Which boxer tarnished their legacy most by fighting on?

I've absolutely never bought into "tarnishing" one's legacy by simply continuing while degenerating. RJJ, Holy, I don't think they've harmed their legacy at all. Only their health. I think people should be able to see their careers objectively and not be going "Oh, he got stopped by Lebedev. Better mark him down a notch." or "Oh, he lost to Ruiz, guess that counteracts his Bowe win." etc. Silliness.

 

Some will, but I think their legacies rest more on serious guys like us who know better. Can ya dig it? Put it this way. When's the last time you heard someone go Ray Robinson? That guy that lost to Harrington? Or Joe Frazier? The guy who seemed great but how great was he? He drew with Jumbo Cummings! Who the hell is Jumbo Cummings?

 

The list of fighters that have gone on way past their prime is a very long one for one reason or another. Money issues, needing the applause and adulation, no plan for what to do after boxing etc.

Guys like Ali, Duran, Holyfield, Roy Jones, all lost with greater frequency to lesser opposition later in their careers but that doesn't take away from their achievements in the ring while in their prime. That is how I will remember them and any real knowledgeable boxing fan should too.

 

I think Jones could have probably given up earlier.

Ali and Louis(after Walcott II) would have probably helped a bit.

 

Ali...Roy Jones...Holyfield...the list goes on...

 

:deal This! In all sport's including boxing some guys just don't know when to call it quits....or can't??? But When I think of OJ Simpson I don't think about how his time with the 49ers makes him less great....or Joe montana of the Chiefs years does not diminish his rings....Ali vs Spinks, Holmes & Berbick don't undo all that was previously accomplishe.

Most serious fans will see this....the others are not worth wasting time with in an intelligent discussion!

 

I think the horrendous beating early stage of Parkinson's Ali took from Holmes only did credit to his immense physical toughness

 

I don't believe that we should fault shot fighters for losing. When being objective and looking at a fighter in their prime we won't bring up, "Oh he got ko'd by Tarver" or "He almost got ko'd by Sherman" in legit conversations though we can say, "He lost to Bowe in the first fight" if you know what I mean. We don't fault Ali for losing to Spinks as much and I notice that Tyson's not getting as much flack as he did in the past for losing to Mcbride & Williams. Time and appreciating fighters when they were at their best heals wounds. Bad losses in a fighter's stage of being done does not erase what they did when they first won us over as being great fighters.

 

I thought at the time, after RJJ's close call in Tarver I, that Roy should get out IMMEDIATELY! Dropping nearly 20 pounds after Ruiz with his physique after Mackie Shilstone's weight gaining regimen to turn him into a HW meant he was losing significant muscle mass, which would weaken him considerably, and make him increasingly vulnerable. Three horrendous knockout losses have subsequently resulted, and the power he displayed prior to Ruiz has rarely made a showing in his 13 bouts since 2002.

 

RJJ simply because of the manner of his defeats. People now question if he ever had a chin at all and no one likes to see a great fighter getting put to sleep so alarmingly.

 

Its got to be Roy Jones. People forget how unbeatable Jones seemed before Tarver ended his run. Now people are just scared for his safety.

 

Roy Jones is losing to people who arent even topping their weight classes anymore.

Definitely him. Had he retired when he seemed unbeatable, he'd be even better regarded.

Because some of his losses he's just been a bit past his best, not shot, and they show he was in fact vulnerable to a certain type of opponent.