If you had an ATG career, would you...

[[ DUBBZZ ]]

quit while you were on top or keep fighting till you can't fight anymore? Which would garner more respect? I've seen several great fighters who just didn't know when to stop, do you feel staying in the game too long ruined their legacy?

[Benny Leonard]

This isn't baseball or basketball; this is Boxing.

You do what's best for you.

Rocky Marciano: retired on top, arguably still in his prime although some say he was slightly past it...but no matter what...he left with his health which includes his brain intact so that he was aware and in control of his life. When you are punch-drunk your chances decline drastically of how much you are in control of what is going on around you.

Benny Leonard: retired on top before he slipped.
Although had to come back about 7 years later because he lost money in the Stock-Market-Crash. Didn't do so well.


Gene Tunney: retired on top

[Daniel_T5]

its hard to quit while on top but its also hard to keep fighting looking for that glory that you once had...don't know

[Madvillain]

I'd stop when I couldn't be the same person I was throughout my career.

But the great tragedy when it comes to the fight game is it's always the fighter whose the last one to realize and come to terms with their mortality. If they've had nothing but success their whole life, the idea that they might be weakening is foreign to them. So they had one loss? must've been a bad night. Another loss? just hit the gym a little harder next time. So on and so forth. It's sad, but as fighters they go into this career knowing they live their lives on the edge of a cliff.

[[ DUBBZZ ]]

its hard to quit while on top but its also hard to keep fighting looking for that glory that you once had...don't know

I kind of agree, how do you know when you're not on top anymore? If you notice you are slipping, and you quit, you might get critized for ducking. It happened to Floyd. Its kind of tough to leave when you are the king. Now Roy's getting **** for staying too long. In a way, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.

[Thread Stealer]

Fighting on too long only slightly affects, if at all, a fighter's legacy. Look at so many of the ATGs and how long they fought well past their best. Robinson, Ali, Armstrong, Leonard, Duran, Chavez, Hearns, Langford, etc...It's the same old story. Many of them need money and boxing is what they know best. Others may have money but get addicted to the big paydays and the thrill.

[The Gambler1981]

It would have to be a money thing if I had enough money stashed away and my health I would walk away. If I needed more money I would fight on, not an ideal solution but that is the time to sell your name can get what you can before it is all used up.

That to me is the biggest factor in guys hanging around.