Retiring at the right Time

That wasn’t really his choice though. He kind of got black-balled by Don King after the Tyson demolition iirc and was forced into retiring because he couldn’t get any decent fights.

 

Carl Froch. That KO punch to Groves in front of 80,000 at Wembley was a perfect way to bow out.

 

Lots of good names here, I'll add one more Marvin Hagler, he knew it was time

 

Klitschko. He came back in good shape and gave a great effort in a losing battle and ended it there.

I don't believe any fighter should ever retire undefeated. Push your limits until you know what your limits are. And when you get there, don't drag it on fighting lower quality opposition when you know you won't ever make it back to where you were.

 

My grandfather told me off for calling it a spatula when I was kid, for using America words. He said a spatula is only for fish, and that its called a fish slice or an egg flip.

Still don't know if he was taking the **** or not.

 

Ward

 

See, how come you're willing to share and the OP isn't?

 

Vitali

 

I’ve been saying this for years

Hell, a win over Holyfield and maybe a Rahman or Oquendo type would push him higher

He was so, so stupid to go back to 175, he had multiple easy pickings at HW to beat and get paid while doing so AND enhance his career

He beats Rahman, Oquendo, Toney, Holyfield for sure, maybe even Tua, since he was slowing down pretty bad around that time

 

So few fighters retire at the right time. I really think it should be recognised and celebrated more when they do. Lennox Lewis was heavily criticised, for example, for not rematching Vitali. I think we should praise the fact that LL knew he was declining - and bowed out before he got trapped in a downward spiral. Imagine if Roy Jones had done the same after Tarver 1? Instead he struggled for years to find a graceful way out.
It's so hard for these warriors to walk away because it's all the know and what they excel at. So my default position is to expect most fighters to go on too long - and praise those who retire at a good time. I don't think we, as fans, make it easy for them sometimes - as we always seem to want more.

 

Which time ?

 

Froch and Groves probably.

Froch knew he was losing motivation and it could have gone bad against Golovkin at that point I think.

Groves also seemed to run out of motivation, but much earlier because of making that guy handicapped, so got out. He could have taken big money fights for a while even after the loss to Smith.

 

Froch
Lewis
Calzaghe