It really wasn't a good look for "Mr. Ageless" to age that rapidly (overnight, practically) and get beaten up by a relatively pedestrian fighter.
His decision to fight on was admirable. Yes it was hard to watch at times, but he still gave us thills. RJJ fighting on for 10-15 years longer than many of his fans wanted him to didn't seem make him any worse for wear than he was 15 years ago. RJJ still has his faculties and still gives a great interview. So him fighting on didn't seem to cause him any additional damage, him fighting on all those years maybe is what motivated him to stay in such good shape. It's inaccurate though for you to include RJJ in with those other names who did in fact go out ugly. Jones didn't end his career sitting on some stool sad and dejected like Tyson. Jones didn't end up losing his last fight. No, Jones ended up a winner, and performed well in his last outings. Granted they weren't against top opposition, but regardless they were wins and that's the way to go out of the sport : as a winner.
Wish he had been out cold, would have been more memorable. Boring fighter who loved to foul and cry when it was done to him.
Probably. If we rate it based on era and not the mythical all time list. Didn't Marciano cry cause he whooped Joe Louis so bad? Leonard, unlike Hopkins looked weak, soft and unsure from 1s round whereas Hop didn't start bad ended horribly. He was giving and talking- albeit a KD that knocks a man out the ring...Damn that was hard to watch!! Berbick vs Ali? He looked like a grandpa during the stare down, Even that spark was gone, he just plodded out , faded as rounds wore on. Didn't Tyson's last loss show him walking to his dressing room- showered with beer cups? That was sad. And Roy's final fights/wins dont matter to me, - it was like he lowered & lowered his standard until he found someone he could beat. To see him take on a fan..then clown the fan, was cheap.
The funniest thing about it was the fact that the vast majority of the site actually picked B-Hop to beat Joe.
I always liked hopkins. But I'm not surprised he went out complaining and in denial. He loved milking anything someone did to bend the rules against him; meanwhile, he's head butting and punching hips on the opposite side of the ref. He's a legend but it's just part of his personality.
To play to your point...I wondered how long would Hopkins say he got pushed out the ring. To this day I dont think he ever acknowledged the truth of how the headlines read : Hopkins Blasted out of Ring https://www.*******.com/joe-smith-blasts-bernard-hopkins-right-out-ring-tko-win-result--111880 Joe Louis got knocked through the ropes, whereas Hop got dropped to the floor, not canvas, ouch! Loathe to say it, but for that kind of an attitude maybe the ending was just.
He will deny it until his dying day. I don't think it's unfair to call it just, and I really am a fan of hopkins. But he is what he is. Maybe that denial and stubbornness is what made him so great and helped him reach the heights he did and outlast all of his more athletic and talented counterparts. Still though, with all that good there sure was a lot of ugly. There were always glimpses of it in numerous fights. The incident in the first robert allen fight was kind of understandable, but when I saw how he reacted in The first dawson fight it really sent the message that he would take the exit if need be. So the end for him was kind of poetic justice in a way.
Not the way I wanted to see Bhop put a pin in his career and call it a day. I was actually nervous as FK when he went flying out the ring as the man could of died. Still a HOF & GOAT in my book
