All of these fighters retired within a month (Bradley, Marques and Klitschko within a week!) and all of them were multi-world Champions. In the case of Bradley, Guerrero and Marquez they were multi-world Champions in various different weight divisions.
I think in terms of boxing, I miss Marquez most. His retirement came way too late in my opinion but I was sick to death of him announcing his comeback only to be mauled with injuries. However, he was one hell of a fighter and only lost to the best and arguably beat Pacquiao 4 times. I was a little shocked how easily Bradley beat him though.
Bradley, in my opinion, was an underachiever. He reminds me of Robert Guerrero. They both were master boxers who were pound for pound at one point but their styles dramatically changed and they became brawlers - not very good ones at that. Their retirement was exacerbated by this style. It's a shame they never fought each other and if they did, I have my money on Bradley.
Of all these fighters, Klitschko was the longest reining. Like him or not, him and his brother are great ambassadors for the sport. Wladimir didn't always give exciting fights but you can argue that the heavyweight division during his peak was pretty weak and he only did what he needed to do to win. His last fight with Joshua was winnable and I believe I am in the majority who felt that he should have won that fight if he stepped on the gas during that 6th round knockout. It is a testament to Joshua's conditioning that he was the eventual winner. However, to see Wladimir going toe-to-toe and nearly stopping a young, hungry, lion just shows you the kind of calibre he was even at his age.
On that note who's next to retire:
- Cotto is apparently retiring after Kamagei
- Pacquiao after Horn
- Mayweather Jr, again??
Marquez. I thought Katsidis was going to destroy him, and same with Pacquiso in the third fight. He definitely proved me wrong both times.
Bradley was always one of my favorites and he had a great career, but the in house fighting kept us from seeing him in a lot of great fights, like Mayweather, Maidana, Porter, Thurman, Garcia, etc. Still, watching him beat up Holt after getting lifted to the moon by an uppercut will forever be one of my favorite fights to rewatch.
Timothy Bradley was a cracking fighter at one time, thought he could have been THE man at one point around Welterweight. Seemed seriously punch drunk later in his career so it's a good call to hang the gloves up.
Only Marquez cuz he is my favorite fighter of the 00's...
Im glad wlad is gone so i dont have to put up with his clinchfests and bradley i wont lose any sleep over either. I never found him exciting.
A few more ? The Provodnikov fight was a really Good fight , Maybe classic . But aside from that Bradleys fights we're pretty fun to watch . To say classic though ?
Now JMM gave us Classics ( and Yes Bradley beat him ) .
Of course, JMM in many good fights and better than Bradley. I liked watching Bradley more, though, because you never knew if he was going to pull it off.
I miss the prime Marquez the most. However he was very old for a boxer and his retirement was way over due. He should have retired years ago. I don't think a younger Marquez would ever lose to Bradley even though Bradley is a very good fighter himself. Bradley was wise to retire at a fairly young age. He was smart with his money and all those wars he was in were starting to take their toll. Wlad was way past 40 with nothing to prove. Guerrero was losing to guys he used to easily beat so retirement was the obvious choice.
Tim Bradley !!! The dog in him made me a fan. Beautiful to watch when he relied on his brain. Fun as hell to watch when he relied on his ba11s and physical strength.
Bradley. He really did give his all in the ring. Love his fights. Sad, I think he could have been in a few more instant classics.
A few more ? The Provodnikov fight was a really Good fight , Maybe classic . But aside from that Bradleys fights we're pretty fun to watch . To say classic though ?
Now JMM gave us Classics ( and Yes Bradley beat him ) .
I think in order to miss someone you need to notice that they are gone. Theoretically marquez and bradley have been retired for quite a while...given the distance between fights. Its possible that cotto is retired also...dependent on wether an "injury" postpones his supposed last fight. It could be said that klit has been retired for a long time as well....and that the joshua money fight was too good to turn down...but at least wlad fought only the best available fighters and didnt need tune ups or turn down fights over money or glove size or any other of the dozen excuses available to avoid fights these days. So i vote Wlad.
But during their time you had guys like Garcia, Maidana, Khan, Peterson, Matthysse, Berto and Ortiz still around between 140-147- hell, Brook, Porter and Thurman were still up and coming but they were good enough to be considered fringe champions right there.
Calling Bradley an underachiever is Blasphemy.
Nah, I think he and Robert could have done so much more but not with their brawler styles. They hardly broke the rest of the Welterweight Division but decided to go for Pacquiao and Mayweather. I'd have pitted them against most of the division to be honest at that time.
I don't miss any of them, for various reasons. Rob shouldnt even be getting a mention, he was a b level guy andn othing more. I'm probably being generous with that assessment.
In terms of the others, what is there to miss? They all had long and fulfilling careers, won championships and two of them are atgs. Yes there are regrets over some fights that could have been made but its not a big deal.