Does losing when your shot hurt your legacy?

I have a problem with people who like a fighter and immediately say he's shot when he loses. Roy wasn't shot for the 2nd Tarver fight. He got KTFO. Plain and simple. He beat Tarver when he was "weight drained" but then with time to rest got KTFO in 2 rounds. He just caught.

 

Duran and Leonard lost to Camacho
De La Hoya lost to Mayweather and Pacquiao.
Meldrick Taylor lost to Wayne Martell.
JCC lost to Tszyu and Weiss.
Morales lost to Zahir Raheem.


NO, I don't think it hurts their legacy. I count what they did in their prime, not what happened when they lingered around too long.

 

Its funny cause as soon as I read the title of this thread my mind and everyone else's went to Jones Jr. :-(

 

You get to make that call all on your own. A boxer should be remembered by what he accomplishes. Losses don't remove accomplishments. That's just my opinion, though.

 

Ask yourself this question.

If usain bolt breaks his own world record in both the two hundred and one hundred meteres again and after that he enters every race in senior competitons and loses does that make him any less good?

 

It depends on who is making the judgment.

I don't put much stock in the results of any of Roy's fights post Ruiz.

His legacy was already formed.


Neither do I regard Ali/Holmes or Ali/Berbick as very significant.

 

I think it's because people saw Jones as someone who ducked most REAL competition in his prime...that's the only reason why I see his rank go down so much with the late losses. I think if Mayweather would lose in the future, his legacy will go the same path as RJJ

 

I feel the same. Roy is so shot right now that it is embarassing seeing him. People nowadays who see him fight now will only see the shell of the man that once was great and it does affect his legacy. I too feel people will remember more of the bad and forget about what he was. That goes with anything in life imo. If I help the homeless alot of people won't talk about it but if I rob a bank everyone will talk about it.

 

How about Mosley? I think most here were saying he was shot after losing to Mayweather. I didn't really think of him as shot until his poor showing versus Mora though he never looked brilliant at 154 anyways. Back to the topic, Roy wasn't shot during the second Tarver fight. Roy was definitely shot facing Johnson and possibly in the third fight with Tarver.

 

No it dosent take anything away from your legacy. Jones for example won titles at middleweight, supermiddle, lightheavy and heavyweight. Thats a bonafide all time great right there.

 

It does hurt a legacy a little because the reason most older fighters lose shows a little of why they lost in their prime or would have. Jones was not that old when he lost to Tarver the first time. I would say that if you extend your later career too long and it lasts longer than your first career or competes in years, then that image of losing will last for that fighter, and also if you didn't fight everyone in your first career like Jones did not, then the later career does matter and will take over the first career easier. Jones did not fight the best in his first career, so yeah I think the later career matters. The good thing about Ali and Duran is they fought the best when they were younger, so when Duran was in the 1990's or Ali fought Holmes people figured they already put their all out for boxing.

 

but in those cases the greats you mentioned who fought everyone when they were young. With Jones he did not fight everyone. Even when he fought Virgil Hill, Hill was older and 11 years since he won his first title. McCallum was old when Jones fought him. I think with Jones the second half of his career will matter since he is trying to fight better guys now than when he was in his prime.

 

A great fighter has to have fought everyone in their prime, for the later part not to matter as much. In Jones case he did not, so the later part will linger more and hurt his legacy. Leonard could have lost 5 times in a row and it wouldn't matter once you beat Duran and Hearns and Benitez in less than 2 years.

 

I don't think it matters, look at Jones.. no one cares about those recent losses because they know that's not the real Jones

 

I think it depends on how much you lose

Ali lost a passing of the torch fight to a legend Holmes and a belt holder Berbick and nobody criticizes

Jones lost the series to Tarver and lost to johnson no shame
a freak KO vs Green and a distance loss to a fresher Hopkins

I think losses when your past it should only affect legacy when you get an abundance

like Frankie Randall for example lost a bunch past his peak of a very respectable career