When has a fighter gone too far?

[Panamaniac]

Roberto Durán

He retired at fifty, fought in five decades, and became a punching bag in the twilight of his career. In fact, his full record does not reflect his greatness, as he reached his prime at "The Brawl in Montreal." Athough he went on to win 4 more titles in two weight classes, he was way past is prime. After age 40, he was pretty much runnin' on empty...

[IronDanHamza]

Most fighters.

There's more fighters who stay too long than there is who get out at the right time.

[DarkTerror88]

Jerry Quarry.

[SCtrojansbaby]

The problem is almost never fighting too long its fighting against dangerous opponents.

Hector Camacho did it the right way Duran and Roy Jones, not so much

[BKM-2010]

Thread starter was hoping RJJ and Holyfield would retire and that was already 7 years ago. But both guys are STILL fighting. Sucks but boxing has always been like that and the fans of these guys have to suffer a lot watching them get brutally beaten at the end.

[GJC]

Most fighters.

There's more fighters who stay too long than there is who get out at the right time.

100% agree it would probably be harder to name 20 fighters who got out the right time and didn't either tarnish their legacy or worse seriously risk their health

[TouchyAndalou]

Don't think Freddie Roach has been mentioned.

[Pastrano]

Chris Eubank for one. The punishment he took in the fights with Carl Thompson was brutal, Eubank should have retired after the first fight with Steve Collins.

That would be a bit early, but certainly after the Calzaghe fight. He looked like a pale shadow of himself.

[Sugarj]

Larry Holmes. He should have quit after losing twice to Michael Spinks, but he came back and took on a prime Mike Tyson. Poor guy got devistated in the 4th round, sad and painful to watch.

That was sad, but he more than made up for it in his 1991 comeback. He had some great nights in that phase of his career when winning or losing:

Ray Mercer
Evander Holyfield
Oliver McCall

He never looked washed up, sad and tragic and still seems to be in good form today.

[Sugarj]

Cus D'amato once said, " A great old fighter who appears to be shot can pull together one great effort."

True, no one expected the following:

Tommy Hearns to decision Virgil Hill

Roberto Duran to decision Iran Barkley

Larry Holmes to decision Ray Mercer