When should Ali have hung up the gloves?

imo after the 3rd fight with Frazier. He was butchered in that fight, even his doctor said it was the end of his career. Ferdie Pacheco eventually walked away, I think it was after the Ernie Shavers fight. I would say after the third Frazier fight, that fight was way to hard.

After regaining his belt against Spinks...that should've been it. The fight against Holmes should not ever happened, and Berbick...no comment Both correct. After the Spinks fight would've been good too. You're right, anything before Holmes would've been fine. The sad fact is he wouldn't be considered quite as great if he hadn't literally given his life to boxing. If he had retired right after Frazier...there would be a bunch more second guessers to his legacy.. He retired to duck this and that fighter...etc. Sad but true. But I agree with the guy above who said after the Spinks fight. If he retired after that, he would be considered just as great, if not greater.

The sad fact is he wouldn't be considered quite as great if he hadn't literally given his life to boxing. If he had retired right after Frazier...there would be a bunch more second guessers to his legacy.. He retired to duck this and that fighter...etc.

Agree Rock, they are good wins. And if Ali was to retire after one of those fights, that would've been fine too. He should've never fought Larry Holmes. I think that was the one that finally ruined his life. then there was the needless gym wars he had. I stated similar on another thread.

The Rock agrees but The Rock also says this. The Rock thinks Earnie Shavers and Ken Norton were still good wins. And although the beatdowns were bad The Rock thinks every fighter needs that one beating to know it's really over. The Rock also wants to know if Ali was aware of his condition. Rumor goes that the parkinson's disease had already started to develop during the later part of of his career.... Agree Rock, they are good wins. And if Ali was to retire after one of those fights, that would've been fine too. He should've never fought Larry Holmes. I think that was the one that finally ruined his life.

imo after the 3rd fight with Frazier. He was butchered in that fight, even his doctor said it was the end of his career.

The third Frazier fight was a great opportunity to retire. If we're going before that, I would say after the Foreman fight. I think if he retired after the Foreman fight, he wouldn't be remembered the same. He won 10 straight after Foreman until he fought Leon Spinks and lost. I think the third Frazier fight is by far the most logical.

The question is, if he retired after that fight, would he still have the mental and physical problems? I think definitely, to an extent, but not nearly as bad. Fighting Holmes and other young HW after Frazier was a terrible idea. He would certainly have physical problems but he fought quite a bit longer and took a lot of punishment after the 3rd Frazier fight, he would have been nowhere near as bad as he is now mentally. Physically he might be but not mentally.

I watched "Don King: Only in America" last night and it highlighted some portions of Ali's late career, it was sad. Getting battered by Holmes, losing to Spinks, etc. His mind and body were going down as his career did. When was the logical time for Ali to retire? IMO it was right after the 3rd Frazier fight. The Rock agrees but The Rock also says this. The Rock thinks Earnie Shavers and Ken Norton were still good wins. And although the beatdowns were bad The Rock thinks every fighter needs that one beating to know it's really over. The Rock also wants to know if Ali was aware of his condition. Rumor goes that the parkinson's disease had already started to develop during the later part of of his career....

Totally agree, the Thrilla in Manila should have been it, maybe even before that, but certainly after the punishment he and Frazier took that should have been their curtain call together. The question is, if he retired after that fight, would he still have the mental and physical problems? I think definitely, to an extent, but not nearly as bad. Fighting Holmes and other young HW after Frazier was a terrible idea.

The third Frazier fight was a great opportunity to retire. If we're going before that, I would say after the Foreman fight.

Totally agree, the Thrilla in Manila should have been it, maybe even before that, but certainly after the punishment he and Frazier took that should have been their curtain call together.