De La Hoya.)

Hopkins (Either the conquest of Tarver, or the win over Pavlik.)

Whitaker (A sour note to go out on perhaps, but, IMO, the loss to De La Hoya.)

 

well, if finances, personality disorders, and the pursuit of self-fulfillment can all be thrown out, then the obvious answer is that every fighter should have reitred at the point in time when they were most revered.

 

morales is excluded from this list, but he should've retired after the raheem loss. he would've always had that W over pacquiao.

 

i kinda liked the way whitaker went out (minus the comeback vs. that bum bojorquez).

he fought a young tito and got his ass kicked for 12 rounds, but it was a great display of toughness, which a lot of folks haven't seen from him.

 

It would have been nice if he gave Tito proper credit for handing him that ass kicking.

 

then he would've been outta his character.

i liked how he told larry that it was a close fight and that it could've gone either way. haha

 

Ali - Spinks rematch. Ending after Frazier III is asking too much even if the right answer, but the Spinks rematch was indicative that he had no more great performances left in him

Louis - Walcott rematch

Jones - Tarver 1. I can understand the belief that his winning a HVY title should've been the be-all, end-all ,but Tarver was unfinished business at LHW in light of the DM fight never happening. Had Roy stopped after the first Tarver fight, he could;ve went out with a win AND spited two careers - Tarver AND Hopkins, forcing both to forever live with 0-1 on the scoreboard.

Holyfield - All three Ruiz fights stunk, probably anyone of them would've been a fitting ending. He won a portion of the HVY title for the 4th time in the 1st fight, so that at least has historical significance (even if cheating history). The controversy made a 2nd fight necessary. 1-1 made sense for a rubber match (even if nobody demanded it). Anything after that has been a waste of time and TV space.

Tyson - Honestly, he should've never been let back after the Holy rematch. But Lewis should've been good enough.

Robinson - Basillio rematch at the very latest.

Leonard - In a perfect world, the Hagler fight. Both retire at the same time, one bitter over the end result, the other reminding him of it as the last win of his own career.

Hearns - Barkley rematch. His win over Hill and Barkley's own resurrection made the rematch fairly significant/necessary.

Duran - The win over Barkley, or even the loss to Hagler or Hearns.

Chavez - As faded as he was, I was fine with his sticking around for a DLH rematch, but that should've been his final cashout fight for sure,

Hopkins - Probably the Tarver fight. Even ending at Eastman and XX title defenses would've been fine, but beating Tarver at LHW was as perfect place as any to end his career.

Whitaker - the DLH fight, or at least once it was realized that Arum would never allow a rematch. He proved enough at that point, and could've retired with the media support/suggestion that he actually deserved the nod against Oscar

 

Though he did sell Trinidad short, there wasn't, in truth, a whole lot of credit to give.

 

"a lot"? try all

 

he showed plenty of toughness against hurtado when he came back to stop him in the most brutal KO ever! it also earned him a career high payday vs. oscar.

 

Cool thread.

Ali - Frazier III (49-2)
Louis - Savold (64-2)
Jones - Ruiz (48-1)
Holyfield- Rahman (38-5-2)
Tyson-Ruddock II (41-1)
Robinson-Basillo II (141-6-2)
Leonard-Lalonde (35-1)
Hearns-Barkley II (50-4-1)
Duran-Barkley (85-7)
Chavez-Kamau (95-1-1)
Hopkins-now (55-5-1)
Whitaker-De la Hoya (40-2)
Charles-Maxim V (71-6-1)
Pep-Sadler II (137-2-1)

Thats purely from a legacy perspective - when retiring would have left them most highly rated. Obviously real life got in the way for most of them in a million ways.

 

Dude...if Roy Jones had stayed at heavy and had beaten Lewis (by some miracle) and then retired. He wouldn't be top 5-10 atg....he'd have been number 1 and by quite some margin.....

 

Ali - Thrilller in manilla
Louis - Walcott 2
Jones - Tarver 1 (unfinished business at 175lbs)
Holyfield - Lewis 2
Tyson - Holyfield 2 (asking him to retire before that would have been unrealistic)
Robinson - Basilio 2
Leonard - Hagler
Hearns - Hill
Duran - Barkley
Chavez - Whitaker (he did enough by then and barely held onto his unbeaten run)
Hopkins - Tarver
Whitaker - De La Hoya

 

Ali
Louis - After the second Schmeling fight. He was a god to people after his win.
Jones - After Ruiz
Holyfield - after his Lennox Lewis rematch. He was done.
Tyson -After his disgraceful ear biting rematch with Evander.
Robinson -He should had NEVER retire!! ::
Leonard - After his Hagler miracle comeback victory.
Hearns - After his victory over Virgil Hill
Duran - After losing gracefully to Hagler
Chavez - After the first Frankie Randall defeat
Hopkins - why retire? he can milk a few more lucrative bouts!
Whitaker - after the Trinidad fight. That comeback was not neccesary.

 

Ali- after Manila

Louis -- after the second Walcott fight, it was a great ending to a magical run... one final redemption from the rematch king

Jones -- after the Johnson loss, maybe even earlier

Holyfield -- after the Ruiz rematch

Tyson -- after Holyfield II, really

Robinson -- tough one... if he had stayed retired in '52, his record would be simply jaw dropping... but he did special things after that... going out after the second Basilio fight might have been a nice ending

Leonard -- since I hate him, I'd say right after the Norris fight... even Im not hateful enough to like the Camacho fiasco

Hearns -- after Virgil Hill... go out a winner

Duran -- after Barkley

Chavez -- after the first Hoya fight

Hopkins -- after Pavlik

Whitaker -- after the Oscar fight... he'd proven more than enough by then

 

anyone else?

 

Tyson's legacy would be much bigger today if he had never returned to boxing after prison I think.

 

I say the Thrilla In Manilla. By the time Ali got to Spinks the first time his speech was terrible.

he fought Norton for the third time and Shavers before the first Spinks fight...he was spent...

 

Kelly Pavlik: 2nd fight with Taylor.