Fighters who kept climbing after what could have been their psychological Everest?

Floyd Patterson was another fighter who always turned up in the best possible physical shape. One of the reasons he fought to such an old age. Excellent post.

 

Bob Fitzsimmons. What more of an Everest than winning the Heavyweight championship as a Middleweight? Yet after that he beat Sharkey, Ruhlin, Gardner, Philidelphia Jack O'Brien and gave Jeffries hell twice.

 

Marvin Hagler. He craved the title for years and earned his shot the hard way. He continued to give absolutely everything in defending it and did not slacken off one bit. Post title he utterly craved a big payday which he believed he had earned. He finally achieved this on the back of Duran upsetting Moore which gave Hagler his $5mil plus day in the sun. After this he still didn't slacken off all the way to retirement.

I've been a bit of a Hagler critic in here over the years but when it comes to dedication and professionalism he's top shelf. He also never took the easy road - he chased the dangerous contenders pre title and he took on the best he could after he won it while never slackening off. The better and more dangerous future opponents looked the more he loved it because it equaled more money.

 

I disagree vehemently with you about Ali. As far as I am concerned, his pinnacle was reached before his 1967-68 exile when he defeated Liston, Patterson, Terrell, etc. The Ali of those years would have cleaned the later Ali's clock. He could easily have folded after he was convicted of draft-dodging and forced to endure a three-year boxing exile. He could have folded after the first Frazier fight. Even after Zaire, he lost AND REGAINED the title with Spinks, even when he was physically shot.

 

I/we always consider Hagler an adopted son of Philly. During his rise when he could not get a shot, nor could some of the Philly MW’s, and Hagler would come to town testing and besting all of them along the way.

 

I know it was a sidelight to what should be an interesting thread, but I just couldn't let it pass.