Fighters who retired at the right time

[joseph5620]

It can be kinda hard to argue a guy who never lost & didn't take much damage in his career stayed too long. But I think anyone fighting into their 40s stayed too long even if they are competing at the highest levels as a few do or excelling as Floyd did.

That's true. I agree.

[Santa_]

Mayweather 2007

Smart move Floyd.

[chirorickyp]

Bunny fists or not , Ward would have gotten beaten
Of course no chance of that happening in Oakland

Gotta agree on that one.

[chirorickyp]

Where is this new Liston narrative coming from?

I'm Italian. My uncles and father were tough SOB's who adored the one and only Rocky. I'm a fan of course. I believe at his age he stayed retired when he could have come back to face Liston for the right reasons. He did the right thing. I'm not knocking the hardest hitting heavyweight freak who was just over 190 pds. In his prime he'd face anybody as champ in the 50's. He stayed away in the 60's because he knew it was over.

[Marchegiano]

I'm Italian. My uncles and father were tough SOB's who adored the one and only Rocky. I'm a fan of course. I believe at his age he stayed retired when he could have come back to face Liston for the right reasons. He did the right thing. I'm not knocking the hardest hitting heavyweight freak who was just over 190 pds. In his prime he'd face anybody as champ in the 50's. He stayed away in the 60's because he knew it was over.

I didn't mean to question your fandom or anything like that. I don't even mean to challenge the idea that Liston had something to do with Marciano. It's just a relatively new opinion for me to be reading and I'm wondering if there's a source for it or if y'all just independently came to the same conclusions.

Did someone write a new book on one of these guys or some such?

[Alan Smithee]

I don’t know if I’d consider Valero “going out on top”. 🤔🤔🤔

Retiring at the "right time" and "going out on top" are two very different things. Many guys have provided memorable fights well after their primes. Arturo Gatti and Matthew Saad Muhammad are two that come to mind. IMHO Marvin Hagler had plenty left in the tank and retired too soon. The bitterness from the Leonard fight may have played a role. Retiring at the right time sometimes deprives the fans but it's the fighters who are taking the risks and are free to choose their career paths.

[Marchegiano]

Retiring at the "right time" and "going out on top" are two very different things. Many guys have provided memorable fights well after their primes. Arturo Gatti and Matthew Saad Muhammad are two that come to mind. IMHO Marvin Hagler had plenty left in the tank and retired too soon. The bitterness from the Leonard fight may have played a role. Retiring at the right time sometimes deprives the fans but it's the fighters who are taking the risks and are free to choose their career paths.

He was alluding to the fact that Valero is a murderer. At least that's how I took it. He was right, it was wrong of me to list that guy, I got caught up in them 0s.

[pacmanis1]

Marcos Maidana, humbled Broner and then gave Mayweather hell and we never had to watch him decline into a gatekeeper.

[Alan Smithee]

He was alluding to the fact that Valero is a murderer. At least that's how I took it. He was right, it was wrong of me to list that guy, I got caught up in them 0s.

I get the Valerio reference. I was referring to the phrase itself. I personally feel that too many fighters such as Marvin Hagler have retired way before their skills have really eroded. Obviously it's their lives on the line and their choice.

[emceetns]

Rocky Marciano. He would have faced Sonny Liston.
Marvin Hagler. He left on top even though he got screwed.
Joe Bunny Fists Calzaghe. Avoided Andre Ward
Andre Ward
George Foreman. Clearly won his last fight even though he got screwed too. No need to fight anymore. Shocked the world already

I respectfully disagree that Joe Calzaghe avoided Andre Ward. They just missed each other because Calzaghe's last fight was in December, 2008 and Ward didn't win a world title until the beginning of the "Super Six" tournament a year later.

Ward himself definitely left at the right time as well.