How much of a yardstick should"soul taking"be construed? Do you agree with the idea?

[kushking]

I see it often mentioned that so & so took so & sos soul. And this is defined by how much a fighter is permanently damaged in 1 fight to the point he becomes a shell of their best self, mentally &/or physically.

Lets compare some of the top fighters & whose "souls they've taken" (if you agree that there is such a thing as taking souls in boxing)

Do you think that certain fighters can accomplish more on paper but if they took more souls sorta speak,it makes them greater?

As you can see from my sig,I think Gvoz is the definition of 1 whom had his soul taken in a single fight by Beterbiev whom retired him in his 1st loss. (I don't think it should be a bad thing for a fighter to go out this way if he goes out fighting like a warrior its the ultimate honor that he truly tested himself the ultimate way by getting outclassed v the absolute best available comp)

[Scopedog]

This definitely does occasionally happen. Absolutely happened with Lomachenko against Nicholas Walters. Almost certainly happened with Ward against Kovalev in their rematch. I've got a very strong feeling that it's happened with Fury against Wilder though I hope time will prove me wrong with that one. It definitely does enhance the mystique of a fighter that accomplishes it, especially when the fighter it happens too was feared prior to that, as was the case with all three of the cases I've just mentioned.

[Cypocryphy]

This definitely does occasionally happen. Absolutely happened with Lomachenko against Nicholas Walters. Almost certainly happened with Ward against Kovalev in their rematch. I've got a very strong feeling that it's happened with Fury against Wilder though I hope time will prove me wrong with that one. It definitely does enhance the mystique of a fighter that accomplishes it, especially when the fighter it happens too was feared prior to that, as was the case with all three of the cases I've just mentioned.

Wilder is retiring. He won't be fighting again. You can bet your house on that.

Taking a person's soul doesn't mean physically damaging a person, it means taking away the spirit to fight anymore. If you're physically damaged, it means you just can't take punches anymore or that you're just too slow, that the physical capabilities aren't there anymore. Usually it's when you can't take punches anymore, however. A perfect example I recently saw was Ivan Baranchyk. He can't take punches anymore, and his reflexes have dulled.

Taking the soul away, however, is something else entirely. I'd say that Andy Ruiz took Anthony Joshua's soul when he TKO'd him. Joshua hasn't been the same since. He has that fear in his eyes now. At the end of the 12th round, you could see he was about to cry when Usyk came close to knocking him out. It's unbecoming of a boxer and shows that he's damaged on a much deeper level than just the physical. Joshua has never been the same again, even though he didn't take the type of damage that forever changes a career.

Baranchyk is what it looks like when someone is damaged to the point of no return physically.

Joshua is what it looks like when someone takes your soul away and you just don't have that fighting spirit in you anymore.

[Smash]

i think its over rated, lots of guys who lose badly come back again and even win titles but they are getting older too and its wear and tear and mentally tiring to recover from bad defeats, a bad defeat just speeds things up a bit for a lot of them plus they always have excuses about the defeats and usually they have some merit

[Marchegiano]

Given most people these days don't much like Rocky Marciano I just use him to juxtapose the philosophy.

Take a look at the records of the men on Marciano's record.

49 fights
43 kos
25 would have five fights or less after facing Marciano

That's more than half the men he ever faced knock out of the sport.

Soul Reaver

How much stalk they put into it after that if up to them.

I forget the immediate retirements because it's been a while, but, those were pretty high too, reckon 13.