Choose a match as a last fight for a boxer that retired too late.

I think that after Spinks, Ali should've retired. Spinks deserved his time in the spotlight, and Ali coming back to win one last time really would've made it the perfect end to his career.

 

Ali: Zaire 1974 (7 years earlier) Record:

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(avenged both)
Louis: Walcott rematch 1948 (3 years earlier)

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(59 really)

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(avenged)
Schmeling: Heuser fight 1939 (tried to make a comeback in '47 and '48 unsuccessfully)

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Jeffries: Munroe fight 1904 (6 years earlier)

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Charles: Marciano rematch 1954 (5 years earlier)

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Walcott: Marciano first fight 1952 (one year earlier, avoids the round 1 knockout)

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Max Baer: Comiskey knockout 1940 (7 months sooner, to avoid his last fight)

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Trinidad- After the Mayorga fight

Rafael Marquez- The 4th Vasquez fight, would of been the perfect ending to his career and he'd be held in higher esteem. After that fight he got beat up by JuanMa Lopez and went 2-3 before finally retiring.

Arturo Gatti- After Jesse James Leija. That Floyd fight really showed Gatti's level and those Baldomir and especially Gomez knockouts were unnecessary and probably led to his untimely death. If he would of still retired as champion at 140 he probably would be remembered as a more iconic fighter than he was now and might still be alive.

 

Roy Jones Jr should have retired after he beat Antonio Tarver the first time.

 

Im torn on this... Liston was clearly in a fighting condition up until his retirement even though he was old. My first instinct was to think "I wish he never fought Ali" but almost immediately after that brought some questions to mind. I dont know too much about anyone except the very few boxers that I love, so without his Ali bouts would I even know about him? Also how would this affect Ali, without him winning his un-winnable fight in their first bout would he be as popular as he was today and have propelled boxing to the heights it once reached? What about George Foreman who was hugely personally helped by Liston? Or Mike Tyson who was greatly inspired by him and Dempsey? After having considered all those questions, im gonna say that im glad Liston retired when he did. The time of his retirement left a lot of questions but thats whats so interesting to me.

to boxingfan2002, I am not saying Liston is secretly the reason boxing is a popular sport, most prominent champions have had similar ripple effects.

 

Bowe just after beating Holyfield.
He had no bussiness being beaten brutally by Golota twice.

 

Sugar Ray Robinson should’ve finished at Carmen Basilio 2 or given him a 3rd bout to close on. Fullmer 3-4 shouldn’t have happened and of course everything beyond…

 

Also, love the Evan Fields reference.

 

Leonard should've retired for good after Lalonde IMO. It was an ugly fight, but he battled it out for a gutsy win vs. a SMW & snatched up a couple titles in the process. I don't think repeating a win over Duran did much for his legacy & it wasn't worth the potential damage that resulted from the Hearns rematch or anything after.

 

From the perspective of Ali's legacy, I agree, it was quite a magical moment to see him win the title a 3rd time.

From the perspective of his health though, he probably should've retired after Manilla, if not Zaire.

 

Hagler after the Hearns fight. Hagler finally got his just due that he was a all-time great and finally got out of the shadow of Sugar Ray Leonard He was appearing on all the late time television shows and making commercials. It would of been the perfect ending to a fight career that many consider a top ten fight of all-time

 

Agreed. The perfect time to go would have been after the Ruiz fight. But Tarver 1 should have showed him he was slipping...