When has a fighter gone too far?

[Sugarj]

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

I don't know!

He fought well against Calzaghe, but appeared a little weak and spindly legged because he had to lose another 7 pounds in only a couple of days to reach the super middleweight limit. Remember, he was expected to fight at light heavyweight that night, but he jumped in to fight Calzaghe when Steven Collins pulled out leaving short notice.

Eubank's two final fights against Carl Thompson were absolutely superb displays of his boxing talent. His speed, timing and combination work were terrific on those nights. He was far from a sad spent force.

If he wasn't so outweighed (hell he was a natural super middleweight-light heavyweight) fighting a cruiserweight and nursing terrible eye injuries he might well have won those fights.

[DarkTerror88]

True, no one expected the following:

Tommy Hearns to decision Virgil Hill

Roberto Duran to decision Iran Barkley

Larry Holmes to decision Ray Mercer

Duran KOs Fitzgerald

[Capaedia]

I don't think George Foreman should've been able to have fought Holyfield. It's a testament to some weird intangible that Big George can still speak with clarity and intelligence after a fight like that or even the one with Moorer. Even if he had his moments in both (well, one big moment in the latter)

I think ideally he would've left after Moorer (Also I believe that'd leave him with a KO percentage of 94%. Feel free to correct me )

The saddest cases of this are Joe Louis and Mike Tyson. Both of these men were forced to go on because they need/needed the money. Louis's case was probably one of the all around saddest stories in boxing. After Marciano knocked him out, and he had nowhere to go in boxing, he was forced to turn to pro wrestling and later as a greeter at Las Vegas. For all the money he made for people, for all the charities he donated to (on a few ocassions even giving his entire purse to military relief funds, yes all of it!), he ended up broke and ashamed.

One of the things that really pisses me off whenever I think of it is how the IRS taxed those purses that he donated to the military. THEY TAXED HIM ON MONEY HE GAVE TO THE GOVERNMENT!

When you think about all that Joe did, and how unfitting his life after boxing was, you're forced as a human being to come to a sad realization. Joe Louis: there can never be enough praise and love attributed to that name.

This is definitely a post worth quoting

[Mugwump]

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.

Eubank would certainly not agree. He chose to put himself in harm's way solely to gain the respect of the fans (at the time he didn't need the money). He wanted to prove himself against arguably impossible odds and at times it almost seemed like he invited punishment.

It worked, tho. For the first time the fans saw through the villain's mask he'd deliberately worn for years and instead of booing they increasingly began to cheer.

For me he is the most fascinating and complex character I've witnessed in boxing.

[Southpaw Stinger]

Eubank would certainly not agree. He chose to put himself in harm's way solely to gain the respect of the fans (at the time he didn't need the money). He wanted to prove himself against arguably impossible odds and at times it almost seemed like he invited punishment.

It worked, tho. For the first time the fans saw through the villain's mask he'd deliberately worn for years and instead of booing they increasingly began to cheer.

For me he is the most fascinating and complex character I've witnessed in boxing.

Agreed.

The way the crowd got behind him during that first fight, and continued the support through the second was the culmination of the transformation from villian to hero.

Or some shit like that.

[Capaedia]

Speaking of which, Winky Wright seems to want two fights followed by Martinez.

I don't think it's in him anymore.

[Sugarj]

Eubank would certainly not agree. He chose to put himself in harm's way solely to gain the respect of the fans (at the time he didn't need the money). He wanted to prove himself against arguably impossible odds and at times it almost seemed like he invited punishment.

It worked, tho. For the first time the fans saw through the villain's mask he'd deliberately worn for years and instead of booing they increasingly began to cheer.

For me he is the most fascinating and complex character I've witnessed in boxing.

I seem to remember him shedding a tear when he heard the crowd's support during the announcements for the second Thompson fight.

When I saw that I was very worried that he wouldn't be ready for the task in hand........but he boxed beautifully until his eye flared up again.

[The_Demon]

When he loses too Danny Green