Legacies that would be better if a fighter had stayed retired

My dinner with Conteh · May 24, 2023

Dubblechin said: ↑

Also, this is definitely more of a problem for current fighters. A lot of old-time fighters, like Ezzard Charles, could lose to every mope and their brother in their final years, but most of those fights weren't televised and there is no visual record of his awful fights against really bad fighters. So people can easily ignore them.
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Yep.

Dubblechin said: ↑

Roy Jones is the glaring example for me. His career went on so long he was bad nearly as long as he was great. And all those bad fights are preserved forever. I'll never look at him like I did when he was on top of the sport. I think he nearly ruined his legacy, for what that's worth. I remember people (old timers) saying Roy Jones was maybe the best fighter who ever lived, or possibly second-best ever. Nobody says that anymore.
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Spot on. It's a shame how his rating has fallen. It seems that if you're a fighter born before the 1960s then you're allowed to have many losses at the tail-end of your career and it won't affect your overall standing. Must be "boomer" privilege.

Dubblechin said: ↑

When fat Duran quit after getting punched in the armpit by Pat Lawlor, that was the last straw for me (and he still trudged on for another 10 years after that). I know people still praise him, but I watched that guy look like garbage for 20 years after the Leonard fights in 1980. To me, you just can't ignore all that. His 31-16 post-Leonard isn't a good record. And I don't think wins over Moore and Barkley make up for all the garbage in there.
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Definitely. Duran's didn't even know which part of his body he was going to say he injured vs Lawlor, he seemed to be hold his shoulder, his ribs, his arm, he wasn't sure what excuse he was going to use...he didn't want any rumours going around that he'd **** in his pants again, as "The Muck Spreader" wasn't a nickname he wanted to be remembered by.

The Barkley win was excellent though, really impressive.

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Legacies that would be better if a fighter had stayed retired

My dinner with Conteh Tending Bepi Ros' grave again Full Member

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Legacies that would be better if a fighter had stayed retired

My dinner with Conteh Tending Bepi Ros' grave again Full Member