Did Roy Jones Jr. Ruin His Legacy By Not Retiring Before Tarver Rematch?

It doesn't ruin his legacy in my eyes. I lived through his career and watched almost every one of his fights (several in person). There has not been another fighter like him in the last 30 years. A truly amazing talent.

That being said, his failure to retire after Tarver has clearly affected his standing in the court of public opinion. And many clueless new boxing fans look at his record and (incorrectly) malign Roy's greatness in the ring.

 

I think it's more he was on track, but not there yet.

 

But it does

 

Of course it ruined his legacy. Had he retired after the Ruiz fight or even after the first Tarver match, he'd be regarded as an automatic top 10 all time, or top 20 in the worst case scenario.
IMO judging by one's prime, he's top 3 all time.

 

Yes. His reputation was hurt by all the losses.

 

Exactly.

 

If he had done enough before the Tarver fight, he still would be automatic top ten.

There are no ATG fighters in history who are downgraded due to losing outside of their prime.

 

I honestly think he could have retired after the Glenn Johnson fight and still been ok

 

If Evander Holyfield had retired after the 2nd Lennox Lewis fight....he would be ranked a lot higher than he is today

 

There is this thing called revisionist history ....it happens way to often on boxing forums

 

I used to read boxing magazines in the 90s. And there was a time when Roberto Duran and Carlos Monzon were not as highly regarded as they are today

 

Sugar Ray Robinson, Tyson, Liston, De la Hoya - just to name a few

 

I also noticed that Sugar Ray Leonard and Rocky Marciano have taken a plunge

 

Shouldn't matter one bit

 

I find it odd that on one hand I see guys called all time greats for accomplishing very little in the grand scheme (Fury/Loma) but a guy who was virtually untouchable for 10 straight years from 154 to 200+ is being under appreciated because he lost to a very good southpaw contender in his mid thirties. There seem to be 2 completely seperate criteria being used