Why is so hard for boxers to recognize when is time to retire ?

Money!!!! somthings gotta pay the bills

Erick Morales was saying that it's hard to quit when you have been boxing your whole life for peanuts then you start making good money and it's hard to decide to retire when you have worked so hard for those big paydays

greed, wanna make a few more millions

Id say a big factor is that becoming washed up in boxing happens so fast, one fight your superman then the next your getting beaten up bad.... I think its hard to accept that you have lost it in such a small space of time when for 15 years you have been at the top. Another point already made is that your never really forced out of boxing, once your established you will always be able to get a bout unlike most sports where once your no longer able to compete at top level you get fired from your team or dont get far in tournaments etc....

Ive always wondered this myself. Seems like the fans and the boxing world knows when its time for them to hang em up before the fighter even knows. Do they not have anyone around them, friends or family, sitting them down to tell them the truth and bring them back to reality..Its real sad..

There was an interesting article in the newspaper about Eric Lucas. Lucas was talking about how hard its tough to retire when you boxed all your life. He made some pretty interesting point. He said if you're a tennis, hockey, soccer or whatever sports player, you can retire and still play in some local league or with other guys, have fun and practice the sport you love. However, in boxing, when you retire you can't practice your sport anymore, which is pretty hard. Of course you can spare in the gym, but it has nowhere the same feeling of having a real fight. And like NChristo said there's also money, and pride ( a guy like Hopkins particulary, having fun beating the younger guys ).

Adrenaline is another factor, when they are so use to stepping in an arena with 20,000 people or so chanting your name it's a hard drug to replace which is why so many past-prime fighters cross that line.

Pride, every boxer wants to see if they've got 1 last fight left in them and after that last fight they think they can bounce back and it goes on and on. It's also the only thing they know in life, the majority of boxers spent their whole life doing it and have nothing to back onto. Or Money.