I cant help but notice that all the great chapions of the past (especially in the HW division) at one point became disinterested/jaded as a fighter. Louis - lost interest after the war and kept on going only for money Robinson- lost interest and continued for money Dempsey- went to hollywood, didnt fight for 3 years and got a nose job and fighters in those days didnt get nose jobs, there were no cuties for fighters in those days, it was pretty rough and hard going Marciano- lost interest and luckily for him, left with money after he became bored with it. Tyson- everyone here knows his story. Duran, leonard all these guys seemed to become bored and eventually go down hill for lack of heart of quit. Honestly theres only one fighter who had money and continued just to become champ that i can think of...Ali and we all know he paid a heavy price for going on too long, anyone think of anyone else who kept on going? After Ali, i got nothing. wonder why fighters became so jaded after a while considering these guys were great at what they did, it was their craft, you dont see artists and musicians giving up their artform, so why did these greats, these artists who were so good, give up?
Andrew Golota lost interest very early on. Riddick Bowe started training less and less after initially winning the title.
Tyson i can agree on, ive got his Autobiography by Peter Heller and in that Tyson said he wanted to retire after the Spinks fight because he had beaten everyone and there was nothing else to prove and he was getting bored with boxing.......if only
I suspect that,in his heart,Muhammad Ali wanted to say goodbye to boxing after Manilla. Other factors,such as money kept him going on for longer. I just wish that he'd listened to his heart a bit more keenly.